No kidding, there is obviously some power issues in pertaining to the Kuala Lumpur bid. the OCM seems to have been black balled into bidding for the games. I wonder what one city can hold over a national olympic committee.
I noticed that Athens wasn't listed among the cities in the last news item (however only 10 cities are listed when it states there are 11) hopefully it's just a typo.
My short list:
Athens
Moscow
Bangkok (they've hosted the asian games several times and seem to be the city to go when disputes arise for the games)
Poznan (from the info on wikipedia it is a qualified city)
Guatumala City (they are the only "american" city so just by that i'll guess they will be shortlisted.
In the end Athens will win for two reasons 1st they just had the summer olympics 3 years ago therefore have the facilities. 2nd it's greece and they deserve to win by that fact alone. Moscow should be voted out because they have the WOG in 2012. My vote would be for Bangkok to host in 2014 then the fight for 2018 can be between australia and an american city (North America if Chicago loses 2016 or a South American Country if chicago wins 2016)