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Palestinian author, journalist and literary critic Samir El-Youssef was born in a refugee camp in Lebanon. He now lives in London, and has collaborated with his friend, Israeli writer Etgar Keret, on a book, Gaza Blues. El-Youssef provides his views on recent events in the Middle East.

Sound artist Xan Palay of Columbus, Ohio, sent us a recording that she and sound engineer Tom Harned made in 1997 of a steel-stock provider's enormous warehouse. We hear, in stereo, a large overhead crane move from one end to the other. She has used the sound in a sculpture installation.

Another day of record-breaking heat puts more stress on California's already stressed power grid. Even as businesses and the public try to conserve, there's still a chance that power regulators will be forced to call for rolling blackouts. California has suffered through more than a week of triple-digit temperatures.

This weekend, the 16th International AIDS Conference opens in Toronto, Canada. One topic is sure to receive a lot of attention: how to make an effective vaccine against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Fans of the Mansion Diner, near New York city's Gracie Mansion, will have to do without its affordable spinach pies and cheeseburgers for a spell. The diner, which has been in the Phillips family since 1945, is closing for renovations in a few weeks. Owner Phil Phillips shares nuggets from the diner's homespun history.

A fresh barrage of rockets slams into the northern Israeli city of Haifa, despite days of fierce fighting between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli troops along the Lebanon-Israel border. Much of the current fighting is centered in and around a major Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon.

In honor of the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birth, his music is being performed around the globe. A controversial new production of an unfinished opera Mozart wrote when he was 23, Zaide, has just opened in New York.

Authorities in the United Kingdom say they have arrested more than 20 people in a terror plot to plant bombs on airliners headed to the United States. Police say the suspects were planning to carry liquid explosives onto as many as 10 planes, and detonate them in mid-air. Experts and callers look at the science behind the alleged plot.

Israeli troops welcome the cease-fire with Hezbollah guerrillas as a chance to rest. But the Israeli military remains ready to resume full operations if ordered to attack again. About 30,000 Israeli forces remained in Lebanon.

Director Spike Lee examines the collision of race and politics in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in his provocative new HBO documentary, When the Levees Broke, which has a special showing on Aug. 16 at the New Orleans Arena.

A "state of the blogosphere" report from Technorati founder Dave Sifry says 175,000 new blogs are created each day. Sifry finds that about 55 percent continue blogging on a regular basis. The blogosphere is doubling in size every five to seven months.

Ned Lamont is challenging Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary for Senate in Connecticut. The race, which has drawn national attention, is largely seen as a referendum on incumbent Sen. Lieberman's position on the war in Iraq. Lieberman announced in June that he will run as a third-party candidate if he fails to win the nomination. Robert Siegel talks separately with Lieberman and Lamont.