GEORGE W. BUSH

The cries of tens of thousands of people led by Buddhist monks, who are staging anti-junta protest rallies in Myanmar at the risk of a government crackdown, has reached the ears of the US President George W. Bush, who is expected to take up the issue in his speech Tuesday to the General Assembly and urge the U.N. to uphold its pledge to fight for freedom and impose new sanctions against the repressive military regime in Myanmar.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Sunday faulted Democrats, including presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton, for moving away from former President Bill Clinton's embrace of globalization.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill on Wednesday that aims to strengthen government oversight of dangerous side effects from prescription drugs.

Senate Republicans blocked a plan on Wednesday to give U.S. troops in Iraq more home leave, defeating a proposal widely seen as the Democrats' best near-term chance to change President George W. Bush's Iraq strategy.

Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday disputed former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's portrayal of the Bush administration's economic policies as fiscally reckless.

Criticism of Greenspan's policies rose as his memoir was released but observers say he will endure as one of the best central bankers.

Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton, whose first attempt at a health care overhaul fell flat 13 years ago, unveiled a broad proposal on Monday to require health insurance for all Americans and make it more affordable.

Clarifying a controversial comment in his new memoir, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said he told the White House before the Iraq war that removing Saddam Hussein was "essential" to secure world oil supplies, according to an interview published on Monday.

Standing next to piles of exquisitely hand-woven Persian carpets, Hossein Ghaseminia is confident his rugs, which cost up to $50,000, can see off cheaper Asian rivals and ride out threatened U.S. sanctions.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday rejected former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's statement that the Iraq war "is largely about oil."

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan sharply criticizes President George W. Bush's administration and Republican congressional leaders in his memoir for putting political imperatives ahead of sound economic policies, several newspapers reported on Friday.

Mexico's Congress approved a landmark tax overhaul on Friday, handing President Felipe Calderon a major legislative victory and Mexico its biggest economic reform in a decade.

A day after President George W. Bush cited enough progress in Iraq to justify U.S. troop reductions, the White House told Congress on Friday that Iraqi leaders had failed to meet half of their key goals.

A U.S. Senate decision to block funding for a test program to let Mexico's long-haul trucks operate in the United States uses outdated safety fears to mask protectionism, Mexican truckers and the U.S. government say.

President George W. Bush on Thursday ordered gradual troop reductions in Iraq but defied calls for a dramatic change of course, telling war-weary Americans the U.S. military role there will stretch beyond his presidency.

The housing downturn in the United States - the worst the country has seen in the last 16 years - has made home equity lines of credit more difficult to obtain, forcing consumers back to relying more on their credit cards to finance purchases.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his resignation, Wednesday, over his failure to win backing from politicians for an extension to a Japanese naval mission providing refueling support to US-led operations in Afghanistan.

Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, faced criticism from a Democratic presidential contender on Tuesday over America's war strategy.

Americans stood in silence to remember the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11 attacks on Tuesday as Osama bin Laden resurfaced to praise the suicide hijackers who carried them out six years ago to the day.

Twenty of the world's top polluting nations have agreed to discuss binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Germany's environment minister said on Tuesday.

The top U.S. general in Iraq on Monday recommended cutting American troops by about 30,000 by next summer, ending the so-called surge of forces but not fundamentally changing strategy in the unpopular war.