PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times, Wall St Journal Asia editions

SINGAPORE, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal carried the following stories in their Asia print and/or Web site editions on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

FINANCIAL TIMES (www.ft.com)

-- U.S. authorities were considering rescuing AIG (AIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) with a loan of up to $100 billion, in an effort to prevent a collapse of the troubled insurer that would send shockwaves through the global financial system

-- The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at 2.0 percent on Tuesday despite the turmoil convulsing global markets

-- Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) agreed to buy Lehman Brothers North American investment banking platform for slightly less than $2 billion, as a first step in a potential series of deals aimed at reassembling Lehman's banking operations in various countries.

WALL STREET JOURNAL (www.wsj.com)

-- In the face of slumping stock markets, continued weakness in U.S. auto sales and concern over the viability of Detroit's Big Three car makers, Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) expects to make money in its North America business this fiscal year, Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales, said in an interview

-- Samsung (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) made public an offer to buy SanDisk (SNDK.O: Quote, Profile, Research) for $5.8 billion in cash after it said four months of talks failed to produce an agreement

-- General Motors GM.N lowered its outlook for growth in China's auto market this year as weaker Chinese stocks and higher fuel prices curb demand