Washington - US President George W Bush and his Ghanian counterpart John Kufuor cited the progress that has been made in fighting AIDS and other diseases in Africa during a meeting at the White House on Monday.

Bush launched a 15-billion-dollar initiative five years ago to fight HIV/AIDS on Africa, the largest programme ever for combatting a single disease. He hope to double that amount in US spending in the next five years.

"I'm very comfortable in telling the American people that this will be money well spent," Bush said.

Bush has also spent millions of dollars to fight malaria, which kills an estimated 1 million Africans annually, most of them children.

Washington - US President George W Bush on Monday warned that a "painful" series of short-term adjustments were needed in the financial sector but insisted the fundamentals remained strong despite the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings.

Bush said he appreciated the work of the US Treasury and Wall Street firms in helping foster stability in financial markets, which have been hit hard by the ongoing credit crisis.

Washington  - US President George W Bush will meet with a host of foreign leaders in Washington this month surrounding the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Bush's first meeting will be with Kuwait's Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah on September 19, the White House said Friday.

Bush then plans to host Lebanese Prime Minister Michel Suleiman at the White House on September 25 and the following day will meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai about the troubling security situation in his country.

Houston  - With huge waves already rolling over Galveston Island and the Texas coast Friday morning, US President George W Bush sent an urgent appeal to stubborn residents who refused to evacuate.

Hurricane Ike was aimed dead-on to hit Galveston, a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, and Houston further inland, bearing winds of 195 kilometres an hour as it gathered steam over the warm Gulf of Mexico waters.

The storm is expected to make landfall between 0200 and 0600 GMT Saturday morning.

New Delhi, Sept 12 : India is expected to discuss US President George W Bush''s observations that the fuel supply assurances were not legally binding and seek clarity on the issue.

According to reports, the observation made by Bush to the US Congress while presenting the 123 agreement for consideration is seen here as a different interpretation of the pact.

India is expected to take up the matter with the US to seek clarity as it has the potential of creating uncertainty over the fuel supplies issue.

Moscow, Sept. 12 : U. S. President George W Bush, according to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, no longer runs America.

In a tongue in cheek reference to Bush in the wake of the recent standoff between the two countries on the conflict in Georgia, Putin was quoted by the Times as saying that it is: “The court that makes the king”.

Putin, however, insisted that Bush was a man of honour and integrity, but blamed members of his administration for the sharp deterioration of relations with Russia.