Poll finds rebound in Bush approval  —  WASHINGTON — Amid falling gas prices and a two-week drive to highlight his administration's efforts to fight terrorism, President Bush's approval rating has risen to 44% in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.  That's his highest rating in a year.

President Bush Addresses U.N. General Assembly  —  SPEAKER: GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES  —  BUSH: Mr. Secretary General, Madam President, distinguished delegates, and ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for the privilege of speaking to this General Assembly.

Canadian Was Falsely Accused, Panel Says  —  After Tip From Ally, U.S. Sent Muslim to Syria for Questioning  —  Canadian intelligence officials passed false warnings and bad information to American agents about a Muslim Canadian citizen, after which U.S. authorities secretly whisked him to Syria …

The Senator's Gentile Rebuke  —  First came Sen. George Allen's Macaca Moment.  Then we learned of challenger Jim Webb's thoughts on the "horny" women of the Naval Academy.  —  Now, just when you thought Virginia's U.S. Senate race couldn't get any weirder, the Jews of Tunis are making a cameo.

'Coup' sparks Thailand emergency  —  Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has declared a state of emergency in Bangkok amid reports of a coup attempt.  —  Soldiers have entered Government House and tanks have moved into position around the building.  —  Mr Thaksin, who is at the UN in New York …

Chirac calls for threat of Iran sanctions to be lifted  —  President Jacques Chirac has broken ranks with the US and Britain by calling for the suspension of UN Security Council action against Iran during negotiations over its nuclear programme.  —  In a radio interview yesterday before flying …

Enough Apologies  —  Already, angry Palestinian militants have assaulted seven West Bank and Gaza churches, destroying two of them.  In Somalia, gunmen shot dead an elderly Italian nun.  Radical clerics from Qatar to Qom have called, variously, for a "day of anger" or for worshipers to "hunt down" the pope and his followers.

Warner: Kerry wrong on tax cuts  —  The ex-Virginia governor claims Democrats could appeal to more voters if they'd stop alienating the wealthy.  —  Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner said in Iowa on Monday that Democrats have taken the wrong approach in arguing against tax cuts enacted under President Bush …

Ex-Workers Testify About Halliburton  —  Responsibility Questioned at Hill Hearing  —  Edward V. Sanchez, a truck driver for Halliburton, had just passed under a bridge near Baghdad on April 9, 2004, when another truck in his convoy hit a mine and "all hell broke loose."

What's Liberal About the Liberal Arts?  —  It's been a couple weeks since I finished Michael Bérubé's new book, What's Liberal About the Liberal Arts?  I didn't find anything in the last hundred pages or so to make me change my mind about the praise I bestowed in my premature, sidelong review.

Bush owes us an apology  —  Sept. 11: A special comment about 9/11 five years after the terrorist attacks.  —  MSNBC TV  —  • Have you no sense of decency, sir?  —  Sept. 5: Keith Olbermann says Bush will regret following in the footsteps of Donald Rumsfeld in comparing war critics to Nazis.

Gore Unveils Global-Warming Plan  —  Cutting Emissions, Restructuring Industry and Farming Urged  —  Former vice president Al Gore laid out his prescription for an ailing and overheated planet Monday, urging a series of steps from freezing carbon dioxide emissions to revamping the auto industry, factories and farms.