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Bush adviser to leave job as booster of U.S. image abroad

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush’s longtime adviser Karen Hughes is stepping down as undersecretary of state in mid-December, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday.

As undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs since March 2005, Hughes ran the State Department’s campaign to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim world.

She’s made it possible for every ambassador around the world to feel comfortable going out and talking about America’s message, pressing the public diplomacy case, Rice said when announcing Hughes’ departure.

Rice praised Hughes’ accomplishments in polishing the U.S. image abroad, especially in the Muslim world, and thanked her for her wisdom and advice. Watch Rice praise Hughes’s efforts

Hughes said she is looking forward to rejoining her family in Texas.

I’ve spent almost nine of the last 12 years of my career now in government service, Hughes said. I’m looking forward to returning to private life and to living in the same city as my husband once again.

Hughes said she was proud of the public diplomacy efforts she started.

One of my messages has been that as Americans we need to engage more and listen and reach out to the people of the world, Hughes said, and I’ll continue to be an advocate for that.

In September 2005, Hughes traveled throughout the Middle East as part of what she dubbed a listening tour to repair the U.S. image damaged after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

But Hughes had a tough sell, and many Arabs criticized her for what they called her lack of understanding of the region.

Hughes previously was the president’s White House counselor. After 18 months, she left Washington in the summer of 2002, saying she wanted to be with her family in the Lone Star State.

She has been one of Bush’s closest advisers since his days as governor of Texas.

Hughes was communication director and a senior adviser to Bush during his 2000 presidential run. Along with Karl Rove and Joe Allbaugh, she was part of a trio known as the iron triangle who managed Bush’s campaign.
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Widowed at 25, cancer at 31, woman looks for love

(CNN) — Cathy Bueti was widowed at the age of 25 when her husband was killed in a car accident. Seven years later, she says, I finally started to feel like my life was coming back together, then I found the lump.

Her doctor thought she was too young to have cancer, but an operation found a lump bigger than anyone expected. Bueti got a breast cancer diagnosis at 31 and immediately underwent treatment.

Bueti had begun dating again after her husband’s death. She decided that an important part of her struggle against cancer at such a young age would be to continue her pursuit of romance.

Her experiences looking for love while undergoing a mastectomy and chemotherapy were often heart-wrenching but ultimately rewarding. Even though I would think, ‘Oh, who will want me like this?’ I look back on it now and I was just living, I just wanted to keep living.

Bueti read a couple of books by breast cancer survivors while she was undergoing treatment, but found that they were all written by married women. Women who had already found that wonderful guy to help them through those hard times, she said.

I wanted to write about this incredibly isolating experience as a single woman.

So Bueti wrote a book about the challenge of facing cancer as a young, single woman. Breastless in the City is based on her battle. Hear Bueti describe her battle with cancer

No one is prepared to deal with cancer, but the challenge can be especially daunting for young, single women who must face the battle and the bills essentially alone. You can’t go back to your parents’ house, Bueti said, and your posse likely has no idea what you are going through.

As for dating, Bueti admits that she hit more than a few rough patches, But, she said, I just stayed so hopeful, I wanted to find someone else. I wanted to go out with friends, to live life, to really figure out how to do this.

Bueti met her husband Lou at the end of her chemotherapy treatment. Her cancer is in remission, and she and Lou have been married for four years.

Maintaining a social and romantic life throughout her treatment helped Bueti uphold the mental strength that it takes to beat cancer. Survival is all about living; focusing on the things that you love to do, she said. It’s the things that keep you grounded that are important.

Tammy Nattras also faced a breast cancer diagnosis as a single woman. She had just turned 40 when she learned that she had breast cancer, which doctors had not been able to spot on her mammograms. The cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.

Nattras faced stage four cancer that was wrapped around her chest wall. The prognosis was not good.

She opted for a high-risk treatment with very strong chemotherapy and radiation that Nattras said was liable to have killed me. View photos of more breast cancer survivor stories

Through powerful radiation and persistent treatment, Nattras was able to eliminate her aggressive cancer, results she says few women in her condition are lucky enough to achieve.

While she is happy to have survived, Nattras explains that cancer recovery is much more than a relief and a joyful experience.

It took me months to adjust to the cancer and the probability that I was dying. It also took me months to readjust to the idea that I was going to live.

Nattras explains that cancer survivors face the daunting challenge of returning to a life that they have put on hold for months. I threw out three trash bags full of magazines that had piled up in my house during treatment. The tires on my car hadn’t been rotated the whole time. I had to come back to relationships.

People say ‘you’re fine,’ but you’re not fine. You’re better, but you have no energy, and you have so much to take care of.

Lisa Rice also knows how difficult it can be to balance cancer and life. In 2005, at the age of 38, Rice learned she had breast cancer. At the same time, she was got another diagnosis. Rice was pregnant.

It was hell, it was pure hell, says Rice, of balancing the simultaneous specter of death and the joy of nurturing new life. And then it only got worse, as Rice searched for literature and insight into her situation and found nothing.

Rice eventually ended up at the Mayo Clinic, where she found a doctor who assured her she could undergo chemotherapy during her pregnancy with little risk to her baby.

Rice alternated between rounds of chemotherapy and ultrasound examinations of her baby. Rice finished chemotherapy and her daughter, Alexis, was born via C-section six weeks early so Rice could start radiation treatment.

Alexis was 4 pounds, 11 ounces when she was removed from the womb. She was so very tiny, Rice says, but she had 10 fingers and 10 toes. She was perfect.

Rice’s cancer is now in remission and Alexis is a healthy 2-year-old. She’s my miracle baby, Rice said. The fact that she survived all those toxins. Sometimes she will just look at me and I will break down and cry.

Rice, like Bueti and Nattras, hopes to be a source of strength and guidance for other women who undergo breast cancer treatment under rare circumstances. Like all survivors, Rice said, It can be done. We are living proof. E-mail to a friend

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Samba kings to host the cup

(CNN) — Sepp Blatter’s announcement that Brazil was going to host the 2014 World Cup prompted wild celebrations all over the South American nation.

But while no-one doubts Brazil’s passion for parties, or football for that matter, questions have started to emerge about the country’s ability to stage an event of this magnitude.

The 2014 World Cup project submitted to FIFA by the Brazilian government included plans to build four new stadiums and restore 14 others with costs estimated at over $1 billion. Private companies have suggested the bill could rise to as much as $10 billion over the next seven years.

However, Ricardo Teixeira, the president of Brazil’s football confederation, is confident, saying: We will prove that we are civilized and that we have all the conditions to host this event. The government’s contribution throughout the bidding process has been crucial, and I am sure that in the future, it will continue to support all our efforts.

Brazilian president Lula da Silva added, Right now, we can celebrate this decision, but we know, as a nation, that there is a lot of responsibility to deliver a great tournament. We want to take this opportunity to prove to the world that Brazil has a growing economy and a stable political situation. We may have problems, but we have men capable of solving these problems.

Problems such as violence and corruption. Brazil has one of the highest murder rates in the world and Corinthians, one of the countries top clubs, is currently being investigated after being hit by allegations of fraud and money laundering.

The problem of violence is not exclusive to Brazil, said Teixeira. It’s something all nations are fighting against. We proved during the Pan-American Games that we can organize a grand event without any problems occurring and we are confident the same will happen in seven years time.

Blatter himself stoically defended FIFA’s decision. When we gave the World Cup to South Africa, everyone also talked about criminality and violence, and now we have given it to Brazil you are also asking about this. I demand respect for FIFA and our guests.

Brazil got a full backing from the president of football’s governing body. The countdown now begins for Brazil to prove him right. E-mail to a friend

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Europe’s stars chasing absent Els

SOTOGRANDE, Spain — Ernie Els could win his third Order of Merit title without even taking a swing at the season-ending Volvo Masters.

Els leads last year’s winner Padraig Harrington by $313,892 in the European Tour standings, but could be surpassed this weekend as he is playing in Singapore — not Sotogrande — on the Asian Tour.

England’s Justin Rose and Swedish players Niclas Fasth and Henrik Stenson can also pass Els for the season-ending money title with a victory at Valderrama, Europe’s richest tournament at $5.8 million with first-place worth $960,488.

Els, who won the title in 2003 and 2004, is under a three-year contract to play in Singapore and criticized the European Tour for the scheduling conflict.

I’d love to play the Volvo Masters, but if they screw up the dates, so be it, Els said Wednesday. You can’t please everybody and especially when two big events like these are being played on the same week. Somebody missed the ball, it’s as simple as that.

The European Tour wouldn’t comment on Els’ remarks.

Eight-time Order of Merit champion Colin Montgomerie didn’t accept Els’ excuse, and was disappointed that only 51 of the 60 qualifiers were at Valderrama.

Deals could be done where they could have played two out of the next three years or something like that, or whatever the case may be, but this should be a priority, Montgomerie said.

The Order of Merit means a lot to me and it obviously doesn’t mean a lot to others.

Harrington said he had signed a contract to play at Singapore, but had a get-out clause in case he was able to defend the Order of Merit.

Right from the go as European No. 1, my place to be was here, Harrington said. As golfers, we’re spoiled for choice. I think the tour did everything in their powers to accommodate the clash.

U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera and the 2001 and 2004 U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen were two of the big names missing from Thursday’s draw.

Harrington arrives as a top contender to take the Harry Vardon trophy, just as he did in 2006, but will face stiff competition from Rose.

Rose has played in only 11 European tournaments to Harrington’s 14 but trails the Irishman by only $949.

Obviously it’s a very exciting situation and one that I would love to capitalize on, Rose said.

I’ve played a very limited schedule, it’s the kind of opportunity that I think for me would be a huge achievement. It would be a career highlight.

However, Rose is struggling to overcome a back injury he re-aggravated at the Portugal Masters two weeks ago.

With Els missing, Harrington and Rose will tee off together in Thursday’s final pairing with both players hoping the race goes down to the wire.

I’m hoping that Justin plays well tomorrow, because if my partner plays well I usually play well, Harrington said.

Defending champion Jeev Milkha Singh of India is one of nine former winners in the field to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the competition, which is only open for the European Tour’s top 60 players. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Bush: Congress is not getting its work done

(CNN) — President Bush blasted the Democratic-controlled Congress on Tuesday for having the worst record in 20 years.

Congress is not getting its work done, Bush said, flanked by members of the Republican House leadership. The House of Representatives has wasted valuable time on a constant stream of investigations, and the Senate has wasted valuable time on an endless series of failed votes to pull our troops out of Iraq.

Bush criticized Congress for not being able to send a single appropriations bill to him.

They haven’t seen a bill they could not solve without shoving a tax hike into it, he said.

Democrats quickly fired back. Jim Manley, senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said, Taking advice from President Bush about fiscal responsibility and getting things done for the American people is like taking hunting lessons from Dick Cheney. Neither is a very good idea.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Illinois, issued a statement saying, President Bush’s rally this morning reminds us that congressional Republicans remain ready and willing to rubber-stamp the Bush agenda: No to children’s health care; no to a new direction in Iraq; and no to investing in America’s future. The White House and congressional Republicans want to continue the status quo.

Bush said the Senate was wasting valuable time by taking up the children’s health insurance bill, which he had earlier vetoed. Watch Bush describe what he thinks Congress is doing wrong

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, issued a statement calling Bush the biggest obstacle to extending health coverage to 10 million low-income, working-class American children.

Hoyer said GOP House leaders need to stop posing for pictures, and sit down with Democrats and Republicans in Congress who are working together to extend coverage to our children.

The State Children’s Health Insurance Program measure passed in the House last week would expand the program by nearly $35 billion over five years, the same as the measure Bush vetoed on October 3. Bush had proposed adding $5 billion to the program, and said the version he vetoed would have encouraged families to leave the private insurance market for the federally funded, state-run program.

Democratic leaders said the new version addresses Republican objections by tightening restrictions on illegal immigrants receiving SCHIP benefits; capping the income levels of families that qualify for the program; and preventing adults from receiving benefits.

The program currently covers about 6 million children whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for the poor, but who can’t afford private insurance. Democrats want to extend the program to another 4 million, paying for it with a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal tax on cigarettes.

Bush said Congress knows the current version of the children’s health bill does not have a chance, to get enough votes to override another veto.

Hoyer accused Bush of breaking a promise he made in 2004 to extend coverage under the SCHIP program. Now, Congress must do what the president said he would do, he said in his statement.

The Senate could vote on the bill as early as Tuesday.

Bush also threatened to veto a three-bill pileup.

There are now reports that Congressional leaders may be considering combining the Veterans and Department of Defense appropriations bills, and then add a bloated labor, health and education spending bill to both of them, he said.

Congress should pass each bill one at a time in a fiscally responsible manner, he said.

Bush also urged Congress to send him a clean defense appropriations bill and a war supplemental bill.

They ought to get me a bill that funds among other things bullets and body armor, he said.

Bush also criticized Congress for trying to hold hostage funding for troops.

It would be irresponsible to not give our troops the resources they need to get their job done because Congress was unable to get its job done, he said.

Hoyer’s release said Bush’s comments on appropriations bills and fiscal responsibility ring hollow.

The fact is, this administration has pursued the most fiscally irresponsible policies in American history, turning record surpluses into record deficits and adding more than $3 trillion to the national debt, he said.

Democrats are the party of fiscal responsibility today because we believe our government must pay for the things it purchases and not force our children to pay our bills. The fight over 2008 appropriations bills is not a fight over spending. It is a fight over priorities.
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