SPB News for Thursday.

FEMA gave away $85 million for Katrina victims

Kerry: McCain confused, ‘unbelievably out of touch’ — John Kerry, who's served in the past as Obama's heavy-hitter on national security, expressed incredulity at McCain's remark this morning that the timing of troops return is “not too important.” — “It is unbelievably out of touch …

Unemployment insurance falls just short in House — House Democrats fell just three votes short in their drive to pass an extension of unemployment insurance benefits Wednesday night, however, party leaders vowed they would bring the bill up again on Thursday.

Pakistan Angry as Strike by U.S. Kills 11 Soldiers — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — American air and artillery strikes killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers during a clash with insurgents on the Afghan border on Tuesday night, a development that raised concerns about the already strained American relationship with Pakistan.

U.K. rights group: U.S. has photographic evidence of torture The U.S. government has photographic evidence that a Guantanamo Bay inmate was tortured with a knife after being taken to Morocco by U.S. forces, a British human rights group said Tuesday. Reprieve said their client, Binyam Mohamed, had his genitals slashed repeatedly with a doctor's scalpel while in custody in Morocco after he was flown there from Pakistan by American officials in 2002. It also said his U.S. captors later took pictures of the torture to show authorities that his wounds were healing.

Bush forced to rethink plan to keep Iraq bases --President [sic] offers concessions after furious reaction in Baghdad to American 'colonialism' Faced with Iraqi anger over a US plan to enable Washington to keep military forces in the country indefinitely, George Bush is offering concessions to the government of Nouri al-Maliki in an effort to salvage an agreement, it emerged yesterday. The proposed terms of the impending deal, which were first revealed in The Independent, have had a predictably explosive political effect inside Iraq. ...Iraqi politicians denounced US demands to maintain a permanent grip on the country through the establishment of permanent military bases.

Iranian leader calls Bush a 'wicked man' Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called President [sic] Bush a "wicked man" Wednesday. Addressing thousands of people in this central city, he said Bush had set out to damage Iran but failed to halt its nuclear program and would not succeed in his goal of attacking the Islamic republic.

President Bush seeks German support on sanctions against Iran President [sic] Bush issued a swift reminder yesterday that he was still willing, if necessary, to use America's military might against Iran, as he sought to prod a reluctant German Chancellor into supporting tougher sanctions and severing economic ties with the Islamic Republic. At a press conference with Angela Merkel, Mr Bush twice stated that "all options are on the table" in punishing Iran's defiance over its nuclear ambitions -- "and the choice is theirs to make".

Anti-war protesters banned from demonstrating against Bush London police have announced a ban on anti-war campaigners hoping to protest against President [sic] George Bush's visit to Downing Street this Sunday. The Whitehall ban has been immediately condemned as a "totalitarian act" by the playwright Harold Pinter, while Stop the War organisers are urging people to defy it and to demonstrate nearby in Parliament Square. "In what is supposed to be a free country the Stop the War Coalition has every right to express its views peacefully and openly. This ban is outrageous and makes the term 'democracy' laughable," Pinter said today.