Today's Details

-Soldiers from North Korea and South Korea exchanged fire along their border overnight, but no one was hurt, a South Korean military official said Tuesday. DETAILS

-With another heat wave bearing down on the region, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg declared a heat emergency in New York while members of the City Council sharply questioned the chairman of Consolidated Edison today about the cause of the blackout that happened in Queens when temperatures last soared in mid-July. DETAILS

-Cuban President Fidel Castro is transferring power provisionally to brother Raul while he undergoes an operation, Cuban TV announces. DETAILS

-It has been two years since that morning, since two California Army National Guard soldiers - Spc. Patrick McCaffrey Sr., 34, of Tracy and 1st Lt. Andre Tyson, 33, of Riverside - were killed.Late last month, military officials gave the families of the soldiers more than 200 pages of documents outlining their investigation into the killings. The documents confirmed what the soldiers' families had long suspected - that McCaffrey and Tyson were not killed by insurgents, as the military initially reported, but by their purported allies, by Iraqis whom they had trained to fight. DETAILS

-A leading Republican senator urged US President George W. Bush to call for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon."The sickening slaughter on both sides must end now. President Bush must call for an immediate ceasefire. This madness must stop," Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, a possible candidate in the 2008 presidential election, said on the Senate floor. DETAILS

-Amid the often hostile rhetoric that pierces South Dakota’s closely watched abortion debate, a new survey shows that more residents of the largely conservative state oppose a ban on the pregnancy-ending procedure than support it, though that would change if exceptions for cases involving rape and incest were allowed. According to the statewide poll, conducted for the Argus Leader and KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, 47 percent of voters polled would vote to reject the ban, compared with 39 percent who would vote to keep it. Another 14 percent were undecided.
DETAILS

-“Overall, this election was handled in such a way that we have no reason for confidence in the results,” famed election attorney Paul Lehto said of California’s 50th Congressional District special election between Francine Busby and Brian Bilbray. In an exclusive interview with RAW STORY on Sunday, July 30, Lehto revealed plans to file a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court on Monday, July 31 against the County of San Diego, Registrar of Voters Mikel Haas, and Brian Bilbray. Bilbray, a Republican, was sworn into office with thousands of ballots still uncounted before the election was officially certified. DETAILS

-House and Senate Democratic Leadership, as well as ranking minority members from the national security committees, have written President George W. Bush to call for the phased redeployment of U.S. forces by the end of the year. DETAILS

-The upper Midwest and Plains states were bracing for another day of sweltering weather, with numerous heat warnings in place from Michigan to Oklahoma. Temperatures wer expected to climb into the 90s or 100s, and spark thunderstorms. DETAILS

-Gov. Mitt Romney has apologized for referring to the troubled Big Dig construction project as a "tar baby" during a fundraiser with Iowa Republicans, saying he didn't know anyone would be offended by the term some consider a racial epithet. DETAILS

-Britain and California are preparing to sidestep the Bush administration and fight global warming together by creating a joint market for greenhouse gases. DETAILS

- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday there would be no cease fire in the coming days to stop fighting between his nation's forces and Lebanon -based Hezbollah militia. DETAILS

-Less than two years ago, Roy Velez got the worst news a father could get: His oldest son was dead, killed during combat in Iraq. This week, his pain only deepened with news that his youngest son had died in Afghanistan. Military officials notified the Velez family Tuesday of the death of Army Spc. Andrew Velez, 22. His brother, Army Cpl. Jose A. Velez, 23, died in November 2004 in Fallujah when his unit came under fire while clearing an enemy stronghold. DETAILS