Lehman Brothers will file for bankruptcy in the largest failure of an investment bank in 18 years. An emergency meeting of government officials and Wall Street executives failed to come up with a way to save the company. Potential buyers Bank of America and Barclays walked away when the government refused to guarantee any of Lehman's troubled assets. Meanwhile, two other troubled firms, AIG and Merrill Lynch, were taking steps to avoid Lehman's fate, and the Federal Reserve Board announced that it will change its lending policies.

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Hurricane Ike pounded Galveston, Texas, over the weekend, flattening homes and leaving millions without power.

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Based on interviews with President George W. Bush and top-level government insiders, Bob Woodward's latest book, "The War Within," is an intimate account of the debates and decisions made at the highest levels of the executive branch over the past two years.

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Israel’s ruling Kadima party is holding a historic election Wednesday to select a new leader. The current frontrunner in the polls is Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. She could replace the current party chief, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who faces corruption allegations and sharp criticism of his handling of the 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. If elected, Livni would be Israel’s first female leader in more than 30 years. She faces a challenge from Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz.

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Shares in Europe tumbled after American investment bank Lehman Brothers announced it was seeking bankruptcy protection. Asian markets also fell sharply.

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What if people living in conflict zones could predict where violence was going to break out? A small group of Kenyans created an early-warning tool that aims to do just this. The project is called Ushahidi, which means "testimony" in Swahili. Started in the aftermath of the violence that followed the Kenyan elections, the developers are about to launch a new version of the software that will help communities around the world map and predict violence.

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The Takeaway first spoke with Paul Pendergraft on Friday, just before Hurricane Ike tore through Texas. His home has no electricity and a maze of fallen power lines and downed trees make traveling difficult so he is temporarily staying in the offices of KUHF-Houston Public Radio. Five counties are at least partially without power, and it will be several weeks before everyone is back online. Pendergraft talked about the damage to the greater south Texas region.

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158-year-old Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest investment bank in the nation, is history. The ailing bank failed to find a savior over the weekend and will file for bankruptcy. Back in March, Bear Stearns faced a similar fate. The Federal Reserve stepped in and approved a $30 billion credit line to help JPMorgan Chase buy the firm. Now the Fed and the Treasury Department are staying on the sidelines. Wall Street Journal reporter Dennis Berman explains why the two cases are different.

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Zimbabwe's two bitter political rivals — President Robert Mugabe and the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangarai — have signed a power-sharing deal aimed at resolving the country's political and economic crisis. The two men smiled and shook hands in a colorful ceremony in the capital, Harare, attended by African leaders. Under the deal, Mugabe remains president while Tsvangirai becomes prime minister with substantial powers.

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Hurricane Ike pounded Galveston, Texas over the weekend, flattening homes and leaving millions without power. But in the history of hurricanes this is far from the worst that Galveston has seen. In 1900 the most devastating hurricane in American history destroyed the town and killed thousands. For a look at hurricanes past and present The Takeaway turned to Lew Fincher, a hurricane historian and the Vice President of Hurricane Consulting, Inc.

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Parents face a challenge to supply healthy food for children in world dominated by processed food, snacks and soft drinks. Tara Parker-Pope, “Well” columnist for The New York Times, says the food environment for kids today is nearly completely different from the one their own parents faced. The Takeaway talks about her recent article, “6 Food Mistakes Parents Make.”

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Shares in Europe fell sharply today after leading American investment bank Lehman Brothers announced it was seeking bankruptcy protection. Asian markets also fell sharply.

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This past weekend Venezuela conducted military exercises with fighter jets dropping bombs and commandos resisting a mock invasion. The maneuvers featured Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets, ground troops, patrol boats and helicopters that fired rockets at targets. The socialist president says the show of force shouldn't be considered "an aggression against anyone," but Chavez has accused the U.S. of trying to overthrow him and has said the military must be prepared. Chavez also told U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy he had 72 hours to leave the country on Thursday, suggesting that he "go to hell 100 times."

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They're calling it historic, and the day has barely begun. It's certainly going to be an extraordinary one on Wall Street as the markets react to the huge news. First, investment bank Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest in the country with 26,000 employees, will file for bankruptcy. Also, Bank of America has made a deal to buy another troubled investment bank, Merrill Lynch. Meanwhile, A-I-G, the world's largest insurance company, is looking to the Federal Reserve for a bailout. The Federal Reserve announced it's planning to change its lending policies.

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We've been talking about the shock-waves across the financial world from the news that investment giant Lehman Brothers is filing for bankruptcy protection. Watching as the markets open, stocks are tumbling in early trading while Treasury bond prices are spiking.

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