"By the summer of 2011, it will be clear to the Afghan people that the insurgency will not win, giving them the chance to side with their government," Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal said.

Despite such assurances, members of the House and Senate armed services committees used the appearance Tuesday by McChrystal -- as well as the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl W. Eikenberry -- to press for answers on what would happen in July 2011, when the 30,000 forces that President Obama recently committed to sending to Afghanistan are to begin their gradual pullout.

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said the U.K. will force banks awarding discretionary bonuses of more than 25,000 pounds ($40,800) to pay a one-time levy of 50 percent.

The tax, effective today, will be paid by all banks that operate in the U.K., including U.S. firms such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Employees will still have to pay income tax on their bonuses, the Treasury said. The top tax rate on earnings of more than 150,000 pounds will rise to 50 percent in April, a measure announced earlier this year.

Today?s levy will raise about 550 million pounds, less than 1 percent of the U.K.?s total tax revenue, according to KPMG LLP. Darling, whose Labour Party faces an election by June, is trying to mollify voter anger after providing more than 1 trillion pounds to prop up lenders including Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in the credit crisis. Barclays Plc President Robert Diamond said yesterday the measure risks driving business away from the City of London.

BAGHDAD — The owner of a dog that miraculously survived a massive bombing returned to his collapsed home Wednesday to be reunited with his pet, stunning neighbors who thought he was dead.

The ginger-colored dog was spotted chained to a roof railing and standing on a wall ledge over the collapsed home after Tuesday's huge blast near Iraq's Finance Ministry leveled shops and houses. The attack was part of coordinated bombings around Baghdad that claimed at least 127 lives.

"Lots of neighbors thought I was dead," said Farouq Omar Muhei after his dog, Liza, was carried down to the street and began lapping at a puddle.

With a little sleight of hand, con artists can dupe them into giving top billing to fraudulent Web sites that prey on consumers, making unwitting accomplices of companies such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.

Online charlatans typically try to lure people into giving away their personal or financial information by posing as legitimate companies in "phishing" e-mails or through messages in forums such as Twitter and Facebook. But a new study by security researcher Jim Stickley shows how search engines also can turn into funnels for shady schemes.

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling imposed a 50 percent levy on banker bonuses and said he will increase income taxes after elections next year as the worst recession on record drives up government borrowing.

The Treasury expects to raise 550 million pounds ($896 million) targeting payouts at banks in the next few months and another 3 billion pounds from incomes earned after April 2011. Borrowing will rise by 4.6 billion pounds to 611 billion pounds in through March 2013.

Trailing in opinion polls before an election that he must hold by June, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is balancing the need to clamp down on a record budget deficit while extending support for voters struggling to keep their jobs during the slump.

Two key works loomed large in a way that would have been inconceivable three decades ago. The most talked about, a black chalk sketch of a woman seen head and shoulders, was hailed as the work of Raphael.

Estimated by Christie’s to be worth £12 million to £16 million plus the sale charge, it was the object of a furious contest pitching a great connoisseur dealer “retired” in Italy, Luca Baroni, against an anonymous telephone bidder. The “Head of a Muse,” described as a preparatory sketch for the third muse on the right of Raphael’s fresco depicting the “Parnassus” in the Vatican, ended up at a phenomenal £29 million, the highest price ever paid for a drawing from any school.

The credit rating on Greece?s government bonds was yesterday cut by Fitch Ratings to BBB+ and the two other major ratings companies are threatening to follow suit. The ECB currently accepts bonds rated BBB- as collateral for loans after relaxing its rules in response to the financial crisis last year. At the end of 2010, it is due to revert to the old rules, under which A- is the minimum required rating.

?The banks are currently able to pledge bonds issued by their government as collateral at the ECB,? said Ben May, an economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London. ?This will no longer be an option come the end of next year if the other rating agencies follow Fitch?s lead.?

"Oh my God! Hurry up," the woman says as a child is heard crying in the background.

His mother-in-law, Barbro Holmberg, was rushed to a hospital early Tuesday with stomach pains. Although she was released about 11 hours later and returned to Woods' mansion, the event touched off the second media frenzy in two weeks surrounding the pro golfer's carefully guarded private life.

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The proposal drawing the most attention and criticism at the United Nations climate-change talks in Copenhagen never got put on the table.

The formula for slowing global warming, circulated by Denmark before the two-week negotiations started Dec. 7, has generated a stir because Denmark is the host country for more than 190 nations, striving to be neutral.

The plan, leaked more than a week ago, is flawed because it was drawn up outside the UN process without input from poorer nations, said Kim Carstensen, head of the global climate initiative at environmental group WWF. UN climate chief Yvo de Boer issued a statement saying the paper is ?informal? only.

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG, Europe?s largest carmaker, agreed to buy 19.9 percent of Suzuki Motor Corp. for 222.5 billion yen ($2.5 billion) to boost its presence in India.

Suzuki, Japan?s fourth-biggest automaker, will spend as much as half of the amount it will receive from Volkswagen into VW shares, Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen said in a statement today. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and will probably be completed by January, the companies said.

The carmakers will focus on ?achieving synergies? in developing and manufacturing energy-efficient small cars in emerging markets. Suzuki controls Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., the maker of half of the cars sold in India. VW is the second- biggest overseas automaker in China, which is set to surpass the U.S. as the world?s largest auto market this year.

Christie's says the Italian virtuoso's work has won one of the highest prices ever paid for an Old Master at auction.

A portrait by Dutch master Rembrandt also fetched a high price, selling for 20 million pounds ($32.7 million).

"If you care about the science -- and we do -- there's no way to solve this problem by giving the major developing countries a pass," State Department envoy Todd Stern told reporters during the third day of U.N. climate talks here. "We're not talking about the same kind of need for actions from the vast majority of developing countries. But the major ones, it's going to be absolutely essential."

Citing International Energy Agency data, Stern said U.S. emissions are peaking and will trend down over the next two decades, while 97 percent of the growth in greenhouse gases between now and 2030 will come from the developing world, with China contributing about half of that.

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG, Europe?s largest carmaker, agreed to buy 20 percent of Suzuki Motor Corp. for 222.5 billion yen ($2.5 billion) to boost its presence in India.

The Wolfsburg, Germany-based automaker will pay for the stake in January, Suzuki said in a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange today. The Japanese automaker is the parent of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., the maker of half of the cars sold in the country.

Volkswagen plans to expand in India, the world?s second most populous country, as job concerns stunt auto demand in the U.S. and Europe. The company is also the second-biggest overseas automaker in China, which is set to surpass the U.S. as the world?s largest auto market this year.

The Congressional Oversight Panel, which issued the report, was created in October 2008 by the same law that established the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. The panel has often been critical of the Treasury Department’s management of the bailout operation, especially at its start in the Bush administration but also under the Obama administration.

In the latest monthly report released on Wednesday, the panel again criticized the Treasury Department under Secretary Timothy F. Geithner for “failure to articulate clear goals or to provide specific measures of success for the program” as it has morphed over time from rescuing financial institutions to propping up securitization markets, auto manufacturers and home mortgages in danger of default. The panel also described the program’s foreclosure mitigation efforts as inadequate.

Almost half a billion dollars was wiped out this year through Nov. 30, as the market headed for a third straight annual decline. New foreclosures and higher mortgage rates in 2010 may hinder a rebound, the property data service said today in a statement.

?A phenomenal amount of wealth has been erased since the housing bust,? Stan Humphries, chief economist for Seattle- based Zillow, said yesterday in an interview. ?For many households, most of their wealth is tied up in real estate.?

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The pound fell to its lowest level in almost two months against the dollar on concern Dubai?s state-controlled companies will have to sell U.K. assets to pay for loan obligations.

The British currency weakened versus 15 of its 16 major counterparts after Moody?s Investors Service said yesterday that deteriorating public finances in the U.K. and the U.S. may test their Aaa ratings. The yen reversed earlier gains on speculation the Bank of Japan will take more credit-easing measures after a report showed the world?s second-largest economy grew less than earlier estimated in the third quarter.

?There are concerns that companies in Dubai, which are falling behind on debt payments, may need to sell U.K. property,? said Yuji Saito, head of the foreign-exchange group in Tokyo at Societe Generale SA. ?Risk aversion is prevailing, so the dollar will probably be bought. The pound will likely be sold.?

WASHINGTON — Democratic senators say they have a tentative deal to drop a government-run insurance option from health care legislation. No further details were immediately available.

But liberals and moderates have been discussing an alternative, including a private insurance arrangement to be supervised by the federal agency that oversees the system through which lawmakers purchase coverage. Additionally, talks centered on opening up Medicare to uninsured Americans beginning at age 55, a significant expansion of the large government health care program that currently serves the over-65 population.

Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa told reporters he didn't like the agreement but would support it to the hilt in an attempt to pass health care legislation.

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The euro traded near a five-week low against the dollar on speculation credit ratings of more European nations will be cut after Greece?s debt ranking was lowered by Fitch Ratings.

The pound was near its weakest level in almost two months versus the dollar on concern that Dubai?s state-controlled companies will have to sell U.K. assets to pay for loan obligations. The yen reversed earlier gains on speculation the Bank of Japan will take more credit-easing measures after a report showed the economy expanded less than initially estimated in the third quarter.

?There are worries more European countries? sovereign ratings will be downgraded,? said Yuji Saito, head of the foreign-exchange group in Tokyo at Societe Generale SA. ?There are also concerns that companies in Dubai, which are falling behind on debt payments, may need to sell U.K. property. Risk aversion is prevailing, so the dollar will probably be bought and the euro will likely be sold.?

The credit rating on Greece?s government bonds was yesterday cut by Fitch Ratings to BBB+ and the two other major ratings companies are threatening to follow suit. The ECB currently accepts bonds rated BBB- as collateral for loans after relaxing its rules in response to the financial crisis last year. At the end of 2010, it is due to revert to the old rules, under which A- is the minimum required rating.

?The banks are currently able to pledge bonds issued by their government as collateral at the ECB,? said Ben May, an economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London. ?This will no longer be an option come the end of next year if the other rating agencies follow Fitch?s lead.?

The formula for slowing global warming, circulated by Denmark before the two-week negotiations started Dec. 7, has generated a stir because Denmark is the host country for more than 190 nations, striving to be neutral.

The plan, leaked more than a week ago, is flawed because it was drawn up outside the UN process without input from poorer nations, said Kim Carstensen, head of the global climate initiative at environmental group WWF. UN climate chief Yvo de Boer issued a statement saying the paper is ?informal? only.