Approval of Congress lowest in a decade  —  Only about a quarter of Americans approve of how it's doing its job, a poll shows; most see 'business as usual.'  —  WASHINGTON — Fueled by disappointment at the pace of change since Democrats assumed the majority on Capitol Hill …

U.S. Officials Deny Bush Lost Wristwatch in Albania  —  TIRANA, Albania — Whatever happened to the president's watch?  —  One moment President George W. Bush was glad-handing Albanians on Sunday, proudly sporting a watch with a dark strap on his left wrist.  Moments later, it was gone.

Border Security Can Be Implemented Without Senate Bill  —  Today, nine U.S. Senators wrote a letter to President Bush urging him to fulfill the border security provisions listed in the Senate immigration bill whether the legislation passes or not.  Each border security trigger in the bill …

In Senate Vote, G.O.P. Fights Off Gonzales Rebuke  —  Senate Republicans blocked a symbolic no-confidence vote against Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on Monday evening, dismissing the measure as an irrelevant gesture, though Democrats had hoped it might intensify pressure on Mr. Gonzales to resign.

CAIR membership falls 90% since 9/11  —  Membership in the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has declined more than 90 percent since the 2001 terrorist attacks, according to tax documents obtained by The Washington Times.  —  The number of reported members spiraled …

Clinton Owes Lead in Poll To Support From Women  —  The consistent lead that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York has maintained over Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and others in the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination is due largely to one factor: her support from women.

"TEAR DOWN THIS WALL"  —  Twenty years ago today Ronald Reagan stood in front of the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate and gave the speech heard 'round the world.  Our friend Peter Robinson was the man who wrote the speech.  He tells the story behind the speech in his terrific book How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life.

McCain camp enters campaign 'dog days'  —  Bracing for a fundraising report at the end of the month that is unlikely to alleviate the headaches that have plagued his campaign, Arizona Sen. John McCain and his top advisers have fashioned a survival plan they hope will steady his GOP nomination run.

David Chase speaks!  —  What do you do when your TV world ends?  You go to dinner, then keep quiet.  Sunday night, "Sopranos" creator David Chase took his wife out for dinner in France, where he's fled to avoid "all the Monday morning quarterbacking" about the show's finale.

Mueller Often Uses FBI Jet Bought for Counterterrorism  —  When the FBI asked Congress this spring to provide $3.6 million in the war spending bill for its Gulfstream V jet, it said the money was needed to ensure that the aircraft, packed with state-of-the-art security and communications gear …

Hamas TV: We have taken over the northern Gaza Strip  —  Hamas launched a full-scale attack Tuesday afternoon against Fatah security bases and positions in Gaza, and succeeded in taking over a number of them, Israel Radio reported.  —  Hamas-affiliated television said that the organization overtook …

High-profile Tancredo presidential campaign staffer outed  —  Tyler Whitney, the webmaster for the right-wing antigay Colorado Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo's presidential campaign, has been outed by the Michigan gay paper Between the Lines.  I had reporter Todd Heywood on the show today.

In Parting Shot, Blair Calls Press a 'Feral Beast'  —  In the land that produced "Scoop," Evelyn Waugh's novel of journalistic ambition and ineptitude, it would seem unsurprising for politicians to criticize reporters on occasion.  But was it justified, as Prime Minister Tony Blair did today, to call the press a "feral beast"?

Judges Say U.S. Can't Hold Man as 'Combatant'  —  The federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., ruled yesterday that the president may not declare civilians in this country to be "enemy combatants" and have the military hold them indefinitely.  The ruling was a stinging rejection …

Virginia's GOP chairman will serve as Bush counselor  —  Gillespie leaving job to replace Bartlett at White House  —  Edward W. Gillespie will step down as Republican Party of Virginia chairman today to become counselor to President Bush in the White House.

Report: Contracting head illegally political  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the main federal contracting agency, a longtime GOP supporter, should be "punished to the fullest extent" for violating a ban on political advocacy on government time, a watchdog agency concluded.