ADAM WALSH CASE SOLVED

ADAM WALSH STORY
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081216/world/adam_walsh_2
ADAM WALSH CASE SOLVED - VIDEO
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IT WAS OTIS TOOL THAT MURDERED ADAM WALSH.

Florida police say 1981 murder of 6-year-old Adam Walsh is solved
By The Associated Press DEC 16,08

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - Authorities in South Florida plan to announce that they've finally solved the 1981 killing of a little boy whose father later gained fame as the host of America's Most Wanted.Hollywood police have scheduled a news conference Tuesday afternoon to close the case of the abduction and homicide of six-year-old Adam Walsh. Adam's parents, John and Reve Walsh, long ago derided the investigation as botched. Both were expected to attend the news conference. The boy went missing from a Hollywood mall July 27, 1981. Fishermen discovered his severed head in a canal about 200 kilometres away two weeks later. The rest of his body was never found.

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HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS WED DEC 17,2008

09:30 AM -28.60
10:00 AM -81.00
10:30 AM -128.79
11:00 AM -75.82
11:30 AM -114.06
12:00 PM -68.74
12:30 PM -41.89
01:00 PM -30.90
01:30 PM -19.04
02:00 PM +5.58
02:30 PM -20.71
03:00 PM -37.75
03:30 PM -70.17
04:00 PM -99.80 8824.34

S&P 500 904.42 -8.76

NASDAQ 1579.31 -10.58

GOLD 889.10 +26.40

OIL 40.46 -3.13

TSE 300 8724.11 (NOT REPORTED)

CDNX 723.46 (NOT REPORTED)

S&P/TSX/60 529.84 (NOT REPORTED)

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

Dow -110 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -141 points at low so far today.
Dow -67 points at high today so far.
YEAR TO DATE
Dow -32.72%
S&P 500 -37.81%
Nasdaq -40.06%
Russell 2000 -36.97%
Nyse Composite -40.40%
Dow Transports -26.03%
Dow Utilities -30.08%
Amex Composite -42.29%

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS

Dow -144 at low today
Dow -67 at high today.

Crude oil Inventories +500,000 Barrels.
Gasoline Inventories +1.3 MILLION Barrels.
Distillate Inventories +2.9 MILLION Barrels.
Refinery Utilization -3.3% to 84.1%

Ruth Madoff to hand over her passport to authorities in Madoff scandle.
Madoff out on bail but will be electronically monitered.
OPEC DECIDES TO CUT OIL OUTPUT BY 4.2 MILLION BARRELS A DAY FROM SEPTEMBERS LEVEL,2.2MILLION BARRELS FROM CURRENT LEVELS.

GETTING THE LOWEST RATE (For 30-yr fixed,you need)
-0 points
-740+ FICO
-20% down
-$417,000
REFI RULE OF THUMB (No additional fees if you have)
-Good credit
-LTV 75% or less

Major Averages on pace for first monthly gain since August.
Alex Jones:FED above law,won't reveal were $8.5 TRILLION went,and this was 2 weeks ago,could be $11 TRILLION disappeared by now.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS

MARKETS NOW
-Eerie stillness in Stock market.
-Price swings,Volume decline.
WORRIES:
-Redemptions pick up in JANUARY.
-Weaker Dollar not helping Reflation trade.

EMERGING CAPITAL PARTNERS
-Biggest U.S PVT. Equity firm in Africa.
-50 investments in 40 countries.
-70% of ECP'S staff lives and works in Africa.

Dow -146 at low today.
Dow +35 at high today.
Dow -1% today.
S&P -1% today.
Nsadaq -0.6% today.
Dow Transports finish +2.6% today.
Dow Utilities -2% today.
Crude Oil lower despite 2.2 MILLION per day drop by OPEC production cut.
Dollar has been weaker for 7 or 8 days in a row.

Coke to unveil natural diet drink in U.S.: report
Mon Dec 15, 1:50 AM

(Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co is expected to launch a drink in the U.S. this week containing a natural, calorie-free sweetener, the Wall Street Journal said.Coke is pushing ahead even though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as of Sunday hadn't issued formal approval of the ingredient, the paper said.Coke plans to market three flavors of a juice drink in its Odwalla line that contain the sweetener, derived from the herb stevia, the paper said citing people familiar with Coke's plans.

Coca-Cola's rival PepsiCo Inc has several drinks ready to go in the U.S. market with the sweetener, the paper said, adding that the company is waiting for the FDA to clear the additive.Stevia is approved for use in at least 12 countries and as a dietary supplement in the U.S., according to the paper.After some studies suggested adverse health effects from stevia-based products, such as potential mutations in the livers of rats, the FDA concluded in the early 1990s that data weren't sufficient to allow its use as a food additive, the paper said.Coke, Pepsi and companies they are working with told the paper that their sweetener -- called Truvia by Coke and PureVia by Pepsi -- is more highly purified than the versions of stevia used in those earlier tests, and that new data have been submitted to the FDA.Coca-Cola and PepsiCo could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; Editing by Mike Nesbit)

IMF Chief Warns Of Riots In Response To Economic Crisis ,Strauss-Kahn says advanced countries would see violent civil unrest if elite continue to exploit financial chaos for their own ends Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that advanced nations will be hit by violent civil unrest if the elite continue to restructure the economy around their own interests while looting the taxpayer.During a speech in Madrid, Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that “social unrest may happen in many countries - including advanced economies” if governments failed to adequately respond to the financial crisis.He added that violent protests could break out in countries worldwide if the financial system was not restructured to benefit everyone rather than a small elite, reports the Guardian.Strauss-Kahn’s comments echo those of others who have cautioned that civil unrest could arise, specifically in the U.S., as a result of the wholesale looting of the taxpayer and the devaluation of the dollar.

Widely respected trends forecaster Gerald Celente recently told Fox News that by 2012America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.Back in October, Senator Chris Dodd said that revolution would unfold if banks refused to lend money.If it turns out that they are hoarding, you’ll have a revolution on your hands. People will be so livid and furious that their tax money is going to line their pockets instead of doing the right thing. There will be hell to pay, Dodd told the New York Times.Last month, leading economist Nouriel Roubini said that food riots would be the ultimate consequence of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury’s current policies.Riots and demonstrations have gripped normally sedate Iceland following a financial catastrophe that has wiped out half of the krona’s value and put one third of the population at risk of losing their homes and life savings.Expectations of violent civil unrest have not gone unnoticed by the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Institute, who recently issued a report warning that the United States may experience massive civil unrest in the wake of a series of crises which it terms strategic shock.The consequence? The necessity to use military force against hostile groups inside the United States, according to the report.Tens of thousands of active duty military personnel returning from Afghanistan and Iraq are set to conduct homeland patrols inside the U.S. and their duties will include tackling civil unrest and crowd control, according to a Northcom announcement earlier this year.

OPEC cuts 2.2 million barrels a day DEC 17,08

ORAN, Algeria – OPEC says it is cutting 2.2 million barrels a day from its output — the largest ever at one time — to stem crude prices that have plummeted over 70 percent from summer highs of nearly $150.An OPEC statement says its latest announcements means it is taking 4.2 million barrels a day off the market compared to September levels. The 4.2 million figure includes more than 500,000 barrels of overproduction OPEC said in September it would eliminate and a formal cut of 1.5 million barrels a day that it agreed on last month.That amounts to a new reduction of 2.2 million barrels announced Wednesday.In practice, it's 2.2 said OPEC President Chakib Khelil.Members among the 13-nation organization were officially producing a daily 29.045 million barrels in September.

Technical problems at TSX leave investors up in the air; N.Y. markets lower
By Malcolm Morrison, The Canadian Press DEC 17,08

TORONTO - Canadian investors are in the dark this morning as a technical glitch prevents the Toronto stock market from processing data. The Toronto Stock Exchange said it was a service interruption on its data feeds but no further details were available from the main stock exchange in the country more than 20 minutes into the trading day. New York markets headed lower in early trading, giving back a big chunk of yesterday's gains that followed the U.S. Federal Reserve's move to cut its federal funds rate target to a range of zero to 0.25 per cent to deal with a rapidly worsening economy. The Canadian dollar moved down 0.02 of a cent to 83.19 cents US after a weaker U.S. currency sent the loonie up more than two cents. New York's Dow Jones industrials gave back 70.3 points to 8,853.9 following a 359-point jump. The Nasdaq composite index declined 15.31 points to 1,574.58 while the S&P 500 index declined 7.85 points to 905.35 amid a much worse than expected earnings report from Morgan Stanley, which lost US$2.37 billion during its fiscal fourth quarter as it took a range of losses on assets amid one of the roughest quarters for investment banks. The New York-based firm, which is aggressively building on its new status as a bank holding company, lost $2.34 per share for the quarter, much worse than the 34 cents a share that analysts had expected.

The January crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange lost 49 cents to US$43.11 ahead of an announcement expected later in the day that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will slash production by at least two million barrels a day to put a floor under prices that have retreated since hitting a US$147 high in July. In other corporate news, The Globe and Mail reported that Canadian Pacific Railway Co. (TSX:CP) plans to cut 600 union jobs in an effort to reduce spending during tough economic times. The newspaper cites an internal message to staff that also laid out plans to restrict air travel, suspend bonuses and eliminate six flex days awarded to staff less than two years ago. In the internal message, chief executive Fred Green conceded the moves will be unpopular but said they were necessary to survive a sharp economic downturn that has cut into the railway's freight delivery business. Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (TSX:KFS), a major insurance company under pressure from one of its biggest shareholders to improve its finances, says the company is cutting costs by about US$20 million next year. On the earnings front, pharmaceutical company MDS Inc. (TSX:MDS) reported a fourth-quarter loss of US$255 million on a big after-tax writedown related to the troubled Maple medical-isotope reactor project. And it said the results are preliminary and do not include another writedown announced last week, estimated at between $270 million and $370 million related to goodwill at its MDS Pharma Services division. That will be accounted for when it releases its annual report next month. Shares in travel operator Transat AT Inc. (TSX:TRZ) moved to $ after it said that non-cash and non-operating items drove the company into the red for fiscal 2008, amounting to a net loss of $50 million. Transat also reported a $45.7 million writedown related to asset-backed commercial paper and a $2.3 million foreign exchange loss. Meanwhile, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox blamed regulators for a decade-long failure to investigate Wall Street money manager Bernard L. Madoff, now accused of running a US$50 billion Ponzi scheme. Cox said staff attorneys never bothered to seek a formal commission-approved investigation that would have forced Madoff to surrender vital information under subpoena.

Markets overseas were mixed.

Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.52 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 2.18 per cent. In late morning trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5 per cent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.15 per cent, and France's CAC-40 was flat. Shares of BNP Paribas plunged as much as 16 per cent Wednesday after the French bank said extreme market volatility triggered a loss of US$972 million over the first 11 months of the year due to steep losses in its investment banking operations over the last two months.

White House pressured by lawmakers on auto bailout Wed Dec 17, 6:39 am ET

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration faces competing pressures from lawmakers in different congressional factions as it reviews its options for bailing out the downtrodden U.S. auto industry.Conservative Republicans implored the White House not to use money from the $700 billion bailout for the financial sector to aid carmakers. A leading House Democrat, meanwhile, said the government should secure veto power over the companies' business decisions as part of any aid.Bush administration officials said they were still evaluating options and attempting to avoid a disorderly bankruptcy of the companies while suggesting that concessions from all sides would need to accompany any deal.We're trying to do something that's responsible, said White House press secretary Dana Perino.But a week after Congress failed to reach consensus on a $14 billion aid package for struggling General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, several lawmakers pressed for an array of terms and conditions in any deal crafted by the White House, complicating matters.Conservative lawmakers, many from Southern states that are home to Japanese auto plants, asked Bush not to use the $700 billion Wall Street rescue fund, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, to help the U.S. carmakers.Congress never voted for a federal bailout of the automobile industry, and the only way for TARP funds to be diverted to domestic automakers is with explicit congressional approval, wrote 26 GOP lawmakers, led by Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas.Seven Senate Republicans led by Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina sent a similar letter saying that without restructuring, we do not believe any amount of money will succeed in saving these companies.Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., urged Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to adopt the accountability provisions included in a House-passed auto bailout bill — the product of a deal with the White House — as a condition of any bridge loans to automakers.

The measure would have given a Bush-appointed car czar oversight over any major business decisions by the automakers while they were taking advantage of federal aid, including the power to veto any transaction of $100 million or more.Given the serious mistakes that senior auto industry executives acknowledge they have made in the past, such safeguards are absolutely necessary to ensure that taxpayers are protected and that the retooling of this critical industry proceeds as quickly as possible, Frank wrote.The White House and Treasury Department were in talks with Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who has been seeking big union concessions in exchange for rescue money, on the terms and structure of a possible bailout, said a senior GOP congressional aide.Corker came close last week to striking a deal with the United Auto Workers union for a $14 billion bill that would have forced the carmakers to bring their wages and benefits in line with those of Japanese auto companies in the U.S. by a specific date in 2009. The measure collapsed after the UAW refused to agree to wage cuts that quickly as Senate Republicans demanded. The new contacts with the administration were disclosed on condition of anonymity because the congressional aide was not authorized to divulge them.GM and Chrysler have said they will run out of cash within weeks if they don't get help. Ford Motor Co. has said it has enough cash to survive 2009.Perino said the administration was still working on details of the package, which could reach $15 billion for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC. She said concessions had to be made in exchange for the money.I don't think that there's any possible way that this president would agree to allow taxpayer financing to go toward firms that are not willing to make tough decisions to become viable and competitive in the future, she said.Bush said Tuesday that his administration was considering all options for helping the automakers. He said the already distressed economy could slide further into recession without prompt action.

What you don't want to do is spend a lot of taxpayers' money and then have the same old stuff happen again and again and again, Bush told CNN. At the same time, he said, we're trying to get this done in an expeditious way.Options under consideration by the Bush administration include using part of the $700 billion fund to provide loans to the carmakers or using money from the fund as collateral for emergency loans to the automakers by the Federal Reserve. Associated Press writers Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Ken Thomas contributed to this report.

Flaherty says economy needs stimulus DEC 17,08

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan (Reuters) - Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Wednesday monetary and fiscal stimulus are needed to help steer Canada's economy through the recession.His comments came just over a week after the Bank of Canada cut its key overnight rate by 75 basis points to 1.25 percent and said for the first time that Canada's economy is entering a recession.The Bank of Canada has more scope to move in the future if the governor chooses to, the finance minister said during an interview on CBC television ahead of a meeting with his provincial counterparts.

Flaherty was also asked if providing fiscal stimulus to the economy was more important than monetary stimulus.I think they both have to happen, quite frankly ... the policies should complement each other. We have to make sure we have both kinds of stimuli in the Canadian economy.In a separate interview on Business News Network, Flaherty said he hopes an economic stimulus package will include tax cuts and infrastructure spending. He also added that it was unlikely that Detroit's Big Three automakers will completely shut down.Flaherty told CTV television that Canada's federal and provincial governments must both put money into infrastructure to help buffer the country from the global economic downturn. He also said Canada can react quickly after a U.S. auto stimulus package is in place.(Reporting by Louise Egan in Saskatoon and Scott Anderson in Toronto; Writing by Frank Pingue; Editing by Frank McGurty)

MEPs likely to back EU's green revolution
RENATA GOLDIROVA Today DEC 17,08 @ 09:21 CET

EUOBSERVER / STRASBOURG - The European Parliament is heading for a revolutionary vote on the the set of green laws, known as the climate package, that should see the 27-nation EU boosting renewable energy, cutting greenhouse gas emissions and increasing its energy efficiency. Today is one of those very rare occasions when politicians can really write history, EU environment commissioner Stavros Dimas told MEPs in Strasbourg on Tuesday (16 December). Speaking ahead of the crucial vote, Mr Dimas urged EU lawmakers not to play out their possible objections during the vote, but in their respective capitals. Everybody is a bit dissatisfied ... but the package is equitable, fair and is going to deliver [set] environmental objectives by the end of the next decade, the commissioner said, adding that By adopting this package we will confirm our international role in addressing climate change.During Tuesday's debate, some MEPs criticised a blizzard of concessions granted especially to industrial and coal-dependent member states in Central and Eastern Europe. New member states will be bought off with a solidarity slush fund, cap and trade emissions permits will be given away when they should have been auctioned, and major players like electricity companies will get derogations that amount to super subsidies, UK Liberal Graham Watson said.

All of this pushes down the cost of carbon, cuts the cash raised and makes the emissions targets harder to hit, the MEP concluded.Claude Turmes, the green MEP from Luxembourg, said he was less happy about foreseen prospects of renewable energy in the transport sector. Our planet has limits - we have limited oil resources as well as agricultural fields, he argued, criticising luxury cars fuelled by pseudo-biofuels. We will fight against unreasonable eco-fuel getting to the market, he said.

Finish green Satu Hassi, for her part, objected to an excessive availability to outsource EU emission cuts to other countries. I hope the governments behave in a responsible way and make sure that the major part of emissions reductions are achieved domestically, she said. But despite a series of objections, the climate package is likely to enjoy a smooth ride during the vote today (17 December). All three EU institutions - the commission, the parliament and the council representing member states - sealed an informal deal a few days ago (13 December). You should vote for the package. It's not one proposal here, one proposal there - one affects the other. If you have objections, do it in your country, commissioner Dimas said in his last appeal to EU lawmakers.

Emissions from new cars

One of the sectors that are attentively watching the outcome of the parliament's vote is the automotive industry, responsible for some 12 percent of overall EU emissions of CO2. The draft law, a part of the climate package, foresees car makers bringing down emission levels from the current 160 grammes of CO2 per kilometre to 120 grammes per/km. Roughly two thirds (65 percent) of the new car fleet should meet this ambitious target by 2012, while the entire fleet is expected to comply by 2015. Even a single gram on top will result in a fine. According to Ivan Hodac from the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), representing 15 major producers including VW, BMW, Renault and Fiat, the foreseen conditions are very difficult, but something we can live with.The industry - suffering from low sales in the face of the current economic downturn - is set to ask for additional financial support to meet the green goals. So far, the European Investment Bank pledged to provide it with cheaper loans of €16 billion between 2009-2012. We will certainly ask for additional funding. On top of this, we need to do something to motivate the people to return to buying cars, Mr Hodac told EUobserver.EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs, for his part, said that all proposals included in the climate package make a revolutionary change in the way we produce and consume energy. Cleaner cars will also limit our growing dependency on oil, he argued.

EU moves towards mandatory lobbyists register
VALENTINA POP Today DEC 17,08 @ 10:00 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Commission and parliament have formed a joint working group on Tuesday (16 December) aimed at drawing up a proposal for a common register for the over 15,000 EU lobbyists by mid-2009, amidst criticism from NGOs regarding the influence of big business on the EU executive when drafting legislation.A de facto mandatory register for EU lobbyists, merging the existing mandatory list from the European Parliament with the voluntary financial interests register set up by the EU commission might be designed by mid-2009, Kristian Schmidt, deputy head of cabinet for administration and anti-fraud commissioner Siim Kallas told EUobserver.He said that the EU council, the decision-making body formed by 27 governments and with its own administrative and legal service, was also invited to this joint working group, but did not attend. We can't wait for the council, Mr Schmidt added.The working group is formed of commissioner Kallas and MEPs Diana Wallis, Ingo Friedrich and Jo Leinen. It is expected to present proposals before the European elections in June 2009.Items to be discussed will include the objectives of a common framework for the activities of interest representatives (lobbyists), its main features - such as coverage, nature and scope of the information disclosed, code of conduct, complaint and sanctions – possible specifications for a one-stop shop, as well as the technical and financial implications of this single register, a commission statement reads.The aim of the proposal would be to give the general public a single entry point to a comprehensive overview of the role of lobbyists in the EU decision-making bodies.

Non-transparent lobbying at the commission

Meanwhile, Alter-EU, a coalition of over 160 civil society groups advocating for EU lobbying disclosure legislation was still criticising the commission for defending the prominent role of business interests in drafting EU legislation.The commission defended the presence of business representatives in its expert groups which help draft legislation by pointing to their expertise, an Alter-EU statement reads.Even the commission's own guidelines are being violated as expert groups including the one on biotechnology and on coal are completely controlled by industry, Alter-EU campaigner Yiorgos Vassalos said.The guidelines say that all relevant interests in society should have an opportunity to express their views and that the risk of vested interests distorting the advice in expert groups should be minimised and a diversity of viewpoints resulting from differences in scientific approach, different types of expertise, different institutional affiliations should be collected. The commission has said it will publish details of who sits on expert groups, but this will not include the details of anyone who seeks anonymity. This is not acceptable. Some expert groups have a huge influence on highly controversial areas of policy, yet their members are not even known to the public, let alone held accountable, Mr Vassalos added.Alter-EU had demanded full disclosure of the working groups and claims the commission keeps the names or organisations of advisers in half of the expert groups secret, while basic information was missing for two thirds of them.

Israel issues new warning on Iranian nuclear arms DEC 17,08

JERUSALEM – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is warning that if Iran acquires a nuclear weapon, it could try to attack the United States.Barak said the world should press Iran to stop it from building nuclear weapons.He spoke at a conference of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. He said, If it built even a primitive nuclear weapon like the type that destroyed Hiroshima, Iran would not hesitate to load it on a ship, arm it with a detonator operated by GPS and sail it into a vital port on the east coast of North America.Indicating the possibility of a military strike, Barak said, We recommend to the world not to take any option off the table, and we mean what we say.

Britain sets May 31 as Iraq pullout deadline By JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer DEC 17,08

BAGHDAD – Britain's prime minister announced Wednesday that his country's soldiers will leave Iraq by the end of May, a move that will force the U.S. to send troops into the Shiite south to secure supply lines to the much larger American force.

Britain, with some 4,000 troops currently in Iraq, is the second-largest contributor to the international military coalition after the United States.But the war has been extremely unpopular in Britain, and the end of the mission could be a political boon to Brown if he calls, as expected, a national election for June 4.Britain had previously said the mission would conclude in the early summer, and Brown's statement appeared to accelerate that timetable.Although security in Iraq has improved markedly in recent months, a double bombing in Baghdad during Brown's visit highlighted the violent passions that persist.Police said 18 people were killed and 52 wounded when a car bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad and a roadside bomb went off minutes later as police rushed to the scene. The U.S. military reported nine killed and 43 wounded; conflicting casualty tolls are common in Iraqi bombings.Late Wednesday, a bomb exploded moments after a U.S. military patrol passed by in the mostly Sunni Baghdad neighborhood of Sulaikh, killing a 13-year-old boy and wounding three other people, an Iraqi military officer at the scene said on condition of anonymity.And the U.S. military said Iraqi forces killed three assailants who opened fire on them northwest of Baghdad and detained four suspected insurgents.We have agreed today that the mission will end no later than the 31st of May, Brown said at a news conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.Al-Maliki thanked the British for their efforts in getting rid of dictatorship and terrorism.They have made a lot of sacrifices, al-Maliki said.

More than 45,000 British troops took part in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein — compared with about 250,000 American troops in the invading force. At least 173 British soldiers have died in Iraq, compared with more than 4,200 Americans.Britain's decision means the United States will have to send forces to the south to help with security and protect vital supply routes from Kuwait to the nearly 150,000-strong American force in central, northern and western Iraq.A U.S. brigade is expected to take over Britain's base next to Basra's international airport once British forces leave.The new mission will pose more challenges to the U.S. military as it moves to end its presence in Iraq's cities by the end of June and from all of Iraq by 2012 under terms of a new security pact.Most of the area between Basra and Baghdad already has been put under the control of the slowly reviving Iraqi military.Brown went to Basra after meeting with al-Maliki and visited the nearby port of Umm Qasr, Iraq's only sea outlet. He then left for Britain.He said the region has seen significant security improvements and that this reflects the cooperation between local security forces and local authorities with the U.K. troops.Unlike the U.S., Britain has no plans to shift large numbers of troops from Iraq to Afghanistan. Brown has said other NATO allies must play a greater role.

Before leaving Baghdad, Brown also said that he and al-Maliki discussed the fate of five Britons who were kidnapped by a Shiite militia a year and a half ago. The men — information technology consultant Peter Moore and four guards — were seized from the Iraqi Finance Ministry compound in Baghdad in a brazen raid May 29, 2007. Little information has come since, although a British newspaper reported this summer that the militia said one of the hostages had committed suicide. I call for all those who are holding them to let them return to their families immediately and without condition, Brown said. Brown emphasized that despite the military withdrawal, Britain will remain strongly engaged in Iraq. We will take forward a collaborative approach to build skills and capacity for the government of Iraq as a source of crucial revenue — a priority will be developing the expertise of the Oil Ministry, he said. And we are in discussion with many of our own companies who are interested in investing in Iraq.

Anti-piracy force thwarts attack on Chinese ship By AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press Writer – Wed Dec 17, 10:47 am ET

SAN'A, Yemen – An international anti-piracy force thwarted the attempted takeover of a Chinese cargo ship off the Somali coast on Wednesday, sending in attack helicopters that fired on the bandits and forced them to abandon the ship they had boarded.In another blow to the region's thriving piracy trade, the Indian navy handed over 23 pirates it caught at sea to authorities in Yemen.In Wednesday's assault, nine pirates armed with guns overtook the Chinese ship with speedboats and boarded the vessel, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.He said the 30-member crew sent a distress message to the bureau as it saw the pirates approaching, then barricaded themselves inside their living quarters. Choong said the bureau quickly alerted the international naval force, which dispatched two helicopters and a warship.Two helicopters arrived at the scene first and helped deter the hijacking. They fired at the pirates, forcing them to flee the ship, he said. There were no injuries during the five-hour ordeal.The Chinese ship is very fortunate to have escaped. This is a rare case where pirates have successfully boarded the ship but failed to hijack it, he added.Somali pirates, spurred by widespread poverty in their homeland, have hijacked more than 40 vessels off their country's coastline this year. Many of the seizures have taken place in the Gulf of Aden, which lies between Somalia and Yemen and is one of the world's busiest waterways. Many of the vessels are taken to pirate-controlled regions in Somalia, where they are held for ransom.

China's official Xinhua News Agency identified the boat involved in the latest attempt as the Zhenhua 4 and said it belonged to China Communications Construction Co. and was registered in the Caribbean island of St. Vincent.It was the latest in a series of attacks by Somali pirates on Chinese vessels. On Tuesday, said it was considering sending warships to the area to help battle piracy.The announcement came during a unanimous U.N. Security Council vote to authorize nations to conduct land and air attacks on pirate bases on the coast of Somalia.The area is just too wide to patrol. Hopefully with the U.N. resolution, there will be more firm action to stop this menace, Choong said.Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei told the council that China was considering sending warships to the Gulf of Aden to join ships from the U.S., Russia, Denmark, Italy and other countries.In Yemen, meanwhile, the Indian navy handed over 23 pirates arrested in the Gulf of Aden last Saturday after they threatened a merchant vessel in the lawless waters off the Yemeni coast, a Yemeni security official said.The Indian sailors boarded two pirate boats and seized what was described as a substantial arms cache and equipment at the time. The security official said the pirates included 12 Somalis and 11 Yemenis.The handover took place in the southern port of Aden, and the pirates were to be interrogated and charged in court. He stressed that Yemen has the right to try Somali pirates because their arrest took place inside Yemeni waters.The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media pending a government statement. He spoke to The Associated Press by telephone from Aden.Associated Press writers Henry Sanderson in Beijing, and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to the report.