SPB News for Thursday

Obama Makes Congratulatory Calls To Yesterday's Winners

Ned Lamont Announces Statewide Exploratory Committee

Poll: Rand Paul Leads In Kentucky Republican Senate Primary

Justice Dept Won't Appeal Order To Free Gitmo Detainee

Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina Formally Announces Senate Bid

'Uncensored' Bush-Clinton Debate Canceled

Another Tues. Result: Voters Reject Anti-Tax, Anti-Spending Measures

Road Trip!: Sarah Palin Gives Details On 'Going Rogue' Book Tour

France's Chirac Prepared To Stand Trial For Alleged Corruption

Italy convicts 23 Americans in rendition case

...US 'disappointed' at Italy verdict in CIA case

Record: 36M in US on food stamps

Cornyn: ‘We Will Not Spend Money in a Contested Primary’ — ABC News' Rick Klein reports: — With Republicans grappling with the fallout of an intra-party battle that may have cost them a House seat, the head of the Senate Republican campaign effort is making a pledge that may ease …

IL-Sen: Kirk Seeks Palin Endorsement — Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk penned a memo to Republican poobah Fred Malek hoping to secure an endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his Senate candidacy, according to a copy of the memo obtained by the Fix. — After noting that Palin …

AP Sources: AARP to endorse House health care bill — WASHINGTON — Officials are telling The Associated Press that AARP_the seniors' lobby_will endorse the health care overhaul bill that House Democrats are preparing to take to the floor. — Officials with knowledge of the group's decision told …

Kerik Expected to Accept Prison Term in Corruption Case — Bernard B. Kerik, New York City's former police commissioner, is expected to plead guilty on Thursday to a single conspiracy charge in an agreement that would resolve the three pending federal criminal trials he faces in New York and Washington …

Obama's half brother goes public with new book

US 'spending money to reach Taliban' --The US has already planned to allocate a specific budget from its annual 680 billion dollar defense bill to the Taliban. Washington is ready to spend a huge sum of money to start talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan, a former Pakistani lawmaker says. Javed Ibrahim Paracha, a former member of Pakistan's National Assembly said that top US diplomats contacted him in 2005 and offered him a huge sum of money to broker the talks. "US officials had offered me 500,000 dollars in that meeting for mediating. I refused that offer and had asked US officials to first take permission from the government and corps commanders," The Daily Times quoted Paracha, as saying. Paracha is known for having contacts with the Taliban leadership.

Government agrees to pay $3 million in CIA lawsuit --The CIA itself was a defendant in the lawsuit until early this year. The government has agreed to pay $3 million to a former agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration who sued CIA officers for illegal eavesdropping. The proposed settlement followed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in July that CIA officials committed fraud to protect a former covert agent against the eavesdropping allegations. The lawsuit was brought by former DEA agent Richard Horn, who says his home in Rangoon, Burma, was illegally wiretapped by the CIA in 1993.

World first as swine flu found in US cat Vets in the US state of Iowa said Wednesday that a household cat had tested positive for swine flu -- the first known case in the world of the new pandemic strain spreading to the feline population. The 13-year-old male domestic shorthair apparently caught A(H1N1) from its owners -- two of the three members of the family had previously contracted the virus.

Prejean Sex Tape Triggers Settlement Carrie Prejean demanded more than a million dollars during her settlement negotiations with Miss California USA Pageant officials -- that is, until the lawyer for the Pageant showed Carrie an XXX home video of her handiwork. The video the lawyer showed Carrie is extremely graphic and has never been released publicly. We know that, because TMZ obtained the video months ago but decided not to post it because it was so racy... We're told it took about 15 seconds for Carrie to jettison her demand and essentially walk away with nothing.