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Starting in May, the Treasury will begin sending economic stimulus payments to more than 130 million households. To receive a payment, taxpayers must have a valid Social Security number, $3,000 of income and file a 2007 federal tax return. IRS will take care of the rest. Eligible people will receive up to $600 ($1,200 for married couples), and parents will receive an additional $300 for each eligible child younger than 17. Millions of retirees, disabled veterans and low-wage workers who usually are exempt from filing a tax return must do so this year in order to receive a stimulus payment....

Are we headed toward bigger government? Senator McCain's position is that there is a role for government, and the primary thing is that you identify government's role and make sure that it does it well. The striking thing that has come out of the campaign is the degree to which the American people have lost trust in their government to pursue genuine national priorities, and there are three instances in which this gets voiced pretty clearly; probably the most vivid is the immigration debate, where people simply did not believe that the federal government [would secure the borders]...so Senator...

Italians vote as economic disaster looms By Malcolm Moore in Rome Last Updated: 2:41am BST 14/04/2008 Voting began yesterday in Italy's general election but the winner will inherit a country on the brink of disaster. A man in Sorrento was arrested after he announced 'politics makes me sick' and ate his ballot paper According to the International Monetary Fund, Italy's economic growth will not rise above 0.3 per cent this year, and could be zero. The country's growth is the slowest in Europe and Mario Draghi, the governor of the Bank of Italy, warned that "the crisis is not yet...

Soaring price of food 'leads to riots' By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent Last Updated: 2:45am BST 07/04/2008 Rising food prices threaten economic stability and could trigger riots, Gordon Brown has been warned. The World Bank said this week that the price of staple foods has risen by 80 per cent in the past three years. For consumers in wealthy nations such as Britain soaring prices are squeezing household finances and keeping inflation up. But for developing nations they can lead to malnutrition and social disruption. Food prices are being driven up by shortages of supply - often caused by bad...

Capt. Gregory Curry II, commander of Troop A, 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division signs over a micro-grant to a general store owner in the Hawr Rajab area. Curry, of Walnut Creek, Ohio, said the purpose of the micro-grants is to improve and jumpstart the local economy. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Paredes. FOB KALSU — With security improving in Hawr Rajab, stores and schools are reopening and a number of programs are revitalizing a community once on the brink of chaos. In November 2007, al-Qaeda launched their last well-coordinated offensives into...

House Democrats sponsor economic forum U.S. congressional Democrats said they will have a forum with economic and financial experts looking at implications of problems in housing and credit markets. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said the economic forum will be Wednesday in the Capitol. Restoring the American dream for millions of our nation's working families has been a central priority for House Democrats, Pelosi said in a news release. Congress will continue to focus our attention and efforts on the strains Americans are feeling, especially with the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush believes it is too early to decide whether a second economic stimulus package is needed to ward off a recession but would not rule it out, governors who met with him said on Monday. After a $152 billion package was signed into law earlier this month, U.S. governors during a White House meeting pressed Bush to back another stimulus plan that would include funding for roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects. They argued that such a program would address unemployment and put the economy on a more sustainable path of growth. "We...

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez on Sunday threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States in an "economic war" if Exxon Mobil Corp. wins court judgments to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets. Exxon Mobil has gone after the assets of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA in U.S., British and Dutch courts as it challenges the nationalization of a multibillion dollar oil project by Chavez's government. A British court has issued an injunction "freezing" as much as $12 billion in assets. "If you end up freezing (Venezuelan assets) and it harms us, we're going...

BREAKING NEWS: House of Representatives overwhelmingly passes economic-stimulus measure; Senate takes up bill next. Full story to follow shortly.

Its package may spend more for food stamps and unemployment benefits. Some fear the House-crafted compromise could be unraveled ...Greg Valliere, chief political strategist for the financial services firm Stanford Group Co., said he expected a plan to clear Congress, even if the Senate fiddled with it: "The Senate is notoriously independent and unwilling to be stampeded; this will be no exception." Still, he expected a package to become law within the next few weeks. "In the final analysis, most lawmakers are aghast to see their public approval ratings at all-time lows. This gives them an opportunity to show they...

1/4/2008 - LAGHMAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- A recently-approved $300,000 construction contract promises economic growth for Afghans here, according to the Airman leading engineering efforts for the Mehtar Lam Provincial Reconstruction Team. The contract for the construction of four new agricultural buildings in the Mehtar Lam agricultural compound was signed Dec. 30, according to PRT engineer, Capt. Peter Joo. One of the agricultural buildings will be for farm equipment storage and maintenance, the second building will be for general purpose storage (to include feed and fertilizer) and the third and fourth, smaller buildings will be used for cool storage. "The...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — The road to economic prosperity south of Baghdad is being paved by Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga. With assistance from the 2nd BCT embedded provincial reconstruction team, local government councils and Iraqi contractors, the task of restoring roads and improving roads damaged by war is in full swing. “It’s all about … helping the agricultural market in our area,” said Capt. Brian Love, ePRT military liason. The area, comprised of Arab Jabour, Hawr Rajab, Al Buaytha and Adwaniyah, is mainly agriculturally-based. The improvements, which began in October,...

Top White House economic adviser Allan Hubbard is expected to leave his post at the end of this year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday in its on-line edition. The resignation, the latest in a spate of White House departures as President George W Bush's term winds down, could be announced later in the day, the Journal said. Hubbard, 60, joined the White House as director of the National Economic Council after Bush's re-election in 2004. His departure would come as the Bush administration is facing a crisis in the mortgage industry that has caused rising housing foreclosures and...

Citizens in Baghdad’s Doura district go into a corner market to buy food. Neighborhoods in the district have shown a recent economic revival after years of fighting. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Robert Timmons, 1st Infantry Division, Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — Bullet holes attest to the battleground that was this two-block portion of the Doura neighborhood. Just a few months ago, residents were afraid to step outside, leaving their neighborhood filled with garbage, without power and with most of its shops closed. That was until members of 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division,...

BAGHDAD, Nov. 14, 2007 – Bullet holes attest to the battleground that was this two-block portion of the Doura neighborhood. Just a few months ago, residents were afraid to step outside, leaving their neighborhood filled with garbage, without power and with most of its shops closed. Citizens in Baghdad’s Doura district go into a corner market to buy food. Neighborhoods in the district have shown a recent economic revival after years of fighting. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Robert Timmons, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. That was until members of 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2007 – Security in Iraq has made tremendous gains, and now is the time to cement that security in place with economic gains, coalition officials said in Baghdad today. The U.S. Defense Department is spending money in Iraq to get basic services working and to prime the pump for private businesses, said Paul A. Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation. Brinkley was joined at the news conference by Air Force Maj. Gen. Darryl Scott, commander of Joint Contracting Command Iraq, and Navy Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, chief of Multinational Force Iraq Communications Division. Coalition...

Bin Laden never thought he could destroy the United States with bombs. In an interview shortly after 9/11 he said he expected the US to bankrupt itself. It seems that is well on our way to fullfilling his expectation. Of course the war in Iraq is costly but even more costly has been the effect of the war against terror has had on business. Seven hour border crossing cut trade not only directly but indirectly..those that never even try because its not worth it..and as the economic gloom increases other markets seem more attractive anyway. The constant drumbeat to increase...

The world’s financial system came precariously close to seizing up recently. In fact, as far as some big banks and financial institutions were concerned, for a moment in time, the system was in a full-blown cardiac arrest. Liquidity, the flow of money—the lifeblood of today’s economic structure—came uncomfortably close to clotting up in August this year. Defibrillators sizzling and money flowing, central banks around the world acted in concert to jump-start financial markets, slashing lending rates and injecting nearly a half trillion in dollar steroids into the economic pulmonary system. But contrary to what the big media outlets may have...

US imposes strict economic sanctions on Iran By Toby Harnden in Washington and Damien McElroy Last Updated: 7:45pm BST 25/10/2007 The United States has announced its toughest action against Iran since the aftermath of the 1979 revolution by instituting a raft of unilateral sanctions. The unprecedented steps are designed to cut international financial support to Teheran's theocratic regime as well as targeting Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corp, which is accused of supporting Shia insurgents in Iraq. Henry Paulson, US Treasury Secretary, and Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, announce the sanctions Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, and Henry Paulson,...

This past month, the Bush Administration opened the U.S. border to trucks from Mexico. Trying to soften the blow, they called it a "pilot program" but it clearly sacrifices the economic security of American workers and the safety and health of the U.S. public on George Bush's altar of free trade. There is no better example of how big money has corrupted government decision making than cross border trucking. This scheme is opposed by the Teamsters and the entire labor movement, opposed by environmental groups and the Sierra Club, opposed by Public Citizen and a host of other non-governmental organizations,...

Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007 Governor Mitt Romney Excerpts Of Remarks At The Club For Growth (Live Via Video) Washington, D.C. Governor Romney On The Line-Item Veto: Governor Romney: "I should also note that perhaps the best way to get our spending down was to be able to use the line-item veto. I used that 844 times as Governor of Massachusetts. I'm glad I had it." Governor Romney On His Conservative Blueprint To Lower Taxes: Governor Romney: "Let me tell you what I'd do, as opposed to what Hillary Clinton would do with regard to our tax and spending policies. First...

Two engineers about to go on trial for allegedly stealing confidential computer chip designs from their Silicon Valley employer and a partner firm were indicted Wednesday on the rare and more serious charge of economic espionage, prosecutors said. The indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in San Jose accuses Lan Lee, 42, of Palo Alto, and Yuefei Ge, 34, a Chinese national living in San Jose, of orchestrating the computer-chip plot so they could go into business with the Chinese military. The men are accused of stealing secret data sheets and other confidential documents from NetLogic...

Over the past three weeks, 45 families and 31 individuals -- approximately 200 people -- entered Canada at the Detroit River crossings and applied in Windsor for shelter and social assistance after filing refugee claims with the Canada Border Services Agency. Municipal agencies dealing with the sudden influx of mainly Mexican refugee applicants are renting out hotel rooms and bracing for predicted thousands more to come. "I don't believe that Windsor's residents and taxpayers should have to foot the bill for U.S. immigration policy," Francis told The Star. He was referring to the suspected source of the problem -- a...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2007 – The provincial reconstruction team in Iraq’s Salah ad Din province is hard at work with local leaders to promote organization in governance, economic development, and rule of law, the team’s leader said yesterday. Steven Buckler, speaking with Internet journalists and “bloggers” in a conference call, said the Salah ad Din PRT has about 50 members. “A third of them are our security personnel, who escort us in the Humvees when we go into town,” he explained. The other two thirds, 35 or so, are a mix of civilian and military members. “We're in town five,...

Sir Larry Kudlow has got it, and I genuinely admired his flexibility in his view of the new economic reality. Unfortunately, in part based on the seduction of yesterday's remarkable rip back from disaster, others have not. Many on this site and elsewhere, including the cheering squad from CNBC who partied like it was 1999 only a month ago as the DJIA eclipsed the 14,000 level, contended that Thursday's ramp was a "psychological positive" and could be interpreted as the end of the recent swoon. They are guessing, and guessing has no role in an uncertain market. The market's action...

BAGHDAD — Military officials discussed current efforts in Iraq at the Combined Press Information Center Wednesday. U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman; Paul Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation, and Philip Reeker, counselor for public affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, discussed economic and political efforts underway to assist the government of Iraq. Bergner opened the conference by talking about the building “tactical momentum” in the sixth week of the surge. Operations from Iraqi and Coalition forces made progress in a number of fronts, he said. “We continue to target the networks and...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2007 – Ongoing, tangible progress is being made in Iraq across security, economic and political fronts, U.S. officials said in Baghdad today. (Video) Ongoing anti-insurgent operations conducted by U.S. and Iraqi security forces and Iraqi citizens’ growing rejection of insurgent-instigated violence are producing gains against al Qaeda and other extremists, Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. “We are now in the sixth week of the surge in operations, and we’re seeing some tactical momentum,” Bergner said. Operations by Iraqi and U.S. forces “have made...

Each year Mexicans in the United States send billions of dollars in remittances back to Mexico. In 2006, Mexicans working north of the border sent back US$23 billion. Remittances have become (after petroleum) the second highest legal source of income for Mexico. And that’s one of several reasons why Mexican leaders don’t want emigration to end. But are these billions of dollars really helping Mexico? You might think so, but if you look at the Mexican regions that receive high levels of remittances, they’re not exactly booming economically. Take for example Michoacan, President Felipe Calderon’s home state. That state is...

Monday, Jun 04, 2007 "The differences between us and the Republicans are major. And I don't want anybody in America to be confused about that." – Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) (CNN, Democratic Presidential Debate, Manchester, NH, 6/3/07) At Last Night's Democrat Presidential Debate, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) Laid Out Her Vision For American Prosperity: Sen. Clinton Promised She Would Do The "Hard Work" Of Increasing Taxes On The American People. "I think it's important to remember that six years ago, we had a balanced budget and a surplus. And we did that the old-fashioned way, by cutting spending and raising...

BAGHDAD — The deputy commander of Multi-National Division-West and the governor of Al-Anbar province held a press conference at the Combined Press Information Center Tuesday. U.S.Marine Corps Brig. Gen. John Allen, deputy commander of MND-W, and Mamoun Sami Rashid Al-Awani, the governor of Al-Anbar province, discussed the progression of security and stability in Al-Anbar province. “The Al-Anbar province is in transition,” said Allen. “The recent improvement in the security situation across the province has created significant political and economic opportunities.” Recently, Al-Anbar citizens have made several big steps engaging al-Qaeda in the province and have grown politically and economically closer...

For the past five weeks, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Islamic Moral Brigades have been clashing with groups of young Iranians on the streets of Tehran and other major cities over the government's crackdown on "immodest dress." The crackdown is seen by many Iranians as another step toward an even more suffocating social atmosphere in the crisis-stricken country. Both Mr. Ahmadinejad and his mentor, the "Supreme Leader" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claim that the way young Iranians dress is the most immediate threat to their Islamist dystopia. Iranians demonstrating against poor working conditions clash with a security official, May 1, 2007. Television footage...

<p>WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy slowed sharply in early 2007, retreating to its weakest pace in four years under the weight of the housing slump, while inflation accelerated.</p> <p>Gross domestic product rose at a seasonally adjusted 1.3% annual rate January through March, the Commerce Department said Friday in the first estimate of first-quarter GDP.</p>

Tuesday the Russians could watch justice at work: Sergey Mavrodi, founding father of the biggest economic “bubble” MMM in the modern history of Russia had to face the sentence. 16 June, 1993 Sergey Mavrodi founded a so-called commercial company MMM, which turned out to become an extraordinary huge financial pyramid. According to the case papers, Mavrodi under the name of MMM issued 991 thousand shares with face-value of 1000 rubles, but the real amount of shares sold to the population was three of four times bigger. A great role in this story played Russian mass media: MMM produced several TV...

It's increasingly clear that much of our standard economic vocabulary needs revising, supplementing or at least explaining. The customary words we use don't fully convey what's actually happening in the real world. Let me illustrate with two basic economic terms: inflation and recession. There are also larger lessons. Start with inflation. You may have noticed that last week's release of the March consumer price index — the government's main inflation indicator — inspired much optimism. "Inflation Fears Relax," headlined The Wall Street Journal. Stock prices jumped on the supposedly good news. But if you actually examined the CPI report, you...

Insanity, by one definition, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Although widely attributed to Albert Einstein, this observation could just as well been uttered by someone watching the Sacramento scene. When Gray Davis was elected governor nine years ago, the state was suffering from an embarrassment of riches. Capital-gains tax proceeds from what would be known as the dot-com bubble provided consecutive annual surpluses of $6 billion, $10 billion and, finally, $12 billion. --snip-- While serving out the remaining three years of Davis' second term, Schwarzenegger made a good-faith effort to put the state...

We often argue about left/right or conservative/progressive (liberal is a misnomer in the classical sense). I thought a little diversion from the standard debates might be interesting. The link to the Political Compass will allow anyone interested to see where their beliefs fall. It assesses your beliefs both economically and socially, take the test to see where you fall. My score: Economic Left/Right: 6.00 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.33 I don't claim to be another Milton Friedman, but my score places my political compass beliefs close to his, far right economically and moderate socially.

Local Iraqi leaders, members of local Iraqi Security Forces and U.S. Marines and soldiers serving in western Iraq celebrate the grand opening of a bridge that stretches across the Euphrates River, Feb. 1, 2007, in Ramana, Iraq. The celebration was complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony, followed by a feast hosted by the mayor of Ramana, one of the many Euphrates River cities that lie here in western Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Local sheiks along with Lt. Col. Scott C. Shuster, commanding officer of Task Force 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, a Twentynine Palms, Calif.-based battalion, and the mayors...

Zimbabwe heads for economic meltdown Andrew Meldrum in Johannesburg Wednesday February 7, 2007 Guardian Unlimited (UK) Kennedy Mugonda, 10, had to leave school after his family could not afford the fees. Photograph: Desmond Kwande/AFP/Getty Zimbabwe's economic collapse is rapidly accelerating and is being blamed for an outbreak of cholera, strikes by doctors and nurses, and electricity blackouts. Prices of meat, cooking oil and clothes increased by 223% in the last week alone, according to a survey by the central bank. The annual inflation rate is now racing at 1,200% and picking up speed. Doctors at government hospitals have been on...

Hands up if you've lost the plot By Gethin Chamberlain, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 12:02am GMT 21/01/2007Page 1 of 3 First, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad alienated the rest of the world with his religious extremism, nuclear ambitions and global grandstanding. Now, due to domestic failures and economic incompetence, he is doing the same to ordinary Iranians Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been blamed for Iran's woes Imagine you are the president of Iran. You awake to discover that a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is heading in your direction, as is a new anti-missile defence system to protect your neighbours from the missiles you plan...

Prices for corn tortillas, a staple of Mexican diet and culture, are soaring south of the border. Some tortilla prices in Mexico have risen as much as 60 percent, hurting the low-income people who depend on it as their basic food. Elizabeth Rosas, a 20-year-old office cleaner in Mexico City, was discouraged to find that her usual tortilla shop this week raised the price of its corn tortillas from 8 pesos (73 cents) to 10 pesos (91 cents) a kilogram. "My family doesn't have the budget to pay more for tortillas," said Rosas, who makes $40 a week and shares...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2006 -- The military is doing all it can to calm Iraq, but the country needs political and economic solutions to function, the outgoing commander of Multinational Corps Iraq said yesterday. In an interview with Baghdad-based journalists, Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who gives up command tomorrow, said military, economic, reconstruction and political efforts in Iraq must move forward at the same time. Iraq cannot succeed with one line working and the others treading water or reverting, he said. If Iraqis get back to work, the sectarian strife would lessen, Chiarelli said. Polls in Baghdad show...

AUSTIN, Texas - David M. Walker sure talks like he's running for office. "This is about the future of our country, our kids and grandkids," the comptroller general of the United States warns a packed hall at Austin's historic Driskill Hotel. "We the people have to rise up to make sure things get changed." But Walker doesn't want, or need, your vote this November. He already has a job as head of the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress that audits and evaluates the performance of the federal government. Basically, that makes Walker the nation's accountant-in-chief. And the...

Several political and economic analysts in Russia suppose that one of the reasons for partial lifting of the US sanctions concerning Iran’s airspace were talks between Tehran and Moscow about buying Russian aircrafts. On the eve, the US State Department has announced that Washington agreed to US Federal Aviation Administration’s inquiry about providing spare parts and service to Iranian airbuses. Besides, the State Department informed the Congress on it and appealed to the US Department of the Treasury asking to issue an appropriate permission

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., discuss Medicare and prescription drugs at the Sunrise Senior Center, Tuesday, Oct.3, 2006, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Pointing toward midterm elections, Pelosi promised to raise the minimum wage while cutting taxes to spur economic growth and help the middle class. (AP Photo/Steve Mitchell) AP - Oct 04 8:15 PM

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The North American Free Trade Agreement has lowered the standard of living for workers in the United States, Mexico and Canada, according to a new report. Signed in 1994, the trade deal was touted as a win-win situation for all three signatories. But the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think-tank, said that NAFTA has led to cuts in social spending and prompted wages to stagnate or even fall. "Twelve years later, it is clear that the costs to workers outweighed the benefits in all three nations," the report said. "Workers' share of the gains from rising...

Nation's economic growth leaves some areas behindBy Liz Sidoti Associated Press Unemployment rates in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virgiria are higher than the national average. Kentucky - 6.3 percent Ohio - 5.8 percent Indiana - 5.7 percent West Virginia - 5.4 percent FALMOUTH, Ky. - Used boots fetch $3 and old salt-and-pepper shakers bring in a buck at a makeshift flea market along U.S. 27, presumably not what President Bush and Republicans have in mind when they herald a vibrant economy. Times are "very good for the rich and very, very bad for the poor" who "can't afford to...

Recently, the Census Bureau reported its findings on 2005 household income for the United States. The August 30 Wall Street Journal's headline for its story on these findings was, "Median Household Income Rises 1.1%." The line underneath (what journalists called "the deck line," which many people read without reading the whole story) stated, "Gap Between the Richest and the Poorest Widens; Middle Class Feels Squeezed." The article reads as if the reporter, Robert Guy Matthews, had simply read the press releases of the Census Bureau and then called liberal and conservative commentators to get their take. It didn't read as...

STOCKHOLM -- In Sweden's general elections on Sunday it seems possible that voters will end 12 years of Social Democratic rule. As a matter of fact, the Social Democrats have been in power for 65 of the last 74 years, so a government change would really be historic. A group of four center-right parties known as the Alliance has been leading in opinion polls by three to five percentage points for weeks, but the race has tightened and appears too close to call now. "...The McKinsey Global Institute estimates Sweden's total unemployment rate to be 15%. That may surprise, as...

For more than a decade, the Democratic Party -- the self-proclaimed party of the middle class -- has consistently lost the middle class at election time. In 2004, voters with family incomes between $30,000 and $75,000 went for Bush by 6 percentage points, while Congressional Democrats lost this group by 4 points. Among white middle-class voters (one-third of the electorate), Bush won by 22 points and Congressional Republicans by 19 points. What's the matter with the middle class? Democrats like to pin their defeats on national security and culture issues alone, but the progressive economic message is also to blame....

Commodore Simon Williams presents the charts to Commodore Thamir Nasser. British MoD photo. In an Aug. 8 ceremony aboard the HMS Echo, British forces presented the Iraqi Navy with shipping charts of the Northern Arabian Gulf and approaches to the port of Umm Qasr, paving the way for increased trade through the port and enhanced security in surrounding waters.The charts are the outcome of two years work by the Royal Navy survey ships HMS Echo and HMS Enterprise. The region is a vital shipping area for Iraq and the surveys will give the port the opportunity to increase its...