First Source of C.I.A. Leak Admits Role, Lawyer Says  —  Richard L. Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state, has acknowledged that he was the person whose conversation with a columnist in 2003 prompted a long, politically laden criminal investigation in what became known as the C.I.A. leak case …

The Tragedy of New Orleans  —  Katrina spending is five times larger than past disasters.  —  "New Orleans has suffered from the trauma of three crises," says Louisiana Congressman Bobby Jindal.  "First was the hurricane, second was the levees breaking and third has been the widespread incompetence …

Ahmadinejad's High-Stakes Game  —  TEHRAN — Drivers here play a high-risk game of chicken at every intersection.  They barge into the frantic stream of traffic and you think there's going to be a crash for sure.  But at the last moment someone usually gives way, and a collision is avoided.

Broadcast Chief Misused Office, Inquiry Reports  —  State Department investigators have found that the head of the agency overseeing most government broadcasts to foreign countries has used his office to run a "horse racing operation" and that he improperly put a friend on the payroll …

Bodies with torture marks found in Iraq  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least two dozen bodies, many bearing signs of torture, were found dumped in Shiite areas of Baghdad on Tuesday, and the government almost doubled the death toll from clashes this week between militiamen and Iraqi forces, saying 73 people had died.

HIT AND RUN: Within half an hour, 14 pedestrians picked off one by one on streets of San Francisco  —  A day of hit-and-run horror that started with the death of a Fremont pedestrian and erupted into half an hour of chaos on the streets of San Francisco ended in the arrest of a 29-year-old driver described …

Israel rejects U.N. blockade appeal  —  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel rejected a call by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon, saying it would only end the 7-week-old siege once all aspects of a ceasefire were in place.

Carter Agrees to Hold Talks With Khatami  —  Ex-President of Iran to Visit U.S. Amid Tensions Over Tehran's Nuclear Program  —  For an event that would turn a page in American history, former president Jimmy Carter has agreed in principle to host former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami …

Beyond Macaca: The Photograph That Haunts George Allen  —  Barnstorming around Virginia in the re-election campaign that Republican Senator George Allen hopes will provide the impetus for his 2008 run for the presidency, he has suddenly been forced on the defensive.

Coburn: Stevens Blocked My Bill  —  Twelve days ago, at a town meeting in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) accused Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) of obstructing his porkbuster-database bill with an anonymous hold.  —  That's according to an Aug. 18 article in the Fort Smith (Ark.) Times Record:

For Congress in Maryland  —  Our choices: two worthy incumbents and one fresh face  —  REP. ALBERT R. WYNN has represented Maryland's 4th Congressional District since 1993, and in that time he has never faced a serious challenger.  This year, in Donna Edwards , he does.

Katie's Extreme Makeover?  —  "Talk about a waistline touch-up," an e-mailer says:  —  The left photo is the official first-pic-of-Katie released by CBS at this year's upfront.  (TVNewser posted it in May.)  The right photo is an edited version of the same photo, from the September issue of Watch magazine, which is owned by CBS.

CNN sorry for Bush speech gaffe  —  NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - CNN apologized Tuesday after an open mike transmitted an anchor's bathroom conversation with another woman live over the network as it was carrying President Bush's speech in New Orleans.  —  "Live From" anchor Kyra Phillips …

Kidnapped Journalists Recall Chilling Abduction  —  Two kidnapped FOX News journalists freed by gunmen last Sunday described in chilling detail how their abductors calmly discussed killing one of them.  —  "Unfortunately for you, you were with an American," camerman Olaf Wiig said his captors told him.

Facing the Central Questions of Our Time  —  (Note: Remarks as prepared for delivery by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld before the American Legion National Convention yesterday in Salt Lake City, Utah.)  —  Tom [American Legion Commander Tom Bock], I understand that your son is flying …

FEC Officially Votes to Silence Political Speech for Last Two Months of 06 Campaign  —  With a 3-3 vote featuring Democrat commissioners supporting the silencing of political speech against congressional incumbents and Republican commissioners in favoring of allowing it …

Al-Qaeda (and US) eclipsed by rise of Iran  —  One of the more interesting results of the Israel-Hezbollah War has been the sidelining of the global jihadi movement and the broader Salafi currents that sustain it.  Despite all its rhetoric of a global jihad against the enemies of Islam …

Times blocks article to U.K. Web readers  —  NEW YORK - The New York Times' Web site is blocking British readers from a news article detailing the investigation into the recent airline terror plot, turning its Internet ad-targeting technology into a means of complying with U.K. laws.