SPB News for Monday

Gordon Brown tells Iraq inquiry: I fully backed the war --Gordon Brown has said that he was "fully in line" with the decision to invade Iraq in 2003. Speaking at Sir John Chilcot's inquiry into the war, Mr Brown gave his most explicit endorsement yet for the conflict. He also insisted that he had fully funded the Armed Forces as they prepared for war. Some Labour supporters believe Mr Brown either harboured private doubts about the war, or was shut out of the decision-making process by Tony Blair, then the prime minister.

Billions in US public money 'spent in Iran' --Details emerge of billions awarded by the US to firms dealing with Tehran The US taxpayer has given more than $107bn (£71bn)during the past decade to companies which are also doing business with Iran, it was revealed yesterday. That sum includes at least $15bn (£9.9bn) of US Government funds that were channelled to corporations which have defied international sanctions to help Iran develop its vast and strategically important oil and gas reserves.

Regulators close banks in four states U.S. bank regulators closed four banks in as many states on Friday, bringing the number of failures so far this year to 26. The largest of the four was Sun American Bank of Boca Raton, Florida, which had approximately $535.7 million in total assets and $443.5 million in total deposits, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) said. Regulators also closed Centennial Bank of Odgen, Utah, Waterfield Bank of Germantown, Maryland, and Bank of Illinois of Normal, Illinois.

Last week's poll had asked:

India and Pakistan have been holding their first high-level talks since the Mumbai attacks in 2008. Can India-Pakistan talks succeed? There was a tie. Readers answered yes and I don’t know. This week's poll is now up.