Lebanon's 'real' soldiers are put in their place  —  TODAY was supposed to be the day when the muchmaligned army of Lebanon took control of its borders and policed the UN ceasefire.  —  Instead, its military commanders were left humiliated and its troops stranded as Hezbollah told them not to try to disarm its fighters.

Republicans Weigh Push For Tougher Terror Laws  —  Expansion of Surveillance  —  A Key Part of New Strategy;  —  Chertoff Is Leading Charge  —  WASHINGTON — Following the foiled United Kingdom bomb plot, the Bush administration is expected to use the terrorist threat to regain …

For GOP, Bad Gets Worse in Northeast  —  Incumbents Shy From Party and President  —  PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. — When it comes to President Bush and the Republican Congress, Rep. Jim Gerlach says voters in his suburban Philadelphia district are in a "sour mood."  —  That's why when it comes …

Voters Must Beware of Republicans' Terrorism Trap  —  LOS ANGELES —  This is not about the war in Iraq.  —  It has nothing to do with Joe Lieberman.  —  This is the Republican trap.  —  Don't fall in.  —  "They have tried to keep it together — they have to make it one in people's minds …

U.S. Shift Kicked Off Frantic Diplomacy at U.N.  —  A Bomb Shelter in Israel (left): In the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, Michal Nachmani, 16, lay in a bomb shelter on the ground floor of his family's apartment building Sunday as Hezbollah missiles exploded outside.

The View From the Top  —  A former Bush adviser on 9/11, Iraq and the lessons of five tumultuous years-for the president and the public.  —  Five Washington Augusts ago, for me, is not just a different time; it is a distant country.  At the White House, we debated the nuances of stem-cell research.

The Bush administration's chosen journalists — Sean Hannity and Pam "Atlas"  —  The Bush administration has adopted an array of tactics to control the news, from threatening journalists with criminal prosecution to paying pundits and manufacturing and distributing propaganda videos disguised as taped news segments.

Part 1: The kidnapping  —  An interview with an Iraqi politician turns deadly.  —  My chief captor had an idea about how to prod the US government into action: another video.  —  He said this one would be different, and left.  —  I turned to the two guards sitting on cushions a few feet away and started to panic.

A War of Escalating Errors  —  Israelis and their foes are swinging wildly — and missing their targets.  —  'Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake," runs Napoleon's famous dictum, and were either the Israeli government or the groups that are leading the Palestinian people …

Passport photograph of girl's bare shoulders rejected 'as it may offend'  —  A five-year-old girl's passport application was rejected because her photograph showed her bare shoulders.  —  Hannah Edwards's mother, Jane, was told that the exposed skin might be considered offensive in a Muslim country.

Gender Gap Worries Educators  —  Girls Outperform Boys In Reading, Writing  —  While black, Hispanic and low-income children again lagged far behind others on statewide mastery test scores, another group of students also remained mired in a chronic - though often less noticed - achievement gap.

Pakistani Charity Under Scrutiny in Plot  —  British and Pakistani investigators are trying to determine whether the group of Britons suspected of plotting to blow up as many as 10 commercial airliners may have received money raised for earthquake relief by a Pakistani charity that is a front for an Islamic militant group.

Which Travelers Have 'Hostile Intent'?  Biometric Device May Have the Answer  —  At airport security checkpoints in Knoxville, Tenn. this summer, scores of departing passengers were chosen to step behind a curtain, sit in a metallic oval booth and don headphones.

Wimmin at War  —  It is 25 years since the Greenham Common protests began.  Sarah Baxter was there, but now asks why feminist ideals have become twisted into support for groups like Hezbollah  —  When Ann Pettitt, the mother of two young children, and her friends set off in August 25 years ago …