Iran ready for 'serious' nuclear talks  —  TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's top nuclear negotiator said Tuesday that Tehran was ready to enter "serious negotiations" over its disputed nuclear program but did not say whether it was willing to suspend uranium enrichment — the West's key demand.

Missing Fox News crew: Blogburst  —  Fox News Channel reporter Steve Centanni and freelance cameraman Olaf Wiig are still missing.  It has now been more than a week since their kidnapping at gunpoint in Gaza by unknown terrorists.  FNC top management, the journalists' families …

Iran 'fires on Romanian oil rig'  —  BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A Romanian oil rig off the coast of Iran came under fire from an Iranian warship and was later occupied by Iranian troops, a company spokesman said.  —  The Iranians first fired into the air and then fired at the Orizont rig, said GSP spokesman Radu Petrescu.

Poll: GOP up after terror arrests  —  WASHINGTON — The arrest of terror suspects in London has helped buoy President Bush to his highest approval rating in six months and dampen Democratic congressional prospects to their lowest in a year.  —  In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday …

Washington Whispers  —  Don't laugh, but a loaner training kayak in the pool of the House of Representatives gym made the difference in President Bush's House victory for a pork-busting line-item veto.  "That's spot on," says Colorado Rep. Mark Udall, who helped talk 34 other Democrats into backing the measure 247 to 172.

Judge Orders Justice Department Investigation of Leak to CBS Report  —  A federal judge has ordered a Justice Department probe into how CBS News obtained a story two years ago disclosing an FBI investigation into a pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Obsessed Bin Laden wanted to kill Whitney Houston's husband  —  Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden is so obsessed with singer Whitney Houston he thought about killing her husband, Bobby Brown, it was claimed last night.  —  The suggestion is made by Sudanese poet and novelist Kola Boof …

The Fertility Gap  —  Liberal politics will prove fruitless as long as liberals refuse to multiply.  —  The midterm election looms, and once again efforts begin afresh to increase voter participation.  It has become standard wisdom in American politics that voter turnout is synonymous …

Who's the senator who wants spending kept secret?  —  The Washington DC Examiner Newspaper, The Examiner  —  WASHINGTON - A Senate staffer — who shall remain nameless here — must have awakened on the wrong side of the bed Monday morning.  Said staffer exploded in response …

Throwing in the Towel  —  The constant calls, the people frightening his children, and the demonstrations in front of his home apparently became a little too much.  —  Dario Ringach, an associate neurobiology professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, decided this month to give …

Joe Rosenthal, Photographer at Iwo Jima, Dies  —  Joe Rosenthal, the Associated Press photographer who captured the enduring image of the American fighting man in World War II with his depiction of five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising a huge American flag over the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, died Sunday in Novato, Calif. He was 94.

Exclusive Poll Results Show Allen Losing Ground  —  GOP Allen's Once Large Lead Evaporates: In an election for the United States Senate in Virginia today, 8/21/06, incumbent Republican George Allen edges Democrat challenger James Webb 48% to 45%, according to an exclusive SurveyUSA poll conducted for W*USA-TV in Washington, DC.

1 in 8 murderers halted their appeals to speed execution  —  Executions in America continue to generally decline, according to state and federal records, but one trend remains constant: One in eight convicted murderers who are executed "volunteer" to die by abandoning their legal appeals.

Scientists Offer Proof of 'Dark Matter'  —  Analysis of Galactic Collision Said to Reveal Mysterious Substance  —  For decades, many scientists have theorized that the universe is made up of nearly undetectable mysterious substances called dark matter and dark energy.

Connecticut Groups Push to Remove Lieberman From Ballot  —  Critics of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman's independent run to keep his job attacked on two fronts Monday, with one group asking an elections official to throw him out of the Democratic Party and a former rival calling on state officials to keep his name off the November ballot.

The Job Sen. Clinton Should Want  —  Skip the presidential rat race and whip the Senate Democrats into shape.  —  CONVENTIONAL WISDOM has it that Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is an absolute certainty.  But in Washington, many believe otherwise, fearing for her prospects and those of the Democratic Party she represents.