Tuesday, May 06, 2008

SPB News for Tuesday.



John and Elizabeth Edwards Won't Endorse

Released al-Jazeera journalist describes Guantanamo "most heinous" The U.S.-run Guantanamo Bay detention camp is the worst prison ever, Sudanese al-Jazeera journalist Sami al-Haj who was released from the prison days ago said Monday. In a speech broadcast live on Sudanese television, ai-Haj, who returned to Sudan on Friday, said he spent 2,340 days in the "most heinous prison mankind has ever known," and that jailers there insulted Islam before prisoners. Al-Haj, the only journalist from a major international news organization held in Guantanamo, believed he was arrested because Al-Jazeera was reporting on U.S. rights violations in Afghanistan.


News 4 Investigates Illegal Internet Spying Nothing you send in an e-mail, instant message, or anywhere else online is safe from the prying eyes of government spies. That's according to a whistleblower who used to work for AT&T. News 4 Investigates discovered documents identifying a St. Louis area office building as the hub of that spying program. Chief Investigative reporter Steve Chamraz shows us why a secret room inside that building has privacy watchdogs so concerned.


Iraq occupation costing U.S. a whopping $5.54m an hour President [sic] George W. Bush last week asked Congress to approve $70 billion in funding for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for the U.S. fiscal year 2009, which begins on October 1, 2008. The Iraq war has already cost U.S. taxpayers more than $500 billion dollars, and there is still no end in sight to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. According to congressional analysts, the eventual total cost of the Iraq war and the occupation could be as high as $1.5 trillion – that’s $1,500 billion. This cost does not include the cost of rebuilding Iraq’s shattered infrastructure.


Iraq Signs Deals to Buy 40 Boeing Planes Iraq on Monday signed two deals worth $5 billion to buy 40 planes from Boeing and 10 planes from Canada's Bombardier to upgrade Iraqi Airways' aging fleet, the finance minister said. The deals were signed by Finance Minister Bayan Jabr in a ceremony attended by Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as well as U.S., British and Canadian diplomats.

Want to vacation in the Green Zone? --Washington wants to create "zone of influence" around new $700 million U.S. Embassy to serve as high-end buffer for the compound, whose total price tag will reach about $1 billion after all workers and offices are relocated over the next year. Forget rocket attacks, concrete blast walls and no sewer system and try picturing luxury hotels, a shopping center and even condos in the heart of Baghdad. It’s all part of an ambitious five-year development "dream list" to transform the U.S.-protected Green Zone from a walled fortress into a gleaming centerpiece for Baghdad’s future. The $5 billion plan has Pentagon backing and apparently the interest of leading hotel developers, said Navy Capt. Thomas Karnowski, who led the team that created the development plan.


Defense firm to pay $9.5M for obstruction A defense contractor accused of overcharging the U.S. government for radar components pleaded guilty Monday to obstruction and will pay $9.5 million in fines, federal authorities said. Herley Industries, based in Lancaster County, Pa., admitted to two counts of obstructing audits of bids to supply components for Navy and Air Force radar systems.


Iraqi official says Iran arms evidence not conclusive A top Iraqi official said Sunday there was no conclusive evidence that Shiite extremists have been directly supplied with some Iranian arms as alleged by the United States. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraq does not want trouble with any country, "especially Iran."


Few Details on Immigrants Who Died in U.S. Custody Detainee Boubacar Bah is one of 66 on a government list of deaths that occurred in immigration custody from January 2004 to November 2007. The list, compiled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after Congress demanded the information, and obtained by The New York Times under the Freedom of Information Act, is the fullest accounting to date of deaths in immigration detention, a patchwork of federal centers, county jails and privately run prisons that has become the nation’s fastest-growing form of incarceration.

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