White House News

MIDLAND, Texas - President Bush almost made it through his two terms without visiting his boyhood hometown. He broke the more than 7-year, 8-month streak on Saturday for a quick and lucrative fundraising stop in this West Texas oil patch.

Text of President Bush's statement Friday on Congress passing a $700 billion bailout bill for the financial industry, as provided by the White House:

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has taken action against an international charity in Africa over work it does in China, a step the group says is politically motivated and dangerous for poor African women and girls.

WASHINGTON - A federal judge has rejected the Bush administration's attempt to shield records that may shed light on the White House visits of now imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

WASHINGTON - A federal judge ordered the Bush administration Tuesday to immediately free 17 Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay into the United States, rebuking the government in a landmark decision that could set the stage for the release of dozens other prisoners in Cuba.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military is creating an electrical code for U.S. facilities in Iraq as part of an effort to prevent future electrocutions in Iraq. The deaths of at least 18 U.S. service members and contractors in Iraq are under investigation as possible electrocutions.

WASHINGTON - Although global oil prices have plummeted, the cost of heating your home this winter will be a lot more expensive, especially for households that depend on fuel oil, the Energy Department predicted Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - With panic tightening its grip on investors here and abroad, pressure was growing on the United States Tuesday to take further aggressive steps to stem the economic crisis and swiftly implement a $700 billion financial bailout.

PRISTINA, Kosovo - The United States will continue its troop presence in Kosovo until at least late next year, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said just before he arrived here Tuesday, reaffirming U.S. support for the newly declared nation in the face of stern opposition from Russia.

WASHINGTON - The government is weighing a bold plan to buy massive amounts of unsecured short-term debts in a dramatic effort to break through a credit clog that is imperiling the economy.

WASHINGTON - A lame duck in a financial downpour, President Bush called senators ahead of Wednesday's big vote on the financial rescue plan. The measure passed, but not just because of the president's intervention. He wields dwindling overall influence.

WASHINGTON - An estimated 17,000 deceased U.S. prisoners of war could be awarded Purple Hearts under a new Pentagon policy announced Monday.

WASHINGTON - A lame duck in a financial downpour, President Bush called senators ahead of Wednesday's big vote on the financial rescue plan but he seems to wield dwindling overall influence.

ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT - Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday endorsed efforts to reach out to members of the Taliban or other militants in Afghanistan who may be considered reconcilable, much like what has happened in Iraq.

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday signed a sprawling, stopgap spending bill to keep the government running for the next 12 months.

WASHINGTON - China has abruptly canceled a series of military and diplomatic contacts with the United States to protest a planned $6.5 billion package of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, American officials told The Associated Press on Monday.

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Tuesday that up to 80,000 refugees from around the world can be accepted in the United States over the next year for humanitarian reasons, the same ceiling set by his administration last year.

WASHINGTON - A North Korean defector gave a piano recital Monday at the State Department, telling assembled diplomats and officials that the ability to freely listen to music from other countries can influence repressed North Koreans' view of the world.

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday tried to reassure the country that Congress will pass a plan to save the sinking economy even as no clear path existed for that to happen. He warned of painful, lasting damage for millions of people if lawmakers don't get moving.

WASHINGTON - A top former CIA official said the intelligence agency had more than 100 Afghans acting as spies before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but told a magazine in a rare interview that nothing could have averted the attacks.

WASHINGTON - Here is a text of the statement that President Bush made Monday morning on legislation to rescue the nation's reeling financial markets, as released by the White House:

WASHINGTON - The Group of Seven industrialized countries is outmoded and should be replaced with a new entity that would include growing economies in Asia and Latin America, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Monday.

WASHINGTON - President Bush is welcoming the $700 billion financial rescue deal reached by congressional leaders and his administration.

WASHINGTON - U.S. and NATO allies will embrace fledgling Eastern European nations during international meetings this week, in a what will be seen as a sharp message to Russia that further aggression in the region will not be tolerated.

WASHINGTON - First lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna took a lesson from their own book Saturday at the National Book Festival.

ASTANA, Kazakhstan - U.S. efforts to build closer ties to this energy-rich former Soviet republic are not meant to undermine Russian influence in Central Asia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday.

NEW YORK - At the White House, President Bush welcomed the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan this week. Along their borders, safe havens for anti-U.S. militants, their troops exchanged fire, deepening a foreign policy challenge for the next American president.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has shelved plans to set up a diplomatic outpost in Iran, in part over fears it could affect the U.S. presidential race or be interpreted as political meddling, The Associated Press has learned.

WASHINGTON - Children's book author Jon Scieszka enlightened a National Book Festival audience Friday night with stories about how he learned to read funny books by Dr. Seuss and strange books at school about an "alien" family.