WASHINGTON - As Yasser Arafat was buried, President Bush raised hopes Friday for a Middle East peace and the creation of an independent Palestinian state within four years, suggesting decades of distrust and frustration could be altered by the change of Palestinian leadership.

WASHINGTON - The presidential candidates are hitting big battleground states again today. President Bush will be on his second bus trip in Florida in four days.

BEIJING - President Bush on Monday sharply criticized Moscow's harsh military crackdown in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, saying the violence is unacceptable and Russia's response is disproportionate.

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday bowed his head in silence before the flag-draped casket of Gerald R. Ford - a man the president said used a calm, steady hand to guide the nation after the tumultuous Watergate years.

WASHINGTON - President Bush, stung by the rejection of his first choice, will nominate conservative judge Samuel Alito to replace moderate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in a bid to reshape the Supreme Court and mollify his political base, officials said Monday.

WASHINGTON - President Bush pushed back against suggestions by some skeptical Republicans that Harriet Miers was not conservative enough, insisting on Tuesday that his nominee to the Supreme Court shares his strict-constructionist views.

BATON ROUGE, La. - President Bush asserted Monday that federal, state and local governments are "doing the best they can" to help Hurricane Katrina victims even as his third visit there exposed friction with the governor of Louisiana over the slow pace of relief efforts.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - President Bush made a surprise Thanksgiving visit to American troops in Baghdad Thursday, flying secretly to violence-scarred Iraq to thank U.S. forces for serving there.

It was business first before the pleasure of watching top-flight pro golf in Scottsdale Thursday for former President George H.W. Bush.

HOUSTON - Former first lady Barbara Bush was resting comfortably after undergoing successful open heart surgery Wednesday to replace her aortic valve, a family spokesman and hospital officials said.

Former President George H.W. Bush will serve the role of chief spectator at the FBR Open golf tournament in Scottsdale this week.

WASHINGTON - Putting pressure on congressional Democrats to back more exploration for oil, President Bush on Monday lifted an executive ban on offshore drilling that has stood since his father was president. But the move, by itself, will do nothing unless Congress acts as well.

WASHINGTON - President Bush hinted on Monday that his next nominee for the Supreme Court would be a woman or a minority, saying that "diversity is one of the strengths of the country."

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Tuesday that authoritarian rule in the Middle East has begun to ease, and he insisted anew that Syria must end its nearly three-decade occupation of Lebanon.

WASHINGTON - In his final acts of clemency, President George W. Bush on Monday granted early prison releases to two former U.S. Border Patrol agents whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer fueled the national debate over illegal immigration.

October 19, 2004

WASHINGTON - President Bush will tour the hurricane devastated Gulf Coast region on Friday and has asked his father, former President George H.W. Bush, and former President Clinton to lead a private fund-raising campaign for victims.

April 8, 2005

WASHINGTON - President Bush claimed a re-election mandate Wednesday after a record 59 million Americans chose him over Democrat John Kerry and voted to expand Republican control of Congress as well.

Former President George H.W. Bush will serve the role of chief spectator at the FBR Open golf tournament this week in Scottsdale.

Arizona State University has issued some special invitations to Saturday’s showdown between the Sun Devils and the Louisiana State University Tigers.

WASHINGTON — Sarah Palin and George W. Bush won't be in Tampa, Fla. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Al Gore won't make the trip to Charlotte, N.C. And scores of other Republican and Democratic stars are taking a pass as their parties gather for this year's national conventions.