POWER CUTS THREATENED IN CALIFORNIA

America's biggest state, California, is facing a series of power cuts because there is not enough electricity to go round.

The west coast is in the grip of a heat wave which has lead to greatly increased use of air conditioning and electric fans.

The BBC correspondent in Los Angeles says power consumption has risen by a third across the United States in the past ten years -- much of it due to the increased use of computers.

Hi-tech industries are particularly heavy consumers and many are based in California.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service