While acknowledging the last three years have been “tough,” President Obama touted the progress made on his watch during a fundraising reception yesterday at the swanky Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.

Addressing a crowd of about 400 at the reception where tickets ranged from $1,000 to $5,000, Obama urged his supporters to “think about everything that we’ve accomplished together.”

Touting healthcare reform, the repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the auto bailout, the death of Osama bin Laden, and the recent spike in jobs, Obama told the gathering “that change that you believed in has begun to happen.”

For Obama, the speech was an opportunity to ask his supporters in the Democrat-rich South Florida area for their continued support. His message was to stay just as “involved and engaged and motivated in 2012 as you were in 2008.”

“If you’re willing to keep pushing with me, if you’re willing to keep struggling with me, if you’re continuing to reach out for that vision of America that we all share, I promise you change will come.”

Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who introduced Obama at the fundraiser, also implored the crowd to remember the historic 2008 election. She said if the last election was “historic,” this one is “personal.”

After the Biltmore reception, Obama spoke to a more intimate gathering inside the Pinecrest home of veteran Miami power-broker Chris Korge. He also attended a private fundraising dinner at the home of former Orlando Magic star Vince Carter in Windermere, where tickets started at $30,000 a plate. The president was expected to raise more than $3.5 million during the three events.

His foray into Florida–his second this year– wasn’t entirely devoted to fundraising. Earlier in the day, Obama visited the University of Miami, where he talked about energy production. During that speech, Obama hit back at Republicans for politically “licking their chops” over rising gas prices.

“Some politicians always see this as a political opportunity. You’re shocked, I know,” Obama told the crowd of University of Miami students and faculty.

“Only in politics do people greet bad news so enthusiastically. You pay more, and they’re licking their chops?” Obama said. “And you can bet that since it’s an election year, they’re already dusting off their three-point plans for $2 gas.”

Maruti Suzuki India, the country's largest carmaker is likely to roll out a global car by 2017, as it strengthens the R&D activities. The company will start working on a global car at its new R&D centre at Rohtak. The company will develop the car with some assistance from parent Suzuki Motor Corp, targeting the European and Japanese markets. The global car will be developed mainly by Indian engineers.

The car will be powered by an 800cc engine and will be positioned along with the company's current best seller 'Alto'. MSI is spending up to Rs 1,500 crore to set up a R&D centre at Rohtak, which will be SMC's only such significant centre outside Japan, to scale up its vehicle development programme and become self-reliant.

In the past, MSI engineers had participated in the development of global models, which have been introduced in India, such as Swift and Ritz. MSI is at present working on an indigenously developed small car for the Indian market that is likely to be launched next year.

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More than 2,200 people have been killed since the Syrian government's crackdown on protesters began in mid-March, the United Nations says.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay gave the new toll at an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The UN previously put the number of dead at between 1,900 and 2,000.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday that his government was in no danger of falling.

And he warned that any foreign military intervention would backfire on those who carry it out.

Navi Pillay opened the session by saying: "The gravity of ongoing violations and brutal attacks against the peaceful protesters in that country demand your continued attention."

She went on: "As of today, over 2,200 people have been killed since mass protests began in mid-March, with more than 350 people reportedly killed across Syria since the beginning of Ramadan.

"The military and security forces continue to employ excessive force, including heavy artillery, to quell peaceful demonstrations and regain control over the residents of various cities."

The meeting of the UN Human Rights Council was called by 24 states, including Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

It followed the publication of a report by UN investigators earlier this month which concluded that Syrian security forces were carrying out widespread human rights violations, which could constitute war crimes. Read More...

"Shame on you Obama, Osama is still inside us," was the rhythmic chant of a small group of protesters in Gaza City this week.

Most of them were young men in their 20s. They were small in number, not much more than 50, but strong in voice.

"We came here to show our anger at the murder of Sheikh Osama Bin Laden," said Jihad, a stout man with a thick beard in Islamic traditional dress. He's a Salafist jihadi.

"The Salafist jihadis in Gaza yearn to have acceptance from al-Qaeda," says Nathan Thrall, a Middle East Analyst at the International Crisis Group and an expert on radical Islam in Gaza.

"They are not yet affiliates of al-Qaeda but to say they are inspired by al-Qaeda is accurate," says Mr Thrall.

Salafists practice a very conservative and traditional form of Islam. They take their inspiration from the early generations of Muslims who were close to the Prophet Muhammad and his message.

In Gaza the vast majority are non-violent. Salafist jihadis espouse violence.

They are a tiny minority in Gaza. Nathan Thrall estimates their numbers to be in the tens rather than the hundreds.

They have often been in conflict with the Hamas government in Gaza, which they regard as too moderate and too willing to compromise Islamic principles.

And the Salafist voice is being heard.

'Ideological threat'

Earlier this month, a day after the killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, the Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh condemned the American operation. Mr Haniyeh called Bin Laden an "Arab and Muslim holy warrior".

Such words were ill-timed for those who hope the recent Palestinian unity deal between Hamas and its secular rivals Fatah might see Hamas moderate its views.

Hamas has since rowed back on the comments, but many believe Mr Haniyeh at least partly had the Salafist constituency in Gaza in mind when he made the remarks.

"The threat posed by the Salafists to Hamas is really an ideological one," says Nathan Thrall.

"It's very difficult for Hamas to defend itself against Islamist challengers who say it is failing to impose Islamic law, fight Israel and liberate the Palestinian people."

But he says the physical threat that the Salafists pose to Hamas is much smaller.

"Hamas has shown in the past that it is able to crush the Salafist jihadis when they cross red lines."

One such red line was the kidnapping and murder of Vittorio Arrigoni by a small Salafist group in Gaza in April.

The Italian pro-Palestinian activist, who was living in Gaza City, was abducted and strangled.

Before he was killed a video showing the 36-year-old beaten and blindfolded was posted - on a Salafist website.

The kidnappers demanded the release of Salafist prisoners being held in Hamas jails.

'Closing the file'

Hamas had largely been credited with reducing the threat of kidnapping in Gaza and Mr Arrigoni's murder was seen as a challenge to its authority. It hit back with force.

A few days after the killing Hamas security forces surrounded a house in central Gaza where the three alleged Salafist kidnappers were holding out.

After a fierce gun battle, two of the Salafists ended up dead. One was captured. It's believed since then a number of other Salafists have been arrested across Gaza.

"I think we succeeded now to end this file," Hamas's Deputy Foreign Minister Ghazi Hamed told me.

"This was a small group. Some of them were killed. Some of them were arrested. Everything is under control."

It emerged this week though that an American citizen living in Gaza was advised by Hamas to leave the strip because of threats from Salafist groups and a possible kidnapping plot to avenge the death of Osama Bin Laden.

Depending on which way you look at it, the news was either proof that Hamas is one step ahead of the Salafists and is indeed in control of Gaza, or that the Salafist threat is greater than Hamas perhaps likes to make out.

Government and 'resistance'

Hamas does have the means to largely control Gaza. Tens of thousands of people work in the security forces here.

Just a few weeks after Mr Arrigoni's murder Hamas managed to successfully police the first ever Gaza Marathon, a potentially easy target for Salafist jihadis.

Thousands of Hamas police lined the route, which covered Gaza from top to bottom. The event allowed Hamas to show it was in full control.

The military face of Hamas is a familiar one. It sells itself on being a movement of fighters against Israel's occupation. But it also has to govern. That means schools, hospitals and keeping the streets clean.

Maher Sabra, an analyst at al-Ummah University in Gaza, says this has presented Hamas with a challenge.

"It is very difficult to combine the two things, to be in power as a government taking care of people and at the same time working as a resistance movement."

For the past four years, Mr Sabra believes, Hamas has had to become more pragmatic.

"They are in a delicate position. But so far they are surviving," he smiles.

For the small number of Salafist jihadis, though, Hamas has got the balance wrong.

Some Salafists are disgruntled former Hamas members who believe the movement is neglecting its principles.

The fact that a number of Salafists were once linked to Hamas has led some in Israel to accuse the media of playing up the Hamas-Salafist split, suggesting the two are actually closer than is sometimes made out.

But Nathan Thrall from the International Crisis Group rejects this and says the conflict is real.

"Hamas has very little interest in having Islamist challengers question its credentials."

Salafist jihadis are a tiny minority in Gaza. But as the dynamics of Palestinian politics shift in the coming months they maintain a limited potential to make themselves heard, either by launching rocket attacks on Israel to break the relative calm or by trying to challenge Hamas more directly.

Source : BBC.com