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Over the past few weeks, we've heard stories about the foods that mean "summer" to some of our listeners: tomatoes, peach milk shakes, apricot jam. Now, we hear about some more unusual summer foods.

The Senate approves tighter ethics rules. The ethics reform bill makes it illegal for legislators to accept gifts, meals, and even travel from lobbyists. And it requires them to make public 48 hours in advance any plans for spending on pet projects. It goes now to President Bush.

When U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings gets time to read, she likes to escape reality. This summer, the former Texas education lobbyist is reading books that take her from the wilds of North Dakota to ashrams in India and islands in Indonesia.

This week, U.S. intelligence agencies produced a new assessment of the violence in Iraq and the chances for political reconciliation there. The last National Intelligence Estimate in February said the security situation in Iraq was dire and getting worse. The latest report says it could "continue to improve modestly."

As temperatures around the globe rise, the world's mountains are changing. In the Alps, retreating glaciers, more landslides and dramatic rockfalls are causing shifts not only in the physical environment, but in jobs, town budgets, and attitudes.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon used his State of the Union speech to critique the United States. He said he was protesting what he called the "persecution" of undocumented Mexican workers.

The new U.S. Court of Military Commission Appeals has heard arguments in its first case. Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 for allegedly killing a U.S. soldier. A semantic dispute over the term "unlawful" is at the heart of the debate.

As foreclosures continue to rise, regulators and others are questioning the role of credit agencies, which gave top ratings to risky mortgage-backed securities. Critics say the system, in which firms are paid by the companies they rate, is inherently flawed.

Fifty years ago in Little Rock, Ark., nine black children were thwarted in their attempt to attend the all-white Central High School. Members of the Arkansas National Guard, along with an angry mob, refused to let them into the school.

After the retirement of Sen. John Warner, and with Sen. Larry Craig's seat in jeopardy, where do Republicans and Democrats in the Senate stand ahead of the 2008 elections?