The Perils Of Using 'The Allies'  —  The cowboy has been retired.  Multilateralism is back.  Diplomacy is king.  That's the conventional wisdom about George W. Bush's second term: Under the influence of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the administration has finally embraced "the allies."

Battle to lead UN force as Chirac offers 2,000 troops  —  KOFI ANNAN, the UN Secretary-General, will be asked today to decide whether France or Italy will command the expanded United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.  —  The conflict arose after President Chirac announced …

Fairfax Native Says Allen's Words Stung  —  S.R. Sidarth had built an impressive record of achievements for such a young man: straight-A student at one of Fairfax County's finest high schools, a tournament chess player, a quiz team captain, a sportswriter at his college newspaper …

Wanted: Scarier Intelligence  —  The last thing this country needs as it heads into this election season is another attempt to push the intelligence agencies to hype their conclusions about the threat from a Middle Eastern state.  —  That's what happened in 2002, when the administration engineered …

FDA Approves Plan B's Over-the-Counter Sale  —  No Prescription Will Be Required for Women 18 or Older  —  By the end of the year, American women will be able to walk into any pharmacy and buy emergency contraceptive pills without a prescription as a result of a Food and Drug Administration decision announced yesterday.

Pluto vote 'hijacked' in revolt  —  Pluto (L), pictured with its largest moon, Charon, is now a dwarf planet  —  A fierce backlash has begun against the decision by astronomers to strip Pluto of its status as a planet.  —  On Thursday, experts approved a definition of a planet that demoted Pluto to a lesser category of object.

Hezbollah Didn't Win  —  Arab writers are beginning to lift the veil on what really happened in Lebanon.  —  The way much of the Western media tells the story, Hezbollah won a great victory against Israel and the U.S., healed the Sunni-Shiite rift, and boosted the Iranian mullahs' claim to leadership of the Muslim world.

Shays Urges Iraq Withdrawal  —  A Former War Backer, GOP Congressman Calls for Timetable  —  Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), once an ardent supporter of the war in Iraq, said yesterday that the Bush administration should set a time frame for withdrawing U.S. troops.

WHY WAL-MART MATTERS.  I'm of the opinion that how to handle Wal-Mart is among the two or three most important issues facing the country.  The conversation hasn't caught up to it, and the arguments being had mostly miss the mark and collapse in their own short-sightedness …

Bush Administration Opposes Integration Plans  —  The solicitor general urges the Supreme Court to scrap schools' voluntary programs that exclude some students because of their race.  —  WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has urged the Supreme Court to strike down voluntary school …

New Yorker Arrested for Providing Hezbollah TV Channel  —  A New York man was arrested yesterday on charges that he conspired to support a terrorist group by providing U.S. residents with access to Hezbollah's satellite channel, al-Manar.  —  Javed Iqbal runs HDTV Corp. …

'NYT' Sunday Preview: Barry Goldwater ... Hero of Democrats?  —  NEW YORK An interview in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine with C.C. Goldwater reveals that her HBO film to be aired Sept. 18 paints her late grandfather, Sen. Barry Goldwater, "as a kind of liberal," with testimonials from Al Franken …

Exclusive: Whistleblowers Say State Farm Shredded Documents to Avoid Paying Katrina Victims, Allegations of Massive Fraud  —  Brian Ross and Joseph Rhee Report:  —  State Farm Insurance supervisors systematically demanded that Hurricane Katrina damage reports be buried or replaced or changed …

New Orleans Mayor Takes Swipe At NYC  —  Nagin Cites Failure To Rebuild Ground Zero While Defending Katrina Clean-Up  —  (CBS) Confronted by accusations that he's taking too long to clean up his city after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin defended himself by remarking on New York City's failure to rebuild Ground Zero.

Katie Couric: Perky and Cute, But Smart, Informed and Liberal, Too  —  All Three Commercial Evening News Anchors Viewed Positively  —  Summary of Findings  —  Though Katie Couric has yet to take her seat as the new CBS Evening News anchor, the former Today show co-host is already …