Washington, D.C.

Bush job approval dips

President Bush’s job approval has dipped to 49 percent in an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll, the lowest level of his presidency in that poll.

While 49 percent approved in the NBC-WSJ poll, 45 percent disapproved. More than half, 52 percent, disapprove of Bush’s handling of the economy, but six in 10 approve of his campaign against terror.

The poll of 1,007 adults was taken Sept. 20-22 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Washington, D.C.

Tequila tempest brewing

Tequila lovers of America, your favorite beverage may be under attack. Or at least it may have trouble getting here from Mexico.

The U.S. liquor industry is crying foul over a proposed Mexican government regulation that would require all tequila sold in the United States to be bottled in Mexico.

Of the tequila consumed in the United States, 83 percent is shipped in bulk from Mexico and bottled in U.S. plants. Under the proposed Mexican regulation, all bulk shipments would be banned, and the tequila would have to be bottled in Mexico.

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States complained Wednesday that this rule, if allowed to take effect, would raise costs and threaten jobs in U.S. bottling plants.

Virginia

Moussaoui lawyers argue for dismissal

Court-appointed lawyers for terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui have asked a federal judge to dismiss charges against him as punishment for the government’s refusal to produce al-Qaida witnesses for the trial.

In a written motion unsealed Wednesday in Alexandria, the lawyers said al-Qaida prisoners would testify that Moussaoui was not involved in planning either the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks or a later operation.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema is on the verge of punishing the government for defying her orders to allow Moussaoui to question Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, considered the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks; his key planner, Ramzi Binalshibh; and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, a suspected paymaster for al-Qaida.