Hamas leaders arrested; Israeli executed  —  GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli forces rounded up dozens of Palestinian Cabinet ministers and lawmakers from Hamas, increasing pressure on the Islamic militants to release a captured Israeli soldier, and witnesses said tanks moved into northern Gaza …

Justices Back Most G.O.P. Changes to Texas Districts  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld most of the Texas congressional map engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay but threw out part, saying some of the new boundaries failed to protect minority voting rights.

Obama: Democrats Must Court Evangelicals  —  WASHINGTON — Sen. Barack Obama chastised fellow Democrats on Wednesday for failing to "acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people," and said the party must compete for the support of evangelicals and other churchgoing Americans.

Insurgents offer to halt attacks in Iraq  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Eleven Sunni insurgent groups have offered an immediate halt to all attacks — including those on American troops — if the United States agrees to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq in two years, insurgent and government officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

A SWIFT Kick in the Head  —  When asked to back up the White House accusation that a recent New York Times story put American lives at risk by disclosing vital secrets to terrorists, the best press secretary Tony Snow could do yesterday was this: "I am absolutely sure they didn't know about SWIFT."

Indiana Jones?  No, it's Weldon  —  It's a scene out of an Indiana Jones movie - or an Indiana Jones parody:  —  A caravan of jeeps and heavy equipment crawls across the Iraqi desert, headed for a secret location on the banks of the Euphrates River.  —  Their mission: to dig 25 feet …

IDF confirms PRC report of Eliyahu Asheri's death  —  The IDF confirmed early Thursday a report the Popular Resistance Committees issued from Gaza that it had executed Eliyahu Asheri, 18, of Itamar, who was kidnapped earlier this week in the West Bank.  —  IDF combat engineers …

Commentary: Media provides cover for assault on traditional marriage  —  Editor's note: James C. Dobson is founder and chairman of Focus on the Family Action.  He has a Ph.D. in child development and is author of the best-selling book, "Bringing Up Boys."  He's currently working on a follow-up, "Bringing Up Girls."

Nominations Sent to the Senate  —  John Preston Bailey, of West Virginia, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of West Virginia, vice Frederick P. Stamp, Jr., retiring.  —  Mary O. Donohue, of New York, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of New York …

"[T]reason, plain and simple": Right-wing media figures attack NY Times over bank-tracking story … In the wake of a June 23 New York Times article describing a secret Bush administration program designed to monitor international financial transactions, numerous conservative media figures …

Democrats More Eager to Vote, But Unhappy with Party  —  Gay Marriage, Inheritance Tax Among the Lowest Public Priorities  —  Summary of Findings  —  With less than five months to go before Election Day, Democrats hold two distinct advantages in the midterm campaign that they have not enjoyed for some time.

Senator seeks tax on pimps, prostitutes  —  Grassley: 'It's a no-brainer to have the IRS go after sex traffickers'  —  NEW YORK (CNN) — Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa is hoping to stamp out the sex trade by taxing pimps and prostitutes, then jailing them when they don't pay.

GOP's New `values Agenda' Item Fails  —  House Republicans failed Wednesday to advance a bill protecting the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.  Only a day earlier, the GOP had placed the measure on its "American Values Agenda" in hopes of bolster the party's prospects in the fall election.

The Huffington Post's Swift Antics  —  Some readers of HuffingtonPost.com have initiated a new wave of harassing phone calls to Swift Boat veterans who questioned John Kerry's military record in the 2004 campaign — and the website's proprietors remained ignorant of it for days, despite repeated complaints.

On the Net Neutrality Commerce Committee Tie  —  In terms of the vote, well, we pretty much expected this, though we weren't sure whether we could keep the Dems unified.  They held under intense lobbying pressure from the telecoms.  I think it's fair to say that we've reversed the momentum on this issue …