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 …

France Sets Big Force for Lebanon  —  2,000 to Serve As Peacekeepers; 'Clarifications' Set  —  French President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that France would commit 2,000 troops to a new international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.  The decision breaks a stalemate that has held …

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.

TAPPED  —  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 …

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.

Morning-after pill to be available without prescription  —  Buyers must prove they're 18 or older  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Women can buy the morning-after pill without a prescription, the government declared Thursday, a major step that nevertheless failed to quell the politically charged debate over access to emergency contraception.

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. …

GOP Senate challenger McGavick reveals drunken driving incident  —  OLYMPIA, Wash. — Republican U.S. Senate challenger Mike McGavick, in a remarkable confession of what he called his personal and political shortcomings, on Thursday revealed a drunken driving incident and discussed his divorce …

Republican Congressional Report on Iran Riddled With Errors  —  Here is what the professionals are saying about the Republican-dominated Subcommittee on Intelligence Policy report on Iran that slams US intelligence professionals for poor intelligence on Iran: The report demonstrates …

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.

Files From Duke Rape Case Give Details but No Answers  —  DURHAM, N.C. — On March 21, a week after an African-American woman charged that she had been raped by three white Duke University lacrosse players, the police sergeant supervising the investigation met with the sexual-assault nurse …

Ehrlich Prolific in Granting Clemency  —  Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has been unusually active in his use of executive clemency powers, pardoning scores of convicts and commuting the sentences of five who were serving life sentences for murder.  —  Since taking office in 2003 …

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 …

Sadr's Militia and the Slaughter in the Streets  —  'We Don't Need a Verdict,' One Commander Says  —  BAGHDAD — In a grungy restaurant with plastic tables in central Baghdad, the young Mahdi Army commander was staring earnestly.  His beard was closely cropped around his jaw, his face otherwise cleanshaven.

Inquiry Opened Into Israeli Use of U.S. Bombs  —  The State Department is investigating whether Israel's use of American-made cluster bombs in southern Lebanon violated secret agreements with the United States that restrict when it can employ such weapons, two officials said.

Kentucky Governor Signs Plea Deal  —  Gov. Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky, who was indicted in May in connection with a hiring scandal, signed an agreement yesterday admitting wrongdoing by his administration and promising to reconstitute the state's Personnel Board.