July marked a new all-time record for electricity use in the United States, and that was prior to even hotter weather straining the power grid this week. The Edison Electric Institute, the national association for investor-owned utilities, says demand across the country reached 360,609 gigawatt hours in July, 1.8 percent higher than the record set in July 2005 and up 17.7 percent over July 2000.
When a woman was brutally raped in Denver in 2003, DNA found at the crime scene was similar to that of a felon whose genetic profile was kept in Oregon's DNA database--so similar that the man in Oregon was probably a close relative of the suspect, says Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey. But FBI rules on interstate cases prevented Oregon's crime lab from sharing the man's name with out-of-state police, effectively stalling the investigation.
The announcement on July 31 that Fidel Castro, Cuba's maximal leader for the past 47 years, had temporarily relinquished power to his brother Raúl after undergoing surgery for intestinal bleeding has unleashed a torrent of gossip and analysis. Many are already speculating that, if still alive, the 79-year-old dictator is launching the transition to the next regime. U.S. News spoke with Brian Latell, a former CIA analyst and author of After Fidel: The Inside Story of Castro's Regime and Cuba's Next Leader.
AP - The United States and France agreed Saturday on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for a halt to the fighting between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, but would allow Israel to defend itself if attacked.
AP - Israeli naval commandos battled with Hezbollah in the southern port city of Tyre early Saturday, while Israeli air raids killed at least eight people in multiple strikes across Lebanon and a Hezbollah rocket barrage killed three in northern Israel.
AP - U.S. reinforcements sent to Baghdad to help quell violence took up positions in a restive neighborhood Saturday, while 17 people were killed across Iraq and two bomb blasts at a market wounded eight.
Draft U.S.-French resolution seeking end to Israel-Hezbollah fighting to be debated SaturdayClosed-door Security Council meeting called Israeli commandos raid alleged rocket-launch siteThree killed in rocket attacks on Israel, medics sayOver 750 die in 25 days of cross-border attacks
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