The coming days

The week ahead

What may be in the news

• DEMOCRATS in Pennsylvania have their say about who the party's presidential candidate should be when the state holds its primary election on Tuesday April 22nd. In the six weeks since the last contest in Mississippi Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have made gaffes over Bosnian snipers and free-trade agreements (Mrs Clinton) and race-baiting pastors and “bitter” voters (Mr Obama). Mrs Clinton is expected to win the vote on Tuesday. If not, it will spell the end of her campaign.

For background see article

• THE Olympic flame continues its troubled journey around the world on its way towards Beijing. On Tuesday April 22nd it arrives in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, and two days later it alights in Canberra. Australia, in particular, could prove a flashpoint for protests. The route in the capital has already been shortened in the hope of avoiding the type of protest that blighted the torch's early progress. A big Chinese population might mean a crowd sympathetic to Beijing to rival any pro-Tibetan demonstrators.

• THE Gulf Co-operation Council and the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Iran as well as Condoleezza Rice, America's secretary of state, will meet in Kuwait on Tuesday April 22nd to discuss Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The next day the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is in Washington, DC, to meet George Bush for more talks aimed at reviving the foundering peace process. But with renewed fighting in Gaza, Mr Abbas as weak as ever and Mr Bush a lame duck, it is unlikely that these meetings will produce much of substance.

For background see article

• THE Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain's second-largest bank, is expected to announce a big share sale at its annual shareholders' meeting on Wednesday April 23rd. The bank desperately needs to rebuild its capital reserves, which have been stretched by its leading role in the bid for a Dutch bank, ABN AMRO. Analysts say it may have to raise more than £10 billion ($19.9 billion). The bank's chief executive, Sir Fred Goodwin, may be forced to quit.