AFP - Global equities tumbled for a second day running Tuesday as anxious investors waited to see if US insurance giant AIG would suffer the same fate as bankrupt US investment bank Lehman Brothers.

AFP - Ukraine's governing coalition collapsed on Tuesday, the parliamentary speaker said, throwing into doubt the country's pro-Western course.

Reuters - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday in a last-minute bid to clinch an agreement a day before his Kadima party holds an election to replace him.

Reuters - President George W. Bush will view storm-struck areas of Texas on Tuesday as the energy hub of Houston and other areas struggle to recover from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ike.

Reuters - General Ray Odierno took command of U.S.-led forces in Iraq on Tuesday, faced with the challenge of ensuring security gains do not unravel at a time when American troop levels are being reduced.

Reuters - White House candidates Barack Obama and John McCain promised on Monday to move quickly to reform Wall Street, with both blaming an antiquated regulatory structure for the financial meltdown.

Reuters - The House of Representatives is expected to vote on Tuesday on a comprehensive energy package that would open most of the U.S. coastline to offshore drilling, a Democratic aide said on Monday.

Reuters - Pakistani aircraft bombed militant strongholds in a northwestern region on Tuesday while U.S. drones prowled the sky over another militant sanctuary on the Afghan border, a military official and residents said.

Reuters - Federal Reserve policy-makers are expected to stop short of lowering U.S. interest rates at a meeting on Tuesday but could signal readiness to cut them quickly if needed to protect the economy from one of the most serious financial crises in decades.

Reuters - American International Group Inc, thrown a $20 billion lifeline by New York state, came under renewed pressure on Tuesday as ratings agencies downgraded the insurer's debt and the financial sector meltdown spread.

AP - Terrell Owens caught the long pass in stride, cruised into the end zone and began showing off. With a shimmy in the direction of the Philadelphia Eagles, then some arm-flapping like he used to do when he scored for them, the final Monday night game at Texas Stadium was off to a wild start.

AP - Megan Fox has nothing to hide. The candid 22-year-old "Transformers" star, who's currently engaged to actor Brian Austin Green, opened up to GQ about her love life, telling the magazine she was once in love with a female stripper. Fox, who appears on the October cover in a black bikini, said she was in the relationship when she was 18 and first living in Los Angeles alone.

AP - With turbulence hitting financial markets as a global credit crisis claims heavyweight victims, suddenly the possibility of a reduction in interest rates by the Federal Reserve is back on the agenda.

AP - John McCain's health plan won't lower the ranks of the uninsured. Barack Obama's fails to curb the soaring cost of health care, meaning initial gains in helping more people buy health insurance would eventually be undermined.

AP - The state's top rail safety regulator said Monday he would seek an emergency order banning train operators from using cell phones, as federal investigators sought to determine whether the engineer of a commuter train was text messaging before a crash that killed 25 people.