Mr. Bush Unvarnished  —  PRESIDENT BUSH should hold more news conferences.  In his hour-long exchange with reporters at the White House yesterday, he was considerably more effective in explaining and defending his commitment to the war in Iraq than in the three carefully worded speeches he has delivered in the past week.

Late Nite FDL: Aw Shucks, Brady, You Shouldn't Have  —  Update: They are having some fun with Bughouse Ben already over at the post.blog.  Ben seems to be yet another home school Intelligent Design afficionado, a barking Yellow Elephant, and as Red Dan mentioned, the blogger "Augustine" over at Red State Racists.

Afghan Convert May Be Unfit to Stand Trial  —  KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan man facing the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor and presidential adviser said Wednesday.  —  Abdul Rahman, 41, went on trial last week in Kabul.

Grants Flow To Bush Allies On Social Issues  —  Federal Programs Direct At Least $157 Million  —  For years, conservatives have complained about what they saw as the liberal tilt of federal grant money.  Taxpayer funds went to abortion rights groups such as Planned Parenthood to promote birth control …

GALLUP POLLING DROPS CNN AFTER 'LOW RATINGS'; FULL MEMO REVEALED  —  The GALLUP polling company has dropped CNN as its outlet for electronic distribution.  —  GALLUP, CNN and USA TODAY have been polling partners since 1992.  —  "CNN has far fewer viewers than it did in the past …

Fears grow over new Dubai revolt  —  By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington and James Boxell in London  —  Arab and US officials are growing nervous at the prospect of a second congressional uprising against the acquisition of American assets by a Middle Eastern-controlled company in the wake of the Dubai Ports World debacle.

Eta declares permanent ceasefire  —  The Basque separatist group Eta has declared a permanent ceasefire.  —  Eta is blamed for killing more than 800 people in its four-decade fight for independence for the Basque region of northern Spain and south-west France.

THE U.N. ATTEMPTS A WHITEWASH  —  Well, well, well.  The United Nations has removed its anti-Danish poster from its website.  This morning, it was featured prominently as a graphic and available as a special download in PDF.  —  It was also available in Arabic:  —  Now, no trace of it at all.

New Scrutiny for Law on Detaining Witnesses  —  A 22-year-old federal law that allows people to be held without charges if they have information about others' crimes is coming under fresh scrutiny in the courts, in Congress and within the Justice Department after reports that it has been abused in terrorism investigations.

U.S., Iraqi Forces Capture 50 Insurgents  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents attacked a police station Wednesday for a second day in a row, but U.S. and Iraqi forces captured 50 of them after a two-hour gunbattle.  —  About 60 gunmen attacked the police station in Madain, south of Baghdad …