SPB News for Wednesday.

AIG faces $10 billion in losses
Bailed-out AIG offering 38 executives bonuses

Feds hear Siegelman, Scrushy appeal

Wal-Mart to pay up to $54m to settle suit

Sony to close plants, cut 16k jobs

Merrill chief with- draws bonus request

White House, Dems Reach Tentative Deal On $15 Billion Auto Bailout

Russian Venture Capitalist Costs Workers Jobs and Income During Economic Meltdown Russian billionaire Sergei A. Plastinin has served himself a self-styled economic bailout by leaving the US with unpaid bills owed to construction firms and workers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, says Robert Carlton of TRC, Inc. in Harmony, Pennsylvania

Reports planted by US, says former ISI chief Dismissing reports that Pakistan had decided to hand him over to Indian authorities in connection with the investigations into last week’s Terror attacks in Mumbai, former ISI chief General Hamid Gul on Sunday such reports were being "planted" by the United States to malign him.

Pakistan: We're ready for war with India Pakistan warned it is ready for war with India if it is attacked following the strike by the Mumbai terrorists. The remarks by Pakistan's foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who also insisted he would not hand over any suspects in the Mumbai attacks, come amid mounting tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours. India has said it is keeping all options open following last month's carnage by the Mumbai terrorists, who killed more than 170 people.

Plot to kill Afghan governor foiled, U.S. says A militant was detained in a plot to assassinate a provincial Afghan governor, the U.S. military said Monday. Afghan commandos, assisted by occupation forces, launched a raid Saturday on a Taliban safe house in Jalalabad and seized a militant identified as Zia Rahman. The operation was undertaken after local officials told the U.S. military about an assassination plot against Gul Agah Sherzai, governor of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan.

Pentagon faulted for not preparing for roadside bomb threat The US Defense Department knew years before 'insurgent' actions began in Iraq of the threat posed by roadside bombs but failed to take available steps to mitigate the risk to US troops, a Pentagon audit concluded Tuesday. The US Marine Corps asked the Pentagon's inspector general to perform the audit after coming under fire for setting aside an urgent request from field commanders in 2005 for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armored vehicles.

Treasury Bills Trade at Negative Rates as Haven Demand Surges Treasuries rose, pushing rates on the three-month bill negative for the first time, as investors gravitate toward the safety of U.S. government debt amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The Treasury sold $27 billion of three-month bills yesterday at a discount rate of 0.005 percent, the lowest since it starting auctioning the securities in 1929. The U.S. also sold $30 billion of four-week bills today at zero percent for the first time since it began selling the debt in 2001.

Suspicious White Powder Letters Received Around the United States Robert E. Casey Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Dallas FBI, announces during the last 24 hours, at least seven letters containing a suspicious white powder have been received by the offices of governors around the country. The white powder substance has been field screened and the tests have met with negative results. The white powder substance has been forwarded to local laboratories for further testing. To date, all letters have been postmarked from Dallas, Texas and were received by governors’ offices in Rhode Island, Michigan, Mississippi, Alabama, Minnesota, Montana, and Missouri.

Obama says climate change a matter of urgency President-elect Barack Obama said on Tuesday attacking global climate change is a "matter of urgency" as he talked about the problem with former Vice President Al Gore, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the issue. Seated with Gore and Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Obama told reporters: "All three of us are in agreement that the time for delay is over, the time for denial is over."

Attorney: Blagojevich has no plans of resigning — CHICAGO— The attorney for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said the governor will be vindicated and he has no plans to resign. — “He didn't do anything wrong,” attorney Sheldon Sorosky told reporters after Blagojevich was arraigned.

Source: ‘SEIU official’ was Stern — A Democratic source confirms that SEIU President Andy Stern is the “SEIU official” referred to in the federal complaint against Rod Blagojevich. — There's no allegation that the SEIU official did anything wrong, and what appears to be a wiretap transcript …

‘Nanny’ state? Drescher eyes Clinton's Senate seat