Morning News Roundup (31 July)

• Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz says Israel cannot agree to an immediate ceasefire, despite a partial halt to air strikes on south Lebanon. Mr Peretz told parliament that if the offensive stopped, "the extremists will rear their heads anew".
  
  Earlier Israel suspended air raids for 48 hours - apart from those to defend its civilians or troops - to allow an inquiry into civilian deaths at Qana. At least 54 people, many of them children, were killed in the southern Lebanese town on Sunday when the house in which they were sheltering was hit by Israeli war planes - the deadliest Israeli raid since hostilities began on 12 July. [BBC]
  


• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she has achieved general agreement on terms to end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, and predicted that a ceasefire could take hold this week.
  
  The extensive loss of life in Qana, which a shaken Rice deemed "tragic," prompted the cancellation of her planned trip to Beirut, and sparked large anti-American protests in Lebanon. At an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council, Secretary General Kofi Annan delivered some of his harshest criticism to date of the Israeli offensive. [WaPo]
  


• Is the U.S. prodding Israel to attack Syria? The Jerusalem Post reports, “[Israeli] Defense officials told the Post last week that they were receiving indications from the United States that the US would be interested in seeing Israel attack Syria.” [ThinkProgress' ThinkFast]
  
  
• Throughout the United States, more and more utility customers are choosing to purchase green power, even though it comes at a premium. An AP article in Sunday's Washington Post focuses on Minnesota, and notes that 30% more of the state's residents this year are willing to pay extra for electricity that comes from renewable sources. Minnesota isn't the only US state seeing such an uptick in consumer purchase of green power: nationwide, 20% more customers are taking advantage of green power options if they're available. Thirty-six states offer green pricing. [Treehugger]
  


• “Britain and California are preparing to sidestep the Bush administration and fight global warming together by creating a joint market for greenhouse gases. … Such a move could help California cut carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases scientists blame for warming the planet. President Bush has rejected the idea of ordering such cuts.” [ThinkProgress' ThinkFast]
  


• DeSmogBlog has a great idea:
  

  The Congresional Committee on Energy and Commerce has been entertaining itself of late with the "debate" on climate change science, and particularly with a "controversy" about the vitality of Michael Mann's hockey stick - an argument that is as irrelevant as it is out of date.
  
  This becomes relevant, though, when you realize that the committee in question is also home to the Tipline, a whistleblower's outlet for reports of "Waste, Fraud and Abuse."
  
  May we suggest the Committee's own shenanigans as an obvious example: It is wasting its own time and taxpayers' money; it is promoting a view of climate science that is fully fraudulent; and its members, beginning most assuredly with Chair Joe Barton, are abusing their political power in the process.
  
  So, feel free to click on the Tipline link and report Congressman Barton to himself. It's clear that he and his Republican colleagues are desperate for something useful to do.

• I was planning on blogging about this, but FOTF Jeff Carlson beat me to it--celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain's account of being trapped in Beirut during the early days of the siege. It's at Salon, so if you're not a subscriber, you'll have to wait through a Web ad. But it's definitely worth it.
  
  
• And finally... check out Ward's latest cartoon in the Village Voice for a view in the future of Joementum. For more on Joe Lieberman's Democratic primary fight with upstart Ned Lamont, check out this WaPo story. Go Ned!!!!