Today's P.M. News Roundup

Stocks dropped Monday, with the Dow Jones industrials losing 372 points, as investors awaited details about the government’s plan to bail out Wall Street.

The price of oil jumped from $16 to $120.92 today, the largest one-day increase ever recorded. The BBC reports that traders believe that the Wall Street bail out will help the economy and increase demand for oil.

Global markets were “mixed” on Monday, as European markets had fallen before New York’s opening, and Asian markets had risen.

The Federal Reserve on Sunday approved the request by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the last two major investment banks in the United States, to change their status to become bank holding companies. The move will enable them to create commercial banks that take deposits.

Economists are hoping that a $700 billion federal plan to bail out the real estate market will alleviate home prices and end foreclosures. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson over the weekend outlined a plan to buy bad real estate assets held by financial institutions.

Consumers have been cutting back spending on health care, a sector that many thought would be unaffected by the recession. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners found last month that 22 percent of 686 survey participants said that they were going to the doctor less often due to the poor economy.

A judge approved over the weekend a plan for Lehman Brothers to sell its investment banking and trading branches to the British bank Barclays in a deal worth about $1.35 billion. Lehman filed for bankruptcy on Monday after Barclays decided not to buy the entire company.

Local authorities in Galveston, Texas, say that the area remains dangerous in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, although businesses have begun to reopen and cell phone and electric power capabilities are beginning to improve.

Federal authorities raided evangelist Tony Alamo’s compound near Texarkana, Ark., on Saturday and took six children into custody to investigate whether they were physically or sexually abused.

Voters in the state of Washington will consider next month whether to legalize assisted suicide. The measure would allow terminally ill individuals to receive prescriptions for lethal drugs.

According to the United Nations, almost 10 million Ethiopians are in need of food aid due to the country’s worst drought in five yeras.

South Africa on Monday picked deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe to serve as the country’s leader for seven months until elections are held. The previous Prime Minister, Thabo Mbeki, resigned Saturday.

Somali insurgents attacked two African Union bases in Mogadishu, killing at least 27 people, including six members of the same family, who died when a mortar landed on their home.

British Airways has suspended flights to and from Pakistan due to a blast on Sunday at a Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that killed at least 53 people and wounded about 270.

In response to the Bush administration’s plan to bail out Wall Street, Ariz. Sen. John McCain expressed concern that it would give Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson “the unprecedented power to spend $1 trillion without any meaningful accountability,” while Barack Obama blamed the current crisis on what he called the Republican philosophy of deregulation. “They said they wanted to let the market run free but instead they let it run wild,” he said. “We are in this mess because of a bankrupt philosophy that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to the rest of us.”

In addition to the Wall Street bailout effort, Congress is looking to pass legislation regarding the Pentagon budget, disaster aid for flood and hurricane victims and $25 billion in loans for Detroit automakers.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is to undergo trial on Monday on charges that he lied in Senate financial disclosure records about gifts and home renovations he received from VECO Corp.

Proponents of new surgical techniques that make use of the body's natural openings say that the experimental procedures are less invasive than traditional surgeries.

The International Astronomical Union in Paris last week approved the naming of a newly discovered dwarf planet: Haumea, named for the Hawaiian goddess of earth and fertility.

The New York Yankees closed Yankee Stadium on Sunday night with a 7-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles. A new $1.3 billion stadium will open across the street on April 16.

AMC's “Mad Men” became the first show on basic cable to win an Emmy, taking the award for Best Dramatic Series at this year’s Emmys. HBO’s miniseries “John Adams” won a record 13 awards.

A hawk that mistook a hand puppet for a real bird attacked two puppeteers in an Atlanta parking lot.