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NPR's Jim Zarroli reports oil prices pushed higher again today despite word from Saudi Arabia that it will back another production increase. The price for two popular benchmark crudes rose to more than 34 dollars a barrel. President Clinton, in New York for the U.N. meeting, said he had told Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah that prices were too high and that OPEC should take appropriate action on the issue.

NPR's Brooke Gladstone reports on how elections and candidates are portrayed in movies, including All the President's Men, Bulworth, and The Best Man. Film critics say the main plot of these films is to take a likable, decent person and transform him into something he isn't.

Republican candidate George W. Bush, the frontrunner for more than a year in the presidential campaign, saw his lead suddenly disappear after the conventions this summer and has yet to recover his edge. So, today in Michigan, Bush said he was ready to make a few changes in his campaign style and negotiate some debate details with the campaign of Democratic rival Al Gore. Steve Inskeep reports for NPR News.

The way that American elections are financed was a major topic in the presidential primaries, when some candidates saw the subject as a way to cut the frontrunners down to size. But then the frontrunners got nominated, and talk about campaign finances took on a different role in the debate. Now, with Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore the party standard-bearers, the subject is mostly used as a metaphor for issues of character. For NPR News, Peter Overby reports.

Mark Scott reports teachers in Buffalo, New York are walking the picket lines today. After two years without a contract, the teachers voted to strike despite a New York State law that forbids them to do so.

Warner Brothers has announced that it is re-releasing The Exorcist into movie theaters. It is subtitled "The Version You've Never Seen" and includes footage that was cut from the original, as well as a digitally re-mastered image, six-track Surround Sound and some new music. Spin Magazine writer Chris Norris remembers what it was like growing up during the original release of The Exorcist, twenty-six years ago.

Linda speaks with Wouter van Hoven, the chair of the Kissama Foundation, and a professor at the University of Pretoria, about the elephants who will be transferred from South Africa to Angola. He has been examining two elephant families in the crowded Madikwe National Park in South Africa. Tomorrow, they will be captured, then flown to their new home in Angola's Quicama National Park. South Africa has too many elephants in its park, and Angola doesn't have enough. The elephants in Angola were killed during 25 years of civil war by soldiers for sport, and by poachers. (4:30) More information on the Internet at http://www.kissama.org.

Reporter Chad Swiatecki, of Michigan's Flint Journal uses a wheelchair. He was assigned last weekend to cover the Al Gore visit to his area. But the auto plant Gore was visiting was not wheelchair accessible, and neither was the bus used by the campaign. The Secret Service would not let Chad follow in his own car. Swiatecki comments on the event.

Today, Margot Adler dipped into the smorgasbord of protests surrounding the UN Millennium Summit in New York. More than 91 demonstrations were scheduled over the three days of the meeting. Adler visited with protesters including some from Iran and Togo, and everywhere there was music by demonstrating members of China's Falun Gong sect.

Special Correspondent Susan Stamberg talks to Peggy Salinger, the daughter J.D. Salinger about her new book Dream Catcher: A Memoir. A testimonial about life hidden away with the Salinger family. (6:53) Dream Catcher: A Memoir is published by Washington Square Press ISBN 06710