SPB News for Thursday.

· Obama Camp Helping DNC Retire $15M Of Debt

· Cheneys To Host Bidens At VP Residence Thursday

Judge Won't Dismiss Rep. Jefferson Case On 'Speech Or Debate' Grounds

Idaho students chant 'assassinate Obama' on bus: report

Helen Thomas back at work -

Blackwater faces millions in fines

Iraq contractor didn't get proper permits; weapons now on black market.

Latest total shows Begich ahead by 814 votes — Mark Begich made a dramatic comeback Wednesday to overtake Ted Stevens for the lead in Alaska's U.S. Senate race. — Late Wednesday night, Begich led Stevens by 814 votes — 132,196 to 131,382 — with the state still to count roughly 35,000 more ballots over the next week.

Hoax NY Times newspaper declares end of Iraq war A group of pranksters handed out more than 1.2 million fake New York Times newspapers mainly in New York City and Los Angeles on Wednesday with a front page story declaring "Iraq War Ends." The elaborate 14-page edition, dated July 4, 2009, is said to be the work of a group called the Yes Men.

Boehner Demands Fed Identify Recipients of Loans House Republican leader John Boehner called for the Federal Reserve to disclose the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers and the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral. Boehner, in a prepared statement, also asked the Federal Reserve to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request seeking details about the loans.

KBR wins Army Corps contract to provide power during emergencies KBR Inc. has been awarded a $75 million disaster relief contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for emergency power. The Houston-based engineering company will be supplying the power to the Western region of the United States. The five-year contract was created by the Army to respond immediately to power emergencies caused by natural or manBushmade disasters

US aid worker shot dead in Pakistan Gunmen shot dead an American aid worker and his local driver in Pakistan's volatile north west today. The attack occurred in University Town, a wealthy area of Peshawar where a top US diplomat was attacked just a few months ago, police official Arshad Khan said.

Bailouts for banks: Layoffs for workers (WSWS) Instead of pouring billions more dollars into the private coffers of America's financial elite, the huge bonuses and compensation packages that the executives have awarded themselves while leading their companies into bankruptcy should be confiscated and utilized to improve conditions of life for those facing unemployment, the loss of their homes, the shutoff of their utilities and the loss of their life savings.

Penn. teacher's aide says Obama 'to be shot' A teacher's aide in a vocational school in the North Hills faces disciplinary action after he allegedly made offensive remarks about President-elect Barack Obama. The student - a 16-year-old girl - told her parents that an aide at the AW Beattie Career Center on Babcock Blvd. in Allison Park yelled, among other things, that Obama was going to be shot, our flag would be changed to the KFC flag, and the National Anthem would be changed to "Moving On Up."