AP - Refusing to be pushed, Republicans and Democrats alike rebuffed dire warnings Tuesday from the government's top economic officials of recession, layoffs and foreclosed homes if Congress doesn't quickly approve the administration's emergency $700 billion financial bailout plan.

Reuters - The FBI is investigating Fannie Mae , Freddie Mac , Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and insurer American International Group Inc. and their senior executives for potential mortgage fraud, CNN reported on Tuesday.

AFP - The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing allegations of fraud by 26 Wall Street firms including several investment giants whose collapse sent world markets into turmoil, US media said Tuesday.

AP - Oil prices rose above $108 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as investors waited for details of a proposed $700 billion plan to buy bad mortgage debt and stabilize the U.S. financial system.

AFP - A battle over the US government's financial rescue package carries on in Congress Wednesday after top finance officials urged its swift passage and lawmakers dug in their heels, while the FBI reportedly launched a probe of failed banks and mortgage giants.

AP - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke bluntly warned reluctant lawmakers Tuesday they risk a recession with higher unemployment and increased home foreclosures if they fail to pass the Bush administration's $700 billion plan to bail out the financial industry.

AFP - The dollar recovered some ground on Tuesday as players awaited more details on a massive US government plan to bail out a banking system crippled by the subprime home loan crisis.

Reuters - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the U.S. Congress Tuesday that financial markets are under severe stress and urged immediate action to buy up hundreds of billions of dollars worth of tainted mortgage assets.

AP - Oil prices swung lower Tuesday, falling below $107 a barrel as traders cashed in profits a day after crude rocketed to its biggest one-day gain ever — an epic rally apparently triggered in part by a technical fluke.

Reuters - The U.S. Congress gave a new regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stronger oversight powers too late to help steer the companies away from a government takeover, the chief regulator for the mortgage finance companies said on Tuesday.

Reuters - Resentment is growing on both sides of the U.S. political divide over a plan to use $700 billion of taxpayer money to bail out Wall Street firms with bad mortgage debt.

Reuters - New York Senator Hillary Clinton said the federal government should establish a special entity that would buy mortgages from Americans and later sell them just as it did during the Great Depression.