Today's P.M. News Roundup

N.Y. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office is investigating the relationship between Fidelity Investments and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in connection with the broker’s sales of auction-rate securities, Reuters reports.

U.S. stocks rose Wednesday “as investors found reason for economic hope in a July rise in orders for U.S. durable goods, with a spike in the price of crude viewed as temporary in light of storm conditions in the Gulf of Mexico,” MarketWatch reports.

Crude oil rose for a third day Wednesday on forecasts that Tropical Storm Gustav will strengthen as it enters the Gulf of Mexico, which houses 26 percent of U.S. oil production.

The Financial Times reports that “Mounting gloom about the German economy pushed the euro to a six-month low against the dollar on Tuesday as a closely watched survey showed business leaders in Europe’s biggest economy more nervous about the six months facing them than at any time in the past 15 years.”

The FDIC said that the number of troubled U.S. banks rose 30 percent in the second quarter, the highest level in five years, “and a top regulator warned that conditions will worsen as the housing slump and credit crisis continues to pound profitability,” Reuters reports.

Security in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, where insurgents once ruled, has improved so much that the United States will return it to Iraqi control, officials said Wednesday. The move could lead to further cuts in U.S. troop levels.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said he will form his own government soon, without the cooperation of opposition party Movement for Democratic Change if necessary. Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party and the MDC have been negotiating a power-sharing deal for a month but have not come to an agreement.

British police said that they have arrested a fifth suspect in an alleged plot to kill British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The latest suspect is a 29-year-old man who was arrested in Derby, in central England.

Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday condemned Russia for recognizing the independence of Georgian territories South Ossetia and Abkhazia. He said the decision was “unacceptable” and threatened security in former Soviet Union countries.

Thai riot police have surrounded the Government House in Bangkok, reacting to thousands of protestors who are demanding that Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej resign.

As Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki continues to insist that all foreign troops leave the country by 2011, the Bush administration wants “less-binding language in the status-of-forces agreement it's negotiating with its Iraqi partners,” The Christian Science Monitor reports.

The death toll from Tropical Storm Gustav has risen to 22, with 14 dying in mudslides and flooding in Haiti and 8 killed in the Dominican Republic. It is currently on track to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast, including Louisiana, and experts say at that point it could be a Category 3 hurricane.

Kaiser Permanente is telling 960 mothers who stayed in a San Francisco maternity ward that they and their babies may have been exposed to a maternity worker with active tuberculosis.

The Census Bureau reported that 37.3 million Americans were living in poverty in 2007, up from 36.5 million in 2006. But the number of people without health insurance dropped by more than 1 million in 2007, the first annual decline since President George W. Bush took office.

U.S. News & World Report is considering reworking its ranking system to stop the popular practice of U.S. law schools “gaming the system” by moving lower-scoring applicants into part-time programs that do not count in the rankings, The Wall Street Journal reports.

“For a second straight year, SAT scores for the most recent high school graduating class remained at the lowest level in nearly a decade, a trend attributed to a record number of students now taking the test,” the Associated Press reports.

The Associated Press writes that “Hillary Rodham Clinton began an emotional gathering with her delegates Wednesday by telling them she was releasing them as delegates to vote for Barack Obama.” Many who were gathered in the crowded ballroom at the Democratic National Convention reportedly yelled back “No!”

N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton delivered a rousing speech at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, proclaiming that Ill. Sen. Barack Obama, her formal rivalry for the Democratic nomination, is “my candidate and he must be our president.” Regarding Republican candidate John McCain, Sen. Clinton said, “We don’t need four more years … of the last eight years.”

Politico reports that Ariz. Sen. John McCain plans to roll out his vice-presidential nominee this weekend with rallies planned in three battleground states: Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri.

Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is at its second lowest level in 30 years, the National Snow and Ice Data Center said Wednesday. The news could be yet another sign that global warming is near a “tipping point” in the Arctic, say scientists.

An Australian study shows that first time mothers-to-be will accept greater risks than clinicians when it comes to having a natural birth over a Caesarean section.

Septuplets born to an Egyptian couple after a doctor provided the woman with hormones have ignited debate “about the ethics of fertility treatment in a nation where medical oversight is lax, incubators and neonatal respirators are rare, and many families face pressure to have a son,” according to the Associated Press.

The LGPA is adopting a policy that says all member golfers must speak English or face suspension, USA Today reports. Players who have been on the tour for two years could be suspended if they fail to pass an oral exam of their English proficiency.

Nicollette Sheridan and Michael Bolton have “amicably” ended their engagement, a rep for the “Desperate Housewives” actress said. The two have been involved romantically on and off since 1992 and announced their engagement in 2006.