AP - Barack Obama's willingness to meet Iranian, Cuban and other hostile leaders who would not get face time from John McCain stands as a distinctive element of his foreign policy.

AP - Hard-core advocates for and against the Iraq war are losing leverage as John McCain and Barack Obama, having virtually secured their nominations, appeal to centrist voters who will decide the fall presidential election.

AP - Likely Democratic nominee Barack Obama has begun a top-secret search for a running mate, fresh signs that the general election campaign is well under way and the primary race against Hillary Rodham Clinton is basically over.

AP - People in Massachusetts suddenly are thinking the unthinkable: Who possibly could succeed Sen. Edward Kennedy, patriarch of the famed political family that has dominated the state for more than four decades?

AFP - US President George W. Bush will attend an EU-US summit in Slovenia in June as part of a European tour including stops in Germany, Italy, the Vatican, France and Britain, the White House announced Tuesday.

AP - The House overwhelmingly rejected President Bush's veto Wednesday of a $290 billion farm bill, but what should have been a stinging defeat for the president became an embarrassment for Democrats.

AP - McCain, Obama face tough choices and hard politics in Iraq ... Drug, medical device companies making more donations to Democratic candidates ... In Puerto Rico, stiff politicians lack appeal; Democrats add some boisterous `boricua style'

AP - Barack Obama criticized likely general election rival John McCain on Wednesday where it could hurt most — the Arizona senator's reputation as a champion of ethics. Hillary Rodham Clinton, meanwhile, raised the possibility she might carry her fight to the Democratic convention floor.

AP - Barack Obama's willingness to meet Iranian, Cuban and other hostile leaders who would not get face time from John McCain stands as a distinctive element of his foreign policy.

AP - Forget placards, stoic bodyguards and formal rallies. To win Puerto Rico's presidential primary, both the Clinton and Obama camps are campaigning in the boisterous, face-to-face "boricua style" favored on this Caribbean island.

AP - In a sharp reversal, drug and medical device companies are giving more money to Democrats than Republicans this election season, one more sign of the campaign difficulties the GOP could face this November.

AP - Hard-core advocates for and against the Iraq war are losing leverage as John McCain and Barack Obama, having virtually secured their nominations, appeal to centrist voters who will decide the fall presidential election.