Today's Details

-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took his verbal battle with the United States to the floor of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, calling President Bush "the devil. "The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Bush's address on Tuesday and making the sign of the cross. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world." Chavez, who has joined Iran in opposing U.S. influence, accused Washington of "domination, exploitation and pillage of peoples of the world." "We appeal to the people of the United States and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our head," he said. DETAILS

-Senior Iraqi and American officials are beginning to question whether Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has the political muscle and decisiveness to hold Iraq together as it hovers on the edge of a full civil war. Four months into his tenure, Mr. Maliki has failed to take aggressive steps to end the country’s sectarian strife because they would alienate fundamentalist Shiite leaders inside his fractious government who have large followings and private armies. He is also constrained by the need to woo militant Sunni Arabs connected to the insurgency. DETAILS

-The Bush Administration is seeking to undermine legislation that, if passed, would protect journalists and anonymous whistleblowers. DETAILS