Iran hands over nuclear response  —  TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran on Tuesday handed over its reply to an incentives package by world powers aimed at allaying Western fears that Tehran seeks to build atomic bombs, Iran's state-run Arabic-language Al-Alam television reported.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

Other Voices: In Search of Honesty on the Eavesdropping Story; Writers' Credentials; Anonymous Sources  —  Re "Eavesdropping and the Election: An Answer on the Question of Timing" (Aug. 13):  —  On Dec. 16, 2005, an article in The New York Times revealed warrantless surveillance of communications by the federal government.

Too Few Overachievers  —  Academically Stressed Students Aren't the Country's Norm  —  Be careful when you visit Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda.  It is full of unhappy, overworked teenagers.  Julie went into a tailspin when her private admissions advisertold her she had no chance of getting into Stanford.

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 …

A Man, a Plan, a Dam.  Then, an F.B.I. Call.  —  On July 25, Jim Bensman of Alton, Ill., attended a public meeting on the proposed construction of a bypass channel for fish at a dam on the Mississippi River.  Less than a week later, he was under investigation by the F.B.I. — the victim …

Hip-hopper sings Steele praise  —  Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons will be the host of a campaign fundraiser Thursday for Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's run for U.S. Senate.  —  The fundraiser for Mr. Steele, a Republican who would be the state's first black U.S. senator if elected …

Iran's Navy Attacks and Boards Romanian Rig in Gulf (Update3)  —  Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) — Iran attacked and seized control of a Romanian oil rig working in its Persian Gulf waters this morning one week after the Iranian government accused the European drilling company of ``hijacking'' another rig.

Israel, US foil Iran arms transfer  —  ANKARA, Turkey  —  Israeli and American intelligence agencies alerted Turkish authorities last Friday that several Lebanon-bound Iranian planes, loaded with military hardware meant for the Hizbullah, were making their way through Turkish airspace, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

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 …

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.

President on Another Planet  —  For a moment there, I was almost encouraged.  George W. Bush, the most resolutely incurious and inflexible of presidents, was reported last week to have been surprised at seeing Iraqi citizens — who ought to be grateful beneficiaries of the American occupation …