Jan. 15, 2010
The Public Observer offers a look at upcoming news and presents a photo roundup of recent images provided by The Associated Press.
HELPING HAITI
Disaster relief for the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti will continue to pour into the impoverished nation as international aid makes its way to the island country. Aid groups said that overcoming logistical nightmares, such as the damaged airport, partially destroyed port and blocked roads, will be key to providing support.
UKRAINIAN ELECTIONS
Voters in the Ukraine will head to the polls Sunday in the first round of voting in a bitterly fought presidential campaign. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution, is trailing Viktor Yanukovych and his Party of Regions. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, as expected, a runoff will occur sometime in February between the top two vote getters.
Yanukovych, a pro-Russian candidate, won in 2004 but the vote results were thrown out by the Supreme Court following the Orange street protest and allegations of widespread voting fraud. Both candidates have claimed they would revive ties with Russia if elected, a move that would mark the end of the Western-oriented leadership that was brought in by the 2004 Orange Revolution.
ELECTION IN CHILE
In Chile, voters will cast ballots Sunday in the second round of the presidential election. None of the candidates gained enough votes to win the presidency outright last month and the top two candidates will square off. The race pits the center-right candidate Sebastian Pinera against center-left rival Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle. The winner will succeed Michelle Bachelete and will take office in March. The ruling center-left coalition could lose power for the first time since the restoration of democracy. Chile was under a military regime from 1973-1990 and tens of thousands of people were imprisoned, killed or disappeared during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
MASSACHUSETTS ELECTION
An election to fill the seat held by the late Sen. Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy will be held Tuesday in Massachusetts and Democratic heavyweights, including President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton, will travel to the state to endorse endangered Democratic candidate Martha Coakley. A recent poll showed Republican candidate Scott Brown holding a slight edge in the seat that Democrats have held for over a half-century. If the Democrats lose the seat, it could be the death knell for the 60-vote Senate supermajority that Obama has been relying upon to stop Republican filibusters and pass items on the administration's legislative agenda, including health care reform.
PHOTO ROUNDUP
Here's a look at some recent images provided by The Associated Press.
A model wears a design of the Coven collection Sunday during the Fashion Rio Fall Winter 2010 in Rio de Janeiro. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
A man takes a nap next to a life size human figure built with the lego toy blocks displayed at a shopping mall Tuesday in Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Cindy Terasme screams Thursday after seeing the feet of her dead 14-year-old brother Jean Gaelle Dersmorne in the rubble of the collapsed St. Gerard School in Port-au-Prince, Haiti,. A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Sultan Kosen of Turkey, 27, right, and He Pingping of China, 21, are seen during an event organized by the Guinness World Records in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday. The towering Turk, Kosen, is the tallest man walking the planet with a height of 246.5 cm ( 8 feet 1 inch) and He is officially the world's shortest man with a height of 73 cm (2 feet 5 inch). (AP Photo/Ibrahim Usta)
Models pose at the CT&T electronic car exhibit area Tuesday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
A week old baby gorilla is seen with its mother N'Yaounda, at Budapest Zoo, in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday. The newborn gorilla is the first offspring of its mother and animal keepers estimate its weight at approximately 1.5kg (63 ounces).
Egyptian archaeology workers ferry sand in trolleys on rail tracks Monday in front of the Great Pyramid, in Giza, Egypt. Egyptian archaeologists discovered a new set of tombs belonging to the workers who built the great pyramids, shedding light on how the laborers lived and ate more than 4,000 years ago, the antiquities department said .(AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Lightening flashes across the sky Tuesday over the Cas Port in Rio de Janeiro. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
The reflection of the West End Bridge glimmers on the water and thawing ice as a towboat pushes a platform up the Ohio River in Pittsburgh on Thursday. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Presidential candidate of the opposition Coalition for Change, Sebastian Pinera, dances Cueca, Chile's national dance, during a campaign stop in Santiago on Wednesday. Chileans will go to the polls to choose between Pinera and Eduardo Frei, the candidate of the government coalition, in a runoff presidential election on Jan. 17. (AP Photo/Ferran Mallol)
People gather in a subway station during the 9th annual "No Pants Subway Ride" in New York on Sunday. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
-- Paul Chavez, Clear365 News Editor
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