SPB News for Thursday.

Rove tried to kill Lieberman VP pick Republican strategist Karl Rove called Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (R-Israel) late last week and urged him to contact Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to withdraw his name from vice presidential consideration, according to three sources familiar with the conversation. Lieberman dismissed the request, these sources agreed.

Judge fears secret hearings over Guantanamo Bay A federal judge [U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon] overseeing cases against dozens of Guantanamo Bay prisoners said Wednesday that he fears the public -- and the prisoners themselves -- will be locked out of the courtroom when evidence in the case is scrutinized for the first time. Hundreds of prisoners are awaiting hearings in a Washington federal court in the coming months to determine whether they were properly labeled enemy combatants and imprisoned without being charged.

U.S. Officers Executed Iraqis, Statements Say --After removing the blindfolds and handcuffs, the three soldiers shoved the four bodies into the canal. In March or April 2007, three noncommissioned United States Army officers, including a first sergeant, a platoon sergeant and a senior medic, killed four Iraqi prisoners with pistol shots to the head as the men stood handcuffed and blindfolded beside a Baghdad canal, two of the soldiers said in sworn statements. After the murders, the first sergeant told the other two to remove the men’s bloody blindfolds and plastic handcuffs, according to the statements made to Army investigators, which were obtained by The New York Times.

US and Russian warships line up in dispute over Georgia --Russians unhappy with US for using military craft to deliver 'relief' supplies US and Russian warships took up positions in the Black Sea today in a risky war of nerves on opposing sides of the Georgia conflict. With the Russians effectively controlling Georgia's main naval base of Poti, Moscow also dispatched the Moskva missile cruiser and two smaller craft on "peacekeeping" duties at the port of Sukhumi on the coast of Abkhazia, the breakaway region that the Kremlin recognised as independent yesterday. The Americans... cancelled the scheduled docking in Poti of the US Coast Guard vessel, the Dallas, and instead sent it to the southern Georgian-controlled port of Batumi, 200km (124 miles) from the Russian ships, where it delivered 'humanitarian' aid.

North Korea to Stay on Terrorism Blacklist, U.S. Says North Korea will stay on a U.S. terrorism blacklist until a mechanism is in place to verify its nuclear dossier, the White House said, after the government said it stopped disabling a reactor to protest a delay in its removal.

McCain Has Made His Pick and Is Set to Tell on Friday Senator John McCain has decided on his running mate, two Republican strategists in contact with Mr. McCain’s campaign said Wednesday. He is expected to reveal his choice at a rally at a basketball arena in Dayton, Ohio, at 11 a.m. Friday.

Schwarzenegger could be no-show at GOP convention When the Republican convention opens Monday night, its prime-time lineup could be missing one of its biggest draws: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

U.N. says has evidence US-led air strikes killed 90 Afghan civilians The United Nations said on Tuesday it had found convincing evidence that 90 Afghan civilians, most of them children, were killed in air strikes by U.S.-led coalition forces in western Afghanistan last week. "Investigations by UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) found convincing evidence, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses, and others, that some 90 civilians were killed, including 60 children, 15 women and 15 men," U.N. Special Envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide said in a statement.

Reduced sentence for ex-lobbyist Abramoff?DOJ seeks dramatic reduction in prison sentence for cooperation.