WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday he twice offered his resignation to President Bush over the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, but both times was asked to stay in the job.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will press her hardline case over Iran's nuclear ambitions with Russia on Saturday after saying the United States has no plans for an imminent attack on the Islamic republic.

AP - Former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards, getting the 2008 campaign cycle off to an early start, said Saturday that poverty 'is one of the great moral issues of our time' and he pledged to help fight it.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday the United States will provide more than $40 million in aid to the Palestinians during the next three months and also appoint a new 'security coordinator' to help Palestinian forces.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Monday warned the Senate against making changes to a bipartisan bill to curb class-action lawsuits, saying it supported the version now on the chamber's floor.

AP - Even with a cease-fire pledge from Israeli and Palestinian leaders, President Bush is moving slowly to involve himself and U.S. prestige in the always risky, often disappointing Mideast peace process.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush will ask the U.S. Congress for $400 million for nations that have sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, rewarding them for taking 'political and economic risks,' the White House said on Wednesday.

AP - A senior House Republican with long experience in Social Security matters outlined legislation Thursday that jettisons two controversial elements in President Bush's plan in an attempt to court Democratic support.

AP - In anticipation of the 196th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birthday on Saturday, President Bush hosted an hour-long performance of 'Lincoln: Seen and Heard' and praised the former president for his eloquent speechmaking.

AP - Concerned about government secrecy in a terrorism case, a federal judge expressed skepticism Friday at the Bush administration's request to dismiss a lawsuit on behalf of a Virginia man held in Saudi Arabia.

AP - A panel discussion on whether cable debate shows like CNN's recently canceled 'Crossfire' have screamed themselves out of business ended in — what else — a shouting match.

AP - A coalition of labor unions — traditionally a bastion of support for Democrats — are lobbying senators of that party in favor of President Bush's air-pollution plan.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said on Tuesday that limiting the growth of future retirement benefits for Americans would be an 'adjustment to reality.'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Farm-state lawmakers told Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns on Wednesday that growers and ranchers would suffer unduly from the $587 million in farm subsidy cuts sought by the White House.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush will use next week's fence-mending trip to Europe to appeal for unity after the Iraq elections and to try to rally trans-Atlantic allies to step up pressure on Iran and Syria, officials said on Thursday.

AP - President Bush said Friday the United States does not intend to attack Iran to crush its suspected nuclear weapons project but added that 'you never want a president to say never.' He expressed hopes that a European diplomatic initiative would persuade Tehran to abandon any such program.

AP - As 55 people died in Iraq on Saturday, the holiest day on the Shiite Muslim religious calendar, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said that much of Iraq was 'functioning quite well' and that the rash of suicide attacks was a sign that the insurgency was failing.

AP - Republican Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire, an enthusiastic supporter of Social Security personal accounts, was hit with charges in his most recent campaign that he favors privatization. He won anyway.

AP - Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney enjoyed some Southern hospitality Monday night as he introduced himself in a state that will likely be key in deciding the 2008 Republican presidential primary.

AP - Republicans dissatisfied with the balloting that installed Democrat Gov. Christine Gregoire alleged Tuesday that 1,108 felons voted illegally in the 2004 election.

AP - President Bush is endorsing New York City's quest to be host of the 2012 summer Olympic Games.

AP - True to his word that he would take his party's message to conservative bastions, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean rallied a crowd Thursday in Kansas, a state that has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1964.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Texas-based Web site whose conservative connections touched off a White House media controversy has shut down 'to reevaluate operations,' according to a message posted on the site.

AP - Black leaders debated Saturday how to develop a checklist of political priorities that could be submitted to politicians seeking support from black voters.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Sunday told a group of governors, some of whom may be thinking of running for president, that their experience at the state level would be invaluable if elected to the White House.