SPB news for Saturday.

Conservative Jesse Helms dead at 86

Served 5 terms in US Senate, retiring in '03 because of faltering health.

FARC leaders were paid millions to free hostages: Swiss radio Leaders of the Colombian FARC rebel movement were paid millions of dollars to free Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages, Swiss radio said on Friday, quoting 'a reliable source'. The 15 hostages released on Wednesday by the Colombian army 'were in reality ransomed for a high price, and the whole operation afterwards was a set-up,' the radio's French-language channel said. Saying the United States, which had three of its citizens among those freed, was behind the deal, it put the price of the ransom at some $20 million. The radio said its source was 'close to the events, reliable and tested many times in recent years.'
Iran: Any attack on our nuclear facility will be beginning of war Tehran will consider any military action against its nuclear facilities as the beginning of a war, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported Friday. The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, was quoted as saying that any country that attacks Iran would regret doing so. According to the report, Jafari has warned that such a step would be the beginning of war.

Panama says no to U.S. military base Panama has ruled out hosting a U.S. military base to replace one in Ecuador which is being reclaimed by the Quito government, a senior Panamanian official said on Friday. Panama -- along with Peru and Colombia -- had been tipped as a possible site to replace the Manta air base in western Ecuador.

Schoolboys punished with detention for refusing to kneel in class and pray to Allah — Two schoolboys were given detention after refusing to kneel down and ‘pray to Allah’ during a religious education lesson. — Parents were outraged that the two boys from year seven (11 to 12-year-olds)

White House Memo: Tiptoeing on Bush and Convention — The Republican Party is grappling with the issue of how to best pass the torch from an unpopular president to their presumptive nominee.