UPDATE 2-Iraq role to last years, cost more -US officials

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, July 31 - President George W. Bush's
nominee to be top military adviser said on Tuesday the United
States would be in Iraq for "years not months" and a Pentagon
official said the war was costing even more than expected.




Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, picked as chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, warned U.S. lawmakers unhappy with the
conflict against seeking a rapid pullout from Iraq, saying it
could turn the country into a "caldron."


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Can John McCain survive to fight another day?

(Reuters) - Can he come back from the dead, rise from the ashes, turn the tide, survive to fight another day? Or has the train already left the station?




Political gurus say it will be extremely hard for him to rebound from financial woes, but that one can never completely rule out McCain, the Vietnam war hero and Arizona senator who gave George W. Bush a run for his money in the 2000 election.


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Florida to introduce tough greenhouse gas targets

(Reuters) - Gov. Charlie Crist was expected to sign executive orders at
a global warming conference in Miami this week setting new
emissions targets for power companies, automobiles and trucks,
toughen conservation goals for state agencies and require
state-owned vehicles to use alternative fuels.




Florida would adopt many tough pollution standards set by
California and mimicked by other states, which have implemented
their own such regulations because Washington has failed to
pass national laws. President George W. Bush has also rejected
the international Kyoto agreement on reducing greenhouse gas
emissions.


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UPDATE 1-Bush sees U.S. deficit falling to $205 billion

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, July 11 - President George W. Bush
will estimate that the U.S. budget deficit for fiscal year 2007
will come in at $205 billion, a drop from last year, U.S.
administration officials said on Wednesday.




The deficit was $248 billion last year. The fresh estimate
in the White House "midsession review" revises the 2007
forecast downward from the February estimate that put it at
$244 billion.


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UPDATE 1-Bush to host Vietnam president in historic visit

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, June 22 - President George W. Bush,
hosting Vietnam's president in a historic visit, will welcome
robust trade ties the United States has developed with a former
enemy but also will voice concerns on Hanoi's human rights
record.




Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet is making the first
U.S. trip by a head of state from his country since the Vietnam
War ended in 1975.


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Zoellick Defends Lending to China, Will Adopt Wolfowitz's Focus on Africa

(Bloomberg) -- Robert Zoellick, the next president
of the World Bank, defended lending to China in spite of the
country's record currency reserves and the fastest economic
growth of any major economy.

``China has grown a tremendous degree, but if you get out
in the countryside you still see there's an awful lot of
poverty,'' Zoellick said in his first interview since President
George W. Bush nominated him for the post on May 30. He added
that aid to Africa will be his top priority.


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PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - June 6

(Reuters) - * Republicans grappled on immigration in their third
presidential primary debate. Just two candidates voiced support
for the bipartisan immigration bill U.S. President George W.
Bush wants for his legacy.




* U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff,
Lewis "Scooter" Libby, drew a 30-month prison sentence for
lying and obstructing justice in the CIA-leak case. President
George W. Bush said he feels "terrible" about it, but has no
current plans to issue a pardon.


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