54% Favor Justice Department Action Against Sanctuary Cities
Fifty-four percent (54%) of U.S. voters say the Justice Department should take legal action against cities that provide sanctuary for illegal immigrants. Even more think the federal government should cut off funds to these “sanctuary cities.”

Massachusetts passes bill awarding electoral votes to winner of national popular vote
“We’ve had a lot of bad ideas come through this chamber over the years, but this is going to be one of the worst ideas that has surfaced and actually garnered some support,” said Tisei, who is also the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.

Obama The Muslim
Would President Obama pass my mother’s “is he a Muslim” test? Let’s see. President Obama says there is nothing more beautiful than the Muslim call to prayer in the evening. He says that the United States was not founded as a Christian nation.

Obama Warns Abbas: ‘Start Talks or Else’
A secret 36-page memo based on Obama administration statements indicates that the president warned Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to start direct talks with Israel or risk losing American support for the recognition of the PA as a country.

Sanctions Stem Gasoline Flow to Iran
According to a shipping document seen by a Reuters reporter, only three cargoes of gasoline reached Iran in July so far. Iran usually needs 11 to 13 cargoes of gasoline a month during the summer months, a Dubai-based trader said.

Tablet Discovered by Hebrew U Matches Code of Hammurabi
The fragments that have now been discovered, written in Akkadian cuneiform script, refer to issues of personal injury law relating to slaves and masters, bring to mind similar laws in the famous Babylonian Hammurabi Code of the 18th century B.C.E. that were found in what is now Iran over 100 years ago.

Waqf Bulldozers on Temple Mount May Be Destroying Jewish History
Jewish residents report that Waqf works at the Dome of the Rock have restarted 'under cover', likely destroying Jewish archaeological artifacts.

China at risk of bad loans, warns IMF
...The IMF has "highlighted the need for regulatory and supervisory vigilance to manage any deterioration in credit quality, and for increased transparency in lending to local government vehicles," said the notes to the Article IV consultation, which has not been released in full. According to senior Chinese officials, Chinese banks are facing serious default risks on more than a fifth of the 7,700bn yuan they have lent to local governments across the country.

Egyptian Cleric Hussam Fawzi Jabar: Hitler was right to do what he did to the Jews
Hussam Fawzi Jabar: "This is the nature of the Jews. By nature, they abhor keeping their commitments. By nature, they hate peace. By nature, they love treachery, betrayal, deception, killing, and blood. This is their nature. [...] ..."One of the most amazing things I have read is that Hitler said: 'I could have annihilated all the Jews of the world, but I left some of them, so that you would understand why I did this to them.' Hitler was right to say what he said and to do what he did to the Jews. [...]

France declares war against al-Qaida in response to aid-worker’s death
France has declared war on al-Qaida, and matched its fighting words with a first attack on a base camp of the terror network’s North African branch, after the terror network killed a French aid worker it took hostage in April. ...“We are at war with al-Qaida,” Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Tuesday, a day after President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the death of 78-year-old hostage Michel Germaneau.

US in 'full court press' to restart direct Mideast talks
The United States said Tuesday it is making a "full-court press" to encourage the Israelis and Palestinians to resume direct peace talks that lapsed in late 2008. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the weekend by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as her counterparts from Jordan and Qatar, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.

Mass. Legislature approves plan to bypass Electoral College
The Massachusetts Legislature has approved a new law intended to bypass the Electoral College system and ensure that the winner of the presidential election is determined by the national popular vote. ...Opponents say the current system works. They are concerned about a possible scenario where Candidate X wins nationally, but Candidate Y has won in Massachusetts. In that case, all of the state's 12 electoral votes would go to Candidate X, the candidate who was not supported by Massachusetts voters.

US Congress approves new funding for Afghan war
The US House of Representatives has approved funds to pay for President Barack Obama's increase in US troop numbers in Afghanistan. The 308 to 114 vote comes at a time when some lawmakers are growing sceptical about the nine-year-old war. The bill, which Mr Obama will sign into law, provides roughly $59bn (£45.4bn) for 30,000 more troops in Afghanistan and other programmes.

Lebanese ruling party wants Muslims to protect Christians
Lebanon’s ruling party on Monday issued a call to save the Christian communities of the Middle East. Ahmad Hariri, secretary-general of the Lebanese Future Movement, said he was “extremely worried about the repercussions of the Christian emigration from some Middle East countries.”

Synagogue in Maryland vandalized
Police were investigating the appearance of anti-Semitic graffiti on the outside of the B’Nai Shalom Synagogue in Olney, Maryland, NBC Washington reported. Parents arrived to drop their children off at the synagogue's summer camp on Monday morning and were shocked to discover the anti-semitic words and symbols that had been spray-painted across the building.

Blast hits Japan oil tanker near Iran
An explosion hit a Japanese oil tanker in the early hours of Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz near Iran and Oman, and the crew attributed the blast to an attack, the transport ministry said. One crew member was injured and the ship, belonging to Mitsui OSK Lines, was partly damaged but able to continue sailing after the blast hit at 00.30am local time (0630 AEST), the Japanese ministry said.

Al Qaeda No. 2 Threatens More U.S. Attacks
Al Qaeda's second in command Ayman Al-Zawahiri has surfaced again, this time threatening more attacks against the U.S. and the West. "Oh American people…We offered you a peace plan, and mutual benefit; but your governments were proud and haughty, and so the attacks against you followed one after another, everywhere – from Indonesia to Times Square, by way of Madrid and London. And the attacks are ongoing, and more will come one after another," said Zawahiri, he also continued his promise of near victory in Iraq and Afghanistan. Zawahiri

Pak plane carrying 152 crashes, 8 survivors found
A passenger jet carrying 152 people crashed into the hills surrounding Pakistan's capital on a rainy Wednesday morning, officials said. The cause of the Airblue crash was not immediately clear-Officials at first thought it was a small plane, but later revised that. George said 146 passengers were on the flight along with six crew members.

Explosion at China factory injures 100
State media says an explosion at a factory in eastern China has injured about 100 people. The official Xinhua News Agency says the Wednesday morning blast occurred at a plastics factory in downtown Nanjing city in eastern Jiangsu province. Nearly 100 people were injured and rushed to the hospital, Xinhua said, citing witnesses and hospital sources.