AsiaRooms.com - Take Part in IOI Community Run 2011 in Malaysia

PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA, October 22, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Visitors to Puchong in Malaysia this November will have the opportunity to participate in the IOI Community Run 2011, an exciting charity race event.

To be held on November 20th, the race sees families and friends banding together on a fun-filled Sunday morning to take part in a physically demanding run through Puchong in order to help raise money for charity.

Partners of the IOI Community Run 2011 include relief charity World Vision Malaysia, the SSL Stroke and Welfare Development Foundation and local foster home Rumah Shalom.

Those participating will be able to receive cash prizes for performing well in their bracket, while certificates are to be presented to all runners and special awards given to the best-dressed entrants.

Other highlights of the event include a mini carnival to entertain the kids and live on-stage performances, as well as lucky draw raffles.

People who are keen to take part must register their interest before October 31st or before all 4,000 places are allocated, with fees costing up to 20 ringgits (GBP4.10).

The race commences on the Sunday morning at 06:30 local time from Puteri Avenue in Bandar Puteri Puchong.

Amateur athletes can find a wide array of Malaysia hotels at AsiaRooms.com, with the Hilton Petaling Jaya Hotel among them.

Find out more about the race at http://ioicommunityrun.ioigroup.com/.

Editors Notes:

AsiaRooms.com is a leading online accommodation site in Asia offering deals in over 36,000 properties worldwide, including 7,000 hotels in the Asia-Pacific region ranging from individual beach huts to 5-star hotels and sprawling villas.

AsiaRooms.com offers customers a saving of up to 70 per cent off the normal room rate for a variety of independent and branded hotels. Customers can book online or by phone 24/7, whether booking 12 months or 12 minutes in advance - whatever time, whatever day.

The contemporary and inspirational online platform is styled for those seeking more interesting hotel options over the bland, obvious choices. Users can read from over 150,000 true hotel reviews, written by customers who have booked through AsiaRooms.com and actually stayed at the hotel.

To view more information about AsiaRooms.com, please visit http://www.asiarooms.com/about-us/.

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Source: http://markets.chron.com/chron/news/read?GUID=19764869

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7.2 quake in Turkey kills 85, collapses buildings (AP)

ANKARA, Turkey ? A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey on Sunday, killing at least 85 people and sparking widespread panic as it collapsed dozens of buildings into piles of twisted steel and chunks of concrete.

Tens of thousands of residents fled into the streets running, screaming and trying to reach relatives on cell phones. As the full extent of the damage became clear, desperate survivors dug into the rubble with their bare hands, trying to rescue the trapped and the injured.

Turkey's state-run television TRT said a group of inmates escaped from a prison after the earthquake struck. It gave no other detail and it was not immediately known how many had fled.

"My wife and child are inside! My 4-month-old baby is inside!" CNN-Turk television showed one young man sobbing outside a collapsed building in Van, the provincial capital.

TRT television reported that 59 people were killed and 150 injured in the eastern town of Ercis, 25 others died in Van and a child died in the nearby province of Bitlis.

Turkish scientists estimated that up to 1,000 people could already be dead, basing the calculation on low local housing standards and the size of the quake.

The hardest hit was Ercis, a city of 75,000 close to the Iranian border, which lies on the Ercis Fault in one of Turkey's most earthquake-prone zones. Van, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) to the south, also sustained substantial damage.

Up to 80 buildings collapsed in Ercis, including a dormitory, and 10 buildings collapsed in Van, the Turkish Red Crescent said. Some highways also caved in, CNN-Turk television reported.

Hundreds of injured people were treated at the state hospital in Ercis, NTV television said. Survivors in Ercis complained of a lack of heavy machinery to remove chunks of cement floors that pancaked onto each other.

"There are so many dead. Several buildings have collapsed. There is too much destruction," Ercis Mayor Zulfikar Arapoglu told NTV. "We need urgent aid. We need medics."

In Van, terrified residents spilled into the streets screaming. Rescue workers and residents scrambled, using only their hands and basic shovels, to save those who were trapped.

Residents sobbed outside the ruins of one flattened eight-story building, hoping that missing relatives would be rescued.

Witnesses said eight people were pulled from the rubble, but frequent aftershocks were hampering search efforts, CNN-Turk reported. One teenage girl was pulled out of the building by the late evening. Rescuers tied steel rods around large concrete slabs which they then lifted with heavy machinery, Dogan news agency video footage showed.

Residents in Van and Ercis lit camp fires, preparing to spend the night outdoors.

U.S. scientists recorded eight aftershocks within three hours of the quake, including two with a magnitude of 5.6.

Serious damage and casualties were also reported in the district of Celebibag, near Ercis.

"There are many people under the rubble," Veysel Keser, mayor of Celebibag, told NTV. "People are in agony, we can hear their screams for help. We need urgent help."

He said many buildings had collapsed, including student dormitories, hotels and gas stations.

Nazmi Gur, a legislator from Van, was at his nephew's funeral when the quake struck. The funeral ceremony was cut short and he rushed back to help with rescues.

"At least six buildings had collapsed. We managed to rescue a few people, but I saw at least five bodies," Gur told The Associated Press by telephone. "There is no coordinated rescue at the moment, everyone is doing what they can."

"It was such a powerful temblor. It lasted for such a long time," Gur said. "(Now) there is no electricity, there is no heating, everyone is outside in the cold."

Many residents fled Van to seek shelter with relatives in nearby villages.

"I am taking my family to our village, our house was fine but there were cracks in our office building," Sahabettin Ozer, 47, said by telephone as he drove to the village of Muradiye.

NTV said Van's airport was damaged and planes were being diverted to neighboring cities.

Authorities had no information yet on remote villages but the governor was touring the region by helicopter and the government sent in tents, field kitchens and blankets. Some in Ercis reported shortages of bread, Turkey's staple food, due to damages to bakeries.

Houses also collapsed in the province of Bitlis, where an 8-year-old girl was killed, authorities said, and the quake toppled the minarets of two mosques in the nearby province of Mus.

There was no immediate information about a recently restored 10th century Armenian church, Akdamar Church, which is perched on a rocky island in the nearby Lake Van.

Turkey lies in one of the world's most active seismic zones and is crossed by numerous fault lines. Lake Van, where Sunday's earthquake hit, is the country's most earthquake-prone region.

The Kandilli observatory, Turkey's main seismography center, said Sunday's quake was capable of killing many people.

"We are estimating a death toll between 500 and 1,000," Mustafa Erdik, head of the Kandilli observatory, told a televised news conference.

The earthquake also shook buildings in neighboring Armenia and Iran.

In the Armenian capital of Yerevan, 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Ercis, people rushed into the streets fearing buildings would collapse but no damage or injuries were immediately reported. Armenia was the site of a devastating earthquake in 1988 that killed 25,000 people.

Sunday's quake caused panic among residents in several Iranian towns close to the Turkish border, and cut phone links and caused cracks in buildings in the city of Chaldoran, Iranian state TV reported. The quake was also felt in the northeastern Iranian towns of Salmas, Maku, Khoi but no damage was immediately reported.

U.S. leaders conveyed their condolences to the families of the victims and offered assistance.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish ally in this difficult time, and are ready to assist the Turkish authorities," President Barack Obama said.

Israel also offered humanitarian assistance despite a rift in relations following an 2010 Israeli navy raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine Turks dead. In September, Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador and suspended military ties because Israel has not apologized. Israel has sent rescue teams to Turkey for past earthquakes in times of closer ties.

Turkey sees frequent earthquakes. In 1999, two earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 7 struck northwestern Turkey, killing about 18,000 people.

More recently, a 6.0-magnitude quake in March 2010 killed 51 people in eastern Turkey, while in 2003, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake killed 177 people in the southeastern city of Bingol.

Turkey's worst earthquake in the last century came in 1939 in the eastern city of Erzincan, causing an estimated 160,000 deaths.

Istanbul, Turkey's largest city with more than 12 million people, lies in northwestern Turkey near a major fault line. Authorities say Istanbul is ill-prepared for a major earthquake and experts have warned that overcrowding and faulty construction could lead to the deaths of more than 40,000 people if a major earthquake struck the city.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111023/ap_on_re_eu/eu_turkey_quake

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Chromebooks now available to enterprise and education customers with a pay-once option

Chromebook
Google made a big splash when it revealed plans to offer Chromebooks to enterprise and education customers under a subscription model. What's not clear is how much of a splash it actually made in those markets. While the notion of paying a monthly fee for three years, instead of buying a machine up front sounds like a game changer, some people just like the comfort of the familiar. To that end Google is now offering those same customers the option to purchase a Chromebook (with a year of support included) in one lump sum -- $449 for the WiFi model or $519 for the 3G to educational customers, while business are looking at $559 and $639 respectively. After that first year is through, customers have the option to sign up for a monthly support contract, at $5 a month for education and $13 a month for enterprise.

Chromebooks now available to enterprise and education customers with a pay-once option originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Oct 2011 18:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Next Web  |  sourceGoogle Enterprise Blog  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/23/chromebooks-now-available-to-enterprise-and-education-customers/

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Big banks under pressure in Europe crisis (AP)

BRUSSELS ? Big banks found themselves under pressure in Europe's debt crisis Saturday, with finance chiefs pushing them to raise billions of euros in capital and accept huge losses on Greek bonds they hold.

The continent's biggest financial institutions were at the center of talks as leaders entered marathon negotiations in Brussels, at the end of which they have promised to present a comprehensive plan to take Europe out of its crippling debt crisis.

"Between now and Wednesday we have to find a solution, a structural solution, an ambitious solution and a definitive solution," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said as he arrived in Brussels. "There's no other choice."

In addition to new financing for Greece, leaders want to make the banking sector fit to sustain worsening market turmoil and turn their bailout fund into a strong safety net that will stop big economies like Italy and Spain from falling into the same debt trap that has already snapped Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

But before the final deadline on Wednesday, they have to overcome many obstacles.

On Saturday, the finance ministers of the 27-country European Union decided to force the bloc's biggest banks to substantially increase their capital buffers ? an important move to ensure that they are strong enough to withstand the panic that a steep cut to Greece's debt could trigger on financial markets.

A European official said the new capital rules would force banks to raise just over euro100 billion ($140 billion), but finance ministers did not provide details on their decision. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because it had been agreed to let leaders unveil the deal at their first summit Sunday.

"We have made real progress and have come to important decisions on strengthening European banks," George Osborne, the U.K.'s chancellor of the exchequer, said as he left Saturday's meeting.

The deal on banks was likely to be the only major breakthrough ready to announce on Sunday, leaving many important decisions and negotiations to be completed by Wednesday night.

On Friday, the first day of the marathon talks, the finance ministers of the 17 countries that use the euro ? and which have found themselves at the center of the crisis because of the currency they share ? agreed to demand Greece's private creditors take big losses on their bondholdings.

But they still have get the banks to come along and convince them that the cuts are the best way to ensure that Athens can eventually repay its remaining debts.

The picture in Greece, whose troubles kicked off the crisis almost two years ago, is bleaker than ever. A new report from Athens' international debt inspectors ? the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund ? proved that a preliminary deal for a second package of rescue loans reached in July is already obsolete.

That plan would have seen banks and other private investors take losses of some 21 percent on their Greek bond holdings, while the eurozone and the IMF were to provide an extra euro109 billion ($150 billion) in bailout loans.

But the report showed that in the past three months Greece's economic situation has deteriorated so dramatically that for the bank deal to remain in place, the official sector would have to provide some euro252 billion ($347 billion) in loans. Alternatively, to keep official loans at euro109 billion ($150 billion), banks would have to accept cuts of about 60 percent to the value of their Greek bonds.

"I believe we are now arriving at a more realistic view of the situation in Greece," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the country that has long been advocating a more radical solution to Athens' problems.

But Merkel and her eurozone counterpart were on for tough negotiations with the banks.

Charles Dallara, who has been representing private investors in the talks with the eurozone, said Saturday that negotiations that carried on sporadically throughout Saturday were making only slow progress.

"We're nowhere near a deal," he told The Associated Press in an interview.

Dallara, the managing director of the Institute of International Finance ? the world's biggest bank lobbying group ? said current plans to cut Greece's debt would leave the country as "a ward of Europe" for years.

He declined to say how much in losses banks would be willing to accept, saying only "we would be open to an approach that involves additional efforts from everyone."

The eurozone has been working hard to reach a voluntary agreement with banks, rather than forcing losses onto the lenders, because that could avoid triggering billions of euros on payout for bond insurance and could destabilize markets even further.

However, in recent weeks some officials have no longer insisted that the deal remain voluntary.

Agreement on arguably the most important measure in the crisis plan remained even more elusive Saturday: boosting the firepower of the currency union's euro440 billion ($600 billion) bailout.

Increasing the effectiveness of the fund ? called the European Financial Stability Facility ? is meant to help prevent larger economies like Italy and Spain from being dragged into the crisis. At the same time, the EFSF may be asked to help governments shore up their banks if they can't raise the necessary funds on financial markets.

But Germany and France still disagree over how to give the EFSF more firepower. France wants the fund to be allowed to tap the ECB's massive cash reserves ? an option that Germany rejects. Weaker economies, meanwhile, are wary of signing up to the other two parts of the grand plan ? bigger bank capital and cuts to Greece's debt ? without assurance that sufficient buffers are in place.

___

Sarah DiLorenzo, Elena Becatoros, Raf Casert and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111023/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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Confessions Of A Tunisian Hacktivist

Tunisian blackhatEditor's note: Contributor Mouna El Mokhtari is a French journalist and editor in chief of Webdorado. Below is her translation of an exclusive interview she conducted with Tunisian hacktivist K3vin Mitchnik. You can follow her @mooouna Today, Tunisia is holding its first free elections. K3vin Mitchnik, whose pseudonym is a tribute to the great American hacker turned computer consultant, Kevin Mitnick, is a 25 year old Tunisian cyber activist who has played a crucial role in the recent Jasmine Revolution in his country, which helped overthrow the previous regime and sparked the Arab Spring across the Middle East.. He is a member of the Anonymous collective and the co-founder of Tunisian Blackhats. With his group, he has led the attacks against Ammar 404 (the nickname given to the state's Internet censorship) and more generally against censorship in his country. After several email conversations, I persuaded him to give us an insight into the mind of an e-resistor from Tunis. Here is his story.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/2nOE_UgA3uo/

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FEMA: Legal Non-Citizens May Be Eligible for Disaster Recovery Aid

Release Date: October 21, 2011
Release Number: 4025-076

??More Information on Pennsylvania?Tropical Storm Lee
??More Information on Pennsylvania?Hurricane Irene

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Those affected by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee who are not U.S. citizens? but are in the United States legally -- can apply for state and federal disaster assistance.

Individuals issued a legal permanent resident card -- commonly referred to as "a green card" -- may apply for assistance if they have disaster-related losses. Other noncitizens who can register with FEMA include those with legal resident status because of asylum, refugee status, parole status, suspension of deportation status or status as victims of domestic violence.

In addition, parents and guardians of a child who is a citizen, noncitizen national or qualified alien may apply for assistance on behalf of the child.

Applicants should register by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585 to register for federal disaster aid if they had damage from Hurricane Irene or Tropical Storm Lee and live in one of the counties designated under the disaster declarations. If they use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), the number to call is 1-800-621-3362. Operators are multilingual and calls are answered seven days a week from

7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Applicants can also register online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by smart phone or tablet at m.fema.gov. If anyone has a disability and needs help registering, they should not hesitate to contact FEMA to ask for help. Help is available in all languages.

Once individuals are registered, FEMA disaster recovery specialists at the toll-free helpline or at a disaster recovery center (DRC) can answer questions about their application or review information FEMA needs to process the application. Recovery specialists at the DRCs may provide contacts for other programs -- those operated by volunteer organizations such as the American Red Cross, for example -- that may be able to help. Applicants can find the nearest disaster recovery center by calling FEMA's helpline at 1-800-621-3362 or online at fema.gov/drclocator.

Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status.? If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362). For TTY call 1-800-462-7585.

FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Last Modified: Friday, 21-Oct-2011 12:14:02

Source: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=58925

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Gold traders step up festival buys as prices fall (Reuters)

MUMBAI (Reuters) ? Gold traders in India, the world's biggest consumer of bullion, stepped up last minute purchases to stock for next week's festivals as prices fell for the fourth session in a row to their lowest level in more than six weeks.

* "Buying has started and come out in huge quantities," said Haresh Acharya, head of bullion desk, Parker Bullion in Ahmedabad.

* On Oct. 24, India will celebrate Dhanteras, a day considered auspicious to buy gold, followed by Diwali a few days later. The marriage season continues till December.

* "Market is very volatile and rupee is down sharply. There are good buy orders close to $1,600 (an ounce)," said a dealer with a state-run bullion importing bank in Mumbai.

* The most-active gold for December delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was 0.92 percent lower at 26,215 rupees per 10 grams, after falling to 26,103 rupees, a level last seen on Sept. 7.

* Gold fell 2 percent to $1,608.40 an ounce on Thursday as worries about Europe's escalating debt crisis spooked investors.

* A weaker rupee kept the downside in prices limited. The rupee plays an important role in determining the landed cost of the yellow metal, which is quoted in dollars.

* The Indian rupee dipped to a more than three-week low, tracking weak local shares and the euro, with persistent dollar demand from domestic oil companies and gold importers also dragging, dealers said.

(Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Rajesh Pandathil)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/india/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111020/india_nm/india600132

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Gadhafi is gone but other US foes remain

A Libyan former rebel fighter kicks a graffiti depicting Moammar Gadhafi with "Allah Hakbar, God is Great" written on top, on a checkpoint border of Ras Ajdir between Tunisia and Libya, late at night Thursday Oct. 20, 2011. The death Thursday of Gadhafi, two months after he was driven from power and into hiding, decisively buries the nearly 42-year regime that had turned the oil-rich country into an international pariah and his own personal fiefdom. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

A Libyan former rebel fighter kicks a graffiti depicting Moammar Gadhafi with "Allah Hakbar, God is Great" written on top, on a checkpoint border of Ras Ajdir between Tunisia and Libya, late at night Thursday Oct. 20, 2011. The death Thursday of Gadhafi, two months after he was driven from power and into hiding, decisively buries the nearly 42-year regime that had turned the oil-rich country into an international pariah and his own personal fiefdom. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

(AP) ? Moammar Gadhafi now joins the ranks of other powerful foreign leaders, many of them dictators or autocrats, who have battled the United States only to come to a bad end.

But even after the demise of Libya's "Brother Leader," plus Osama bin Laden, Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic, there is no shortage of other influential heads of state around the world determined to criticize and challenge the U.S., notably in Venezuela, North Korea and Iran.

In those countries, leaders have accused the United States of abusing its status as the world's sole surviving superpower and de facto leader of the West, in some cases playing to doubts about U.S. intentions in order to help cement their authority at home and enhance their prestige abroad.

These themes tap a deep vein abroad and probably will continue to resonate.

Among the regimes and leaders likely to remain a thorn in the side of the U.S.:

?The Castro regime. Fidel Castro himself, who survived CIA assassination plots, the Bay of Pigs invasion and the U.S. economic embargo to excoriate and antagonize the United States from Cuba for more than half a century, formally resigned as president in February 2008 due to illness. But he handed the reins to his brother, Raul, and the revolutionary regime survives. Cuban-U.S. trade is minimal and there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries. The U.S. accuses the Cuban government of trampling on human rights and silencing dissent, while Havana portrays itself as a victim of U.S. bullying.

?Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a popular left-wing activist and former military officer elected in 1998 who instituted radical changes in economic and social policy, including expanding state control of the oil industry. Chavez has accused Washington of plotting to invade Venezuela, called for containment of the U.S., aligned himself with Cuba and signed major arms deals with Russia to build Venezuela into a regional power. The U.S. likes to portray Venezuela as more of an irritant than an adversary, but that could change if Chavez adopts more aggressive policies.

? Kim Jong Il of North Korea, a Stalinist-style nation with a 1 million-strong army that has been a challenge for the U.S. since the Korean War. In recent years the U.S. has sought to persuade Kim to give up his small nuclear weapons program, offering economic aid and diplomatic favors as bargaining chips. But the U.S. accuses Kim of repeatedly reneging on promises to disarm while selling weapons expertise abroad. The U.S. and other nations accused Pyongyang last year of torpedoing a South Korean navy ship and shelling a South Korean island. With the North Korean leader believed to be gravely ill, the key to Washington's future relations with Pyongyang may be Kim's son and heir apparent, Kim Jong Un.

?Iran's clerical leadership. The theocratic regime in Tehran has demonstrated little tolerance for dissent and a deep and abiding hostility to Washington since the overthrow of the U.S.-backed regime of the shah of Iran in 1979. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's broadsides against the U.S. and Israel are a regular feature of U.N. General Assembly meetings, but his is just one voice among many in the Iranian government, which Western analysts say consists of a jigsaw puzzle of anti-Western factions. The present conflict with Washington grows out of concerns about Iran's support for terror groups in the Middle East but mainly focuses on Tehran's nuclear ambitions. The U.S. says Iran is laying the groundwork for a nuclear weapons program that could threaten the Middle East, U.S. and Europe. Iran says it is interested only in peaceful nuclear technology.

Not all of the world's strongmen are regarded as enemies of the U.S.; during the Cold War and beyond, many were treated as stalwart allies. Even today, the U.S. occasionally criticizes President Aleksander Lukashenko of Belarus, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, but it maintains diplomatic relations.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has dominated Russian politics for more than a decade, has been sharply critical of the U.S. in the past, accusing Washington of dictating to others in its conduct of foreign policy. Despite continuing differences over missile defense and Middle East policies, though, the Obama administration has worked hard to improve ties and the U.S. and Russia are working together on issues of mutual interest.

The U.S. also has strong relations with absolute monarchies such as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states which have strongly fought grass-roots activists and democracy movements in their countries.

The U.S. also faces the challenge of helping prevent newly liberated countries from retreating from democracy. While Taliban leader Mullah Omar was driven from power in Afghanistan in 2001, his movement made an impressive comeback and could once again become a major force in Afghanistan politics as the U.S. withdraws.

From the U.S. perspective, the survival of openly hostile regimes may be less important than the rise of rival economic and political powerhouses like China, India, Brazil and Russia, a trend that some experts say could one day create a world where the United States becomes one major power among many competing for influence and markets.

One of those countries could be Libya.

Gadhafi's death Thursday is just the beginning of a critical new phase in Libya's history, said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. The leaders of the Libyan rebellion inherit a divided population, a ruined economy and a barely functioning state ? all crippled by decades of Gadhafi's erratic rule.

"He left Libya with a unique set of problems," Cordesman said. "You'd have to go back to Nero or Caligula to find someone who was able to impose their own personal eccentricities on a state to the degree that Gadhafi did."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-10-21-Whither%20Dictators?/id-e3ecaf058612409dad282b2aa30f3eca

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Will Mitt Romney's 'brutal' 'Rick Perry's a moron' ad backfire? (The Week)

New York ? Romney released a web ad painting Perry as an inarticulate buffoon who's unable to debate ? or lead the U.S. Then he pulled the ad

Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry got in each other's face during Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, but the personal attacks didn't end with the debate, they just moved online. Both candidates used the debate in online ads to highlight various gaffes made by the other ? but Romney pulled his hard-hitting spot, a mix of awkward Perry debate moments and clips of TV analysts trash-talking the Texas governor. (Watch the ad below) The Romney campaign said CNN, which hosted the debate, asked that the ad be pulled due to copyright issues ? CNN confirmed the request ? but not everyone's buying that explanation. Did Romney cross a line?

Romney just jumped the shark: Romney's selective editing of debate footage to make Perry look like "blithering idiot" is simply "disgusting," says Bryan Preston in Pajamas Media. And his decision to "throw a punch well below the belt, then pull it," tells us a lot: Romney is rattled, he's willing to tear his party apart to win, and he's scared of Perry. "This ad may mark a turning point in the GOP primary, and the beginning of Mitt Romney's fall from frontrunner status."
"Romney launches disgusting attack ad against a fellow Republican..."

No, this "brutal" ad could cripple Perry: Team Romney probably knows what it's doing with this "Rick Perry's a moron" ad, says Allahpundit in Hot Air. No doubt Romney will try to spin this "symphony of Gump-ishness" as a critique of Perry's debating skills, but it's pretty clear that the real point is that "he's stupid." If the impression sticks, it could be devastating to Perry. Being a bad debater doesn't disqualify you from being president, but "being an idiot in general does."
"Brutal new Romney ad: Rick Perry's a moron..."

This smells like a stunt: Romney could have yanked the ad because it "didn't get a glowing reception among right-wing blogs," says Max Read in Gawker. Or perhaps it's a sort of "we pulled this ad out of the decency of our hearts, so please, stop replaying it constantly" sneak play to make it go viral. But the whole episode is weird. "The ad's not really that 'brutal,' as these things go," but it's personal and direct enough to give Perry enough of a sympathy boost to revive his campaign.
"Here's the 'brutal' ad attacking Rick Perry..."

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politicsopinion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20111021/cm_theweek/220600

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