World Briefs

Obama launches election bid
RICHMOND – President Barack Obama said on Saturday the United States had climbed too far out of an economic abyss to take a chance on Republican Mitt Romney, firing up his reelection bid at his debut rallies.

‘We are not turning back the clock, we are moving forward,’ Obama said, seeking to revive the political magic that swept him to power in 2008, and unleashing his most strident attack so far on the man who wants his job.The president, in loud, enthusiastic rallies in swing states Ohio and Virginia, made the case that though times were still tough, he had hauled the economy back from the brink, and there was once again reason to hope.Syrian opposition urges boycottBEIRUT – Syrian opposition leaders yesterday dismissed upcoming parliamentary elections as a cynical attempt by President Bashar Assad to hold on to power and urged voters to stay away.The regime has portrayed today’s vote for a 250-seat parliament as a sign of its willingness to carry out democratic reforms, while at the same time denying that it faces a popular uprising. The election comes three months after the adoption of a new constitution that allows for the formation of political parties to compete with the ruling Baath party.But Assad’s opponents say reforms without their input are a farce and that elections cannot be held under the threat of guns. A UN-brokered truce last month has failed to halt a brutal regime crackdown on the 14-month-old uprising against Assad.Clinton on Grameen Bank rowDHAKA – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday warned Bangladesh’s government not to undermine pioneering micro-lender Grameen Bank, saying it was a key driver in the South Asian nation’s slow climb out of poverty.Clinton met with Grameen’s ousted founder – Nobel Prize-winning economics professor Mohammad Yunus – and later voiced strong support for the organisation which has fallen out of favour with Bangladesh’s political leadership.Clinton has used the trip to bolster Grameen and Yunus himself, who was ousted as the bank’s leader last year after the government declared that he was beyond the official retirement age.