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International News Title: Chinese President Hu Overtakes President Obama As World's 'Most Powerful' MANILA, Philippines Hu Jintao, the President of the Peoples Republic of China, is this years most powerful person, Forbes. com said in its latest power list released last Nov. 3, 2010. Hu Jintao, 67, has overtaken US President Barack Obama, 49, who now ranks No. 2 in the power list. In an article titled The Most Powerful People on Earth 2010 writ ten by Nicole Perlroth and Michael Noer, it said that the people on this list were chosen because, in various ways, they bend the world to their will. They are heads of state, major religious figures, entrepreneurs, and outlaws. Paramount political leader of more people than anyone else on the planet; exercises near dictatorial control over 1.3 billion people, one-fifth of world's population. Unlike Western counterparts, Hu can divert rivers, build cities, jail dissidents and censor Internet without meddling from pesky bureaucrats, courts. It recently surpassed Japan to become the world's second-largest economy both in absolute and purchasing power terms. Credible estimates have China poised to overtake US as world's largest economy in 25 years although, crucially, not on a per-capita basis. Creditor nation oversees world's largest reserves at $2.65 trillion $1.5 trillion of which is in US dollar holdings. Refuses to kowtow to US pressure to change its exchange-rate regime. Heads world's largest army (in size). His handpicked successor, Xi Jinping, set to assume the presidency in 2012, the article said. On President Obama, the article said: Obama's Democrats suffered a mighty blow in US midterm elections, with the president decisively losing support of the House of Representatives, and barely holding onto the Senate. It's quite a come-down for last year's most powerful person, who after enacting widespread reforms in his first two years in office will be hard-pressed to implement his agenda in the next two. He can take comfort in the fact that he remains commander-in-chief of world's largest, deadliest military, leader of world's largest (in spending) and most dynamic economy and holds the unofficial title of "Leader of the Free World." The third most powerful person is King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud, 86. Absolute ruler of desert kingdom that contains the world's largest crude oil reserves, two holiest sites in Islam. State-owned oil producer Saudi Aramco has reserves of 266 billion barrels, or one-fifth of planet's known supply (worth $22 trillion at today's oil prices). Pushing for gradual social and legal reforms, while maintaining good relations with deeply conservative religious establishment. Ultimate succession unclear: 86-year-old king's official heir is 82-year-old Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. Established committee of senior princes to ensure smooth transition in the event both become incapacitated, the article said. Forbes said that they defined power in four dimensions for the annual power list. First, we asked a person if a person has influence over a lot of people. Second, we checked to see if they have significant financial resources relative to their peers. Then we determined if they were powerful in multiple spheres, awarding bonus points for those who can project their power many ways. Finally, we insisted that they have actively wield their power, Forbes said. Forbes said that it listed more than 100 names for the survey. Then they asked seven Forbes editors to rank them in all four categories. Those ranks were averaged to produce the final list. Obviously our rankings are not intended to be definitive; they are meant to spark a conversation, even an argument or two. The 30 of 68 most powerful persons on earth for 2010 are: Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top Page Up Full Thread Page Down Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
#1. To: Brian S (#0)
Hu gnu?!
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