WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Congressional Democrats and Republicans vow to resume discussions after defeat of the $700 billion bailout plan for U.S. financial markets.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson pledged to work with congressional negotiators to develop a compromise that would stabilize credit markets after the Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 778 points Monday, a one-day record, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

"I will continue to work with congressional leaders to find a way forward to pass a comprehensive plan to stabilize our financial system and protect the American people by limiting the prospects of further deterioration in our economy," Paulson said.

Treasury officials said they were reviewing their options, looking at the actions they took when they assumed control of mortgage financiers Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE), bailed out insurance giant AIG and arranged takeovers of ailing institutions by more stable ones, The New York Times reported.

On the campaign trail, the senior domestic adviser to Republican presidential nominee John McCain blamed a speech by House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for poisoning the outcome, a 228-205 vote against, 13 votes shy the 218-vote total needed for passage.

"This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country," said McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin.

Obama, the Democratic hopeful, delayed a campaign event in Ohio to speak with Paulson and Pelosi, the Post reported.

"One of the messages I have to Congress is, 'Get this done, Democrats; Republicans, step up to the plate,'" he told the audience.

Dozens die in India temple stampede

JODHPUR, India, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- A huge crowd at a Hindu temple in India for the start of a nine-day religious festival broke into a stampede Tuesday, causing the deaths of dozens.

The Times of India, quoting police and other reports, said at least 179 had died and several dozen more were injured at the Chamunda Devi temple near Jodhpur in India's western desert state of Rajasthan, where the pilgrims had gone for the Nava Ratri festival.

It wasn't clear what triggered the stampede but one witness was quoted as saying it started when authorities sought to clear the area to make way for a dignitary. However, the report quoted police as saying it was due to the collapse of a barricade.

"We will definitely conduct an inquiry and if we find people were negligent, we will definitely take action," state Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria told reporters.

CNN quoted Police Chief K.S. Bains that the stampede started on a steep pathway to the temple.

A similar stampede in August killed more than 130 people at another Hindu temple on a hill top in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh. That incident was blamed on rumors of a landslide.

Bush approval rating 27 percent, poll says

PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Twenty-seven percent of Americans approve of the job George Bush is doing as president, the lowest rating of his tenure, a Gallup poll indicates.

Bush's approval rating is down 4 percentage points from the 31 percent he had in a Gallup Poll taken before the financial crisis buffeting Wall Street intensified, pollsters said.

The latest poll, released Tuesday, was conducted before the House voted against a $700 billion plan to bail out U.S. financial markets

The timing of the decline indicates the credit crisis and government's response to it are responsible for the low showing, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said. Results indicate only 28 percent of respondents approved and 68 percent disapproved of Bush's response to the financial crisis.

Among Republicans, Bush's job rating fell to 64 percent from 71 percent in a previous poll, Gallup said. Among self-identified conservatives, Bush's rating dropped sharply, from 59 percent to 47 percent, between the latest poll and one conducted two weeks ago.

The latest Gallup results are based on nationwide telephone interviews Friday and Saturday with 1,011 adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Report: Kidnapped Afghan diplomat freed

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Afghanistan's ambassador-designate, who was kidnapped last week in Pakistan's northwest region, has been freed, sources told Pakistan's News International.

The report also quoted officials at the Afghan consulate in Peshawar that Abdul Khaliq Farahi, abducted Sept. 22 by armed gunmen who also killed his driver, had reached the city safe and unharmed.

Farahi had been Afghanistan's consul in Peshawar and was expected to take over as ambassador when he was taken by the gunmen.

The News International said it had learned earlier from its sources that Farahi would be freed but added it wasn't clear who had abducted him. The newspaper said the terms of his release, if any, also weren't known.

Dawn newspaper quoted a security official as saying the Afghan diplomat was taken to a Western mission in Peshawar after his release.

Egypt kidnap victims return home

CAIRO, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Eleven hostages freed after 10 days in captivity in Egypt have begun returning to their home countries, national leaders said.

Germany's Interior Ministry said five German tourists who were among the kidnapped group arrived back in Germany Tuesday, CNN reported.

The hostages were released unharmed Monday.

Other kidnap victims leaving Egypt were five Italians and one Romanian. Others who had been held with them were eight Egyptian guides, drivers and guards.

The group was kidnapped while touring a remote area of southern Egypt near the Sudan border by Sudanese and Chadians, apparently members of a rebel group fighting the Sudanese government in Darfur, CNN said.

Although ransom was sought, none was paid, Egyptian Tourism Minister Zoheir Garana said.