In a spectacular finale to a 40-hour campaign sprint, US president Barack Obama launched a searing attack on challenger Mitt Romney in Ohio, the state that may decide their election duel, and labelled his challenger a “bullshitter”.

Bill Clinton took centre stage at the Democratic National Convention as President Barack Obama’s nomination is placed before a party hoping that the last president to preside over sustained growth can help propel him to re-election in a sputtering economy.

Police in Uzbekistan detained dozens of opposition activists over the weekend in a fresh crackdown on dissent after this month’s uprising in the east of the country, an opposition party leader said today.