Joseph Capriglione

In June Alabama passed one of the toughest immigration laws in the country, and it's set to go into effect on September 1. Among other things, the law makes it a crime to knowingly give an illegal immigrant a ride in a vehicle, and to hire undocumented workers. It's already been met with opposition from farmers and contractors, and now church leaders are vocally expressing their opposition. A group of 150 of these leaders signed an open letter saying they intend to break the law, saying it interferes with their mission as Christians.

British Prime Minister David Cameron says his government will look into a possible crackdown on social media, after citizens used websites like Twitter as an organizing tool for the riots that shook cities across the U.K. earlier this week. Free speech advocates have criticized the idea, saying it's reminiscent of the social media shutdowns practiced by autocrats like former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Are Cameron and Mubarak suddenly brothers in censorship? Or is this a viable method for preventing violence?

The latest consumer confidence numbers are due out later today and — given the roller coaster week the stock market has endured, and the Congress's recent debt ceiling decision — they aren't expected to be great. In such tumultuous times, it’s difficult for anyone to maintain confidence in the economy. But confidence is just what some experts say is necessary to create jobs and keep the markets stable. So, how do we inspire it?

When ABC pulled the plug on George Lopez's eponymous sitcom in 2007, the Mexican-American comedian said, "TV just became really, really white again." Five years later, TBS has announced it will cancel Lopez's late night talk show due to slumping ratings. And in the five year interim, television doesn't appear to have gotten any more diverse.

A central feature of the deal Congress reached last week to raise the country's debt limit was the creation of a so-called "Super Committee." Made up of six Republicans and six Democrats, the super committee is charged with finding at least $1.2 trillion in savings by November 23. But who's serving on the committee and how, exactly, do they propose reaching bipartisan agreement when Congress is seemingly more partisan than ever?

In 1967, police arrested an African-American cab driver in Newark, N.J. setting off six days of rioting. Last week, the police fatally shot black Briton Mark Duggan; an event that many are calling the spark that ignited four days (to date) of rioting in the U.K. But do the similarities end there? Many would argue that the underlying causes of the 1967 Newark riots — rampant joblessness, alienation and racial disparity — are the same as those that incited riots in the U.K. this week, as well as the riots that overtook America's cities in the late 1960's.

Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone suggested that the Tottenham riot was fueled by citizens unleashing pent-up resentment over the weak economy, high unemployment rate, and historically deep budget cuts that decrease funding for poor communities in the United Kingdom. "This is the first generation since the Great Depression that have doubts about their future," he told the BBC. Those same conditions that led to the unrest in the U.K. may apply to the U.S.

Texas Governor Rick Perry is preparing to jump into the race for the Republican nomination for president and his state's record on job creation will likely be a central focus of his campaign. A significant number of the jobs created in the U.S. over the past two years were created in Texas. This despite the widespread economic uncertainty and stubbornly high unemployment that's gripped the nation since the official end of the recession. However, in spite of its success at jobs creation, the state's unemployment number has remained stable.

Six seats in the Wisconsin State Senate are up for grabs today. The elections are being viewed as a referendum on the collective bargaining restrictions signed into law this year by Republican Governor Scott Walker and his GOP allies in the state legislature.  After today's recall elections of Republican state senators will be the recall votes on two Democrats next week. Democrats need to win a net of 3 seats to gain a majority in the State Senate.

Record numbers of undocumented immigrants have been deported under the Obama administration, despite the president's acknowledgment that the country's immigration policy separates families and punishes children. What happens to the deported when they return to their native countries after years — sometimes decades — in the U.S.? And what about their children, who are American citizens?

Last weekend's tragedy in Oslo has drawn international attention to Europe's far-right political parties, which had been gaining power in several European nations in recent years. Confessed attacker Anders Breivik stated allegiance to their anti-immigration and anti-Islamic platforms. Where do these parties go from here? Can they tone down their rhetoric and maintain their niche in the political landscape?

Later today, the House of Representatives will vote on the "cut, cap and balance" plan being pushed by House Republicans as a prerequisite for raising the country's debt ceiling. The plan is expected to pass in the House, where Republicans hold a majority, but will likely die in the Democrat-controlled Senate. President Obama has already said he will veto the bill.

All eyes will be on the British Parliament as News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch appears before the Select Committee this morning, at about 9:15 a.m. EST. The media tycoon is at a crossroads, with many of his top deputies implicated in the scandal that has engulfed his media empire and left his company's reputation in tatters. Murdoch has long been a controversial figure, but the questions surrounding his leadership of News Corp. and the corporate culture it has engendered have come under new fire in light of the phone hacking affair.

Charlie Herman, business & economics editor for The Takeaway and WNYC, and Kai Wright, editorial director for ColorLines, give their analysis on the major stories of the week.

Another week ends with little progress made in the debt ceiling talks in Washington. President Obama will speak at a press conference for Friday morning at 11 a.m. (EST), but all indicators point to little headway being made towards a compromise. 

The federal judge presiding over the Roger Clemens perjury case has declared a mistrial. Judge Reggie Walton made his decision after prosecutors exposed the jurors to evidence he ruled inadmissible. The government lawyers' blunder was a mistake Judge Walton said even "first-year law students" would have known to avoid.

An article published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association says the state should intervene in cases of morbidly obese children. The authors say that parents should lose custody in the most extreme cases of childhood obesity. This opinion has drawn criticism from several lawyers and members of the bioethics community.

Responding to concerns that lawmakers in Washington will fail to reach an agreement on raising the country's debt threshold, credit ratings agency Moody's placed the U.S.'s credit rating under review for the first time since the federal government shutdown in 1995. The U.S. still risks losing the Aaa rating it has had since 1917, even if lawmakers come to a last minute agreement before the August 2 deadline.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is the latest figure to be dragged into the News of the World phone hacking scandal. Cameron was apparently warned several times not to employ former News editor Andy Coulson as his chief spokesman. Now, the media is questioning what this means about Cameron’s judgement and character.

Another shot has been fired in the ongoing negotiations between President Obama and Republican Congressional leaders to raise the nation's debt limit before the August 2 deadline. Obama challenged Republicans in a press conference on Monday, saying that it was time for the GOP to back up rhetoric about tackling the country's long-term debt problems. Republicans leaders have said they will seek a smaller deal with more cuts to social program and no tax increases on the wealthy. Lawmakers will return to the White House for more negotiations this afternoon.