SPB News for Monday

How Goldman bet on housing crash

Goldman Sachs sold $40B in housing securities while betting on fall.

CIT Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Karzai Rival Quits Afghan Runoff

Michael Jackson movie scores big

Sony takes top box office, makes $101 million off 'This Is It' in just five days.

Iraq: US military contractor burns recyclables, violating contract --KBR was contracted to recycle cafeteria waste at Forward Operating Base Warhorse; an Oct. 30 report reveals transactions worth $10.7 billion are being audited. As soldiers exit the dining facility, run by KBR and its subcontractor Najlaa International Catering Services Iraq, they see signs along the emerald walkway urging those who "like to recycle" to follow the path and "Think Green." Soldiers sort aluminum cans and plastic silverware into separate bins. But there's one problem: The recyclable goods are thrown into a pit with the rest of the trash and burned. [This] is a breach of the government's contract with KBR to run the dining facility on FOB Warhorse, according to the US government's Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA)... A report issued Oct. 30 by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) said that audits of $6.4 billion worth of contracts revealed "internal weaknesses," including inadequate oversight of invoices and excessive change orders. The report also noted evidence of duplicate payments and payments sent to fictitious addresses and unapproved contractors.

US backs Israel on preconditions The US has called for the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians as soon as possible and without preconditions, an apparent climbdown on earlier demands for Israel to halt settlement building. The settlement issue should be considered as part of peace negotiations, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said at a news conference in Jerusalem late on Saturday.

Obama administration: Toss wiretap lawsuit Attorney General Eric Holder says a lawsuit in San Francisco over warrantless wiretapping threatens to expose ongoing intelligence work and must be thrown out. In making the argument, the Obama administration agreed with the Bush administration's position on the case but insists it came to the decision differently. Holder's effort to stop the lawsuit marks the first time the administration has tried to invoke the state secrets privilege under a new policy it launched last month designed to make such a legal argument more difficult. Under the state secrets privilege, the government can have a lawsuit dismissed if hearing the case would jeopardize national security. "The Obama administration has essentially adopted the position of the Bush administration in these cases, even though candidate Obama was incredibly critical of both the warrantless wiretapping program and the Bush administration's abuse of the state secrets privilege," said Kevin Bankston, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

This week's poll had asked:

UN inspectors are due to pay their first visit to an Iranian nuclear facility which Iran suddenly disclosed four weeks ago. Will the inspection go smooth? Readers answered yes. This week's poll is now up.