Teammates: Allen used "N-word" in college  —  WASHINGTON — Three former college football teammates of Sen. George Allen say that the Virginia Republican repeatedly used an inflammatory racial epithet and demonstrated racist attitudes toward blacks during the early 1970s.

Chris Wallace Has Indeed Grilled A Bush Official About Failing to Get Osama Before 9/11  —  In an interview aired on Fox News Sunday today, Chris Wallace asked Bill Clinton why he hadn't done more to get Osama bin Laden.  Clinton's furious answer lasted several minutes …

Intelligence Report Stirs Debate on Terror Fight  —  An intelligence assessment that the war in Iraq increased Islamic radicalism, worsening the terror threat, set off a sharp debate today among American political officials over credit and blame for the war and the broader fight against terrorism.

Hurricane Chávez  —  HUGO CHAVEZ got the attention that he craves by comparing President Bush to Satan last week.  But the Venezuelan leader's absurd talk may be less threatening than his equally absurd incompetence.  Since Mr. Chávez took power seven years ago …

McCain Names Practices Detainee Bill Would Bar  —  Senator Says 3 Interrogation Methods Are Among the 'Extreme Measures' the Plan Would Outlaw  —  A Republican senator who played a leading role in drafting new rules for U.S. interrogations of terrorism suspects said yesterday that he believes …

Falwell says Hillary would spark base  —  WASHINGTON - The Rev. Jerry Falwell says a White House run by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton would energize his base of religious conservatives even more than if the devil were the Democratic nominee.  —  "I certainly hope that Hillary is the candidate," Falwell told a private prayer breakfast.

U.S. Senate candidates trade jabs  —  BUTTE — The audience was better behaved, but the candidates mixed it up more in the second fall debate between Republican U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns and his Democratic challenger, state Senate President Jon Tester.  —  "He wants to weaken our families …

For Bush, War Anguish Expressed Privately  —  FALMOUTH, Maine — They sat on two frayed chairs in a teacher's lounge, the president and the widow, just the two of them so close that their knees were almost touching.  —  She was talking about her husband, the soldier who died in a far-off war zone.

In Tiny Courts of New York, Abuses of Law and Power  —  Some of the courtrooms are not even courtrooms: tiny offices or basement rooms without a judge's bench or jury box.  Sometimes the public is not admitted, witnesses are not sworn to tell the truth, and there is no word-for-word record of the proceedings.

Mel campaigns for new movie, against war in Iraq  —Text+LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mel Gibson has returned to the spotlight to promote his upcoming movie "Apocalypto," and to criticize the war in Iraq, according to the Hollywood Reporter.  —  Almost two months after he railed against Jews …

Losing Afghanistan  —  We're not adequately fighting the war we should be fighting.  —  As we marked the fifth anniversary of the worst attack on American soil, there was enormous discussion of the lessons of 9/11.  But after the bagpipes stopped, and news coverage turned to other issues …

Rare Woodpecker Sends a Town Running for Its Chain Saws  —  Over the past six months, landowners here have been clear-cutting thousands of trees to keep them from becoming homes for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.  —  The chain saws started in February, when the federal Fish …

U.N. shows why it's incapable of reform  —  The last intervention in public affairs Ted Turner made was a month or two back, when he recounted what an agreeable vacation he'd had in Kim Jong Il's North Korea.  (I sent him a postcard saying, "Wish you were still there.")

UNIFIL Bigger But Just As Ineffective  —  The expanded UNIFIL force tasked to implement UN Security Council resolution 1701 has almost no mandate to do so and has received no leadership from the UN, the New York Times reports this morning.  The force commander believes that he can do nothing unless authorized …

Pope Benedict Demands Reciprocity  —  Pope Benedict XVI met with envoys from several Muslim nations today, greeting them warmly and emphasizing the need for dialogue between the faiths.  He did not offer another apology for his remarks at Regensburg two weeks ago, but he did remind the envoys …