AFP - London shares closed lower on Wednesday as jitters from the current financial crisis continued to unnerve traders with energy companies suffering the most.

AP - On the eve of its most ambitious manned space mission yet, Chinese officials introduced the three-man crew Wednesday and said Russian technicians will help guide one of them on China's first spacewalk.

AP - NASA is delaying next month's shuttle launch to the Hubble Space Telescope because of problems stemming from Hurricane Ike and replacement parts for the observatory.

AP - Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.

Reuters - A Canadian researcher has discovered what is believed to be North America's smallest dinosaur, a 70-million-year-old chicken-sized beast that was also unusual for its diet of insects.

Reuters - A powerful typhoon plowed into a densely populated area of southern China on Wednesday, prompting the state Meteorological Administration to issue an "urgent red alert," its highest-level warning.