JIM LEHRER: Good evening. I'm Jim Lehrer.
On the NewsHour tonight: the news of this Friday; then, as the fighting continues to intensify in the Middle East, we have reports from Israel and Lebanon; excerpts from President Bush and British Prime Minister Blair's Washington news conference; two views on diplomacy and the European role in possibly ending the conflict; and the analysis of David Brooks and E.J. Dionne, substituting for Mark Shields; plus, a look at the record heat wave in California.
JIM LEHRER: Fighting raged back and forth across the Lebanese border again today. A new weapon entered the conflict: Hezbollah fired a longer-range missile that went deeper into Israel than any before. It struck near a town 33 miles south of the Lebanese border; there were no casualties. Israeli officials said it was likely Iranian-made.
In all, more than 100 rockets, mostly shorter-range, landed in Israel today. At least six towns were hit; six people were wounded.
In turn, Israeli air strikes blasted 130 targets in south Lebanon, including a storage site for rockets. The attacks also hit houses and roads, killing 12 people.
Elsewhere, the United Nations moved 50 unarmed observers from the border to better-protected sites. An Israeli air strike killed four observers earlier this week.
British Prime Minister Blair and President Bush called today for a strong, new international force in Lebanon. They met at the White House and said they want the U.N. Security Council to take up the issue next week.
Later, both men resisted appeals for an immediate, unconditional cease-fire. Mr. Bush said again any such plan must be "sustainable."
GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States: We've got to deal with this issue now. And, you know, listen, the temptation is to say, "It's too tough. Let's just try to solve it quickly with something that won't last. Let's just get it off the TV screens." But that won't solve the problem, and it's certainly not going to help the Lebanese citizens have a life that is normal and peaceful.
JIM LEHRER: The president also announced Secretary of State Rice will go back to the Middle East tomorrow. She's been attending an Asian summit in Malaysia.
At that summit today, five Muslim nations denounced Israel. Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Pakistan demanded an immediate halt to the violence.
There were protests today outside the Malaysia summit and across the Muslim world. In Kuala Lumpur, hundreds of people broke through a police line chanting anti-U.S. slogans. And in India, protesters gathered at New Delhi's main mosque and trampled an Israeli flag.
The head of U.N. relief operations appealed today for Israel and Hezbollah to stop fighting for 72 hours. Jan Egeland said that would let aid workers evacuate the elderly and wounded and to deliver emergency supplies.
In Beirut, the French group Doctors without Borders said relief workers face damaged roads and personal danger.
CHRISTOPHER STOKES, Spokesman, Doctors without Borders: We're facing an extremely difficult humanitarian situation in terms of access for the south of Lebanon today. There's a lot of talk of humanitarian corridors, but actually this only applies to very few, limited convoys traveling mainly from Beirut to some southern areas, the main towns.
JIM LEHRER: U.N. officials estimated the fighting has displaced up to 800,000 people in Lebanon. That's one-fifth of the population. One relief convoy did arrive in south Lebanon today, but the International Red Cross said others had to turn back because of the fighting.
A cruise ship hired by the United States carried 500 more Americans away from Lebanon today. The evacuation was carried out after U.S. officials initially said it was finished.
In all, some 15,000 Americans have fled since the fighting began, but some remain stranded in the south. The U.S. embassy urged them to await "further guidance." We'll have more on the crisis in the Middle East right after this news summary.
In Iraq today, the leading Shiite politician, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, called for disbanding militias. He addressed a rally in Najaf and urged followers to "support the government to solve the issue of militias."
In Baghdad today, a bomb exploded near a Sunni mosque during Friday prayers; four people were killed. And the U.S. military announced a U.S. Marine was killed in action yesterday in western Iraq. That made 37 Americans killed in Iraq during July. More than 2,500 have died since the war began.
Temperatures cooled slightly across most of California today after 12 days of readings over 100 degrees. County coroners blamed more than 130 deaths on the heat.
The worst was in the central valley region. In addition to the human toll, the weather killed large numbers of livestock. We'll have more on this story later in the program.
Tour de France winner Floyd Landis ramped up his fight today against doping charges. His drug screening during the race showed high levels of testosterone. In Madrid, Spain, today Landis insisted that's due to his natural metabolism. He said he'll prove it to cycling organizations with additional testing.
FLOYD LANDIS, Tour de France Champion: In the same way as other sportsmen in the world have done this, I will proceed to undergo all of these tests and controls that the UCI and WADA feel necessary to accredit that the levels I have had during the tour and all my career are absolutely natural and produced by my own organism.
JIM LEHRER: A lawyer for Landis said today he expects a second sample from the race to come back with the same result; that could lead to his being stripped of the title and kicked off his racing team.
And U.S. economic growth slowed in the second quarter of the year. The Commerce Department reported today the gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 2.5 percent from April through June. That's less than half the rate from the first quarter of the year.
On Wall Street today, the news suggested inflation could ease and the Federal Reserve might stop raising interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 119 points to close above 11,219. The Nasdaq rose more than 39 points to close at 2,094. For the week, both the Dow and the Nasdaq gained more than 3 percent.
And that's it for the news summary tonight. Now, reports from Lebanon and Israel; the Bush-Blair Washington news conference; the European angle; Brooks and Dionne; and the California heat wave.
