USA
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) of California declared a state of emergency in seven parched Southern California counties as about a dozen wildfires burned out of control from north of Santa Barbara to San Diego and new fires ignited Monday. Many residents in Malibu and Ramona were evacuated as firefighters worked to protect hundreds of homes. Officials expressed concern that Santa Ana winds could feed the fires, which were blamed for one death. Above, a woman sprays her roof as a wildfire approaches in Canyon Country, Calif.
The countdown to Tuesday's planned launch of the space shuttle Discovery sets the stage for a historic coincidence: two women will be in charge of spacecraft at the same time for the first time in the 50-year history of spaceflight. Pamela Melroy will command the shuttle headed for a rendezvous with the International Space Station, where Peggy Whitson is the commander.
To address the highest homocide rate in the US, black leaders in Philadelphia Sunday urged thousands of black men at a rally to take responsibility for their communities and their families. The event helped promote a program that will assign thousands of unarmed but trained volunteers to conduct street patrols.
A failure on the submarine USS Hampton to do safety checks on the ship's nuclear reactor for a month and falsified records used to cover up the omisssion "fell short of high Navy standards," a Navy Pentagon spokesman was quoted as saying Monday.
New York cab drivers, angered by efforts to install credit-card machines and global positioning systems in their cars, called a one-day strike Monday, the second such work stoppage in six weeks. The cabbies believe that a surcharge on credit-card transactions could lead to a wage cut and GPS equipment to closer tracking of drivers.
A house with walls made with louvers embedded with solar cells was declared the winner in a solar design competition among 20 universities held on Washington's National Mall. Germany's Technische Universität Darmstadt took home first prize, the University of Maryland second.
A senior NASA official told the Associated Press that the results of a nearly four-year air-safety pilot survey were being withheld from the public because it could "affect the public confidence in, and the commercial welfare of, the air carriers."
Placekicker Rob Bironas of the Tennessee Titans broke an NFL record Sunday by kicking eight field goals, including a 29-yarder as time expired in leading the Titans to a 38-36 win over the Houston Texans.
