Al Franken bid for Senate cited

Comedian Al Franken has decided to run for the US Senate in Minnesota in 2008, challenging Republican Norm Coleman, a Democratic official said yesterday. (AP)

Two senators -- a Republican and a Democrat -- leading efforts to put Congress on record against President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq joined forces yesterday, agreeing on a nonbinding resolution that would oppose the plan and potentially embarrass the White House. Senators John Warner, a Virginia Republican, and Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, will back a new resolution that would vow to protect funding for troops while expressing the Senate's opposition to the buildup. (AP)

FLORIDA

MIAMI -- City leaders said yesterday that, contrary to reports, they will not throw a party when Cuban president Fidel Castro dies. They said that they will instead open the Orange Bowl so the Cuban exile community can gather peacefully and that tax dollars will only be spent on safety. (AP)