At least 22 killed in US by heat wave

A great warmy heat wave in the central and southern United States has killed at least 22 people this week, and forecasters Wednesday said the heat was moving east and could last for weeks.The National Weather Service said 141 million people in more than two dozen states were under a heat advisory or warning because of the soaring temperatures. The country's midsection has been scorched off and on since late May.

Some cities already have experienced temperatures in the 100s, and the combined heat and humidity could push the so-called “real feel” temperatures to 115 degrees through Saturday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

In Chicago, the heat triggered unhealthy smog levels to the extent that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency urged people to reduce polluting activities such as idling vehicles and mowing lawns.

Grid operators say they are prepared for the increased demand. According to the major operators in the Northeast and Midwest, power usage this week is the highest it’s been all year, but usage is still shy of record peaks. Texas and the southern Plains states will extend a long streak of hot weather. On Wednesday Oklahoma was expected to suffer its 30th day of triple-digit temperatures this year.

To meet demand, utilities are firing up special power plants used only a few days a year, delaying scheduled maintenance in order to keep all equipment on line and testing heat-sensitive switches and other equipment with high-tech devices like thermographers that can gauge temperatures to one-tenth of a degree.

FIFA Women's World Cup Final ;U.S. Loses to Japan on Penalty Kicks ...‎

Japan's Homare Sawa leads the celebration after scoring the tying goal late in extra time against the U.S. Japan won the penalty kick, 3-1, to capture the title.FIFA Women's World Cup Final ;U.S. Loses to Japan on Penalty Kicks

Japan won the Women's World Cup for the first time on Sunday, stunning the United States in a penalty kick shootout after the team played a pulsating 2-2 tie in Frankfort, Germany.

Japan won its first Women's World Cup title Sunday in a triumph built on hope and renewal, lifting a stricken country and somehow finding a way to win a match that the United States dominated for long stretches but could not control.

"This is obviously going to hurt for a while," said U.S. forward Abby Wambach, whose only hole in her glittering career is the World Cup title.

The United States, the top-ranked team in the world, played its best game of the tournament but struggled to convert its many chances into a tangible advantage. The Americans did not take a lead until Alex Morgan scored on a breakaway in the 69th minute. But a defensive mistake allowed Japan's Aya Miyama to pounce on a loose ball and tie the score with less than 10 minutes left in regulation.

The Americans' top scorer, Abby Wambach, appeared to score the winning goal just before the end of the first extra period, nodding in a cross from Morgan from point-blank range -- her fourth goal in four games. But Japan's captain, Homare Sawa, flicked in a shot off a corner kick in the 117th minute. The goal seemed to symbolize the never-say-die attitute of the Japanese team, which had gained strength from its countrymen -- and vice versa -- in representing a country still recovering from a devastating earthquake earlier this year.

The shootout went badly for the United States from the start. Shannon Boxx's attempt was saved, Carli Lloyd's sailed over the bar, and Tobin Heath had hers saved as well.

Sawa, playing in her fifth World Cup, won the Golden Ball as the tournament's top player and the Golden Boot as its top scorer.

Japan, meanwhile, coolly connected on three of its first four. When the 20-year-old defender Saki Kumagai fired hers over the diving American goalkeeper Hope Solo, she and her nation rejoiced as one.

"We couldn't put away our chances," U.S. Coach Pia Sundhage said. "It's a final -- there's a small difference between winning and losing."

Said Wambach: "Evidently it wasn't meant to be."

US Shifts Supply Routes to Central Asia

WASHINGTON: The US military is expanding its Central Asian supply routes to the war in Afghanistan,

fearing that the routes going through Pakistan could be endangered by deteriorating US-Pakistani

relations, The Washington Post reported late Saturday.

Citing unnamed Pentagon officials, the newspaper said that in 2009, the United States moved 90

percent of its military surface cargo through the Pakistani port of Karachi and then through mountain

passes into Afghanistan.

 Now almost 40 percent of surface cargo arrives in Afghanistan from the north, along a patchwork of

Central Asian rail and road routes that the Pentagon calls the Northern Distribution Network, the report

said.

The military is pushing to raise the northern network's share to as much as 75 percent by the end of this

year, the paper said.

In addition, the US government is negotiating expanded agreements with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and

other countries that would allow for delivery of additional supplies to the Afghan war zone, The Post

said.

The United States also wants permission to withdraw vehicles and other equipment from Afghanistan

as the US military prepares to pull out one-third of its forces by September 2012, the paper noted.

US President Barack Obama announced last month that 10,000 troops would leave this year and all

33,000 personnel sent as part of a surge ordered in late 2009 would be home by next summer, leaving a

US force of some 65,000.

There are currently up to 150,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, including about 99,000 from the

United States. Obama has indicated a series of drawdowns until Afghan forces assume security

responsibility in 2014.