Morning News Roundup (02 August)

Keep up with the latest news on the Israel-Hezbollah-Hamas conflict with these regularly updating news sources:

• Wall Street Journal
  
• BBC Crisis Map
  
• WaPo -- Latest Headlines | Interactive Updates

Now onto the rest of the day's news:

• The vast Amazon rainforest is on the brink of being turned into desert, with catastrophic consequences for the world's climate. Studies by the Woods Hole Research Centre have concluded that the forest cannot withstand more than two consecutive years of drought without breaking down.
  [...]
  [T]he Amazon now appears to be entering its second successive year of drought, raising the possibility that it could start dying next year. The immense forest contains 90 billion tons of carbon, enough in itself to increase the rate of global warming by 50 per cent. [The Independent via Climate Ark]
  
  
• The Anglican Church says it is sinful to contribute to climate change by unnecessarily flying overseas, driving gas-guzzling cars, or failing to save energy in the home. Church leaders here [in New Zealand] have backed the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London in warning Christians it is their moral obligation to look after the planet and lead eco-friendly lifestyles where possible.
  
  "We get uncomfortable with the word sin," the Anglican Church's social justice commissioner Dr Anthony Dancer said. "But I think people need to understand the gravity and seriousness of what we're doing and our responsibility to that, especially as Christians. Sin isn't just personal, it's political and it's public." [New Zealand Sunday Star Times]
  
  
• The Cedar Revolution seems to be up in flames: “The last few weeks have essentially transformed Lebanese politics,” the New York Times finds, “marginalizing...democratic forces” and “instead empowering President Émil Lahoud, a staunch ally of Syria,” and “above all” Hezbollah-aligned Parliament speaker Nabih Berri. [ThinkProgress' ThinkFast]
  
  
• Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's western Anbar province, has sunk into virtual anarchy under the stranglehold of a skilled, well-financed and ruthless insurgency. Now, for the first time, U.S. and Iraqi forces are engaged in a block-by-block campaign to retake the area.
  [...]
  Ramadi has lost as much as a quarter of its population of 400,000 since the insurgency began. The city has no effective government and few police officers. Insurgents assassinate officials with impunity, and recently issued a death threat against anyone entering the heavily shelled Government Center downtown.
  [...]
  "The problem set is mind-numbing," said Maj. David Womack, operations officer for the 101st Airborne Division's battalion in charge of eastern Ramadi. A warning in bold type posted at the battalion's dusty headquarters advises all soldiers to "be polite, be professional, and have a plan to kill everyone you meet." [WaPo]
  
  
• Gunfire, explosions and kidnappings picked up a withering pace across Iraq on Tuesday, killing at least 60 people, including many police officers and Iraqi soldiers. Government forces and U.S. troops raced through flames and smoke from one set of casualties to the next.
  
  The violence that shook Baghdad, the capital, and towns to the north appeared to intensify anger against American soldiers and Prime Minister Nouri Maliki for not stemming unrelenting bloodshed that has led to thousands of deaths and widening sectarian tensions. Most of the attacks targeted Iraqi security forces and suggested a calculated effort to undermine Maliki's new security plans. [LATimes]
  
  
• Carl Romanelli is a Green Party candidate running for the Senate in Pennsylvania. As for all third-party office seekers, Romanelli's first challenge was to try get his name on the ballot. But for Romanelli, the task turned out to be pretty easy. Last June, his campaign received $66,000 from 20 wealthy contributors in the state.
  [...]
  [T]he 20 generous supporters who funded Romanelli's signature-gathering effort weren't part of the Green Party. Instead, they were Republicans. According to the Associated Press, nearly all of them have a record of donating to Republican candidates, and many of them have already given to Rick Santorum, the incumbent GOP senator. [Salon's War Room]
  
  
• Less than a year ago, a conservative majority on Kansas’ State Board of Education adopted state science standards on how to teach modern biology. Or in Kansas’ case, how to avoid it — the standards adopted by the state board represented the broadest challenge to evolution in the country.
  
  Democrats and moderate Republicans organized a fierce fight to take back the board and undo the damage. Yesterday, thankfully, they succeeded.
  

  Conservative Republicans who brought international attention to Kansas by approving academic standards calling evolution into question lost control of the state school board in primaries.
  
  As a result of the vote, board members and candidates who believe evolution is well-supported by evidence will have a 6-4 majority. Evolution skeptics had entered the election with a 6-4 majority.

• The Food and Drug Administration has spent the better part of a year stalling on allowing over-the-counter access to Plan B, a medication that reduces the chances of pregnancy if taken within 72 hours after intercourse. This Monday, on the eve before his Senate confirmation hearings to become the new head of the FDA, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach made a surprise announcement that the FDA will once again consider allowing greater access to the emergency contraception pill. The timing leaves some to doubt the sincerity of this turn around. [Sightline's Daily Score]
  
  
• The British Egg Information Service developed an egg emblazoned with an invisible ink label that turns black when the egg is cooked. The new eggs will go on sale this fall. All you need to do is decide whether you prefer your eggs soft, medium or hard-boiled, and buy accordingly. [Boing Boing/London Times]
  
  
• “Freedom fries” and “freedom toast” are off the congressional menu. “Three years after House Republicans trumpeted the new names to get back at the French for snubbing the coalition of the willing in Iraq,” both fries and toast have been returned to their traditional names. [ThinkProgress]