SPB News for Friday.

Obama apologizes to Muslim women; apology accepted — Sen. Barack Obama today called the two Muslim women who were barred from sitting behind him at his Detroit rally to apologize, one of the women and two other sources said. — “Sen. Obama called himself and he apologized to each of us …

Brian Williams is temp replacement for Russert on ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday — NEW YORK — NBC executives decided today that “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams will host “Meet the Press” this Sunday as the network ponders a permanent replacement for moderator Tim Russert.

Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High — As summer vacation begins, 17 girls at Gloucester High School are expecting babies—more than four times the number of pregnancies the 1,200-student school had last year. Some adults dismissed the statistic as a blip. Others blamed hit movies like Juno …

ElBaradei threatens to resign over Iran dispute: report The head of the United Nations atomic watchdog has said he would offer his resignation if the major powers make serious threats against Iran over its nuclear program. "A military invasion against Iran would pose great danger to the Middle East and the world," Mohamed ElBaradei told Dubai-based television station Al Arabiya aired on Tuesday.

House passes Iraq war funds bill backed by Bush The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved enough new money to wage wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for another year, while abandoning attempts to set deadlines opposed by President [sic] George W. Bush for withdrawing American combat troops. By a vote of 268-155, the House approved $165.4 billion for the two wars, with most of the money going to Iraq.

Rice: US government not involved in Iraq no-bid oil contracts Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday the US government was not involved in Iraq's no-bid oil contracts that could see four major western oil firms start their first commercial work there since the war began five years ago.

Taliban seize U.S. helicopter parts In a daredevil operation some weeks ago that shook the Pentagon Taliban fighters in the tribal areas of Pakistan seized parts of American Chinooks, Black Hawks and Cobras. The helicopter parts were being shipped in huge containers from Peshawar to Jalalabad in Afghanistan.
Deal reached in Congress: Expand govt powers on wiretapping, grant immunity to telecoms Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress struck a deal on Thursday to overhaul the rules on the government’s wiretapping powers and provide what amounts to legal immunity to the phone companies that took part in President [sic] Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program after the Sept. 11 attacks. The deal, expanding the government's powers in some key respects, would allow intelligence officials to use broad warrants to eavesdrop on foreign targets and conduct emergency wiretaps without court orders on American targets for a week if it is determined important national security information would be lost otherwise... Senator Russ Feingold, the Wisconsin Democrat who pushed unsuccessfully for more civil liberties safeguards in the plan, called the deal "a capitulation" by his fellow Democrats.

Officials stand against Bush's plan for offshore drilling From Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the state's Democratic leaders, California reacted with a swift thumbs-down Wednesday to President [sic] Bush's proposal to lift a ban on new oil drilling in coastal waters. Environmentalists said Wednesday that Bush's action was disconcerting because they felt the battle was won after President Bush the first signed a 1990 executive order barring most offshore oil drilling.