AP - President Bush said Wednesday that 60 years of Israel's existence is cause for optimism for democratic change throughout the Middle East. "What happened here is possible everywhere," Bush said, opening a trip divided between ceremonial duties and a new push for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

AFP - US troops went from house to house on Wednesday in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold looking for bombs and arms ahead of an Iraqi army deployment in line with a new truce, witnesses and officials said.