THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS

The most important news for Thursday, July 28th, 2010....

A federal judge blocked enforcement of key provisions of Arizona's new immigration law on Wednesday.

A city in eastern Nebraska has suspended a voter-approved ban on hiring and renting property to illegal immigrants, less than two days before it was set to take effect.

According to a new poll, 54% of U.S. voters say the Justice Department should take legal action against cities that provide sanctuary for illegal immigrants.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that new EU sanctions against Iran show scorn for the United Nations and the so-called "sextet" working to resolve disputes over Iran's nuclear program.

A secret 36-page memo based on Obama administration statements indicates that Barack Obama 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.

Hamid Gul, a former Pakistan general accused of helping the Taliban, says that the United States orchestrated the mass leak of war files to scapegoat him for its imminent withdrawal from Afghanistan.

India is using the WikiLeaks scandal to repeat a long-standing demand: that Pakistan stop allowing terrorists and terror operations to use it as a base.

North Korea sold missiles to the Taliban in Afghanistan in November 2005 even as the North was taking part in six-party nuclear disarmament talks, a U.S. intelligence report claims.

According to a new report, Russia continued to violate provisions of the 1991 START nuclear-arms treaty up until the agreement expired in December.

An explosion, possibly caused by an attack, damaged a Japanese oil tanker on Wednesday near the mouth of the Persian Gulf, Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has reported.

One hundred days after an oil well operated by BP ruptured in the Gulf of Mexico, and 13 days after crews finished capping the well to contain the gushing crude, the man who is overseeing the federal response is optimistic that steps planned for the coming days will permanently seal the well.

Millions of small dead fish are washing ashore along beaches in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Michigan's governor on Wednesday sharply criticized attempts to contain a large oil spill making its way down the Kalamazoo River after the company responsible for the spill said it had redoubled its efforts to clean up the mess.

The U.S. Coast Guard dispatched emergency teams Tuesday after a boat crashed into an oil well off the coast of New Orleans, reportedly sending crude spewing some 20 feet into the air.

Why is there such an epidemic of oil spills all over the world all of a sudden?

Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

Another little-noticed section of the new Wall Street reform law grants the federal government broad new powers to compel financial firms to hire more women and minorities.

About 18.9 million homes in the U.S. stood empty during the second quarter of 2010 as surging foreclosures helped push ownership to the lowest level in a decade.

Today, 19 percent of Americans receive some form of Social Security benefits.  In 1970, only 12 percent of all Americans received some form of Social Security.

A record 4.39 percent of the work force - or 46.2 percent of the unemployed - have been out of work for 27 weeks or more.

Princeton University economist Alan S. Blinder estimates that 22% to 29% of all current U.S. jobs will be offshorable within two decades.

Authorities in one California town decided on a drastic approach to their budget deficit – they sacked every single municipal worker.

India has raised interest rates and issued a stark warning on inflation dangers, joining China, Brazil, and other "tiger economies" in concerted moves to tighten monetary policy.

It turns out that "doomsday shelters" are making a big comeback.

RFID technology is becoming integrated into virtually all aspects of American life.

A small team of Australian scientists has secured a $57 million contract to supply "Terminator-style" robots to the U.S. Marine Corps.

Seven people around the globe have been entrusted with "the keys" of the Internet.

The People's Liberation Army has unveiled its first department dedicated to tackling cyber war threats and protecting information security, Chinese media have reported.

Leaders of the Democrat Party have announced a plan to demonize the Tea Party via a national campaign to associate the GOP and the Tea Party as one and the same.

Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank caused a scene when he wouldn't give up on demanding a $1 senior discount on his ferry fare to Fire Island's popular gay haunt, The Pines, last Friday.

Republican Ron Ramsey has come under fire for likening Islam to a cult and casting doubt about whether it is even a religion.

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.

It looks like H1N1 is trying to make a comeback in India.

The sun is moving toward the next solar maximum, expected in 2013, and experts say that we should be preparing for the worst.

Scientists are mulling over why part of the Earth's atmosphere recently suffered its biggest collapse since records began, and is only now starting to rebound.

Supply concerns are pushing wheat prices around the world much higher.

Farmers in Australia are bracing for the worst locust plague on record.

Amazon has completely sold out of its least expensive Kindle, providing further evidence of the e-reader's surging popularity.

A mysterious cardsharp who fancies himself to be a modern day "Robin Hood" uses his skills as a professional gambler to win money from Las Vegas casinos and then gives his winnings to hard-up families.

Lebanon’s ruling party on Monday issued a formal call to save the Christian communities of the Middle East.

A number of hospitals in the U.K. are banning Bibles from the bedside lockers of patients.

Lastly, a judge in Spain has been suspended for ten years and ordered to return his salary of about $127,000 to the government because he delayed a decision to allow a lesbian to adopt her partner’s child.

The most important news for Wednesday, July 28th, 2010....

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that he has "precise information" that the United States plans to attack at least two countries in the region within the next three months.

Ahmadinejad also says the United States and Israel plan to launch a "psychological war" on Iran.

Russia has angrily slammed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's criticism of Moscow in the nuclear crisis as unacceptable and irresponsible, as tensions spiral with its traditional ally.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday sent Barack Obama a major war-funding increase of $33 billion to pay for his troop surge in Afghanistan.

According to a newly released audit, the Defense Department is unable to properly account for $8.7 billion out of $9.1 billion in Iraqi oil revenue entrusted to it between 2004 and 2007.

The U.S. government has once again reaffirmed that it has no intention of engaging in military action against Venezuela.

The discovery of large natural gas reserves under the waters of the eastern Mediterranean could potentially mean a huge economic windfall for Israel and Lebanon.

BP has posted a massive quarterly loss of $17.2 billion due to costs stemming from the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

An increasing number of Americans are living in their homes with the electricity and water turned off.

A majority of small businesses will face significantly higher taxes under Barack Obama's tax plan.

A congressional subcommittee has been asked to investigate the growing backlog in and foreign procurement of U.S. bullion and collectors' precious metals coin blanks manufactured by the U.S. Mint.

A member of a German quintet of professors that is currently challenging the legality of Europe's recently-devised support measures has said they threaten to create enormous tensions between EU citizens if allowed to stand.

Could economic conflict between the U.S. and China reappear at any time?

According to a recent Washington Post investigation, 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United States.

It is being reported that the White House was "very pleased" with how the New York Times dealt with its semi-exclusive access to the documents.

Pentagon officials looking into the leak of thousands of classified documents to an online whistle-blower already have at least one potential suspect in mind - an Army intelligence analyst under suspicion in an earlier leak to the same website.

Los Angeles County, in response to rural non-compliance of environmental ordinances, has formed what they call the "Nuisance Abatement Team".

Thousands of illegal immigrants are fleeing Arizona ahead of the coming crackdown there.

In a move that complicates Republican efforts to take back the Colorado governor's office, former GOP congressman Tom Tancredo said Monday that he plans to change parties and run on the American Constitution Party ticket.

A Kentucky Democrat running for U.S. Senate says former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is tarnishing his family legacy by appearing at a fundraiser on behalf of Republican Rand Paul.

Barack Obama's new health care law has created 183 new agencies, commissions, panels and other bodies.

Two people were killed and one was seriously injured when a rare tornado struck a family ranch in northeastern Montana on Monday.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to live a healthy lifestyle: 7 Secret Ways We Are Being Poisoned.

A 7 year old boy that was being treated with three different psychotropic medications recently committed suicide by hanging himself.

Some feedlots are losing cattle by the hundreds, as hot weather and high humidity bears down across Kansas.

A blistering summer heat wave in Japan has sent 15,000 people to the hospital with heat stroke and caused at least 66 deaths in the past two months.

Wreathed in smoke from underground fires, Moscow recorded its hottest day ever on Monday as large parts of Russia endured severe drought.

In Russia, seven self-confessed members of a Satanist sect were sentenced Monday by the Yaroslavl Regional Court to prison terms for killing four teenagers and desecrating their bodies in a 2008 initiation ritual.

The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is considering a recommendation to extend spousal and dependent benefits to same-gender domestic partners.

A dairy cow has defied the odds to give birth to triplets of different breeds.

Lastly, archaeological research in East Timor has unearthed the bones of the biggest rat that ever lived, with a body weight around six kilograms.

The most important news for Tuesday, July 27th, 2010....

The Obama administration has accused online whistleblower WikiLeaks of endangering the lives of American, British and other coalition troops after it posted around 90,000 leaked U.S. military documents online.

The founder of Wikileaks says that the leaked United States military reports from Afghanistan appear to contain "evidence of war crimes".

The WikiLeaks documents released on Sunday also shine a spotlight on Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence and their connections with terrorist organizations.

The Afghan government said on Monday that it was "shocked" as it sifted through the tens of thousands of leaked U.S. military and diplomatic reports that were released by Wikileaks.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that Iran will react swiftly if its commercial shipping or aviation are subjected to inspection.

The United States and Israel would not dare attempt a military strike of Iran's nuclear sites, Iranian military officials said over the weekend, adding that they were confident that Tehran would easily repel such an attempt.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi on Monday warned Israel that "any injudicious action" will lead to the annihilation of the Israeli nation.

There are reports circulating in the media that Mossad chief Meir Dagan visited Saudi Arabia recently to talk about Iran.

The IDF will attack Lebanese government institutions if Israel is again subjected to rocket attacks, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview with The Washington Post published on Sunday.

Israel and the United States have signed an agreement to make the Arrow II ballistic shield capable of shooting down missiles at a higher altitude, the Israeli Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

The United States insists that allowing the Palestinian Authority to fly its flag in Washington does not represent an upgrade in its diplomatic status.

Israel has told the UN Security Council's North Korea sanctions panel that ballistic missile proliferation by Pyongyang is destabilizing the Middle East and urged countries to step up efforts to stop it.

The nation of Burma is now working on a nuclear weapons program, experts have concluded, after its existence was exposed by leaked photographs.

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has threatened to halt oil exports to the U.S. if his country is attacked by Colombia.

In a move that may well anger Washington, Russia is insisting on French agreement to a full technology transfer before signing a contract for two French-designed warships.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says that he met with the Russian spies deported from the United States following the Russia-U.S. spy scandal and that he sang patriotic songs with them.

It is being reported that beleaguered BP chief executive Tony Hayward will soon leave his post with a pension package worth over 10 million British pounds.

One member of the U.S. Congress says that BP has turned the Gulf of Mexico region into a "toxic bowl" that will haunt that region for years to come.

Fishery experts say the more than 1.8 million gallons of dispersants applied since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20th could cause an almost unbelievable amount of harm to many species that swim in and out of the area.

The federal budget deficit, which hit a record $1.4 trillion last year, will exceed that figure this year and again in 2011, the White House predicted on Friday.

Goldman Sachs sent $4.3 billion in federal tax money to 32 entities, including many overseas banks, hedge funds and pensions, according to information made public Friday night.

The SEC's own internal watchdog has widened his investigation of the civil fraud lawsuit brought against Goldman Sachs to include a focus on the timing of last week's $550m settlement.

Desperate cities across the U.S. are giving away land for nominal fees or for nothing in the hope that it will boost the tax rolls and cut the lawn-mowing bills.

Other cities are so desperate for cash that they are examining whether or not their communities’ nonprofit organizations really deserve to be tax-free.

An increasing number of U.S. states are becoming addicted to gambling as a source for revenue.

The 22 statistics detailed here prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America.

It is being reported that the LBMA has decided to block access to statistics relating to the trading activities of its member banks.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is warning that his government will adopt more unpopular austerity measures if needed to revive Spain's economy and reduce the public deficit.

The stress test in which only seven of 91 European Union banks failed is just a public relations exercise and wasn't tough enough, famous investor Jim Rogers told CNBC.com on Monday.

European bureaucrats have set up a secretive fund of £400 million to pay for projects that include promoting a "smelly-foot" dance and producing postcards about the causes of "social exclusion".

A new bill being considered by Congress would require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security.

Federal authorities are stepping up their military-style raids on organic farmers and raw food stores.

In many U.S. states, it is now illegal to collect rainwater that falls on your own property.

Officials in the U.K. are preparing to hand sweeping Big Brother powers to EU states so they can spy on British citizens.

Guards and officials at a prison in northern Mexico allegedly let inmates out, lent them guns and sent them off in official vehicles to carry out drug-related killings, including the massacre of 17 people last week, federal prosecutors said yesterday.

The former Justice Department attorney who quit his job and blew the whistle on the DOJ's dealings with the New Black Panther Party claims the group is extremely anti-Semitic and pro-Islamic.

Republican former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Sunday that he will decide after November's congressional elections whether he will make a run for the White House in 2012.

A sailboat largely constructed from 12,500 recycled plastic bottles docked in Sydney harbor on Monday, after four difficult months crossing the Pacific Ocean in a bid to raise awareness about the perils of plastic waste.

Almost a quarter of China's surface water remains so polluted that it is unfit even for industrial use, while less than half of total supplies are drinkable, data from China's Ministry of Environmental Protection showed on Monday.

The global wheat crop is encountering problems of biblical proportions, driving wheat prices to 13-month highs.

Since the start of the flood season in April, more than 230 rivers in China have seen water levels pass the danger mark.

It could take until Thursday or Friday to restore power to hundreds of thousands of people in the D.C. area after a violent storm downed power lines and trees and left three people dead Sunday.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, two significant earthquakes struck the San Diego area on Sunday.

It's not your imagination - the number of earthquakes is actually increasing.

Egypt has announced the 110th discovered bird flu case in the country, saying the patient's condition is "critical".

California is experiencing what could be the largest whooping cough outbreak in more than 50 years.

In the U.K., NHS bosses have drawn up secret plans for sweeping cuts to services, with restrictions even on the most basic treatments for the sick and injured.

According to a new study released Monday by the Barna Group, only 12 percent of American adults say that faith is a top priority in their life.

One of Britain's most famous journalists and outspoken atheists, Peter Hitchens, has become a Christian.

The most important news for Monday, July 26th, 2010....

It is being reported that the European Union plans to target Iran with its "toughest ever" package of economic sanctions directed at officials, banks and the country's oil industry.

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a measure that would green-light a possible Israeli bombing campaign against Iran.

The foreign ministers of Turkey and Brazil, speaking Sunday ahead of a trilateral meeting with their Iranian counterpart, said they still believe in the nuclear swap deal signed between the three countries in May.

Iran has announced that it plans to build an experimental nuclear fusion reactor.

One former CIA director recently stated that military action against Iran now seems more likely because no matter what the U.S. does diplomatically, Tehran keeps pushing ahead with its suspected nuclear program.

North Korea says that it is ready to launch a "retaliatory sacred war" at any time in response to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises this weekend.

It is being reported that Turkey is considering whether or not it should move rapidly to develop nuclear weapons while so much attention is being paid to nuclear programs in other nations. 

BBC is reporting that BP's chief executive Tony Hayward has been negotiating the terms of his exit, with a formal announcement likely within 24 hours.

It turns out that BP has been using cheap or free prison labor to clean up the oil spill even as so many people along the Gulf coast are absolutely desperate for work.

Florida researchers have announced that they had for the first time conclusively linked vast plumes of microscopic oil droplets drifting in the Gulf of Mexico to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

U.S. bank failures reached 103 so far in 2010 on Friday when federal regulators seized seven small banks.  In 2009, it was not until October that a hundred banks had been shut down.

As "contactless payment technology" continues to develop, will it ultimately mean that cash will become extinct?

Wal-Mart is putting electronic identification tags on men's clothing like jeans starting on August 1st as the world's largest retailer tries to gain more control of its inventory.

Software that can predict when and where future violent crimes will be committed is being tested in the U.K. for the first time.

An influential Pentagon defense advisory panel says that the United States is now woefully unprepared for any kind of nuclear attack.

The Obama administration is trying to reach an understanding with Senate Republicans to approve its new arms control treaty with Russia by committing to modernizing the nuclear arsenal and making additional guarantees about missile defense.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, seeking to console liberal activists who were disappointed by the final version of the national health care law, assured them that there would eventually be a public option.

CNN analyst Warren Ballentine recently declared that the ideology of the entire Tea Party movement is "racism".

It is being reported that Democrat leaders in the U.S. Senate have decided to shelve global warming legislation - at least for now. 

WikiLeaks has published what it says are more than 90,000 United States military and diplomatic reports about Afghanistan filed between 2004 and January of this year.

According to a new study, dramatic increases in infant mortality, cancer and leukaemia in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was bombarded by U.S. Marines in 2004, exceed those reported by survivors of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Is the area of the U.S/Mexican border near Laredo, Texas turning into a war zone?

A mass grave containing more than 50 bodies has been discovered by authorities in northern Mexico.

Anti-illegal immigration anger has spilled out onto Arizona's streets.