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ganized by the George W. Bush Institute.
• Their wives plan to team up at the conference Tuesday for a joint discussion on promoting women's education, health and economic empowerment. President Bush plans to be in attendance, before delivering his own speech there the following day, after the Obamas will have left.
• Initially aides said the men had no plans to meet, but Obama foreign policy adviser Ben Rhodes indicated Sunday that could change. "There may be something," Rhodes said.
• Having both presidents in town "sends a very positive message that both political parties in the United States share a commitment to this continent," Rhodes said.
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On defense for reportedly bugging EU offices, US says it gathers same threat data as allies
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. says it gathers the same kinds of intelligence as other nations to safeguard against foreign terror threats, pushing back on fresh outrage from key allies over secret American surveillance programs that reportedly installed covert listening devices in European Union offices.
• Facing threatened investigations and sanctions from Europe, U.S. intelligence officials plan to discuss the new allegations -- reported in Sunday's editions of the German newsweekly Der Spiegel -- directly with EU officials.
• But "as a matter of policy, we have made clear that the United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations," concluded a statement issued Sunday from the national intelligence director's office.
• It was the latest backlash in a nearly monthlong global debate over the reach of U.S. surveillance that aims to prevent terror attacks. The two programs, both run by the National Security Agency, pick up millions of telephone and Internet records that are routed through American networks each day. Reports about the programs have raised sharp concerns about whether they violate public privacy rights at home and abroad.
• The concerns came as the former head of the CIA and NSA urged the White House to make the spy programs more transparent to calm public fears about the American government's snooping.
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