President Bush Addresses American Legion National Convention  —  Fact Sheet: Winning the Struggle Between Freedom and Terror in the Middle East  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much.  Please be seated.  Thanks for the warm welcome.  It's great to join you here in one of America's most beautiful cities.

Highly Enriched Uranium Found at Iranian Plant  —  The global nuclear monitoring agency deepened suspicions on Thursday about Iran's nuclear program, reporting that inspectors had discovered new traces of highly enriched uranium at an Iranian facility.  —  Inspectors have found such uranium …

Sen. Clinton Touts Woman for President  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, standing outside an abandoned knitting mill that will become the new home of the National Women's Hall of Fame, said Thursday she hopes America is ready for its first woman president.  —  "It just depends on when and if that happens," the former first lady said.

Meth bust highlights Mexican groups' influence  —  Last week, federal officials announced the seizure of 174 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, calling it one of the largest ever on the East Coast.  —  But that's old news.  On Wednesday, the feds announced a bust that doubled that.

Laffey Takes Commanding Lead in Republican U. S. Senate Primary  —  U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee may lose his seat to challenger Steve Laffey, according to a new statewide Republican primary voter poll released today by the Bureau of Government Research and Services at Rhode Island College.

The Next Industrial Giant Is ... India?  —  PUNE, India — India's economic advancement no longer rests on telephone call centers and computer programmers.  —  Among villages with thatch-roofed huts and dirt roads on the outskirts of this city in central India, John Deere and LG Electronics …

THE SECOND LIFE OF GOVERNOR MARK WARNER  —  After the break, a lightly edited transcript of Governor Mark Warner's appearance in Second Life— hopefully the first in many to come.  —  [Millions of Us CEO] Reuben Tapioca: Hello everyone and welcome to the New Globe Theatre.  Today is a very exciting day for us all.

U.S. force in Iraq at 140,000  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has expanded its force in Iraq to 140,000 troops, the most since January and 13,000 more than five weeks ago, the Pentagon said on Thursday, amid relentless violence in Baghdad and elsewhere.

Stereotyping is leading to terror, says first Muslim Miss England  —  The first Muslim to be crowned Miss England has warned that stereotyping members of her community is leading some towards extremism.  —  Hammasa Kohistani made history last year when she was chosen to represent England in the Miss World pageant.

Now is the Time to Act on S. 2590  —  I'm very encouraged to see that all one hundred Senators have now answered the blogosphere's inquiries on the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.  Now is the time to act.  In September, I will bring S. 2590 to the floor of the Senate for the vote it deserves.

Wal-Mart's Speech  —  It turns out that organized labor's battle against Wal-Mart is more than a war on the lower-income Americans who depend on the big-box store's "always low prices."  The unions are also after the First Amendment.  Wal-Mart Watch, an opposition group supported by unions …

'Settling accounts,' IDF kills Al Aksa chief in Nablus  —  IDF forces operating in Nablus early Thursday morning gunned down Fadi Kafisha, 29, commander of Fatah's Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades in the northern West Bank city and a "terrorist mastermind" who military officials said was financed and directed by Hizbullah.

BYRD ADMITS HE PLACED A HOLD, NOW LIFTS IT  —  West Virginia Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd admits that he placed a "secret hold" on legislation that would make uncovering the Byzantine world of federal contracting as easy as typing a Google search.  —  Tom Gavin, spokesperson for Byrd …

Defense CEOs doing well since 9/11, study says  —  Average pay has doubled, compared with slight gains at other companies  —  WASHINGTON - The chief executives of corporations making big profits from the war on terror are enjoying far bigger pay increases than CEOs of nondefense companies, according to a study by two liberal groups.

Misguided Muslim groups  —  Focus should be on extremists' war against the West.  —  On Aug. 10, British police arrested 24 Muslim suspects in a plot to blow up 10 U.S.-bound jetliners over the Atlantic.  If successful, the attack would have killed thousands of people.

GOP kisses up to liberal Chafee  —  Sheldon Whitehouse, Mayor Steve Laffey and incumbent GOP Sen. Lincoln Chafee  —  One of the nastier attack ads currently being aired anywhere in the country is being aired here, and is sponsored by the National Republican Senate Committee, the official arm of the GOP majority.