• Democratic Party presidential contenders for the nomination Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton lock horns in the Indiana and North Carolina presidential primaries on May 6. In Indiana, Obama is expected to do well in the ethnically diverse industrial northwest, while Clinton is popular among the white, culturally conservative community. In North Carolina, Obama is expected to do well with minority voters, in college towns and among educated liberals; Clinton is likely to be stronger in the working class areas.
• Russian President-elect Dmitry Medvedev who succeeds Vladimir Putin is assuming charge on May 7. The next day, the state Duma is expected to confirm Putin as the next Prime Minister. Medvedev had earlier served as first deputy prime minister, as well as been the chairman of Gazprom, Russia’s state-run gas monopoly.
• Chinese President Hu Jintao will be visiting Japan between May 6-10, the second trip ever by a Chinese head of state to Tokyo. He is expected to meet both Prime Minister Yasuo Fakuda and Emperor Akihito, with the focus on the ongoing dispute between the two countries over lucrative drilling rights to gas fields in the East China Sea.
• Serbia holds parliamentary elections on May 11. Its governing coalition collapsed in March following Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica’s resignation when the ministers failed to agree on whether they should suspend ties with the European Union for the latter’s recognition of Kosovo’s unilateral assertion of independence.
• Israel celebrates its Independence Day on May 8 this year, according to the Jewish calendar, a public holiday locally known as Yom Ha’atzmaut, which also marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel.
• The China Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing for Pope Benedict XVI at its first-ever performance at the Vatican on May 7. The orchestra is expected to begin with Mozart’s `Requiem’ and end with a popular Chinese folks song called ‘Chinese Flower’. Expansion of freedom for Roman Catholics in China has been a major goal for the Pope.
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