SPB News for Thursday

Book released despite Fitzgerald threats

Holder: 50+ Trials Possible For Gitmo Detainees

Senate OKs bill to keep detainee abuse photos private --If Congress doesn't keep pictures private, White House will, senator says The Senate Wednesday passed by unanimous consent a bill that would prevent the release of controversial photos of alleged U.S. abuse of prisoners and detainees. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman, and Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, had originally been part of the war funding supplemental bill passed Tuesday by the House. But House Democrats stripped that part of the measure from the bill, and the senators proposed it as stand-alone legislation. Earlier Wednesday, Graham said at a Judiciary Committee hearing that he had received assurance from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel "that the president will not let these photos see the light of day."

White House: US not meddling in Iran's affairs The US has dismissed the remarks made by Iran that the White House is interfering in the country's internal affairs by commenting on the election dispute. Earlier, Iran summoned the Swiss envoy to Tehran, who represents US interests, to protest against "interfering remarks" by US officials on last week's presidential election, Iran's state-run television reported.

Sarkozy says Iran election a 'fraud' As the landslide victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran's disputed election provoked unrest, French President Nicolas Sarkozy denounces the result of Friday's vote as a "fraud." "The extent of the fraud is proportional to the violent reaction," Sarkozy said Tuesday. "It is a tragedy, but it is not negative to have a real-opinion movement that tries to break its chains."

U.S. to issue new uniforms for troops in Afghanistan The U.S. House of Representatives has required the Pentagon to issue new uniforms for troops in Afghanistan after hearing complaints that camouflage that was fine in Iraq doesn't work well in Afghanistan. The requirement was included in a 106-billion-U.S.-dollar war funding bill which passed the House on Tuesday night, the Military Times reported on Wednesday.

N.S.A.'s Pinwale Examines Large Volumes of US E-mail Messages Without Court Warrants --E-Mail Surveillance Renews Concerns in Congress The National Security Agency is facing renewed scrutiny over the extent of its domestic surveillance program, with critics in Congress saying its recent intercepts of the private telephone calls and e-mail messages of Americans are broader than previously acknowledged, current and former officials said. A former N.S.A. analyst who, in a series of interviews, described being trained in 2005 for a program [Pinwale] in which the agency routinely examined large volumes of Americans’ e-mail messages without court warrants. Two intelligence officials confirmed that the program was still in operation.

KBR Should Refund U.S. Payments for War Insurance, Auditors Say KBR Inc., the largest U.S. contractor in Iraq, should be pressed to return part of $27.6 million the Pentagon paid for the company’s war insurance premiums in 2003, according to Pentagon auditors. The Defense Contract Audit Agency recommended contracting officials begin withholding payments on future contracts if KBR doesn’t provide paperwork documenting that the insurance premium billings in 2003 were reasonable.

President Obama Calls on Americans to Serve --Unveils 'United We Serve' Initiative to Be Led by Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps) President Obama called on all Americans to help in our nation's recovery by volunteering in their communities this summer in a video message released today by the White House and the Corporation for National and Community Service... The United We Serve initiative kicks off on June 22, and runs for 81 days through a new National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11.

Obama blasts right-wing Fox News US President Barack Obama has denounced the far-right television network, Fox News, for an adversarial stance against his administration. Speaking on America's CNBC, the US president slammed the hard-line TV channel, noting, "I've got one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration ... that's a pretty big megaphone. You'd be hard pressed if you watched the entire day to find a positive story about me on that front."

US hate crimes spike The election of Mr Barack Obama as the first African-American US president, the financial crisis and immigration have formed a lethal cocktail leading to a spike in hate crimes, rights leaders warned on Tuesday. 'This toxic combination of the financial crisis, a significant political change, and concern about shifting demographics has created what could be a combustible combination,' Mr Wade Henderson, head of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, told reporters.
Soldiers build polar bear's home --A team of territorial soldiers, usually charged with building army bases in Afghanistan, is making a home for the UK's only polar bear. The 75 Engineer Regiment are working on a four-acre enclosure for Mercedes at the Highland Wildlife Park, Kingussie. Mercedes is moving from her current home at Edinburgh Zoo later this year. Costs for building Mercedes' home will be a quarter of the £300,000 originally estimated, thanks to the team of 80 soldiers.

Secretary of State Clinton breaks her elbow
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fell and broke her elbow on Wednesday but will resume her full duties soon as the Obama administration's top diplomat, a State Department spokeswoman said.

Holder Says Report on Interrogation Weeks Away (Law.com sub. req.)
A Justice Department watchdog is modifying its report on the lawyers who wrote opinions authorizing harsh interrogation tactics, and the report is still weeks away from becoming public, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. said Wednesday. Holder also said that the full report might never become public because some information in it is classified, though he said he wants to release as much as he can.