SPB News for Tuesday

Minnesota Finds 89 More Potentially-Countable Votes

BUFFETT: ECONOMY HAS 'FALLEN OFF A CLIFF'

Reid: Rehire Nevada U.S. Attorney Fired By Bush

Coleman Camp Insists On More Ballots Being In Play

Layoffs looming at Google?

Search giant's softening revenues has some won- dering if magic is gone.

Exxon aims for big role in Iraq's oil sector Exxon Mobil Corp is in constant dialogue with Baghdad to create the investment climate that would allow it to become a significant player in Iraq's energy sector, Exxon's chief executive said on Monday. The world's largest publicly traded company is in the race for contracts to work on Iraq's biggest oilfields.

UN accuses Britain of condoning torture --UK hid illegal acts and breached basic human rights of detainees in US rendition programme, report finds Britain has been condemned in a highly critical United Nations report for breaching basic human rights and "trying to conceal illegal acts" in the fight against terrorism. The report is sharply critical of British co-operation in the transfer of detainees to places where they are likely to be tortured as part of the US rendition programme. The report accuses British intelligence officers of interviewing detainees held incommunicado in Pakistan in "so-called safe houses where they were being tortured".

IED attacks soar in Afghanistan Makeshift bomb attacks in Afghanistan killed three times as many occupation troops in the first two months of 2009 compared with the same period last year. The bombs, called improvised explosive devices, killed 32 coalition troops in January and February, compared with 10 during the same period in 2008. During the same time, 96 troops were wounded, a 146% increase from the 39 early last year, according to data from the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization.

Supreme Court limits reach of Voting Rights Act --The 'justices,' in a 5-4 ruling, say 'cross-over' voting districts do not have to be drawn in order to give black candidates a realistic chance of winning. The Supreme Court limited the reach of the Voting Rights Act today, ruling that there is no duty to draw voting districts that will elect black candidates in areas where blacks are less than a majority. In a 5-4 decision, the court said officials need not consider race when drawing districts for state legislatures, county boards, city councils and school districts, so long as blacks do not make up a voting majority in a particular area.

Newspaper publisher McClatchy cutting 1,600 jobs Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co. said Monday that it will shrink its work force by an additional 15 percent as it contends with sharply declining revenue amid a deepening recession. The 1,600 job reductions should help the publisher of The Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee and other newspapers meet previously announced plans to save up to $110 million over the next year.