The Senate today blocked an amendment that would cut farm subsidies and replace them with stronger crop insurance for all farmers. more >>

Sen. Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is calling for rapid Bush administration and Senate action to formally nominate and confirm a U.S. ambassador to Libya, a step he said would contribute to resolving once and for all the lingering disputes over Libya's financial settlements with the families of American victims of the Pan Am 103 airliner bombing in 1988 and the bombing of the La Belle discothèque in West Berlin in 1986. more >>

Are things moving in the right direction in the Middle East? Most Americans, I think, would say no. But perhaps they should ponder a trio of interesting columns. more >>