AP - President Bush's GOP allies in the Senate face election-season votes Thursday on both his long-pending war funding request and tens of billions of dollars backed by Democrats for veterans education and an assortment of domestic programs.

AP - Edward M. Kennedy, Robert Byrd, Arlen Specter — fighters and history-makers all. Their battles with age and illness are the hallmarks of the nation's oldest-ever Senate and reminders of the fragility of power.

AP - On the Senate campaign trail, Al Franken frequently invokes the name of his friend, the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, as a major inspiration.

AP - The revolving door between former members of Congress and lucrative lobbying firms usually leads one way. But Jim Slattery is trying to make a U-turn.

Reuters - The U.S. Senate Banking Committee approved legislation on Tuesday that could save a half million homeowners from foreclosure and help stabilize the nation's rattled housing market.

AP - Edward M. Kennedy, Robert Byrd, Arlen Specter — fighters and history-makers all. Their battles with age and illness are the hallmarks of the nation's oldest-ever Senate and reminders of the fragility of power.

AP - With the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination secure, the speaker of the Oregon House is turning his attention to defeating the sole GOP senator on the West Coast this fall.

AFP - Veteran US Senator Edward Kennedy left hospital Wednesday giving a thumbs up to waiting supporters a day after doctors announced he had a malignant brain tumor.