SPB News for Monday.

Italian PM pays 'compliment' to Obama's 'tan'

Millions spent on untested drugs

Branches of HHS battle as millions spent by taxpayers, private patients for drugs.

22 US banks have fallen

Feds consider Citigroup rescue; White House out of the loop.

Al Gore steps into Georgia runoff

Obama Aides Signal a Boost in Stimulus Spending — WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has signaled that he will pursue a far more ambitious plan of spending and tax cuts than anything he outlined on the campaign trail — a plan “big enough to deal with the huge problem we face,” …

Obama may delay tax-cut rollback for wealthy — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama may consider delaying a campaign promise - to roll back tax cuts on high-income Americans - as part of his economic recovery strategy, two aides said on Sunday.

Kurdish rebels claim pipeline explosion Separatist Kurdish rebels are reported to have claimed responsibility for an explosion at an oil pipeline linking Iraq with southern Turkey. A news agency with close links to the rebels carried a statement by the Kurdistan Workers' Party saying that the explosion was an act of sabotage.

Ya'alon quoted suggesting Israel should mull killing Ahmadinejad Israel should consider assassinating Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former IDF chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Moshe Ya'alon reportedly told an Australian newspaper. "We have to consider killing him," Ya'alon told the Sydney Morning Herald. "All options must be considered." Ya'alon's aide denied Sunday that the former chief of staff had made those statements to the Australian paper.

Bank regulator played advocate not enforcer --Office of Thrift Supervision Let Lenders Grow Out of Control, Then Fail When Countrywide Financial felt pressured by federal agencies charged with overseeing it, executives at the giant mortgage lender simply switched regulators in the spring of 2007. The benefits were clear: Countrywide's new regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision, promised more flexible oversight of issues related to the bank's mortgage lending. OTS adopted an aggressively deregulatory stance toward the mortgage lenders it regulated. In 2004, the year that risky loans called option adjustable-rate mortgages took off, then-OTS director James Gilleran lauded the banks for their role in providing home loans.

New lobbyist implicated in Abramoff investigation A former GOP lobbyist with ties to Jack Abramoff may be moving toward a plea agreement with the Justice Department in its wide-ranging corruption investigation, documents showed Friday. James F. Hirni will be charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to papers filed by the Justice Department in U.S. District Court. A Hirni spokesman, Scott Sobel, said he is cooperating with the Justice Department.

NYC Churches Ordered Not to Shelter Homeless City officials have ordered 22 New York churches to stop providing beds to homeless people. With temperatures well below freezing early Saturday, the churches must obey a city rule requiring faith-based shelters to be open at least five days a week -- or not at all. Arnold Cohen, president of the Partnership for the Homeless, a nonprofit that serves as a link with the city, said he had to tell the churches they no longer qualify.

Forbes calls Paulson 'worst'
ALSO: Plans for Citi bail-out solidify. Fed to limit losses?; Wall St. braces.

Ted Haggard back in business
Megachurch pastor outed by Denver masseur returns to Colorado, sets up shop.

Last week's poll had asked:

Iraqi cabinet approved a pact with the U.S that will see U.S troops withdrawing from streets in 2009 and leaving the country by 2011. Is this good news for Iraq and the rest of the world? The majority of readers answered yes. New poll is now up.