By JENNIFER LOVEN By Jennifer Loven The Associated Press WASHINGTON President Bush signed a housing bill Wednesday intended to rescue about 15 percent of the cash-strapped homeowners in fear of foreclosure in the next year or so.

By JENNIFER LOVEN By Jennifer Loven The Associated Press ST. LOUIS Barack Obama celebrated "active faith" as an obligation of religious Americans while speaking Saturday to a nearly all-black roomful of churchgoers, but reaching far beyond them.

President Bush once talked bullishly about Middle East peacemaking. He would "ride herd" on recalcitrant leaders, picking up the telephone whenever necessary and helping produce a long-elusive agreement.

Hurricane Katrina has many legacies for the Bush White House, none pleasant. One is the guarantee that as soon as disaster strikes in the United States, President Bush's every move is closely scrutinized to gauge the speed and tone of his response to the suffering.

By ANDREW SELSKY and JENNIFER LOVEN SAN JUAN, Pue