Arctic ice loss: Northwest Passage now open, says space agency

PARIS (AFP) - The Northwest Passage, the dreamed-of yet historically impassable maritime shortcut between Europe and Asia, has now fully opened up due to record shrinkage of Arctic sea ice, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Friday.

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SoCal heat wave strains power grid

LOS ANGELES - Parts of Southern California sweltered in triple-digit temperatures Monday as a heat wave stretched into the seventh day and contributed to power outages that left thousands without air conditioning.

Felix slams ashore as Category 5 storm

LA CEIBA, Honduras - Hurricane Felix roared ashore early Tuesday as a fearsome Category 5 storm, the first time in recorded history that two top-scale storms have made landfall in the same season. The hurricane hit near the Nicaragua-Honduras border, whipping metal rooftops through the air like razors and forcing thousands to flee coastal swampland.

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More on drought from the NC governor’s desk

In a letter to the U.S. Agriculture Secretary this week, Gov. Mike Easley asked for a disaster declaration for 85 of the state’s 100 counties on account of crop losses due to drought.