OXFORD, Miss., Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain said he will attend Friday's debate with Democrat Barack Obama in Oxford, Miss.

McCain said he would resume his campaign and attend the debate after he decided "significant progress" was being made in reaching a bipartisan congressional agreement on the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, his campaign said in a statement.

"He is optimistic that there has been significant progress toward a bipartisan agreement now that there is a framework for all parties to be represented in negotiations," the statement said. "The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the senator will travel to the debate."

McCain announced Wednesday he would suspend his campaign to focus on the economic crisis and sought to delay the debate at the University of Mississippi. Obama said he would participate in the debate because it gave the U.S. public an opportunity to listen to the candidates' views on a number of issues.

McCain said he was pleased that U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., one of the GOP leaders in the House of Representatives, was the designated negotiator for House Republicans.

Conservative House Republicans are balking at the Bush administration package as modified, offering an alternative plan that would call for Wall Street institutions to contribute to an insurance fund, more deregulation and tax easements, among other things.

Reid: Congress will stay in session

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Congress will stay in session "as long as it takes" to hammer out a bailout for U.S. financial markets, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Friday.

We'll work with the president, modify his plan to make it better for taxpayers and homeowners," Reid said during a news conference. "We want to make sure that there's oversight."

Progress is being made in reaching agreement on the $700 billion rescue package proposed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Reid said.

"We're going to get this done and stay in session as long as it takes to get it done," he said. Congress was scheduled to adjourn Friday.

Reid said Senate Democrats, House Democrats and Senate Republicans agree principles outlined by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, including protections for taxpayers, strong oversight and limits to golden parachutes for executives of participating entities.

"It's time," Reid said. "for House Republicans to come to the negotiating table and for presidential politics to leave the negotiating table."

Conservative House Republicans are balking at the Paulson package as modified, introducing an alternative plan that would call for Wall Street institutions to contribute to an insurance fund, more deregulation and tax easements, among other things.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee said congressional staff members were drafting language based on Thursday's discussions.

Dodd stressed there was no final bill.

"It's a discussion draft between Democrats and serious Republicans," he said, "and there are many who want to work on a product here that we can present to our colleagues and to the American people."

Brown to meet with Bush on economic crisis

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered support to the proposed Bush administration $700 billion bailout of U.S. financial markets.

Brown, in New York to discuss global poverty and address the U.N. General Assembly, was to travel Friday to Washington to discuss the global financial crisis with U.S. President George Bush, the Financial Times reported.

Brown gave his backing to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's proposed $700 billion plan to stabilize the U.S. financial markets, telling the BBC the plan help get "bad assets out of the system as quickly as possible."

Brown's support comes as Bush faced opposition for the bailout from members of his own party as well as Democrats.

On Thursday, Brown met senior Wall Street financial experts to discuss how to work through the U.S. economic crisis. Brown said he wants to help facilitate an overhaul of international regulation, emphasizing more transparency and changing the compensation and board structures of larger financial services groups, the newspaper said.

Pirates grab Ukrainian ship off Somalia

KIEV, Ukraine, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- The pirates who hijacked a ship loaded with military equipment for Kenya are unlikely to know how to unload the tanks on board, experts said Friday.

The 33 T-72 battle tanks weigh more than 40 tons each, requiring special equipment and know-how to move them. The ship, a Ukrainian vessel sailing under the flag of Belize was also carrying ammunition and grenade launchers sold to Kenya by the Ukraine state arms agency, Interfax, the Russian news service, reported.

"If there are tanks on board, I don't think there's a chance in hell they can get them unloaded," a Western diplomat in Nairobi told The New York Times.

U.S. and Russian naval vessels were pursuing the Faina, which was intercepted by pirates Thursday evening about 200 miles off the coast.

Tomax Team Inc., the ship's owner, said the vessel's captain reported three boats with armed men on board had approached the ship, after which contact was lost. There were 21 people reported aboard.

Russia: Saakashvili a stability threat

MOSCOW, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is a threat to Caucasus stability due to his inability to learn from the South Ossetian conflict, Russia says.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that the Georgian leader and his country should be monitored by the European Union to ensure similar military actions such as the one in South Ossetia don't occur in the future, RIA Novosti said.

"We hope that the European Union, which pledged to guarantee the non-use of force principle, will take into account Saakashvili's habit of breaking promises," the ministry said.

The ministry's statement comes 11 days after the EU decided to deploy at least 200 observers into Georgia to monitor its so-called buffer zone with South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The Sept. 15 decision by representatives of 27 EU member states should be instituted by Oct. 1 and is a direct response to the conflict in the region last month.

RIA Novosti said Russian military forces invaded Georgia following Georgia's decision to invade South Ossetia on Aug. 8. Since the conflict ended, Russian has maintained the presence of peacekeepers in Georgia and its breakaway republic.

Pilot makes first Channel rocket ride

DOVER, England, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- A British airline pilot with a homemade rocket backpack soared into the record books Friday as he zoomed across the English Channel.

Yves Rossy, 49, who calls himself Fusionman -- half man, half bird -- made the 21-mile, jet-powered flight from Calais, France, to Dover, England, in just less than 15 minutes while traveling at speeds of more than 125 mph, The Daily Telegraph said.

Once he reached his destination, Rossy folded his wing and parachuted to the ground.

The wing, created from a lightweight carbon composite, weighed about 120 pounds with fuel and included four kerosene-burning jet turbines to keep him airborne. It had no steering devices.

Rossy retraced the route of French aviation pioneer Louis Bleriot, who 99 years ago became the first person to fly across the English Channel in a plane.