Ljubljana  - No clear winner was in sight on Saturday, a day before Slovenians vote in a general election.

Some surveys predict Prime Minister Janez Jansa, 50, and his centre-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) will obtain slightly more votes than the rival Social Democrats (SD) led by Borhut Pahor.

Both parties are tipped to win between 26-29 per cent of the vote, making a coalition unavoidable in the 90-sear Drzavni Zbor, or lower house.

The final outcome depends on how the numerous smaller parties perform, and whether they clear the 4 per cent hurdle needed for parliamentary representation.

Sterling (Virginia, US), Sept. 20: Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Friday that he wanted to end the cowboy mentality of the Bush-McCain era”.

"These guys have worshipped at the shrine of deregulation,” Bidentold about 1,000 supporters at a women's issues rally at Claude Moore Park.

Biden called for short-term, immediate intervention to “staunch the bleeding” in the financial markets and that in the long term, “we have to have a major, major overhaul of how the financial system works.”

The 2008 presidential campaign has stimulated a great deal of interest among American voters all year, but according to the New York Times, the campaign is at an interesting phase, and is now even more focused on the process of electing a new president.

In the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll, 63 percent of voters said they were paying a lot of attention to the campaign, up from 51 percent before the parties held their conventions.

In September 2004, 52 percent said they were concentrating a lot on Senator John Kerry’s campaign to defeat President Bush.

San Francisco - The longest budget battle in California's history came to an end after the two houses of the State Legislature agreed to 104 billion dollars in spending that was 80 days overdue.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said that in the coming week, he would sign the budget passed Friday night in Sacramento.

He had threatened to veto an earlier version of the budget passed Tuesday because it did not contain his demand for spending limits in times of surplus so the state could invest in a "rainy day fund." Lawmakers gave in to his demands after they realized they didn't have the votes to override a veto.

London, Sept. 20: A deputy leader of Britain’s ruling Labour party, has made a fresh diplomatic gaffe by backing the Democrats in the US elections.

Harriet Harman risked a new row with Republican candidate John McCain by saying she would never vote for his deputy Sarah Palin. She also broke political convention by saying she admired Democratic policies and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

New York, Sept. 20: Republican presidential candidate John McCain has launched another broadside against Democratic rival Barack Obama.

Using his starkest language to date in the run-up to the November 4 presidential poll, McCain on Friday repeatedly asked the American voter to make a choice between “Country First” or “Obama First”