2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: OBAMA STRUGGLES, DITTO FOR GOP LINEUP

President Obama has gotten no bounce from his reelection campaign announcement, with his job approval rating dropping by 7 entitlement points since January, his personal popularity at a career low along with 57 percent of Americans censorious of his handling of the economy. Yet he leads the potential GOP field.

There are chances for the Republicans in next year's elections, with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, in particular, nipping close to Obama in the latest News-Washington Post poll. Economic pessimism, its highest in two years amid high-ceilinged gab prices, raises serious political peril for the head. But he benefits from two factors: personal approval that, while down, still exceeds his job rating, and considerable doubts about the opposing party's lineup.

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CRISIS LOOMS AMID EGYPTIAN ELECTION 'FRAUD'

Elections in Egypt are heading for a crisis with opposition parties pulling out of a run-off vote, accusing the government of massive electoral fraud.

The move left barely any opposition contesting the second round of the parliamentary poll and dealt another blow to the credibility of the vote after Egypt came in for heavy criticism from its US ally and human rights groups. The Muslim Brotherhood, which won 20 per cent of seats at the last election in 2005 but failed to secure a single one in last Sunday's ballot, said it will boycott a run-off on December 5. The liberal Wafd party, which won only two of 508 contested seats, said it was also pulling out of the election altogether, along with its two successful candidates.

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COTE D'IVOIRE MISSES POLL DEADLINE

Cote d'Ivoire has missed a deadline for releasing results in its presidential election after a midnight cut-off point passed with no announcement by electoral authorities.Youssouf Bakoyoko, the head of the electoral commission, said on television minutes before midnight on Wednesday that the body was still working to reach a consensus on results.

Supporters of Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president, and those of Alassane Ouattara, the opposition leader, have accused each other of trying to rig Sunday's poll. The election commission was legally obliged to announce a the results by the end of Wednesday, which then have to be confirmed by the Constitutional Council, a body headed by a close associate of Gbagbo. By midnight, however, journalists were still being barred from the electoral commission's headquarters, which were surrounded by soldiers and police.

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