Hezbollah rockets hit Tiberias
BEIRUT, Lebanon, July 15 (UPI) -- The government declared martial law in the northern part of Israel Saturday as Hezbollah militants kept up a barrage of Katyusha rockets from Lebanon.
Rockets struck Tiberias, a resort in the Galilee, the deepest penetration into Israel by the weapons so far, the Jerusalem Post reported. The Israeli government announced a system that gives one minute's warning of a rocket strike and asked residents to remain near shelters.
Israel continued its air strikes on Lebanon, hitting central Beirut for the first time, as well as targets near Lebanon's border with Syria.
The Israeli strikes also included attacks on Tripoli and the Christian cities of Amchit and Junieh, CNN said, citing Lebanese media.
Israeli warplanes also hit an area near the southern city of Tyre, where Hezbollah guerrillas were launching rockets at Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.
At least 106 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Lebanon in the four-day Israeli offensive, Lebanese police told CNN. On Saturday, two vans were hit during an air strike on the highway, reportedly killing 15 people, most of them children.
At least 15 Israelis have been killed, four civilians and 11 soldiers, Israeli police said.
The fighting in Lebanon erupted Wednesday with a Hezbollah raid across the border that left eight Israeli soldiers dead and two abducted.
Security Council condemns North Korea
NEW YORK, July 15 (UPI) -- The United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution Saturday condemning North Korea's test missile launches.
North Korea rejected the resolution. Pak Gil Yon, the country's delegate, said the July 4 launches were part of routine military exercises.
The resolution requires all countries belonging to the United Nations to do their best to keep North Korea from getting nuclear materials or missile technology.
A long-range Taepodong-2 missile with the theoretical capacity to reach the United States failed its test, crashing less than a minute after it left the launching pad. North Korea also fired a number of short-range missiles.
After the North Korean delegate left the council chamber, U.S. envoy John Bolton said the country had set a speed record by rejecting the resolution within 45 minutes of its passage. He said he could respond to Pak's comments "but why bother?"
Thousands battle California wildfire
YUCCA VALLEY, Calif., July 15 (UPI) -- Thousands of firefighters battling a massive wildfire near a resort town in California's San Bernardino Mountains made little progress Saturday.
They also lost no ground, the San Bernardino County Sun reported. Late in the day, the number of acres burned remained at 59,000 and the fire remained 40 percent contained.
About 2,900 firefighters and three dozen aircraft struggled to keep the fire from spreading. The fire, caused by lightning, threatens about 3,000 buildings near Big Bear Lake -- a popular summer destination about 80 miles east of Los Angeles -- as temperatures in the region reach 112 degrees.
The massive fire, which covers about 110 square miles, resulted when two smaller fires merged Friday.
By late Saturday, authorities said 45 buildings had been destroyed and 11 damaged.
Report: Budget cuts threaten 2010 census
WASHINGTON, July 15 (UPI) -- Planning for the 2010 U.S. census could be threatened by House and Senate funding cuts, Census Bureau officials said.
The White House has proposed $878 million for the bureau in its 2007 budget, but the House voted last month to give the agency $815.7 million, and a Senate committee voted this week to provide $828 million, The Washington Post reported.
Bureau officials declined to comment on the cuts, the newspaper said, but advocates for the agency said the lower funding would threaten the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of the 2010 head count.
One effect would be that the bureau would have to drop plans to use hand-held computers to collect census data. Also, the bureau would be unable to document fully the number of people living in group situations such as prisons, college dormitories and mental hospitals.
"It would be devastating," said Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee, which funds the census.
He told the Post he would convene a hearing late this month "to make the case publicly how important this is."
