National and world news briefs

<p class="bold allcaps">White House OKs limits on Medicaid coverage</p> <p>WASHINGTON - Poor people on Medicaid seeking emergency care may have a more difficult time getting coverage by managed care organizations under a new policy by the Bush administration.</p><p>The new guidelines, outlined in a recent letter to state Medicaid directors, narrows standards set out in a 1997 law and in rules issued by the Clinton administration and more recently, by the Bush administration in June 2002.</p><p>The 1997 law allowed states to put participants in Medicaid into cost-cutting health maintenance organizations and other managed care plans, but it required that these plans include certain patient protections. The change of policy allows states to place certain limits on coverage of emergency services.</p><h3>Bush praises 5 soldiers wounded in Afghanistan</h3> <p>WASHINGTON - President Bush on Friday thanked five soldiers who were badly injured in Afghanistan, calling their service ``noble and strong and good'' as he considered sending more American troops into military conflict in Iraq.</p><p>Bush and first lady Laura Bush went to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where the soldiers were recovering from wounds suffered during the military's operation in Afghanistan.</p><h3>Semitrailer hits SUV, killing 3 Yale students</h3> <p>FAIRFIELD, Conn. - A tractor-trailer lost control on a slippery highway Friday and collided with a sport utility vehicle filled with nine Yale University students, including members of the football and baseball teams, killing three students, officials said.</p><p>Eight others were injured when the SUV slammed into the back of the rig, which had partially crossed over the barrier separating the northbound and southbound lanes of Interstate 95, state police said. Four vehicles were involved in the crash, but the only serious injuries were in the SUV, authorities said.</p><h3>Anthrax scare delays Bush letters to Swedes</h3> <p>STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Two letters from President Bush to Sweden's king and prime minister arrived more than a year late after they were held up in Washington because of the anthrax scare.</p><p>In the letter dated Oct. 23, 2001, to Prime Minister Goeran Persson, Bush expressed thanks for Sweden's condolences after the Sept. 11 attacks. It was delivered to the government's headquarters in Stockholm on Tuesday.</p><h3>Chavez welcomes help from abroad on strike</h3> <p>CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez welcomed foreign help to end a crippling seven-week strike but said Friday his government won't be forced into negotiating with what he called a ``coup-plotting, fascist'' opposition.</p><p>Several countries, including the United States, Mexico, Brazil and Spain, agreed to create a ``Group of Friends of Venezuela'' this week to seek solutions to the work stoppage that has brought the country's economy to a standstill.</p>