SPB news for Saturday.

Terror suspect emailing for cash

A North Pole without ice? Expert: For first time in recorded history, NP may have no ice this summer.

Barr says he’s drawing Paul support

Mandela voted off US terror list

Scientist Is Paid Millions by U.S. in Anthrax Suit — WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Friday that it would pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Steven J. Hatfill, a former Army biodefense researcher intensively investigated as a “person of interest” in the deadly anthrax letters of 2001.

US Congress approves Israel aid increase The US Congress has approved a 170 million dollar increase in security assistance to Israel as part of its new 10-year, 30 billion dollar defense aid commitment to the Jewish state. The money for Israel was part of a larger supplemental spending bill that included 162 billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. America's pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, welcomed the congressional action, saying it would increase US aid to Israel to 2.55 billion dollars in fiscal year 2009, up from 2.38 billion dollars this year.

For the Record: Wars have cost $700B since 9/11 A new Congressional Research Service report says the U.S. government has spent about $700 billion on "military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and veterans’ health care for the three operations initiated since the 9/11 attacks."

Iraq family wiped out by US Six members of a family were killed yesterday when a US jet destroyed their house in Iraq. Four children, aged between four and 11, were among the dead in the attack near the northern town of Tikrit, Iraqi police said. However, the US military made no mention of the civilian deaths and said the house was attacked after troops took small arms fire.

U.S. Stocks Slump, Pushing Dow Average to Brink of Bear Market U.S. stocks fell, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the brink of a bear market, on concern subprime-related writedowns at banks will worsen and record oil and a slowing economy will prolong the worst profit decline since 2002. The Dow extended its retreat from an all-time high in October to almost 20 percent, the threshold for a so-called bear market.

Last week's poll had asked:

French President Sarkozy will place greater emphasis on technology and intelligence, working more closely with NATO and the European Union's defence policy. Should other countries redefine their military? Many of the readers answered no. New poll is now up.