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The leaders of the eight leading industrial countries blame "extremists" for the escalating crisis in the Middle East. But a joint G-8 statement offers no diplomatic solutions. Britain's Tony Blair and the U.N.'s Kofi Annan call for an international peacekeeping force to end the violence. The G-8 summit wraps up Monday.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick is in Nigeria, hoping to mediate a peace deal between rebels and government leaders in Sudan's Darfor region. The African Union has extended a deadline for talks to midnight Tuesday. The three-year conflict has led to nearly 200,000 deaths and 2 million refugees.

G-8 leaders meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, release a statement expressing "deepening concern" about rising civilian casualties on all sides of the violence in the Middle East. It also blamed the immediate crisis on "efforts by extremists forces to destabilize the region."

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and other officials lay out new evacuation plans for the city, nearly nine months after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The revamped strategy focuses on helping the evacuation of those without transportation. Nagin also reassures residents that looting will be prevented.

The Senate is scheduled to vote on a measure to expand federally funded embryonic stem-cell research. If the measure is approved, it's likely to result in President Bush's first veto. The bill divides Republicans, and could be a factor in midterm Congressional elections.

A congressional committee took up the topic of global climate change Wednesday, focusing on an eight-year-old study suggesting that the world is warmer now than it has been in a thousand years. Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX) used the hearing to question the study and the debate over global warming.

A national heat wave has Americans dripping in sweat from San Diego to Boston and the strain on the electrical grid is causing power outages. Record amounts of electricity are being used today, and air quality in some regions is reaching unhealthy levels.

Although some foreigners are escaping Lebanon by boat, many people have been forced to evacuate over land into Syria. Damascus has opened its borders -- waiving visa fees and relaxing strict border controls. The evacuees are traveling by bus, taxi, truck -- even on foot.

A doctor and two nurses were arrested overnight in New Orleans, where they are charged with second-degree murder in connection with patient deaths at a city hospital. The deaths occurred in the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina.

Increased diplomatic efforts are unlikely to bring a quick end to the week-old war between Israel and Hezbollah militants. An Israeli general says the fighting could continue at least another week, if not longer.