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 …

CBS magazine slims down Couric in photo  —  NEW YORK - No, Katie Couric didn't suddenly lose 20 pounds.  The incoming "CBS Evening News" anchor appears significantly thinner in a network promotional magazine photo thanks to digital airbrushing.  —  The touched-up photo of Couric dressed …

President Bush talks to Brian Williams  —  An exclusive conversation on the one-year anniversary of Katrina landfall … BRIAN WILLIAMS: You have apologized for the damage, but what about the damage to your presidency?  And Mr. President, here's what I mean, most call it your low point.

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.

Afghanistan ignored  —  A WAR is missing.  Sadly, it is not missing from the physical location in which it is taking place, and people continue to die as it is waged.  But it has largely disappeared from our national debate, and that debate has been sorely distorted as a consequence.

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.

Kyl continues lead over Pederson;  —  Governor Napolitano is heavy favorite against Republican challengers;  —  Arizonans support initiative measures that "crack down" on illegal immigration;  —  Initiative to ban same-sex marriages lacks support  —  TEMPE, Ariz. - With only two months …

Journalists blame Israel for war coverage  —  International journalists discuss Lebanon war coverage; NYT bureau chief: Israel 'not interested in Lebanese deaths'  —  Yaakov Lappin  —  A number of journalists claimed during a convention in Jerusalem Monday evening that Israel and the IDF …

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 …

Lieberman, 'Snakes' and the seductive mythology of the blogosphere  —  If ever America needed a wake-up call about the mythology of blogging, we got it this month.  —  On Aug. 8, Connecticut businessman Ned Lamont defeated U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary …

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 …

Women Suddenly Scarce Among Justices' Clerks  —  Everyone knows that with the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the number of female Supreme Court justices fell by half.  The talk of the court this summer, with the arrival of the new crop of law clerks, is that the number of female clerks has fallen even more sharply.

Lieberman Ad Focuses On The `Good Stuff'  —  Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman's new media team wants voters to go to their happy place - and think about all that their client has done for them in 18 years in the Senate.  —  In a commercial that debuted Tuesday, the team Lieberman hired after losing …

MIT's inconvenient scientist  —  Speech codes are rare in the industrialized, Western democracies.  In Germany and Austria, for instance, it is forbidden to proselytize Nazi ideology or trivialize the Holocaust.  Given those countries' recent histories, that is a restraint on free expression we can live with.

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:

Venezuela to seize golf courses  —  The mayor of Venezuela's capital Caracas says he plans to expropriate two exclusive golf courses and use the land for homes for the city's poor.  —  Mayor Juan Barreto has said playing golf on lavish courses within sight of the city's slums is "shameful".

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 …

Call me crazy.  I blame terrorists.  —  Who is A. K. Dewdney?  He's an adjunct professor of biology at the University of Western Ontario, and he has pieced together the truth about what happened on 9/11.  You may be familiar with the official version: "To account for the events of Sept. 11 …