Today's Details

-A federal appeals court panel on Thursday refused to let Texas Republicans replace Tom DeLay's name on the November congressional ballot.The finding upheld a July ruling by a federal judge that the ballot must list DeLay, who won a March primary before resigning from Congress on June 9. He now lives in Virginia but is awaiting trial in Texas state court on money laundering and conspiracy charges alleging that illegal corporate cash helped pay for legislative campaigns in 2002. DETAILS

-Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson said on Thursday the wave of scorching temperatures across the United States has converted him into a believer in global warming. DETAILS

-The Army has begun training the oldest recruits in its history, the result of a concerted effort to fill ranks depleted during the Iraq war. In June, five months after it raised the enlistment age limit from 35 to just shy of 40, the Army raised it to just under 42. DETAILS

- The United States Justice Department will monitor today's primary and local elections in Shelby County, Tennessee. The County includes the city of Memphis. Memphis has been the site of questionable election management, including a recent election in Shelby where a number of ballots were "cast" by the dead. DETAILS

-Under criticism, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld reversed course late Wednesday and agreed to testify Thursday at a public hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. DETAILS

-Heading for his Texas ranch, President Bush is taking his shortest summer vacation yet with turmoil in the Middle East and an uncertain future for his Republican Party in fall elections. DETAILS

-Sweltering heat in the East and Midwest was to blame for as many as a dozen deaths this week, and after two days of triple-digit temperatures, the region was in for another day of steamy weather Thursday. DETAILS

-The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East told Congress on Thursday that "Iraq could move toward civil war" if the raging sectarian violence in Baghdad is not stopped."I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I have seen it," Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said the top priority in the Iraq war is to secure the capital, where factional violence has surged in recent weeks despite efforts by the new Iraqi government to stop the fighting. DETAILS

-US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the US government could "indefinitely" hold foreign 'enemy combatants' at sites like the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."We can detain any combatants for the duration of the hostilities," said Gonzales, speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee."If we choose to try them, that's great. If we don't choose to try them, we can continue to hold them," he said. DETAILS

-Global oil prices could hit $200 per barrel if the United States pursues international sanctions against Iran, an Iranian official said on Thursday, although analysts passed the comment off as saber rattling. DETAILS

-Millionaire businessman Ned Lamont opened a double-digit lead over veteran Sen. Joe Lieberman less than a week before Connecticut's Democratic primary, according to a poll released Thursday. DETAILS

-Civil war is a more likely outcome in Iraq than democracy, Britain's outgoing ambassador in Baghdad has warned Tony Blair in a confidential memo. DETAILS