A high-stakes White House meeting that was supposed to seal an agreement on a $700 billion plan to avert financial disaster on Wall Street unexpectedly dissolved into a heated argument over an alternate proposal by conservative Republicans, leading congressional leaders to clash over a deal that had suddenly turned sour.

Angry Democrats later accused Republican presidential nominee John McCain of throwing the deal off track, trying to upstage the negotiations in an effort to help his campaign.

Source: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/09/26/partisan_standoff_on_bailout_candidates_debate_in_doubt/

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Boston Councilor Sam Yoon confirmed for the first time that he was asking West Coast contributors to get behind a possible challenge to Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

The at-large councilor, in his second term on the Boston City Council, has yet to outline his political plans in Boston and has drawn questions about his decision to get things rolling 3,000 miles away from the city.

Source: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/09/26/yoon_says_he_is_considering_a_run_against_menino/

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Pirates off the coast of Somalia have seized a Ukrainian ship carrying T-72 tanks, an official has said. Ukraine's foreign ministry said the ship had a crew of 21 and was sailing under a Belize flag to the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

A report from Russia's Interfax news agency said earlier that the ship had a cargo of about 30 tanks, as well as spare parts for armoured vehicles.

There has been a recent surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia. The country has not had an effective national government for 17 years, leading to a collapse of law and order both on land and at sea.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7637257.stm