SPB News for Sunday.

Ex-intern writing book about Kennedy affair

Obama orders Gates to update plan for Iran strike --American defense

secretary tells NBC television president has instructed him to refresh plans for military action against Tehran prepared during Bush era. US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Friday that President Barack Obama had asked him to update the plans for the use of military force against Iran which were prepared during former President [sic] George W. Bush's term. In an interview to NBC television's Today show, the American defense secretary explained that "presidents always ask their military to have a range of contingency plans available to them. And all I would say is that, as a result of our dialogue with the president, we have refreshed our plans and all options are on the table."
News website latest target in government's legal offensive against independent media (Reporters sans frontières) Reporters Without Borders condemns the Iraqi government’s continuing legal offensive against independent news media, which for the first time is also targeting Internet media. As a result of a lawsuit brought by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Baghdad court ordered the Iraqi news website Kitabat to pay 1 billion dinars (630,000 euros) in damages on 18 May.

Three U.S. firms to make swine flu vaccine [While Baxter makes the pandemic] The government has asked Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline to make the vaccine and is negotiating with MedImmune and CSL, an Australian company, The Washington Post reported Saturday. The order is part of a $1 billion investment in production and testing of vaccine 'against' the new strain of the H1N1 flu virus.

Two Illinois Banks Seized, Bringing U.S. Tally This Year to 36 Two Illinois banks with combined assets of almost $1 billion were closed by regulators, pushing the toll of failed U.S. lenders to 36 this year amid the longest recession since the 1930s. Strategic Capital Bank in Champaign and Citizens National Bank in Macomb were closed and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named receiver of both, the FDIC said. Strategic Capital’s deposits were assumed by Midland States Bank of Effingham, Illinois, and deposits at Citizens National were purchased by Morton Community Bank.