AP - With the country reeling from a recession, Federal Reserve policymakers are weighing what other tools they can use to brace the economy.

Reuters - Asda, Britain's second-biggest grocer, plans to create about 7,000 jobs this year and committed to recruiting up to 3,000 long-term unemployed people for existing vacancies.

AP - New York state will lose nearly $1 billion in revenue because cash bonuses to Wall Street employees declined 44 percent last year, according to a report that state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli issued on Wednesday.

AFP - The dollar was mixed on Wednesday with all eyes on a Federal Reserve policy meeting to see what the US central bank can do next to ease the pain of recession, analysts said.

AP - German consumer climate should remain stable in February, as households' propensity to buy increases in January as a result of falling inflation, the GfK said Wednesday.

AFP - US President Barack Obama telephoned Australia's prime minister on Wednesday and discussed the global economy and the need for effective stimulus measures, a spokeswoman said.

Reuters - Health insurer WellPoint Inc posted a 61 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, dragged down by huge investment losses and higher medical costs, while rising unemployment hurt enrollment.

AFP - US President Barack Obama said Wednesday he was confident that his economic stimulus package would pass Congress, hours before the package faced its first test in the House of Representatives.

AP - The number of layoffs involving 50 or more workers jumped by one-third last year, and the pace of large job cuts appears to have quickened in the first month of 2009.

AFP - US President Barack Obama said Wednesday he was confident that his economic stimulus package would pass Congress, hours before the package faced its first test in the House of Representatives.

AFP - With no room to cut rates further, Federal Reserve officials Wednesday were debating new steps to stimulate the troubled economy including a move to buy Treasury bonds to bring down borrowing costs.

AFP - Former US vice president Al Gore pressed lawmakers Wednesday to back President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan and quickly restrict US output of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

AFP - Former US vice president Al Gore called Wednesday for new US global leadership on climate change, 'reversing years of inaction,' calling environmental action an untapped fuel of economic growth.

AFP - US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner set talks Wednesday on revamping a 700 billion-dollar financial bailout plan amid reports a 'bad bank' will be set up soon to remove 'toxic assets' from troubled banks.

AFP - President Barack Obama demanded 'bold and swift' action to save US jobs Wednesday in a last minute call for Republican votes before his huge stimulus plan was set to pass its first test in Congress.

AP - The Federal Reserve, acknowledging the economy has continued to deteriorate, signaled Wednesday that it will keep using unconventional tools to cushion the fallout, including keeping a key interest rate at a record low for quite 'some time.'

AP - House Republican leaders are standing firm in their opposition to the stimulus plan that President Barack Obama is asking Congress to approve.

Reuters - AOL will cut about 700 jobs, or 10 percent of its workforce, as the Internet services and media company struggles with an advertising downturn and recession, according to an internal memo circulated to employees on Wednesday.

AFP - The US Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to hold its base lending rate near zero and pledged to 'employ all available tools' to spark an economic rebound.

AP - The Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday that it stands ready to use new unconventional tools, or expand existing ones, to spur lending and consumer spending that could help lift the economy out of a painful recession.

AP - There were mountains of jumbo shrimp, and caviar everywhere. Muhammad Ali would show up, maybe amid a fleet of shiny Cadillacs. Five-star hotels were packed, and getting a dinner reservation for Saturday night was impossible. Finding a ticket for Sunday was even harder.

AP - Mass layoffs involving 50 or more workers increased sharply last year, and large job cuts appear to be accelerating in 2009 at a furious pace.

AFP - Chinese and Russian leaders Wen Jiabao and Vladimir Putin on Wednesday blamed the United States for causing the global economic crisis on a gloomy first day of the Davos forum.

AFP - US President Barack Obama's administration signaled Wednesday it would try to avoid nationalization of banks amid reports a 'bad bank' will be set up to rid 'toxic assets' from troubled institutions.

AP - In a swift victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House approved a historically huge $819 billion stimulus bill Wednesday night with spending increases and tax cuts at the heart of the young administration's plan to revive a badly ailing economy.

Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a controversial 'Buy America' steel provision as part of an $825 billion package to help pull the U.S. economy out of recession.

AP - The 244-188 roll call Wednesday by which the House passed a $819 billion economic stimulus bill.

AFP - Battered by the global economic meltdown, the US Postal Service asked Congress Wednesday to allow it to cut mail delivery to five days per week from a legally required six days.

AFP - Daniel Tarullo, a former White House aide under Bill Clinton and adviser to Barack Obama's campaign, was sworn in Wednesday as a Federal Reserve governor, the central bank said.

AFP - Native Americans could receive up to three billion dollars as part of an 819-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan that cleared a first congressional hurdle Wednesday, according to a US Senate panel.

AFP - The US Federal Reserve stopped short of launching a dramatic new market intervention but vowed to use 'all available tools' to revive credit and lift the economy out of recession.