U.N.: Israeli airstrike hits U.N. observer post  —  Sources: Condoleezza Rice floats plan to end conflict  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) — An Israeli airstrike hit a United Nations post in southern Lebanon late Tuesday, killing at least two of the agency's observers, according to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.

Hezbollah Says Israeli Response a Surprise  —  A senior Hezbollah official said Tuesday the guerrilla group did not expect Israel to react so strongly to its capture of two Israeli soldiers.  —  Mahmoud Komati, deputy chief of Hezbollah's political arm, also told The Associated Press …

President Bush and Prime Minister Maliki of Iraq Participate in Press Availability  —  Fact Sheet: Prime Minister Maliki's Meeting with President Bush  —  PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all.  Please be seated.  —  Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the White House.

Steele Slams Party  —  WASHINGTON — A Republican in a competitive Senate race called his party affiliation "an impediment," said he'd "probably not" want President Bush to campaign for him and the GOP-controlled Congress should "just shut up and get something done."

Spazeboy and Me Get Chucked By Holy Joe, Bush-Style  —  I drove all the way up to Waterbury yesterday excited about the prospect of seeing Bill Clinton speak.  Whatever one may think of Bill, his politics and his legacy, his defiance in the face of the right-wing hate machine onslaught are inspirational.

Another Trip to the Curt Weldon Employment Agency  —  As I have previously noted here, being a friend or relative of Congressman Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican, appears to be a surer path to gainful employment than a Harvard MBA.  To review: one of the congressman's daughters got …

Best of the Web  —  Funny Money?  —  A reader noticed something curious in a video from last night's "NBC Nightly News."  Richard Engel, the network's Beirut bureau chief, is reporting from southern Lebanon, and at 1:07 in the video, as he's saying, "In Sidon, we found part …

Are you a woman going solo?  Try a blow-up man  —  LONDON (Reuters) - He fits in a car's glove box, appears at a flick of a switch and when a woman has finished using him, she can just pull the plug and he deflates.  —  He's the "Buddy on Demand," a blow-up man launched on Tuesday with the aim …

The documents seized in the FBI raid on the offices of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) remain unread by Justice Department investigators, pending a federal Appeals Court ruling scheduled for August 27.  Jefferson is anxious to overturn the ruling of federal Judge Hogan of the Washington, DC federal District Court, who allowed the raid.

Six IDF troops wounded in Bint Jbeil  —  Six IDF soldiers were wounded Wednesday morning in an intense exchange of fire between the IDF and Hizbullah guerrillas in the village of Bint Jbeil, which the IDF surrounded on Tuesday.  The soldiers' exact condition was unknown.

Greenwald's sock puppets: The worst blog scandal ever?  —  I have friends involved in this so let me choose my words carefully.  I'm not saying it wasn't worth doing.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing; as with pizza, there's no such thing as a "bad" blog scandal.  Alls I'm saying is, how does it compare?

50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill  —  #1 Michelle Persaud, 27  —  Staff counsel  —  Michelle Persaud's delicate features burst into a smile as she describes the mistake many men make with her.  —  Seeing her dark eyes and mocha skin, her flowing black tresses and expansive lashes …

50 percent of U.S. says Iraq had WMDs  —  Half of Americans now say Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the United States invaded the country in 2003 — up from 36 percent last year, a Harris poll finds.  Pollsters deemed the increase both "substantial" and "surprising" …