Webcast July 20, 2005

Weekly Rewind

DEANNA MORAWSKI, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Thanks for checking in with us for this summer Webcast of CNN Student News, I'm Deanna Morawski. Topping the headlines this week, the U.S. Supreme Court may soon have a new justice on board. After weeks of speculation by the media and the public, President Bush announced his pick to replace the retiring Sandra Day O'Connor. Carl Azuz has the details on that story and more, in our Weekly Rewind.

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Alex Kachanaged, 9, from Belarus, gets his hands on a copy in London.

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS REPORTER: A writer's imagination and a publisher's dream have come together in a book called "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

HARRY POTTER FAN: I was here at 6:30 am this morning. I'm a huge fan of Harry Potter. I like the plots and characters.

AZUZ: Almost nine million copies flew off shelves in the U.S. and Britain, in the first 24 hours they were on sale. That is a record; it's the fastest-selling book in history. This is the sixth volume of the Harry Potter saga, whose author, J.K. Rowling, says she's dreading bringing to an end with the next volume.

Staying put in Florida: The July 13th launch of space shuttle Discovery had to be scrapped, when one of the spacecraft's fuel sensors malfunctioned.

WAYNE HALE, DEPUTY SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER: As soon as we find the problem, we will immediately move out to fix the problem, and as soon as we have fixed the problem, we will be four days from launch.

AZUZ: NASA's shuttle program has been grounded since the shuttle Columbia disintegrated in flight more than two years ago.

A moment of silence in London, in remembrance of the 52 people killed in the July 7th terrorist attacks. British authorities believe that the bombings were carried out by four bombers, who were British nationals. And Pakistani officials say that two of them had traveled to Pakistan, in the year before the bombings. 700 people were injured in the blasts.

Attacks by insurgents in Iraq have claimed dozens of lives in recent days. U.S. and Iraqi officials say the insurgency is largely composed of Sunni Muslims, who form a minority, but enjoyed governmental power under Saddam Hussein's regime. As the country's transitional government works to make itself more ethnically and religiously diverse, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says the first draft of the country's constitution, should be ready within a month.

After killing at least four people in Jamaica, hurricane Emily barrelled ashore on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as a category-four hurricane, with winds exceeding a hundred-30 miles-per-hour. Despite suffering a direct hit, the region reported no immediate casualties. But once it was back out in the gulf, the weakened storm began to pick up steam again, as it set its sights on the coasts of northeastern Mexico and southern Texas.

Judge John Roberts has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia since 2003.

U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: A person who will faithfully apply the constitution and keep our founding promise of equal justice under law. I have found such a person in Judge John Roberts.

AZUZ: And with those words, President Bush named his choice to replace Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who announced earlier this month that she'd retire. Now it's up to the Senate to either confirm or reject the president's nomination. Wrapping up your weekly rewind, I'm Carl Azuz.

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Rewind - Hurricanes

DEANNA MORAWSKI, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Time now for a quick rewind on hurricanes and how they're rated. The severity of a storm is determined by the Saffir-Simpson scale, which rates hurricanes from category 1 through category 5. A category one storm has winds of 74 to 95 miles per hour, and will cause some damage to trees and shrubbery. At the other end of the scale, a category five storm packs winds greater than 155 miles per hour, and can overturn or even sweep away small buildings. For more information on hurricanes, check out our Student News "Extra!", available at CNNstudentnews.com!

Before We Go

DEANNA MORAWSKI, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: And before we go... If you think you have too much time on your hands this summer, the guy featured in our next story may have you beat! He's broken a world record in hula hooping. But this is no ordinary hula hoop. It measures nearly 15 feet in diameter -- a foot bigger than the one used by the previous record-holder. So big, in fact, that Ashrita Furman had to wear padding to keep the force of the aluminum hoop from bruising his ribs. Now Guinness requires three full rotations to claim the record. But Furman kept the world's largest hula hoop in motion for 19 full swings... The 97th record-winning stunt he's completed so far.

Goodbye

DEANNA MORAWSKI, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: That brings us "full circle" here on Student News. But be sure to take a break from the sun each week to log on for another update. I'm Deanna Morawski.