SPB News for Friday

Ensign Has Ties To Second Firm That Employed GF's Husband

Poll: 57% Approve Of Obama's Economic Policies

Conservatives Launch Full Court Press On IG Firing

UK's Iraq war probe to be made public?

Ken Starr backs Sotomayor

Prosecutor who hounded President Clinton lauds Obama's 'fine' choice.

Man in drag posed as deceased mom

Man dressed up in order to continue collecting government benefits.

Nearly 1 million protest in Iran

Judiciary asks Congress for more bankruptcy judges (National Law Journal.com)
With the economy down and bankruptcy filings up to near-record levels, the federal judiciary is asking Congress to approve additional bankruptcy judgeships to handle the workload. "Our judicial resources are strained, and the cost to society of an overburdened bankruptcy system, especially in this economic climate, is enormous," said U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn, head of the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System.

Daschle Urges Obama To Drop Federal Public Health Care Plan — The man once slated to head Barack Obama's health care system overhaul is now coming out against one of the chief components of that effort. — Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said on Wednesday that the Obama White House …

Olive Garden pulls Letterman ads — Following a week of back and forth between CBS late night comic David Letterman and Sarah Palin over a crude joke he told about the Alaska Republican governor's daughter, the Olive Garden restaurant says it is cancelling all of its scheduled ads on Letterman's “Late Show” for the rest of the year.

Two sources: Supreme Court ruling on U.S. Senate race to arrive tomorrow! — PIM has now heard from two sources on different sides of the Minnesota U.S. Senate race recount scene that the final Minnesota Supreme Court ruling is expected to arrive tomorrow, Thursday, June 18th.

Senate approves resolution apologizing for slavery

Ex-KBR Worker Convicted In Bribery, Fuel Conspiracy --KBR has received billions of dollars since 2001 [one of the key motives behind the 9/11 inside job] to be a major provider of food and shelter services to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. A former employee of KBR Inc. has been convicted on federal charges in a bribery and fuel-diversion scheme at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. Raschad L. "Sean" Lewis was a former fuel-section employee assigned to Bagram, where KBR, a former Halliburton Co. subsidiary known as Kellogg Brown and Root, had a contract to provide support services to the U.S. Army. Lewis was found guilty Wednesday of conspiracy, false writing, bribery of a public official and false claims.

U.S. Navy tracks North Korean ship The United States is monitoring a North Korean ship for weapons and has deployed anti-missile assets to the Pacific in case Pyongyang launches more missiles, U.S. officials said on Thursday. The U.S. Navy is monitoring a vessel called Kang Nam at sea under new U.N. sanctions that bar North Korea from exporting weapons, including missile parts and nuclear materials, they said.

US Senate Committee approves $1.5 billion in Pakistan aid The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday unanimously passed the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act, (Kerry-Lugar Bill) authorising $1.5 billion annually to the key terror ally for the next five years. The bipartisan measure will now have to pass the full chamber before the Senate and the House of Representative hold a conference to arrive at a reconciled version of the bill. The US House has already passed the bill.

Over $1.6 bn of Iranian assets frozen in Britain Nearly one billion pounds ($1.64 billion) of Iranian assets are frozen in Britain under international sanctions imposed against the country over its nuclear program. "The total assets frozen in the UK under the EU (European Union) and UN sanctions against Iran are approximately 976,110,000 pounds," Ian Pearson, Britain's Economic Secretary to the Treasury said in a written statement to parliament on Thursday.

'Canada will not stay out of Iran politics' Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon has declared that his country will continue to put pressure on Iran over its post-election tension. Earlier, Canada was advised through its chargé d'affaires in Tehran to "stay out of our politics," after having raised concerns over post-election tumult in Iran, Cannon told CBC.

Carter wants Hamas off US terror list Former US President Jimmy Carter has advised the Obama administration against keeping the Hamas resistance movement on its list of terror organizations. Carter, who was in the Gaza Strip to meet rulers of the area, says he will meet with officials in the Obama administration in two days to discuss his latest trip to the Middle East.

Lieberman to Clinton: Israel won't freeze settlements Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday that Israel could not accept the Obama administration's demand to "completely" halt activity in West Bank settlements. "We have no intention to change the demographic balance in Judea and Samaria," Lieberman said during his talks with the secretary of state in Washington.

Worse than subprime? Other mortgages imploding slowly Call it son of subprime. Experts warn that a new wave of mortgage foreclosures may be coming soon and could rival the default rates for subprime mortgages and slow efforts to find bottom in a prolonged national housing slump. The mortgages in question are $230 billion of option adjustable-rate mortgages, creative lending products that flourished at the height

Indicted, Texas Financier Surrenders
HOUSTON - R. Allen Stanford, the Texas billionaire accused of running a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, surrendered to the FBI on Thursday night.