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Diverse Democratic group aims for stars, seeks to win US House

What do farmers, former mayors and prosecutors along with military veterans,  business people and the son of migrant workers who grew up to become an astronaut all have in common? They are among the scores of people from diverse walks of life who Democrats recruited to run for the House of Representatives in hopes of winning control of the chamber back from Republicans in next year’s election. Democrats need a net gain of 25 seats in the 435-member House to capture the chamber, and are buoyed by recent polls that show Americans favor them over Republicans. A new of registered voters found that 48 percent said they would back Democrats, compared to 40 percent saying they would support Republicans, if the election were held now. “With the wind now at our backs, we have strong Democratic candidates running in 60 Republican and open districts across the country,” Steve Israel, head of the House Democratic campaign committee, said this week in announcing that he had met his recruiting goal ahead of time. Analysts say Democrats may pick up House seats in the November 2012 election, but not the 25 needed to take back control. One of their biggest problems is President Barack Obama. His approval rating of only about 40 percent threatens to be a drag on their chances in individual House races. “My best guess right now is that they pickup between zero and five seats,” said David Wasserman of the non-partisan Cook Political Report. Such talk doesn’t dampen Democrats’ enthusiasm for their House contenders. Their list is literally topped by Jose Hernandez,  a California native who grew up picking vegetables with his migrant parents. He later soared over the same fields as an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. In declaring his candidacy this week, Hernandez, 49, who left NASA in January after more than a decade of service, said he was proof that the American dream lives. “I went from plowshares to the stars,” he was quoted as saying in a Democratic press release. For more Reuters political news, click here. Photo credit: (Hernandez and other members of space shuttle Discovery at Kennedy Space Center in 2009)

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Yemen forces kill 12

Yemeni officials said the attack on France's Total gas pipeline was in retaliation for the killing of the head of the media department of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in an air raid on militant outposts in Yemen.In Sanaa, security forces shot dead at least 12 demonstrators in a fresh outbreak of violence as Yemenis waited for the U.N. Security Council to agree to a resolution expected to urge Saleh to hand over power under a Gulf peace plan.The death of Ibrahim al-Banna, an Egyptian described by Yemeni officials as high on their wanted list, and 23 other people late on Friday is a fresh blow to the Islamist group regarded by Washington as the most serious threat to the United States, following the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki last month.But the destruction of the Total pipeline, which transports gas from the central Maarib province to Belhaf port on the Arabian Sea, deals a severe blow to the Yemeni economy, already reeling from months of protests.The Yemeni Defense Ministry said its air force targeted militant hideouts near the town of Azzan in the southern Shabwa province, an attack which residents said also killed the oldest son and a cousin of U.S.-born cleric Awlaki, long sought by Washington for links to al Qaeda.But local residents and officials said they believed the aircraft that launched at least three strikes in the area were foreign, flying at high altitude and smaller than the Soviet-made Yemeni air force planes."There were planes flying high. I could hear the sounds of their engines but I could not make them out," one witness who declined to be identified, told Reuters. "All of a sudden, the area was shaken by successive explosions," he added.A Yemeni official described al-Banna as a "dangerous" militant and one of the most wanted people internationally.Witnesses said militants were seen removing several mutilated bodies as well as an unknown number of injured people from the scene after the raid early on Saturday.Last month, a U.S. drone killed Awlaki, identified by U.S. intelligence as "chief of external operations" for al Qaeda's Yemen branch and a Web-savvy propagandist for the Islamist cause, U.S. officials said.Relatives of Awlaki said the cleric's son and cousin were due to be buried at the site of the attack.Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda captured large swathes of southern Abyan province, including the provincial capital Zinjibar, earlier this year.The Yemeni army last month drove the militants out of Zinjibar, which lies east of a strategic shipping strait through which some 3 million barrels of oil pass daily.GAS PIPELINEResidents and officials said the 322 km (200 mile) pipeline, which links gas fields in Maarib, east of Sanaa, to a $4.5 billion Total-led liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, was attacked soon after the raids.Sources at Total told Reuters the pipeline was blown up in two places, stopping the supplies that feed the Belhaf LNG plant. Witnesses said flames were visible from several kilometers away.The company evacuated nearly half its foreign staff to neighboring Djibouti, and sent some local and French engineers to start repairing the pipeline.Three South Korean companies also hold stakes in the plant, Yemen's largest industrial project, which opened in 2009.Yemen's only liquefied natural gas producer, Yemen LNG, warned customers in March of potential supply curtailments as violence spread.Yemen has the capacity to supply up to 6.7 million tonnes of LNG per year. Last year Yemen LNG, the 16th largest seller of the gas, shipped more than half its supplies to Asia, the rest going to the Americas and Europe.The project delivers LNG under long term contracts to GDF Suez (GSZ.PA), Total and Korea Gas Corp (036460.KS).SANAA HEATS UPIn Sanaa, heavy violence broke a lull as Yemenis awaited deliberations in the U.N. Security Council aimed at pressuring Saleh to comply with a Gulf Arab initiative to hand over power to his deputy as part of a plan to end months of protests.Witnesses and medics said Yemeni security forces opened fire on tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators trying to march toward state buildings, such as the presidential palace.They said dozens of people were also wounded and taken to a field hospital in Sixty Street, where thousands have camped out for months demanding that Saleh steps down. A Yemeni government soldier also died in the clashes, government sources said.Witnesses said troops initially used tear gas and water cannon against the demonstrators, who responded by hurling stones at security forces. "Dozens of people were also wounded in the clashes," one witness said.The director of the field hospital, Tareq Noman, told Al Jazeera television that his facility had received the bodies of 10 people and that hundreds were wounded. The deputy information minister, Abdu al-Janadi, said the death toll was lower.In a separate incident, witnesses said government forces fought heavy battles with gunmen loyal to powerful tribal leader Sadeq al-Ahmar, who supports opposition demands for an end to Saleh's 33-year grip on power.They said the fighting was concentrated in the Hasaba neighborhood of Sanaa, where al-Ahmar lives, and near the airport, which was closed by the fighting.Opposition sources said four tribal fighters were killed in the clashes.

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UPDATE 1-Sunoco restarts Philadelphia hydrotreater

Oct 14 (Reuters) - Sunoco Inc reported the restart of a hydrotreater on Wednesday at the Point Breeze section of its 335,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Philadelphia, according to a notice filed with Philadelphia pollution regulators on Friday.The hydrotreater, which removes sulfur from refined products using hydrogen as a catalyst, was shut due to an electrical problem, the filing said.The refinery is one of two in the U.S. Northeast that Sunoco has put on the market as rising crude oil prices and changing product specifications have rendered them unprofitable. Both refineries are slated to close at the end of the second quarter next year if no buyers are found.The other Sunoco refinery up for sale is at Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, just south of Philadelphia, and is rated at 178,000 bpd.The Marcus Hook refinery is undergoing a bout of planned and unplanned maintenance on a crude distillation unit, a reformer and a fluid catalytic cracking unit.

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U.S. returns looted Breton painting to France

"As the foremost agency investigating the plundering of cultural property, we are pleased to return a piece of French heritage that was stolen during World War I," said ICE Director John Morton.The work by Breton, a 19th century Realist painter, was seized in 1918 by German troops from a museum in Douai, France, the statement said.The painting was sent with other artworks to Belgium. It was not included when the Belgian government returned the works to France in 1919.French officials told Interpol Washington last year that "A Fisherman's Daughter" had been imported by a New York art gallery. The painting's current value is about $150,000.An investigation showed that the extensively restored painting was the same one German soldiers seized from the Douai museum, the statement said.

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Pangda chairman says "confident" in Saab deal

"What I meant was that during restructuring, the court is authorised to adapt any restructuring plans, including vetoing previous agreements," Pang told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry conference in Chengdu."It's up to the one handling the reorganisation to decide whether the previous agreements are valid or not."