Doesn't work at all for me, PPN.
Using your code exactly except for the last query line (mine is:
$threadsql = $DB_site->query("SELECT lastposter, threadid, title, replycount FROM thread WHERE open<>10 $forumperms ORDER BY lastpost DESC LIMIT 69"); ) this just didn't work. I made a thread in my admin&mods forum, but a normal member still sees the thread listed while viewing my newsportal.