1,666: Number of roadside bombs that went off in Iraq in July, the highest monthly total of the war. Seventy percent of those bombs were directed at U.S. troops. “The insurgency has more public support and is demonstrably more capable in numbers of people active and in its ability to direct violence than at any point in time,” said a senior Pentagon official.

Hollywood stars condemn Hezbollah, Hamas. A group of 84 high-profile Hollywood stars, including Nicole Kidman, Michael Douglas, Sly Stallone, and Bruce Willis, took out a full-page advertisement in today’s Los Angeles Times to condemn acts of violence by terrorist groups. “If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die,” the ad says.

“Opium cultivation in Afghanistan has hit record levels “” up by more than 40 percent from 2005 “” despite hundreds of millions in counternarcotics money.”

“About half of adults in middle-income families reported serious problems in paying for their health care while even those in more affluent circumstances said they had troubles with medical bills,” a new study by The Commonwealth Fund found.

The Lebanese government ordered army troops to deploy across southern Lebanon under a compromise arrangement that allows Hezbollah to retain some of its arms caches. Meanwhile, Hezbollah “fighters put down their guns and turned into relief organizers.” The Israeli foreign minister and the Bush administration expressed concern that Hezbollah’s intensified relief efforts could strengthen its political standing and future electoral prospects. Read more