JIM LEHRER: Israeli leaders decided today against a wider
offensive in Lebanon after 16 days of fighting. They did authorize calling up
at least 30,000 more reservists. The decisions came a day after nine Israeli
soldiers died in heavy fighting around two Hezbollah towns, just north of the
border.
Today, Israel stepped up air strikes and artillery fire
across the border region. The targets included key roads and the homes of
alleged Hezbollah activists; at least one person was killed. Later, Israeli
Defense Minister Amir Peretz insisted the military will pursue its plan.
AMIR PERETZ, Israeli Defense Minister (through translator): Our
goal is to create an area clean of Hezbollah so that this crisis will end. They
will not be able to return to their current positions.
JIM LEHRER: Hezbollah answered today with a barrage of 50
more rockets into northern Israel. So far, the guerrillas have fired more than
1,400 rockets.
The Israelis broadcast new warnings today, saying they would
wipe out any villages where Hezbollah launches rockets. But in Beirut, the
president of Lebanon told A.P. Television News the Israeli campaign will not
work.
PRESIDENT EMILE LAHOUD, Lebanon: They're not going to be
able to take out the weaponry of Hezbollah, so all they're doing is massive
destruction. And I'm afraid to say that they've been waiting for that for a
long time.
JIM LEHRER: The Lebanese government estimated today up to
600 people have died there in the fighting; 51 Israelis have been killed.
On the diplomatic front, Secretary of State Rice said today
she's "willing and ready" to make a second trip to the Middle East. She
spoke during a conference in Malaysia and she cut short her stay there. Aides
would not say where her next stop will be.
And in Rome, a U.N. special envoy denied a conference there
yesterday was a failure because it failed to demand a cease-fire.
TERJE ROED-LARSEN, U.N. Envoy: There has to be a
peacekeeping force to make it durable and, number two, that there has to be
political ramifications there. This is not "Harry Potter" land where
you wave the magic wand and then things just happen immediately. This is the
real world, where you have to plan, you have to implement, and it takes time.
JIM LEHRER: A top Israeli official said today the Rome
conference actually gave his country permission to continue the fight. The
German foreign minister called that a "gross misunderstanding." But
in Washington, President Bush declined to criticize Israel's tactics.
Al-Qaida's second in command called today for Muslims
worldwide to rise up against Israel and its supporters. Ayman al-Zawahiri spoke
in a new videotape aired on Al-Jazeera television. He said, "All the world
is a battlefield."
AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI, Al-Qaida Second in Command (through
translator): The Israeli shells and missiles which burn the Muslim brothers in
Gaza and Lebanon are not purely Israeli but provided and financed by all the
crusader-alliance countries. Therefore, everyone who took part in this crime
should pay the price. We cannot watch these shells falling on our brothers in
Gaza and Lebanon while we are sitting idle.
JIM LEHRER: The al-Qaida leader vowed to continue fighting
until Islam prevails from "Spain to Iraq." We'll have more on the
crisis in the Middle East right after this news summary.
In Iraq today, an upscale neighborhood in Baghdad came under
heavy attack. At least 31 people died; more than 150 were wounded. A barrage of
mortars and rockets hit in the middle of the morning, followed quickly by a car
bomb. An apartment building collapsed in flames. Banks and commercial buildings
were also destroyed.
The government of India today welcomed a vote in the U.S.
House last night. It overwhelmingly approved shipments of U.S. nuclear fuel and
technology to India. India had been barred from such a deal because it never
signed a treaty against spreading nuclear weapons. The Senate has yet to vote
on the plan.
U.N. Ambassador John Bolton returned to the U.S. Senate
today for new confirmation hearings. Democrats blocked his initial nomination
last year, so President Bush gave him a temporary appointment. Today,
Republicans maintained he's proved his mettle. Democrats said he's been
ineffective.
Senator Sarbanes of Maryland quoted an unnamed ambassador
from a New York Times article.
SEN. PAUL SARBANES (D), Maryland: My initial feeling was,
"Let's see if we can work with him," and I have done some things to
push for consensus on issues that were not easy for my country. But all he
gives us in return is, "It doesn't matter. Whatever you do is
insufficient." He's lost me as an ally now, and that's what many other
ambassadors who considered themselves friends of the U.S. are saying.
What's your response to that?
JOHN BOLTON, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations: A number
of ambassadors came up to me after that article and said they thought it was
unfortunate because it certainly didn't reflect their views, and they hadn't
been contacted.
But, look, I don't think it's useful to respond to stories
that quote anonymous people. In my daily relationships with the ambassadors, I
treat them with respect, they treat me with respect. I think we get the job
done.
JIM LEHRER: We'll have more on today's hearing later in the
program.
The Department of Homeland Security faced allegations today
of extensive waste and misspending. The criticism came in a congressional
report first detailed in the Washington Post.
It blamed a dependence on no-bid contracts and a lack of
oversight. The report got an airing later at a congressional hearing. We'll
have more on this story later in the program.
President Bush signed the extension of the Voting Rights Act
today. He renewed the landmark law at a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White
House. The audience included civil rights leaders and families of past
activists.
The 1965 statute was designed to end racist voting
practices, mainly in the South. The extension gives it another 25 years.
The death toll kept rising today in the California heat
wave. Officials said it could be as high as 90. And in Fresno County, workers
stacked bodies at the morgue. Temperatures have topped 100 degrees over much of
the state for 12 days. The heat has also helped fuel wildfires in Southern
California.
There was word today the champion of the Tour de France,
American Floyd Landis, failed a drug test during the race. His team announced
that he tested positive for high levels of testosterone. He was suspended,
pending results from a second test.
Landis won the Tour de France on Sunday. He'd made a
remarkable comeback in the alpine stage of the race. Today, he told Sports
Illustrated, "I didn't cheat to win."
The high price of oil showed up today in Exxon-Mobile's
latest earnings report. It made more than $10 billion in the second quarter. That's
the second-largest profit ever for a publicly traded U.S. company.
On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost
two points to close at 11,100. The Nasdaq fell nearly 16 points to close at
2,054.
