KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec. 5  -- A roadside bomb in Afghanistan killed three Canadian soldiers and seriously injured two others Friday near Kandahar, military officials said.

The troops were on patrol in an armored vehicle around 9 a. m. when they hit the device, U. S. Maj. Gen. Michael Tucker, the deputy chief of staff of U. S. and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, told reporters in a teleconference call.

The deaths are the first for the new rotation of Canadian troops, who arrived in Kandahar in September, a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. correspondent reported.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5  -- U. S. President George Bush reiterated Friday his pledge that the United States would not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.

"We have made our bottom-line clear. For the safety of our people and the peace of the world, America will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon," Bush said in remarks prepared for the Saban Forum in Washington.

Bush said he looks forward to "a Middle East where our friends are strengthened and the extremists are discredited, where economies are open and prosperity is widespread, and where all people enjoy the life of liberty ... ."

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 5  -- Five investigators with the United Arab Emirates Interior Ministry were arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes, police said.,

Col. Maktoum al-Sharifi of the Abu Dhabi Police said the five men, whose ages ranged from 19 to 24, all worked as Emirati inspectors for the interior ministry, al-Arabiya reported Friday.

The Criminal and Investigative Directorate investigators are suspected of accepting bribes from individuals in charge of illegal bars and brothels.

The investigators' alleged actions came to light after a number of complaints were made about attempted extortion of Abu Dhabi brothels and alcohol venders, al-Arabiya said.

Washington  - Congressional leaders will spend the weekend seeking a solution to a stalemate over how to help the US automotive industry survive the economic recession.

A second day of hearings with car executives ended Friday with no apparent agreement on the industry's request for 34 billion dollars in federal aid.

President George W Bush urged legislators to put a bill together by next week amid warnings that General Motors Corp, the world's largest carmaker, may not last beyond this year without help from the government.

Congressional leaders made no such promises, insisting they would only bring a bail-out bill to the floor of the Senate or House of Representatives if it had enough votes to be approved.

Munich  - Italy striker Luca Toni scored in stopp

CHICAGO, Dec. 5  -- U. S. retailers put an extra 217,200 people to work in November, the smallest number of employees added in the month since 1988, a private research firm said.