QUES: He repeatedly calls on his followers to embrace martyrdom since "The walls of oppression and humiliation cannot be demolished except in a rain of bullets." For those yearning for a lost sense of order in an older, more tranquil world, he offers his "Caliphate" as an imagined alternative to today's uncertainty. For others, he offers simplistic conspiracies to explain their world. Bin Laden also relies heavily on the Egyptian writer Sayyid Qutb. A member of the Muslim Brotherhood executed in 1966 on charges of attempting to overthrow the government, Qutb mixed Islamic scholarship with a very superficial acquaintance with Western history and thought. Sent by the Egyptian government to study in the United States in the late 1940s, Qutb returned with an enormous loathing of Western society and history. He dismissed Western achievements as entirely material, arguing that Western society possesses "nothing that will satisfy its own conscience and justify its existence." Three basic themes emerge from Qutb's writings. First, he claimed that the world was beset with barbarism, licentiousness, and unbelief (a condition he called jahiliyya, the religious term for the period of ignorance prior to the revelations given to the Prophet Mohammed). Qutb argued that humans can choose only between Islam and jahiliyya. Second, he warned that more people, including Muslims, were attracted to jahiliyya and its material comforts than to his view of Islam; jahiliyya could therefore triumph over Islam. Third, no middle ground exists in what Qutb conceived as a struggle between God and Satan. All Muslims-as he defined them-therefore must take up arms in this fight. Any Muslim who rejects his ideas is just one more nonbeliever worthy of destruction. Bin Laden shares Qutb's stark view, permitting him and his followers to rationalize even unprovoked mass murder as righteous defense of an embattled faith. Many Americans have wondered, "Why do 'they' hate us?" Some also ask, "What can we do to stop these attacks?" Bin Laden and al Qaeda have given answers to both these questions.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: According to the author, what questions do Bin Laden and Al Quada answer for Americans?

QUES: Reuters Holdings PLC said Michael Reupke resigned as general manager to pursue unspecified interests, a move the news organization termed an "amicable separation." Mr. Reupke, 52 years old and a 27-year Reuters veteran, had been the information-services company's general manager for only six months. His appointment to that post, which has senior administrative, staff and policy responsibilities, followed a several-year tenure as Reuters's editor in chief. No successor was named, and Mr. Reupke's duties will be split among three other senior Reuters executives, the company said. In a telephone interview, Mr. Reupke said his departure was for "personal reasons," which he declined to specify. "There is no business reason for my departure," nor any disagreement over policy, he added. He also rejected reports that his departure stemmed from disappointment the general manager's post hadn't also led to a board directorship at the London-based news organization. Mr. Reupke was one of three executives on Reuters's eight-person executive committee who didn't also serve on the company's board of directors. "If I were choosing the people of tomorrow, I would have chosen the people who are now on the board," he said. A Reuters spokesman said the departure reflects "no change in strategy or profits." Mark Shepperd, an analyst at UBS Philips & Drew in London, said, "I suspect (the departure) will be fairly irrelevant for the company. I would be very surprised if his departure signals any change in strategy or change in profit expectations." On London's Stock Exchange, Reuters shares rose five pence to 913 pence ($14.43). In the U.S. over-the-counter market, American depositary shares for Reuters, each representing three shares in the London market, closed unchanged at $43.875. The senior of the three executives who will assume Mr. Reupke's duties is Nigel Judah, 58, finance director and a Reuters board director. Peter Holland, 45, deputy general manager, becomes director of corporate affairs. And Patrick Mannix, 46, international technical manager, becomes director of group quality programs.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Who is the successor named following Michael Reupke's resignation?

QUES: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived here on Tuesday night for meetings with fellow foreign ministers aimed at solidifying a second front, in Southeast Asia, in the campaign against global terrorism. But he has had to balance that goal with longstanding concerns about human rights abuses in the region. In meetings on Tuesday in Malaysia and Singapore before touching down in this oil-producing sultanate for two days of talks with members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, Powell said he repeatedly raised the issue. "We still believe strongly in human rights, and that everything we do has to be consistent with universal standards of human rights," he said. But at a news conference in Singapore, Powell hinted that the Bush administration was ready to discuss resuming military cooperation with Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation and a sometimes reluctant partner in the efforts to crack down on militant Islamic groups. The United States cut virtually all military links with Indonesia in 1999 after its forces were implicated in the violence that swept East Timor after that territory voted for independence. On Thursday, Powell and representatives of the nations of the Asian group, including Indonesia, are expected to sign a declaration promising cooperation to prevent terrorism by sharing information, blocking funds, tightening borders and making it hard to use forged travel papers. "We recognized that terrorism is a global threat and that the disturbing acts of terrorism and transnational crimes, which continue to threaten world peace and stability, must be tackled by the international community," the ministers said in a communique on Tuesday. Powell is among the representatives from 13 nations outside Southeast Asia, including China, Japan and Russia, that are taking part in the annual meeting of the group's regional forum. Terrorism dominates the agenda, though the possibility of a meeting here between Powell and his North Korean counterpart, Paek Nam Sun, has generated the most news. It would be the highest-level contact between the United States and North Korea since President Bush took office. Powell heads to Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, late on Thursday before finishing a weeklong trip through the region in the Philippines on Saturday. He said that when he arrives in Jakarta, he will have "some ideas and some initiatives" to present to President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Indonesia is already receiving $400,000 in the current fiscal year for civilian training programs and is to receive a like amount next year; and the United States expects to provide an additional $16 million this year to train police officers in counterterrorism. At the same time, the Pentagon is reviewing how to allocate another $17 million in "counterterrorism fellowships," some of which could go to Indonesia. But a senior State Department official also acknowledged that some in the administration and Congress are pushing for more direct military cooperation, which would require congressional approval. "I think they recognize the danger that we all face and I think they have been cooperating more fully with us as time goes by, and I'm quite sure that Mrs. Megawati is committed to this cause," Powell said in Singapore. He met there with Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, who endorsed the idea of renewed military ties between the United States and Indonesia as an important step in stabilizing that country.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION:
Who does Secretary Powel say is committed to counterterrorism cause?