AP - Barack Obama on Thursday promised "an unshakable commitment to Israel's security" as he sought to reassure doubtful Jewish voters. He also said he hopes to help improve relations between American blacks and Jews.

AP - Republican John McCain on Thursday rejected endorsements from two influential but controversial televangelists, saying there is no place for their incendiary criticisms of other faiths.

AP - Barack Obama and John McCain have begun taking quiet but purposeful steps toward choosing their running mates, fresh signs that the Democratic nomination fight is over and the presidential race is rapidly moving toward the Obama-McCain general election matchup.

AP - Republican John McCain has been slow to take advantage of his potential head start for the presidency against Democrats, who are better organized and generate more excitement among voters.

AP - The Federal Reserve has auctioned $46.1 billion in safe Treasury securities to investment firms, part of an ongoing effort to ease credit stresses.

AP - The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday subpoenaed former White House top political adviser Karl Rove to testify about whether the White House improperly meddled with the Justice Department.

AP - The Cuban American National Foundation, once the foremost voice representing the Cuban exile cause in Washington, is hosting a speech Friday by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in a bold move to recapture the group's prominence.

Politico - The House moved quickly to override President Bush’s veto of the Farm Bill Wednesday — so quickly that lawmakers may have to do it again.

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?