Ms Sarney, the governor of Maranhao, in Brazil's poor north-east, has surged in popularity through a propaganda campaign that highlights her charm and glamour more than her policies.

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From forgotten toys in kindergartens to the ubiquitous, fading Soviet-era propaganda, a stroll through Pripyat feels very much like being on the set of a Hollywood post-apocalypse movie.

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Given the wealth that Arab countries have accrued through hydrocarbon sales, if they are purchasing Facebook shares for its utility as a propaganda vehicle, then a value of eighty to over a hundred dollars a share is a realistic possibly.

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In creating this favourable impression of the campaign, the tsar was helped not only by propaganda but by the remarkably disciplined behaviour of his troops who neither stole nor marauded as they advanced through Europe.

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