AP - Congress wants to require executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to have their pay packages approved by the government as part of a bill to throw a federal lifeline to the mortgage giants.

AFP - US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called President George W. Bush "a total failure" who "has no ideas," in an interview with CNN.

AFP - A US Senate investigative panel accused two prominent banks in Liechtenstein and Switzerland on Wednesday of helping wealthy Americans hide billions of dollars and evade taxes.

AP - Dean Barkley — lawyer, political kingmaker, and bus driver — has spent 62 days in the U.S. Senate, which he calls "the most prestigious club on earth."

AP - Seeking to blunt GOP efforts to permit oil exploration off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, House Democrats Thursday pressed legislation they say would spur drilling on already available lands in Alaska, the West and the western Gulf of Mexico.

AP - A man wanted by Liechtenstein for leaking secret bank records that identified millionaire tax cheats told lawmakers on Thursday about elaborate sham transactions and code words used to outsmart the IRS.

AP - A plan emerging in Congress would require government approval of executives' pay at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as part of a federal lifeline for the mortgage companies.