See what else we're reading by subscribing to our GoogleReader feed, or following us on Twitter.

Quotable

Bank Execs Work the Congressional Hot Seat » During a seven-hour House hearing yesterday, the top executives of eight banks that received $165 million in federal bailout funds took turns being apologetic, defensive and yet hopeful they could survive the financial crisis as they tried to reassure lawmakers that they were using the bailout money to increase lending to consumers. Meanwhile, Congressional efforts to impose stringent restrictions on executive compensation appeared to be evaporating yesterday as negotiations over the compromise stimulus billadvanced. — Washington Post, AP

Mrs. Madoff's $15M Withdrawal » The wife of disgraced money manager Bernard L. Madoff withdrew more than $15 million from a firm co-owned by her husband, including $10 million on the day their children turned her husband over to authorities for overseeing an alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme, the top securities regulator in Massachusetts said Wednesday. — AP

Unemployment Claims Blocked » More than a quarter of people applying for unemployment benefits have their claims challenged as employers increasingly look to save money by blocking payouts to former workers. — Washington Post

Halliburton, KBR Settle Bribery Allegations » Halliburton and Kellogg Brown & Root have agreed to pay $579 million in fines related to allegations of foreign bribery, the biggest fines ever paid by U.S. companies in a foreign corruption case, federal authorities and the companies said yesterday. — Washington Post

Peanut Exec Takes the Fifth » Stewart Parnell, president of the Virginia-based Peanut Corporation of America at the center of a massive food-contamination scandal and a federal criminal investigation, was compelled by subpoena to appear before lawmakers but refused to answer questions. — Washington Post

After the jump...

BEST OF THE REST
» Poll Finds Two-Thirds Want Probes of Bush (PlumLine)
» Nearly 700 at Merrill in Million-Dollar Club (NYT)
» Fraud Rises As Economy Turns Down (GovInc)
» Broadband Program Oversight Questioned (WaPo)
» Los Alamos Security Woes Worsen, Again (GovInc)
» Domenici Subpoenaed in U.S. Attorney Firings (WaPo)
» Pa. judges to enter plea in kickback scheme (AP)
» DOJ Investigating Ticketmaster/Live Nation Merger (NME News)
» Former Blagojevich Fundraiser Pleads Not Guilty (AP)
» GAO: Lost U.S. Weapons May Be Going to Taliban (WaPo)