AP - Volatility swept through the financial markets Monday as investors awaited details of the government's plan to buy $700 billion in banks' mortgage debt and as oil shot higher. Stocks fell sharply, taking the Dow Jones industrials down about 220 points, while investors sought safety in hard assets, such as oil, which shot up by more than $20 a barrel.

Reuters - The Bush administration and Congress on Sunday ramped up talks on an unprecedented $700 billion bank bailout as they battled the clock to prevent further financial market turmoil that risks hurtling the economy into a deep and damaging recession.

AP - The Bush administration and the Federal Reserve are moving on multiple fronts in an effort to calm financial markets that have been roiled by the biggest upheavals on Wall Street since the Great Depression.

AP - Oil prices rose Monday in Asia as investors grappled with the possible impact on crude demand of a $700 billion U.S. proposal to buy bad mortgage debt.

AP - Asian markets rose Monday after the U.S. government proposed a US$700 billion plan to solve the world financial crisis by rescuing banks from billions of dollars in risky mortgage debt.

AFP - Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA) is in secret negotiations to facilitate the acquisition of mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson took his case for an unprecedented $700 billion bailout of financial markets to the American people on Sunday, saying it was needed to prevent further damage to an already fragile economy.

Reuters - The Bush administration on Saturday sent a $700 billion financial markets rescue plan to Congress where Democrats immediately questioned its impact not only on Wall Street, but on homeowners and taxpayers as well.

Reuters - The U.S. government is preparing to mop up hundreds of billions of dollars in bad mortgage debt, after curbing short-selling and guaranteeing mutual funds in an effort to stabilize financial markets.

Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, leading a push for a taxpayer-funded plan to contain the credit market crisis, said on Friday he would ask Congress to take action on this next week and that the Treasury was taking immediate steps in the meantime.

Reuters - The U.S. Treasury intends to double its planned purchases of mortgage-backed securities to $10 billion this month as part of its broad plan to stabilize markets and deal with problem bank assets.