Washington - Stunned silence swept Tuesday across the US Congress, observers said.

One colleague wept.

Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy, left-wing icon and champion of the rights of workers and the poor, had been diagnosed with brain cancer.

The announcement sent shockwaves throughout Washington's political establishment, with Republican and Democratic leaders alike paying tribute to his achievements and significance in US political life.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 199

San Francisco - Technology giant Hewlett-Packard Co bu

Mexico City - At least eight people died Tuesday in central Mexico in a shootout between alleged drug gangs, provincial authorities confirmed.

Washington - Longtime Democratic Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and could undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment, his doctors revealed Tuesday.

The doctors said preliminary biopsy results showed the cause of the two seizures suffered over the weekend was a malignant glioma tumor in the head of the 76-year-old senator.

Kennedy was resting in Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and was moving around and in good condition, a statement by his doctor said, according to CNN.