News in brief

Everyone loves to hate Congress. Its approval ratings are significantly lower than those of President George W. Bush and every two years (six for senators) Americans vow to throw the bums out.

Equally, everyone knows that there has to be some sort of US government action to begin to start sorting out the mess after the Wall Street meltdown, that Main Street is now inextricably linked to the Manhattan fat cats and that there are Written from Reuters by news.

AP - Somali pirates said Tuesday they celebrated a Muslim holiday aboard a hijacked freighter and denied reports that three comrades were killed in a shootout on the vessel, which is being closely watched by a half-dozen U.S. warships.

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AFP - Arsenal produced the perfect response after their Hull humiliation as Arsene Wenger’s side routed Porto 4-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

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AP - Astounded by the U.S. government’s failure to resolve the financial crisis threatening the foundations of the global free market, fingers of blame are pointing at America from around the planet.

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AP - The Russian ambassador to Bolivia hopes the Andean nation’s plan to purchase five civil defense helicopters is only a “first step” in deepening ties.

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WE’VE all had a good look at Sarah Palin’s calamitous interview with Katie Couric last week. In the interests of balance, here is a snappy summary of Joe Biden’s gaffes from Brit Hume.

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AP - Pakistan’s army chief named a general considered a hawk in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban to head the country’s powerful spy agency, asserting his control at a time of U.S. concern that rogue operatives are aiding Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

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AFP - A missile strike by a suspected US spy drone hit a house in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, killing at least four people and wounding nine, security officials said Wednesday.

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SO Washington has got the bipartisanship it was looking for on the bailout - it was opposed by both Republicans and Democrats. Not only that, but there was a deficit of leadership on both sides.

President Bush has been something of a weirdly peripheral figure this week. Perhaps that is inevitable giving his low ratings and brief time he has left in office, but in each of his three appeals for the nation to swallow the bitter bailout bill, he has looked tired and sounded unconvincin…

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AP - The number of Iraqi security forces killed in September rose by nearly a third to 159 compared with the same period last year, Associated Press figures showed Tuesday. U.S. troop deaths for the same period fell by nearly 40 percent to 25.

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