BEIRUT — Fears of an as-yet-undefined Middle Eastern war are darkening the horizons of a Middle East that only a year ago was celebrating the fall of dictators, the ascent of people power and the promise of a new era of democracy. Read full article > >

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Threats of war cloud hopes for Middle East

Researchers demonstrate that, if quantum computers fulfil their promise of ultra-fast computing, the job could be farmed out to “the cloud” while remaining secure.

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Quantum trick for cloud computing

Researchers demonstrate that, if quantum computers fulfil their promise of ultra-fast computing, the job could be farmed out to “the cloud” while remaining secure.

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Quantum trick for cloud computing

The holiday shopping season got off to a strong start on Black Friday, with retail sales up 7 percent over last year, according to the most recent survey. Now stores just have to keep buyers coming back without the promise of door-buster savings. Buyers spent $11.4 billion at retail stores and malls, up nearly $1 billion from last year, according to a Saturday report from ShopperTrak. It was the largest amount ever spent on the day that marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and the biggest year-over-year increase since 2007. Chicago-based ShopperTrak gathers data from 25,000 outlets across the U.S., including individual stores and shopping centers. Read full article > >

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Black Friday sales up 7 pct as shoppers respond to promotions; some still seeking better deals

NAIROBI, Kenya — Grenade blasts at a blue-collar bar and a crowded bus stop rattled Nairobi on Monday, as the country worried whether al-Qaida-linked militants from Somalia were carrying out their promise to launch reprisal attacks in Kenya’s capital. The attacks came only two days after the U.S. warned of “imminent” terror attacks. The U.S. warning had implied that the Somali group al-Shabab would carry out reprisals in response to Kenyan troops’ invasion of Somalia in mid-October. The militants had promised to unleash terror attacks in Nairobi in retaliation for the offensive. Read full article > >

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2 grenade blasts rattle Nairobi; 1 dead after blue-collar bus stop, working class bar targeted

WITH A HANDFUL of exceptions, every Republican member of Congress has signed a pledge against increasing taxes. Would allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire as scheduled in 2012 violate this vow? We posed this question to Grover Norquist, its author and enforcer, and his answer was both surprising and encouraging: No. In other words, according to Mr. Norquist’s interpretation of the Americans for Tax Reform pledge, lawmakers have the technical leeway to bring in as much as $4 trillion in new tax revenue — the cost of extending President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for another decade — without being accused of breaking their promise. “Not continuing a tax cut is not technically a tax increase,” Mr. Norquist told us. So it doesn’t violate the pledge? “We wouldn’t hold it that way,” he said. Read full article > >

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Out from under the anti-tax pledge

Ever since the first elementary school teacher rolled the first television set into the first classroom to air the first course offering from “educational television,” there’s been the hope and the promise that technology would revolutionize the way teaching and learning would be done. As things turned out, educational television became public television and went off in a different direction. And despite the advent of the personal computer and the Internet, most education today remains much like it’s been for hundreds of years: one teacher, 30 kids, textbooks and a blackboard. Read full article > >

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Steven Pearlstein: Mark them tardy to the revolution

A group of Britain’s greatest athletes urge authorities to uphold their promise to keep the Olympic Stadium running track after the 2012 Games.

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Athletes want stadium legacy met

Cheryl Cole’s new single Promise This leaps into pole position in the official UK singles chart and becomes the biggest-selling first week non-charity single of the year.

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Cheryl Cole returns to pole in singles chart

Democrats are working behind the scenes in tight Congressional races to help long-shot candidates who hold the promise of siphoning Republican votes.

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Seeking Edge on G.O.P., Democrats Back Third Parties

Rich nations are failing to live up to their promise of giving $30bn to poor countries to help them cope with climate change, a report says.

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Concern over lack of climate cash

In TriBeCa, a neighborhood spot that is rustic and urban at once, glittering with candlelight and the promise of a third date going well.

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Restaurant Review: Marc Forgione

IN NOME, ALASKA They wander the streets of this chilly city just steps from the arctic tundra, native people who have little money and nowhere else to go. Some come from villages without plumbing. Others drift among the city’s bars or hold down low-wage jobs. Wearing flannel shirts and tennis shoes,… Alaska – United States – Travel and Tourism – Politics – Business and Economy

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In Alaska, a promise unmet