Pro-Western allies lead in election
Ukraine’s Orange Revolution allies made a strong combined showing in Sunday’s parliamentary elections and looked poised to win a majority that could unseat the prime minister and steer the country more firmly onto a pro-Western course, an exit poll showed.
The election was called early in an attempt to end a standoff between Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and President Viktor Yushchenko.
The independent poll showed Yanukovych’s bloc was the top vote-getter with 35.2 percent, but Yulia Tymoshenko, a heroine of the Orange Revolution, followed closely with 31.5 percent. Yushchenko’s party was trailing a distant third with 13.4 percent.
Tymoshenko, smiling triumphantly after the exit polls were announced, said she would meet with Yushchenko today to quickly formalize their new alliance.
“In one or two days we will announce the coalition,” Tymoshenko told reporters.
MOSCOW
Kasparov making bid for president
The former world chess champion Garry Kasparov entered Russia’s presidential race on Sunday, elected overwhelmingly as the candidate for the country’s beleagured opposition coalition.
Kasparov has been a driving force behind the coalition, which has united liberals, leftists and nationalists in opposition to President Vladimir Putin. He received 379 of 498 votes at a national congress held in Moscow by the Other Russia coalition, coalition spokeswoman Lyudmila Mamina told the Associated Press.
Kasparov’s candidacy still needs to be registered and is likely to be blocked. Even if he were allowed to run, Kasparov would not be expected to pose a major challenge to whichever candidate wins Putin’s support.
TORONTO
Volcano erupts off Yemen coast
A volcano has erupted on a tiny island off the coast of Yemen, spewing lava and ash hundreds of feet into the air, a Canadian naval vessel near the island in the Red Sea reported Sunday. There were no reports of deaths, but at least nine people were missing.
The Yemeni government asked NATO to assist in searching for survivors on Jabal al-Tair island, which lacks a settled population but includes military installations.
The Yemeni news agency SABA confirmed the eruption and said a military garrison on the island is being evacuated. It wasn’t clear how many people were stationed on the island.