AFP - Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the US Senate, has been indicted for making false statements concerning gifts he received from an oil-services firm, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

AP - The House on Tuesday issued an unprecedented apology to black Americans for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow segregation laws.

AP - Barack Obama told House Democrats on Tuesday that as president he would order his attorney general to scour White House executive orders and expunge any that "trample on liberty," several lawmakers said.

Bloomberg - July 30 (Bloomberg) -- The federal indictment of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, the Senate's longest-serving Republican and one of its most influential lawmakers, is the latest election- year blow to a party that's already reeling.