State and local officials in Georgia who fail to enforce the new immigration laws could be hit with up to $5,000 in fines, and their agencies could lose funding, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The penalties would take effect once the state sets up a seven-member panel that would will have broad authority to investigate complaints about the failure of an agency or public employee to... 

Front National leader Marine Le Pen is unlikely to win power but she is shaping France’s political debate, writes Charles Grant. Since becoming leader of France’s Front National in January, Marine Le Pen has started to shift her party away from the far right. She has not only dropped the overt racism and Islamophobia of her father, but also adopted hard-left economic policies. “Left... 

Jose Vigil Carbajal A 25-year-old man with an extensive criminal history who has been repeatedly deported was detained this week in Escondido, police said Thursday. Jose Vigil Carbajal, 25, was stopped Monday by Escondido police officers for a vehicle-code violation, said police Lt. Craig Carter. He was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and was scheduled to again be... 

Supporters of Bashar Assad's government demonstrate on his behalf over the weekend in Damascus, the Syrian capital. Since Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s sharp words last week, the Obama administration has stopped short of calling for President Bashar Assad to resign and has toned down its rhetoric. After sharply escalating its criticism of Syria’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy... 

Guinean President Alpha Conde Guinean President Alpha Conde escaped two attacks on his residence on Tuesday that killed at least three people and left his home riddled with bullets, in assaults which authorities linked to former senior officers in the army. The attacks renewed international concerns about the stability of the impoverished West African country which is seeking to shake off its coup-ridden... 

Xi Jinping looks set to follow the policies of his predecessors in Tibet. The man expected to be China’s next president has promised to “smash” any attempts to destabilise Tibet. Xi Jinping, who is due to succeed President Hu Jintao in 2013, said he would fight against “separatist activities” linked to the Dalai Lama. He was speaking in Lhasa as part of a trip to mark... 

A US drone. Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has shot down a US spy drone which was flying over the central Iranian province of Qom, a lawmaker says. A member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Majlis (Parliament), Ali Aqazadeh Dafsari, said on Tuesday that the unmanned spy plane was flying near the Fordo nuclear enrichment plant in Qom province... 

Army presses ahead in its campaign to overcome anti-regime revolt, prepares to intervene in Al-Bukamal. The Syrian army on Sunday set its sights on the town of Zabadani near the Lebanon border as it pressed ahead in its campaign to overcome an anti-regime revolt, a human rights activist said. In the east, on the frontier with Iraq, security forces were also reported to be preparing to intervene in... 

Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim would not name the officials who participated in talks over the weekend. Libyan and U.S. officials say the two governments held face-to-face talks in Tunisia over the weekend, but Washington says the sole point of the meeting was to repeat its demand that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi “must go.” The disclosure came nearly four months into the bombardment... 

Police gunned down several rioters who attacked a police station and killed 18 people in Hotan city of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday noon, sources with the Ministry of Public Security said. Rioters broke into the police station shortly after 12 p.m.. They assaulted the police, took hostages and set fire to the station, according to the ministry. A member of the... 

While the debt ceiling debate rages and Congress is busy haggling over who should be taxed and what programs should be slashed, they’ve promised to consider all options except…one. Lawmakers have chosen to forget that immigration is a discretionary social policy that by definition is designed to be adjusted to serve the nation’s broad national interest, particularly during difficult economic... 

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton disembarks from her plane upon her arrival in Athens, as she continues her regional diplomatic tour, Saturday, July 16, 2011. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has begun a visit to Greece after telling officials in Turkey she wants to see an early solution to the Cyprus dispute. Clinton’s talks with Greek officials will also cover that country’s... 

Britain is to cut its army by 17,000 while boosting territorial units who will be called on for dangerous missions. The Army is to be cut in size by 17,000 soldiers in a radical overhaul of the armed forces to be announced on Monday. The reorganisation will see the Army shrink to its smallest size since the Boer War, while Britain’s reserve forces will benefit from a £1.5 billion investment programme. Members... 

The Arab Spring may be a great source of inspiration for popular movements around the world. However, a study assessing social, political and economic freedoms points to a steady, global shift towards authoritarianism. Above, Red Shirt anti-government protesters gather in Bangkok in April 2010. Over the past six months, the world has watched as the Middle East, a region that long seemed immune to democratic... 

China has accused the United States of “grossly” interfering in its internal affairs and damaging relations after President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama at the White House. Barack Obama met the Nobel Prize laureate for about 45 minutes on Saturday, praising him for embracing non-violence while reiterating that the US did not support independence for Tibet. China, which accuses the exiled...