Reuters - The FBI is investigating Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and insurer American International Group Inc, expanding its probe of potential corporate fraud, law enforcement officials said on Wednesday.

Reuters - The White House's proposed $700 billion financial bailout met skepticism and anger from lawmakers on Wednesday, stoking fresh anxiety on Wall Street despite a $5 billion Wall Street investment by billionaire Warren Buffett that was hailed as a vote of confidence.

AP - The investigation into the ages of China's gold-medal women's gymnastics team has been expanded to include members of the 2000 team that won a bronze in Sydney, the Associated Press has learned.

AP - Pop music icon Paul McCartney said Wednesday he's carrying a message of peace for Israel and the Palestinians, rejecting criticism of his planned concert in Tel Aviv.

AP - Iraq's parliament overwhelmingly approved a provincial elections law Wednesday, overcoming months of deadlock and giving a boost to U.S.-backed national reconciliation efforts.

AP - North Korea barred U.N. nuclear inspectors from its main plutonium reprocessing plant Wednesday and within a week plans to reactivate the facility that once provided the fissile material for its atomic test explosion, a senior U.N. nuclear inspector said.

AP - Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden on Wednesday questioned John McCain's judgment to be commander in chief, arguing that the Republican presidential candidate would keep digging the United States into a hole of isolation and insecurity.

AP - Warren Buffett, one of the world's best known and wealthiest investors, is betting $5 billion that the U.S. financial system is not about to collapse.

AP - The House on Wednesday took up a $630 billion-plus spending bill awarding the Pentagon a record budget while giving generous help to U.S. automakers and victims of hurricanes and floods.

AP - Thousands of people returned on Wednesday for the first time since their island city was blasted by Hurricane Ike nearly two weeks ago, choosing home over warnings that Galveston is "broken" and infested with germs and snakes.

AP - President Bush readied a prime time speech to the nation and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson accepted a major change in legislation for a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry on Wednesday as the administration scrambled to prevent further deterioration in the economy.

AFP - World leaders demanded urgent steps to contain the global financial crisis and a sweeping reform of multilateral institutions, including the Security Council, during the UN General Assembly's annual debate.

AFP - Taro Aso took charge as Japan's new prime minister Wednesday, lining up his cabinet with like-minded conservatives to help his mission to revive the economy and win upcoming elections.

Reuters - Japan's new prime minister Taro Aso was tipped to appoint several conservative allies for his cabinet Wednesday, including a China critic for the finance job, while keeping a fiscal reformer in a key post.