
The Republican saw his US presidential election campaign reignited with a convincing victory over Democratic incumbent Barack Obama in the first debate. Romney has seen his deficit in the polls grow, but was hailed by pundits and pollsters for a commanding performance in the debate on domestic issues. One of the few downsides for Romney was the mocking he received on Twitter for comments about Big Bird, a character from the Sesame Street television shows, as he pledged to withdraw government funding from the broadcaster PBS.
The Communist Party's personnel chief was one of four top cadres to score an approval rating of more than 95 per cent in an internal poll of members of the party's Central Committee, boosting his chances of a place on the powerful Politburo Standing Committee. Others to score more than 95 per cent included the two Standing Committee members who are staying on, leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping and Vice-Premier Li Keqiang, along with Li's fellow Vice-Premier Wang Qishan.