One hundred eighty-two people have died in the summer heat wave. Health officials worried about more deaths, and farmers worried about their crops. An Agriculture Department meteorologist said that in some regions "there is a drought that is comparable to the drought of the '30s." (Chatterbox wonders {{how much hotter#2606:Show=7/28/99&idMessage=3295}} it can get.)

{{rudy#32629}} Rudolph Giuliani raised money for his New York Senate campaign in Arkansas. Giuliani insisted that he went "to learn more about the things that unite Republicans," but the New York Times called it a "brazen publicity stunt." Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee jested, "He's never been here before, he's never worked here, he's never lived here. ... Today he will be announcing his candidacy for some significant major office in Arkansas." Meanwhile, the New York Times Magazine prepares readers for a {{kinder and gentler#32488}} Rudy.

The FBI will guard computer data essential to the government and major industries. It will monitor nonmilitary government networks and track banking, telecommunications, and transportation networks. Civil libertarians warned the New York Times that the monitoring could be misused for spying on or hacking into private networks.

Eileen Collins became the first woman to command and land a space shuttle. Observers called her landing "beautiful" and "textbook." NASA later acknowledged that the shuttle suffered a hydrogen leak and a short-circuit as it took off.

Republicans gathered support for a $792 billion tax-cut plan. GOP leaders appeased moderates by agreeing to condition the cuts on yearly reductions in the federal debt. In the Washington Post, House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas, accuses Democrats of supporting "{{big governmentonautopilot#2:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-07/14/053l-071499-idx.html}}" and argues that the cuts epitomize compassionate conservatism. But in the same pages, deficit-hawk ex-Sens. Sam Nunn and Warren Rudman assert that the surplus should be used to {{pay down the deficit#2:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-07/12/016l-071299-idx.html}}, and Robert Novak advocates a "modest, effective" plan quietly being brokered by Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. The paper {{condemns#2:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-07/28/051l-072899-idx.html}} the bill as "misshapen," "unaffordable," and "a further mortgage on an already overburdened future." President Clinton warned, "I will not allow a risky plan to become law." Slate's William Saletan questions {{whether Alan Greenspan can resolve the debate#32544}}.

A motel handyman confessed to a spate of slayings in Yosemite National Park. He killed three sightseers in February and decapitated a park-employed naturalist last week. After the first killings, the FBI had questioned the killer but ruled him out as a suspect. The Los Angeles Times instructs the FBI to review "{{its every action#2:http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/COMMENT/t000067109.html}}" in the case.

{{hassan#32510}} King Hassan of Morocco died. Arab, American, and Israeli leaders praised his deft leadership, opposition to militant Islam, and brokerage of Middle East peace deals. Everyone wondered why Syrian President Hafez Assad didn't show up for the funeral (see "{{International Papers#32490}}" for more). The WashingtonPost lauds Hassan's "moderation and reason" but wishes he had done more to speed his own country's progress.

China banned the religious sect Falun Gong and arrested 5,000 of its members. Among the detainees are 1,200 government employees, who will be forced to take "re-education" classes. According to "{{International Papers#32427}}," the official paper China Daily accused the sect of spreading superstition, hoodwinking people, provoking unrest, and jeopardizing stability. The New York Times calls the sect harmless and warns China against "returning to the ideological monitoring and indoctrination methods of the past." Madeleine Albright journeyed to China for the first time since the Belgrade embassy bombing but barely mentioned the crackdown.

Fourteen Serb farmers were massacred in Kosovo. The Kosovo Liberation Army denounced the killings, but the Washington Post attributed the murder to a KLA faction. Observers worried that 1) remaining Serbs will now flee Kosovo; 2) the murders, which happened within earshot of NATO troops, demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the peacekeeping mission; and 3) they demonstrate the ineffectiveness of NATO's entire campaign, since ethnic Albanians and Serbs are still killing each other. A Post editorial noted that "soldiers are not cops" but urged NATO to {{protect Kosovar Serbs#2:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-07/27/016l-072799-idx.html}}.

Ehud Barak pledged to strike peace deals with Syria and the Palestinians within 15 months. Syria responded by asking radical Palestinian groups in Damascus to end their attacks on Israel. His meetings last week with President Clinton and Yasser Arafat were roundly applauded for rebuilding relationships former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had soured, but David Plotz explains in Slate why Israelis are {{less than optimistic#32060}}. In the Washington Post, Henry Kissinger warned Israelis {{not to leave the United States out#2:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-07/19/009l-071999-idx.html}} of the peace process, while an op-ed piece in the Israeli paper Ha'aretz cautioned that congressional Republicans, under the sway of the right-wing Israeli Likud Party, will "throw spikes into the newly energized peace train."