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The ballooning crisis over a captured Israeli soldier held by militants in the Gaza Strip has revealed fractures within Hamas. Exiled leaders have appeared more radical than those inside Gaza and the West Bank. But as Israeil troops gather at the border, divisions have emerged in Hamas' internal leadership as well.

Lake Baiyangdian, a network of nearly 150 lakes that form North China's largest wetland ecosystem, has shrunk by one-third in recent years, and lost many of its plant and animal species. The government is trying to rescue what ecologists call "North China's kidney" before it runs dry.

With troops poised to invade Gaza, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ruled out negotiating with the captors of an Israeli soldier. Olmert promised a "broad and ongoing" military offensive if Palestinian kidnappers do not release their prisoner. But an attack may threaten the life of the 19-year-old hostage.

Israel launches new airstrikes in south Lebanon, just hours after the announcement of a 48-hour suspension of the aerial campaign. The partial suspension came after the bombing Sunday of an apartment building in the southern Lebanese town of Qana that left more than 50 civilians dead.

Four leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang are convicted on charges of murder, conspiracy and racketeering. The verdict, delivered in a In Santa Ana, Calif., courtroom, was hailed as a victory for federal prosecutors trying to curb the gang's violent and racist activities.

Israeli forces in Gaza have arrested dozens of Palestinian ministers and lawmakers from the ruling Hamas party. Israel entered Gaza after Palestinian militants captured a young Israeli soldier. Israel has promised continuing military action if the soldier is not released. Also, the body of a kidnapped 18-year-old Jewish settler was found in the West Bank, according to Israeli security officials. Steve Inskeep talks to Linda Gradstein.

The interstate highway system is the result of the largest earth-moving project in human history -- so large that it's been called the "51st state." The system accelerated suburban development, changed shipping, leisure travel and American culture as a whole.

About 10,000 Israeli troops are now fighting across a wide stretch of southern Lebanon in an expanding offensive. Hezbollah struck back Wednesday with one of the heaviest rocket barrages of the three-week-old war. At least 150 rockets hit Israel, killing one.

U.S. border security has not improved in the past three years, according to the Government Accountability Office. In a test earlier this year, investigators used fake driver's licenses and birth certificates to enter the United States from Canada and Mexico. None were detained.

The Senate rejects two Democrat-sponsored amendments that would begin the process of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. Despite widespread doubts that the measures would pass, the debate was the most ferocious since the invasion of Baghdad in 2003. Since that time, 2,500 Americans have died in Iraq.