Today's Details

-The head of the Republican Party accused Democrats of being willing to surrender the tools necessary to combat terrorism as the GOP tries to capitalize on its national security advantage in a tough election year. (Yawn. We've heard this over and over and over. I can't believe he can say this with a straight face days after it was revealed that 2/3's of the Army National Guard is not combat ready and that it will take $21 BILLION dollars to get them ready. In addition - NEWS FLASH but 9/11 happened on THEIR watch - Iraq is a failure - N Korea is armed to the teeth - so please, someone tell me where this myth of the Repubs having a "national security advantage" comes from because I'm not seeing any evidence they are good for the military or national security.) DETAILS

-A grand jury investigation into the actions of suburban police officers who barred New Orleans residents fleeing Hurricane Katrina from entering the town was announced late Thursday by Dist. Atty. Eddie Jordan. Law enforcement officials from Gretna prevented the evacuees, most of them black, from crossing a Mississippi River bridge into the predominantly white suburb. DETAILS

-Most Americans fault President George W. Bush for not safeguarding the environment and want more federal action to combat global warming, even if it means higher energy prices, a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll shows. Seventy-five percent of people surveyed also said strong government regulations are necessary because companies can't be trusted to protect U.S. natural resources. Fifty-four percent said the federal government, not states, should take the lead on setting standards to curb global warming. DETAILS

-A week-long heat wave that has seared the East and Midwest and left behind scattered power outages and at least 27 deaths eased some early Friday. DETAILS

-Heat waves like those that have scorched Europe and the United States in recent weeks are becoming more frequent because of global warming, say scientists who have studied decades of weather records and computer models of past, present and future climate. DETAILS

-Hiring slowed in July as employers added just 113,000 new jobs, propelling the unemployment rate to a five-month high of 4.8 percent and providing fresh evidence that companies are growing cautious amid high energy prices. DETAILS

-The United States needs to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq within the next six months, Sen. Chuck Hagel said Thursday, rather than ratcheting up its military commitment now. DETAILS

-The much-watched Democratic primary election in Connecticut is just four days away, and today Gallup has come out with a poll that finds incumbent Sen. Joseph Lieberman with his lowest ratings ever. "As a result," a Gallup report released this morning relates, "he is now more popular with Republicans than with supporters of his own party," surely not a good sign. DETAILS

-The National Security Agency is providing signal intelligence to Israel to monitor whether Syria and Iran are supplying new armaments to Hezbollah as it fires hundreds of missiles into northern Israel, according to a national security official with direct knowledge of the operation. President Bush has approved the secret program. DETAILS

-Hundreds of thousands of Shiites chanting "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" marched through the streets of Baghdad's biggest Shiite district Friday in a show of support for Hezbollah militants battling Israeli troops in Lebanon. DETAILS