SPB News for Sunday.

Romer and Bernstein on stimulus — Is this enough? — OK, Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein have put out the official (?) Obama estimates of what the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan would accomplish. The figure above summarizes the key result.

Prince's apology for racist term — Prince Harry has apologised for using offensive language to describe a member of his army platoon. — The News of the World said it had a video of the army lieutenant calling a colleague a “Paki” while pretending to make a phonecall to the Queen.

Obama aide denies report he will launch low-level contact with Hamas A spokesperson for U.S. president-elect Barack Obama on Friday denied a report that Obama is expected to engage Hamas in dialogue, after he takes office. The U.K. newspaper The Guardian reported on Thursday quoted unnamed sources reportedly close to Obama's transition team, who said he has been urged by close advisors to launch low-level contact with Hamas.

Iran Moved Billions via U.S. Banks Iranian banks illegally shifted billions of dollars through American financial institutions in recent years, and authorities suspect some of the money may have been used to finance Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. Details of the illicit transfers came to light on Friday when New York State and federal authorities announced that a large British bank had agreed to pay $350 million to settle accusations that it had helped the Iranian banks hide the transactions.

State gives nod to medical marijuana dealers New Mexico has become the first state in the country to license marijuana dealers. Officials say dealers are under stringent regulations. It took about a year and half, but the New Mexico Health Department has ironed out a plan to deal with the complex and legally thorny issue of how to make and get medical marijuana to qualified patients.