Israel's Lost Moment  —  Israel's war with Hezbollah is a war to secure its northern border, to defeat a terrorist militia bent on Israel's destruction, to restore Israeli deterrence in the age of the missile.  But even more is at stake.  Israel's leaders do not seem to understand how ruinous …

Lieberman rival owns stock in Wal-Mart  —  Connecticut millionaire businessman Ned Lamont, who sharply criticized the employment practices of Wal-Mart this week in his campaign to unseat Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Democrat primary, owns stock in the company, Senate records reveal.

GOP Bid On Wages, Estate Tax Is Blocked  —  Senate Democrats blocked a Republican bid to combine a tax cut for the wealthy with a wage increase for the working poor last night, adding a volatile economic issue to this fall's congressional campaigns.  —  GOP leaders fell three votes short …

Bush Starts 10-Day Texas Vacation  —  Shorter Summer Break Reflects Post-Katrina Criticism  —  President Bush arrived here Thursday evening to begin a 10-day stretch at his Prairie Chapel ranch, his longest planned period away from Washington during this summer vacation season.

Ahmadinejad's call to destroy Israel draws French condemnation  —  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday the solution to the Middle East crisis was to destroy Israel, Iranian state media reported.  —  In a speech during an emergency meeting of Muslim leaders in Malaysia …

Iraqi Shiites chant 'Death to Israel'  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Hundreds of thousands of Shiites chanting "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" marched through the streets of Baghdad's biggest Shiite district Friday in a show of support for Hezbollah militants battling Israeli troops in Lebanon.

Video - Clinton to Rumsfeld: Why should we believe your assurances now?  —  United States Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) tore into Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld today as he testified before a Senate hearing.  —  Yesterday, Clinton wrote Rumsfeld urging him to appear in open proceedings …

Iran to supply Hezbollah with surface-to-air missiles  —  LONDON (AFP) - Iran will supply Hezbollah with surface-to-air missile systems in the coming months, boosting the guerrillas' defences against Israeli aircraft, according to a report by specialist magazine Jane's Defence Weekly, citing unnamed Western diplomatic sources.

More Frequent Heat Waves Linked to Global Warming  —  U.S. and European Researchers Call Long Hot Spells Likely  —  Heat waves like those that have scorched Europe and the United States in recent weeks are becoming more frequent because of global warming, say scientists who have studied decades …

The End Of the Right?  —  Is conservatism finished?  —  What might have seemed an absurd question less than two years ago is now one of the most important issues in American politics.  The question is being asked — mostly quietly but occasionally publicly — by conservatives themselves …

Clinton The Fighter  —  Kevin Drum writes: … People have rather weird ideas about Bill Clinton.  Remember that he didn't enter the 1988 race because he worried that the Reagan revolution hadn't yet run its course.  And remember, too, that his 1992 campaign was supposed to do nothing …

The War Party  —  It looks as if Ned Lamont is riding the anti-war wave to victory in the Connecticut Democratic primary — or so the latest polls suggest.  —  I'm sure this will be proclaimed a major breakthrough for the anti-war wing of the Democratic Party — tangible proof that Left Blogistan …

Officials Say Kerik Faces a Second Investigation  —  Former Police Commissioner Bernard B. Kerik is under federal investigation for possible financial improprieties unrelated to the crimes he pleaded guilty to last month in state court, two law enforcement officials said yesterday.