Tea party-backed Cruz beats Texas Lt. Gov. Dewhurst in runoff, wins GOP Senate nomination AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Tea party darling Ted Cruz convincingly defeated the Republican establishment favorite, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, in Texas’ runoff election Tuesday, capturing the GOP nomination to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison as fiercely conservative voters shook one of America’s reddest states to its political core. The race had been closely watched nationally as one of the most-vivid contrasts between the GOP mainstream and grass-roots, conservative activists. But as results began to pour in, it turned out to be no contest. Cruz completed the upset by grabbing advantages in key cities around the state where Dewhurst had once enjoyed stronger name recognition, fundraising and political organization. ‘‘We are witnessing a great awakening,’’ Cruz told cheering supporters in Houston shortly after Dewhurst called him to concede. ‘‘Millions of Texans, millions of Americans are rising up to reclaim our country, to defend liberty and to restore the Constitution.’’ More than 1 million Texans voted in the runoff, a surprisingly strong turnout for balloting that came during the dog days of summer. Overseeing the state Senate from the powerful lieutenant governor’s post since 2003, Dewhurst was long considered a slam dunk in his race with Cruz, the former state solicitor general and son of a Cuban immigrant. ——— Romney back to campaign after uneven trip abroad; new feel-good ad released; VP choice soon? WASHINGTON (AP) — Wrapping up a stumble-marred overseas trip, Mitt Romney pivoted quickly into a three-month stretch to the election on Tuesday with a new feel-good television ad. Aides simultaneously stoked speculation about his vice presidential pick. The economy was Romney’s primary text abroad as well as at home. ‘‘We could probably learn something from what’s happening right here,’’ the former Massachusetts governor said of Polish policies shortly before boarding his chartered jet for the flight back to the U.S. He arrived in Boston early Tuesday evening. Advisers accompanying him said he would resume direct criticism of President Barack Obama’s record soon enough, after observing a mini-moratorium while on foreign soil. Yet a new television commercial suggested another immediate priority was to close a likeability gap in the polls. Shorn of any criticism of Obama, the ad appears designed to introduce Romney to voters in battleground states who know little or nothing about his personal background except what they’ve seen and heard in unflattering commercials aired by Democrats. In the ad, Romney speaks of his years in private business, in government and as the head of the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City a decade ago and says, ‘‘I want to use those experiences to help Americans have a better future.’’ ——— FACT CHECK: Romney ignores strong government role in Poland’s economy as he heaps praise Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney hailed Poland’s economy Tuesday as something akin to a Republican dream: a place of small government, individual empowerment and free enterprise. While it’s true that Poland is one of Europe’s fastest-growing economies and boasts dynamic entrepreneurs, Romney’s depiction of Poland as a place of small government is debatable. Even 23 years after throwing off a communist command economy, the Polish government continues to have a strong presence in people’s lives: it gives women $300 for each baby they have, doubling that sum for poor families; it fully funds state university educations; and it guarantees health care to all its 38 million citizens. And while Poland’s economic growth has certainly been impressive in recent years, this is partly the result of economic redistribution in the form of subsidies that have been flowing in from the European Union since it joined the bloc in 2004. ‘‘Rather than heeding the false promise of a government-dominated economy, Poland sought to stimulate innovation, attract investment, expand trade, and live within its means,’’ Romney said in a speech in Warsaw. ‘‘Your success today is a reminder that the principles of free enterprise can propel an economy and transform a society.’’ His comments appeared to be an indirect criticism of President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy as it struggles to recover from one of the worst recessions in decades. ——— Power grids in India fail in massive, cascading blackout affecting more than 600 million NEW DELHI (AP) — Electric crematoria were snuffed out with bodies inside, New Delhi’s Metro shut down and hundreds of coal miners were trapped underground after three Indian electric grids collapsed in a cascade Tuesday, cutting power to 620 million people in the world’s biggest blackout. While Indians were furious and embarrassed, many took the crisis in stride, inured by the constant — though far less widespread — outages triggered by the huge electricity deficit stymieing the development of this would-be Asian power. Hospitals, factories and the airports switched automatically to their diesel generators during the hours-long cut across half of India. Many homes relied on backup systems powered by truck batteries. And hundreds of millions of India’s poorest had no electricity to lose. ‘‘The blackout might have been huge, but it wasn’t unbearably long,’’ said Satish, the owner of a coffee and juice shop in central Delhi who uses only one name. ‘‘It was just as bad as any other five-hour power cut. We just used a generator while the light was out, and it was work as usual.’’ The crisis was the second record-breaking outage in two days. India’s northern grid failed Monday, leaving 370 million people powerless for much of the day, in a collapse blamed on states that drew more than their allotment of power. ——— EYES ON LONDON: Phelps smashes Olympics record, a Lycra thief, a Twitter admission LONDON (AP) — Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you: ——— THE GREATEST OLYMPIAN So, Michael Phelps has become the most successful Olympian of all time. But moments earlier he’d confessed to teammates that he was feeling vulnerable. Here’s what he said shortly before the relay in which he was to swim the final leg. ——— Golden again: After disappointing silver, Phelps swims into history with 19th Olympic medal LONDON (AP) — Michael Phelps lingered on the blocks, not wanting to make another shocking blunder. The 19th medal was his. All he had to do was avoid a DQ, then set off on what amounted to four victory laps. Down and back, then down and back again, the roars getting louder with each stroke. When Phelps touched the wall, he finally had gold at his final Olympics. And a record for the ages. Phelps swam into history with a lot of help from his friends, taking down the last major record that wasn’t his alone. He took the anchor leg for the United States in a gold medal-winning performance of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay Tuesday night, earning the 19th Olympic medal of his brilliant career, and the 15th gold. ——— Besieged Syrian city of Aleppo running low on food and power BEIRUT (AP) — Food and cooking gas were in short supply and power cuts plunged homes into darkness as soldiers and rebels battled Tuesday to tip the scales in the fight for Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and the current focus of its civil war. Life for Aleppo’s 3 million residents was becoming increasingly unbearable as a military siege entered its 11th day. While rebels seized two police stations, Syrian ground forces pummeled the opposition strongholds of Salaheddine and Seif al-Dawla in the city’s southwest, activists said. Government helicopters also pounded those neighborhoods. ‘‘The regime couldn’t enter the neighborhoods so they were shelling from a distance with helicopters and artillery,’’ said Mohammed Nabehan, who fled Aleppo for the Kilis refugee camp just across the Turkish border some 30 miles (50 kilometers) away. Nabehan and others said it was a struggle to find food. ‘‘The humanitarian situation here is very bad,’’ Mohammed Saeed, an activist living in the city, told The Associated Press by Skype. ‘‘There is not enough food and people are trying to leave. We really need support from the outside. There is random shelling against civilians,’’ he added. ‘‘The city has pretty much run out of cooking gas, so people are cooking on open flames or with electricity, which cuts out a lot.’’ ——— Crop circles appear in Wash. wheat field not far from nation’s largest hydropower producer SEATTLE (AP) — Mysterious crop circles have appeared in an eastern Washington wheat field — not far from the nation’s largest hydropower producer — but area farmers preparing for the summer’s harvest find the distraction more amusing than alarming. ‘‘You can’t do anything other than laugh about it,’’ said Cindy Geib, who owns the field along with her husband, Greg. ‘‘You just kind of roll with the theory it’s aliens and you’re special because aliens chose your spot.’’ Friends called the Geibs on July 24 when the pattern of flattened wheat was spotted off Highway 174, about five miles north of the town of Wilbur. The field is about 10 miles south of the Grand Coulee dam, which the Bureau of Reclamation says is the largest hydropower producer in the United States. The circles resemble a four-leaf clover and remind Cindy Geib of Mickey Mouse ears. The design knocked down about an acre of their wheat. Some of it could be salvaged by combines when the harvest starts in a week or two, she said, but some will be lost. ‘‘Of course, we don’t have alien insurance,’’ she said. ——— Finding love the 2nd time around: Western NY couple, 85, to remarry 48 years after divorce BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — They got hitched while still in their teens, divorced 20 years and four children later, and are getting remarried after nearly a half-century apart. For Lena Henderson and Roland Davis, both 85 years old, the second time around is finally here. The couple plans to get married again on Saturday, with four generations on hand to see it happen. ‘‘It’s every child’s dream, every child who has ever been in a family where divorce has occurred, that your parents would come back together,’’ their youngest daughter, Renita Chadwick, said Tuesday as wedding preparations were in full swing. ‘‘We are all so ridiculously excited. We’re like little children again,’’ said Chadwick, herself a grandmother. Henderson and Davis met as teenagers in Chattanooga, Tenn., and were married by a justice of the peace. There was no reception or honeymoon. ——— Dempster to Rangers, Victorino to Dodgers, Pence to Giants before trade deadline Baseball’s haves picked up more players from the have-nots at Tuesday’s trade deadline, when Ryan Dempster was dealt from the Chicago Cubs to the Texas Rangers and Shane Victorino, Hunter Pence and Jonathan Broxton all wound up on new teams. Matt Garza, Josh Johnson and Joe Blanton stayed put for now as the window closed for clubs to make trades without having players pass through waivers. Four days after the AL West rival Los Angeles Angels acquired former Cy Young Award winner Zack Geinke, the Rangers obtained Dempster for infielder Christian Villanueva and pitcher Kyle Hendricks. Texas also acquired catcher Geovany Soto from the Cubs for right-hander Jake Brigham. ‘‘It’s a great opportunity over there,’’ Dempster said. ‘‘It’s not going to be easy. There are a lot of teams out there that are really good. I think they have as good a chance as anybody.’’ Dempster, who will replace Roy Oswalt in the rotation, had power to block deals and refused to approve a trade to Atlanta last week.
