Hello, I'm Melissa Long here at the CNN Center in Atlanta on this Monday afternoon. Here is a look at some of the stories happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

President Bush is set to lift an executive ban on offshore oil drilling. Federal law still prohibits new offshore oil drilling projects. The White House says the president is pressuring Congress to repeal that law. President George H. W. Bush issued the executive order back in 1990. Critics say additional offshore oil drilling would not have any immediate impact on oil prices because of exploration taking years.

IndyMac Bank has opened its doors with federal regulators in charge of its operations and a new name: IndyMac Federal Bank. Banking regulators took control of that bank on Friday as the latest victim in the mortgage crisis. At one time, the Pasadena-based bank was one of the biggest mortgage lenders in the country. The FDIC says IndyMac's collapse could become the most expensive bank failure in US history. IndyMac is not related to mortgage giants: Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

The Obama campaign and Republican presidential hopeful John McCain are both slamming the New Yorker magazine over the cover of its issue that hits newsstands today. The illustration depicts Senator Obama in the Oval Office wearing traditional Muslim clothing, fist-bumping his wife; she has a machine gun slung over her shoulder. The New Yorker is defending the cartoon, saying the artist is satirizing the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the presidential election to derail Barack Obama's campaign.

An award today for newly freed French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt. France's president awarded her with France's highest accolade, the Legion of Honor. He praised Betancourt as a symbol of hope. The award came during an event marking Bastille Day, which is France's national holiday. Betancourt spent more than six years as captive by Colombian rebels in the jungles. She along with 14 others was freed during a daring rescue operation on July 2nd.

And the King of Beers will have a new owner as part of the world's largest brewing company. A Belgian brewer is buying Anheuser-Busch, maker of Budweiser and other beers, for 52 billion dollars. The buyer InBev says the deal will help Budweiser to expand the emerging markets like China, Russia and Brazil. Anheuser-Busch has nearly half the US market. InBev says it's committed to keeping all of Anheuser's American breweries open.

And those are the headlines at this hour on this Monday. Do stay with CNN for more on these stories or other news of the day.