United States:President George Bush will not judge whether the CIA was right or wrong to destroy hundreds of hours of videotapes showing the "harsh interrogation" of terrorism suspects until the conclusion of several inquiries.
Mr Bush told a White House press conference that he has no recollection of being told about the tapes, which were destroyed in 2005, until CIA director Michael Hayden briefed him earlier this month.
"Sounds pretty clear to me when I say I have - the first recollection is when Mike Hayden briefed me. That's pretty clear," he said.
The New York Timesreported this week that at least four top White House lawyers knew about the tapes as early as 2003 and were involved in discussions about their destruction.
The CIA says it destroyed the tapes to protect its officers from possible reprisals from Islamist terrorists. The tapes are believed to show the interrogation of at least two prisoners, including Abu Zubaydah, who was subjected to a number of torture techniques, including extended sleep deprivation and waterboarding, a form of controlled drowning.
A federal judge is looking into whether the destruction of the tapes violated a court order and Congress is investigating why its intelligence committees were not fully informed about the CIA action. The president said he believed that the ongoing investigations by his administration, "coupled with oversight provided by the Congress, will end up enabling us all to find out what has happened."
He brushed off criticism from overseas about his conduct of the "war on terror" and said that recent months had seen progress on both the military and political fronts in Iraq.
The president gave a careful response to a question about Timemagazine's decision to name Russian president Vladimir Putin as its "Man of the Year".
"I presume they put him on there because he was a consequential leader," Mr Bush said.
"And the fundamental question is, consequential to what end? What will the country look like 10 years from now?
"My hope, of course, is that Russia is a country that understands there needs to be checks and balances," the US president added.
Mr Bush offered rare praise for Congress after it approved a spending Bill that kept the federal government in operation and funded some new programmes without raising taxes.
He complained, however, that the Bill took too long and that it was stuffed with unnecessary and wasteful spending.
Congress this week also passed a Bill inspired by the Virginia Tech shootings that would more easily alert gun stores to prospective gun buyers who have documented mental health problems.
Democrats and Republicans worked together on the framing of the Bill, which won the approval of the powerful gun lobby, led by the National Rifle Association.
The measure would clarify what mental health records should be reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which helps gun dealers determine whether to sell a firearm to a prospective buyer, and give states financial incentives for compliance.
The attorney general could penalise states if they fail to meet compliance targets, but the government would pay for the cost of appeals by gun owners and prospective buyers who argue successfully in court that they were wrongly deemed unqualified for mental health reasons.