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• Ryan rejects need for breakthrough moment
• McCain: Don't expect surprises in upcoming debate
• Christie: Romney will shine in upcoming debate
• Gov. Brown signs bill giving juveniles 2nd chance
• Venezuela opposition fumes about deaths of party activists
• Youths serving life without parole get second chance in California
• Kenya navy shells Somali town after rebels retreat
• Ex-wrestler props up India's PM, but he may want the job
• Analysis: China slides faster into pensions black hole
• Son of China's Bo Xilai defends his father
• U.S. group urges $2 trillion alternative to fiscal cliff "time bomb"
• Palestinian authority aims to securitize $200 million of debt
• California bans gay "conversion" therapy for minors
• Georgia's Saakashvili challenged in parliamentary vote
• Who is vying to replace NYC's Bloomberg in 2013?
• EADS, BAE chiefs tout merger, blast "misconceptions"
• Ryan rejects need for breakthrough moment
• Two Kenyan police shot dead near Somalia border
• Momentum shifts to Democrat in tight Wisconsin Senate race
• Third person dead from Venezuela election shooting: Capriles
• Militant group says it captured officers sent by Yemen to Syria
• Canada says it took Guantanamo detainee early after U.S. pressure
• Spain crisis fuels Catalan separatist sentiment
• Thousands march in Paris against austerity
• Spain Popular approves capital hike of up to 2.5 billion euros: source
• Georgian grape pickers show government's challenge
• Nearly half of Yemenis go hungry post-revolt, says WFP
• Egypt signs $1 billion Turkish loan deal
• Ten years later, DC sniper says he felt like "scum"
• As race stands, Obama within reach of second term
• WHY IT MATTERS: Social Security
• Argentina president's image slides further as CPI, crime weigh
• Two Kenyan police officers shot dead near Somalia border

Ryan rejects need for breakthrough moment Posted: 30 Sep 2012 01:02 PM PDT Mitt Romney's running mate shot down the need for a breakthrough in the first presidential debate Wednesday, trying to allay Republican concerns that the race is slipping away with five weeks to go and momentum on President Barack Obama's side.

McCain: Don't expect surprises in upcoming debate Posted: 30 Sep 2012 07:26 AM PDT Sen. John McCain says not to expect any surprises in this week's first presidential debate because the televised confrontations nowadays are so heavily scripted.

Christie: Romney will shine in upcoming debate Posted: 30 Sep 2012 06:41 AM PDT New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says it's been a "tough couple of weeks" for Mitt Romney in his presidential campaign and there's no way to "sugarcoat" that.

Gov. Brown signs bill giving juveniles 2nd chance Posted: 30 Sep 2012 03:08 PM PDT Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday announced signing a bill that could one day bring the release of some criminals who were sentenced as juveniles to life in prison.

Venezuela opposition fumes about deaths of party activists Posted: 30 Sep 2012 02:49 PM PDT CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles demanded justice on Sunday for the shooting of three of his activists, while President Hugo Chavez promised to expand his socialist agenda if he wins next weekend's election. With a week to go, Venezuela's presidential race looks close and tensions are rising. On Saturday, gunmen killed three pro-Capriles activists in Barinas state - the worst violence of the campaign. ...

Youths serving life without parole get second chance in California Posted: 30 Sep 2012 02:32 PM PDT SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law on Sunday a measure that grants juvenile offenders sentenced to life in prison without parole the chance to petition for their release after serving 25 years. Roughly 300 inmates in California's prison system have been sentenced to a lifetime behind bars for offenses committed as teenagers, according to the bill's sponsor, state Senator Leland Yee, a Democrat from San Francisco. Those inmates will now be eligible for parole after serving at least 25 years in prison. ...

Kenya navy shells Somali town after rebels retreat Posted: 30 Sep 2012 02:23 PM PDT MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Kenyan warships shelled the southern Somali port of Kismayu overnight after al Qaeda-linked rebels said they had abandoned the city, residents said on Sunday. Stunned by an assault by sea, air and ground forces late on Friday night, al Shabaab rebels fled the city that had been their key source of revenue, retreating to surrounding forests and towns. However, there were conflicting reports on Sunday evening about how much of Kismayu African Union forces (AMISOM) now controlled. ...

Ex-wrestler props up India's PM, but he may want the job Posted: 30 Sep 2012 02:12 PM PDT LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - As a former wrestler, Mulayam Singh Yadav has got India's government where he likes it - in a vice-like grip. The ructions over fresh economic reforms that reduced the ruling coalition to a parliamentary minority last month left Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dependent on this wheeler-dealer from the country's dusty northern plains. In an interview with Reuters, Yadav insisted there were no strings attached to his support for Singh's Congress party, just a desire to keep the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power. ...

Analysis: China slides faster into pensions black hole Posted: 30 Sep 2012 02:07 PM PDT QINGHAI, LEDU COUNTY, China (Reuters) - Eighty-year-old Chinese farmer Guo Shuhe receives a state pension equivalent to just $9 a month, not enough to buy a month worth of groceries, but enough it seems, to risk punching a gaping hole in government finances. Guo, whose palms are thick and rough from a life spent hoeing fields in southwest China, is one of over 150 million people covered by a rapidly expanding rural retirement scheme which is accelerating the nation's slide into a pension crisis. ...

Son of China's Bo Xilai defends his father Posted: 30 Sep 2012 01:57 PM PDT BOSTON (Reuters) - The Harvard-educated son of disgraced Chinese political leader Bo Xilai defended his father against charges of taking bribes and having improper sexual relationships, saying he believed in his father's good character. "Personally, it is hard for me to believe the allegations that were announced against my father, because they contradict everything I have come to know about him throughout my life," Bo Guagua said in a statement posted on the microblog site Tumblr. ...

U.S. group urges $2 trillion alternative to fiscal cliff "time bomb" Posted: 30 Sep 2012 01:55 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The independent watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense will unveil a $2 trillion deficit-reduction proposal in hopes of averting an economic debacle at year's end known as the fiscal cliff. On Monday, the group plans to detail about 130 specific deficit-reduction steps the U.S. Congress could take to replace across-the-board spending cuts of $1.2 trillion that are scheduled to take effect on January 2. These would occur just as tax increases for all income groups are due to kick in. ...

Palestinian authority aims to securitize $200 million of debt Posted: 30 Sep 2012 01:54 PM PDT KUWAIT (Reuters) - Palestinian authorities are aiming to securitize an initial $200 million of some $1.3 billion worth of government debt by the first quarter of 2013 to help reduce state borrowing from local banks, a top banker said on Sunday. "The Ministry of Finance is much more ready for securitizing the old debt rather than creating new debt, because we are not even rated," Palestinian Monetary Authority Governor Jihad al-Wazir said ahead of a Monday meeting of Arab central bankers in Kuwait. ...

California bans gay "conversion" therapy for minors Posted: 30 Sep 2012 01:36 PM PDT SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill banning a controversial therapy that aims to reverse homosexuality in minors, his office announced on Sunday, making California the first state to ban a practice many say is psychologically damaging. The move marked a major victory for gay rights advocates who say so-called conversion therapy, also called reparative therapy, has no medical basis because homosexuality is not a disorder. ...

Georgia's Saakashvili challenged in parliamentary vote Posted: 30 Sep 2012 01:34 PM PDT TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgians elect a parliament on Monday with tension high after a prison abuse scandal that has turned the vote into the biggest test of President Mikheil Saakashvili's grip on the Caucasus Mountain nation in nearly a decade in power. Saakashvili, a pro-Western leader who swept to the presidency after the bloodless Rose Revolution of 2003 and fought a five-day war with Russia in 2008, hopes to head off a challenge led by a once-reclusive tycoon with a fortune nearly half the size of the former Soviet republic's economy. ...

Who is vying to replace NYC's Bloomberg in 2013? Posted: 30 Sep 2012 01:15 PM PDT New York City's 2013 mayoral race doesn't fully kick off until after voters are done picking a president. But some of the city's top political players are already jockeying for position, preparing to introduce themselves to voters who haven't paid much attention to who, exactly, will succeed Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor who has defined City Hall for more than a decade.

EADS, BAE chiefs tout merger, blast "misconceptions" Posted: 30 Sep 2012 01:11 PM PDT PARIS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The bosses of EADS and BAE Systems sought to reassure investors over the benefits of their planned $45 billion merger amid what they described as "myths and misconceptions" over the creation of a pan-European defense giant. BAE Systems chief executive Ian King and Tom Enders, his counterpart at Airbus parent EADS, said in a joint newspaper article that the plan to join forces was born out of "opportunity, not necessity," and would create growth. ...

Ryan rejects need for breakthrough moment Posted: 30 Sep 2012 01:02 PM PDT Mitt Romney's running mate shot down the need for a breakthrough in the first presidential debate Wednesday, trying to allay Republican concerns that the race is slipping away with five weeks to go and momentum on President Barack Obama's side.

Two Kenyan police shot dead near Somalia border Posted: 30 Sep 2012 12:35 PM PDT GARISSA, Kenya (Reuters) - Two police officers were shot dead in Kenya on Sunday in the northern town of Garissa close to the border with Somalia, police said, hours after a child was killed in a grenade attack on a church in Nairobi. Kenya has been hit by a series of grenade and gun attacks since it sent troops into Somalia last October in pursuit of Islamist al Shabaab militants whom it blamed for kidnapping its security personnel and Western tourists. ...

Momentum shifts to Democrat in tight Wisconsin Senate race Posted: 30 Sep 2012 12:30 PM PDT WEST SALEM, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Fresh off a nasty battle to recall Wisconsin's governor in the spring, the state has another high profile political fight on its hands for the U.S. Senate. But after an expensive four-way Republican primary that he won narrowly, Senate candidate and former governor Tommy Thompson was left "broke" - forcing him to raise more money and campaign less. Poor polling for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who is an average of 8 points behind Democratic President Barack Obama in the state, has not helped. ...

Third person dead from Venezuela election shooting: Capriles Posted: 30 Sep 2012 12:25 PM PDT CARACAS (Reuters) - A third opposition supporter has died from a shooting at a rally this weekend that was the worst violence of Venezuela's volatile election campaign, presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on Sunday. "We are going to defeat violence in Venezuela," Capriles told a rally in Caracas, after confirming the third fatality in the confrontation at an opposition event in Barinas state on Saturday. (Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Jackie Frank)

Militant group says it captured officers sent by Yemen to Syria Posted: 30 Sep 2012 12:19 PM PDT ABU DHABI (Reuters) - An Islamist militant group fighting President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria said in a video posted online on Sunday it had captured five Yemeni army officers sent by their government to help quell the Syrian uprising. The video by Al Nusra Front showed clips of five men in civilian clothes asking the Yemeni government to stop supporting the Assad regime. The authenticity of the recording could not immediately be verified. ...

Canada says it took Guantanamo detainee early after U.S. pressure Posted: 30 Sep 2012 11:49 AM PDT OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada, which allowed Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr to be transferred to a prison in his homeland months earlier than expected, did so after pressure from the United States, Foreign Minister John Baird said on Sunday. Baird declined to comment on reports an angry Washington had insisted on Khadr's quick return after someone in Canada leaked a secret U.S. report on him. Khadr, 26, the youngest prisoner and last Westerner held in the Guantanamo military base, was sent back to Canada on Saturday to finish his sentence. ...

Spain crisis fuels Catalan separatist sentiment Posted: 30 Sep 2012 11:38 AM PDT Three weeks after a massive Catalan separatist march in Barcelona — the biggest since the 1970s — the independence flags still flutter from balconies across Spain's second largest city.

Thousands march in Paris against austerity Posted: 30 Sep 2012 11:33 AM PDT Thousands of demonstrators marched peacefully Sunday in Paris to denounce austerity measures in Europe that have sparked violent protests in other EU countries struggling to avert fiscal crises.

Spain Popular approves capital hike of up to 2.5 billion euros: source Posted: 30 Sep 2012 11:29 AM PDT MADRID (Reuters) - The board of Spain's Banco Popular has approved a capital increase of up to 2.5 billion euros ($3.2 billion), a source close to the process said on Sunday. The bank's directors also agreed that Popular would remain independent rather than searching for a partner, the source said. Popular declined to comment. ($1 = 0.7773 euros) (Reporting and editing By Jesus Aguado, Writing by Paul Day)

Georgian grape pickers show government's challenge Posted: 30 Sep 2012 11:29 AM PDT The green grapes that Temuri Dolenjashvili and his wife snipped from the vines Sunday and emptied by the bucket into the back of their truck provide the only income for their extended family of five.

Nearly half of Yemenis go hungry post-revolt, says WFP Posted: 30 Sep 2012 11:27 AM PDT SANAA (Reuters) - Nearly half of Yemenis go to bed hungry every night as political instability compounds a global food and fuel price surge, giving the Arabian Peninsula state the world's third-highest rate of child malnutrition, the World Food Programme said on Sunday. Yemen has been in turmoil since last year's revolt against 33 years of rule by Ali Abdullah Saleh when already weak state control in outlying regions broke down as the army split into pro- and anti-Saleh factions and al Qaeda militants occupied some areas. ...

Egypt signs $1 billion Turkish loan deal Posted: 30 Sep 2012 11:23 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt signed a deal on Sunday to loan $1 billion from Turkey, half of the aid package Ankara promised Cairo earlier this month, Egypt's state news agency reported. President Mohamed Mursi signed the loan agreement with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan after giving a speech at Turkey's ruling AK Party conference. "President Mohamed Mursi and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on signing a loan worth $1 billion dollars from Turkey," MENA state news agency said, quoting Egypt's finance minister. It did not give further details of the agreement. ...

Ten years later, DC sniper says he felt like "scum" Posted: 30 Sep 2012 11:19 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Convicted Washington sniper Lee Boyd Malvo said the devastated reaction of a victim's husband 10 years ago made him feel like "the worst piece of scum on the planet," The Washington Post reported on Sunday. In a rare interview, Malvo, 27, urged the families of victims to try to forget about him and his partner, John Allen Muhammad, so they can get on with their lives. Tuesday marks the 10th anniversary of the start of Malvo and Muhammad's deadly rampage in the Washington area. ...

As race stands, Obama within reach of second term Posted: 30 Sep 2012 11:04 AM PDT Five weeks to Election Day, President Barack Obama is within reach of the 270 electoral votes needed to win a second term. Republican Mitt Romney's path to victory is narrowing.

WHY IT MATTERS: Social Security Posted: 30 Sep 2012 10:57 AM PDT The issue:

Argentina president's image slides further as CPI, crime weigh Posted: 30 Sep 2012 10:48 AM PDT BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina President Cristina Fernandez's popularity continued its downward slide in September, sinking to 24.3 percent from 30 percent in August, according to a poll published on Sunday, as high inflation and worries over crime weighed. As recently as September 2011, a month before winning her second term, Fernandez had a 64.1 percent popularity rating while campaigning on promises of deepening the interventionist policy model of her late husband and predecessor as president, Nestor Kirchner. The 24. ...

Two Kenyan police officers shot dead near Somalia border Posted: 30 Sep 2012 10:45 AM PDT GARISSA, Kenya (Reuters) - Two Kenyan police officers were shot dead and their rifles stolen on Sunday in the northern town of Garissa near the border with Somalia, police said. The killings came hours after a nine-year-old boy was killed in the capital Nairobi by a grenade attack on a church by suspected sympathizers of Somali al Shabaab rebels and days after Kenyan troops led an offensive against the insurgents in their last stronghold in Somalia. (Reporting by Abdisalan Mohamed; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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