The coming days

The week ahead

The desperate race to reach survivors of the tragedy in Haiti

• THE extent of the devastating earthquake in Haiti will become clearer this week. The Red Cross has suggested that the death toll may already be 50,000 people and many suggest that the total could more than double that. The desperate poverty of the Caribbean country, its broken infrastructure, plus violence and insecurity, all make it hard to alleviate the suffering of survivors. Some 10,0000 American soldiers are scheduled to arrive in the country to help keep order. Without rapid provision of medical aid, food, water and shelter the death toll is likely to rise quickly. Some estimates suggest that 3m will need help.

• BARACK OBAMA marks his first anniversary as president of America on Wednesday January 20th. The day before, voters in Massachusetts will get the opportunity to pass judgment on his time in office when they vote for a senator to take the seat made vacant by the death of Edward Kennedy. Some polls have shown that the Republican candidate, Scott Brown, is doing surprisingly well in what should be a safe Democratic seat. His campaign has made much of his supposed ability to stop Mr Obama’s plans for health-care reform. Friday will see one of Mr Obama’s election promises broken with the expiration of his self-imposed deadline for the closing of Guantánamo Bay.

• MR OBAMA also faces bonus season on Wall Street. Many of America’s big banks are girding themselves for a storm of abuse when they unveil their annual results and compensation during the week. Mr Obama has staked much on his ability to curb greedy bankers and has unveiled a special levy on large financial institutions to cover taxpayer losses on the Troubled Asset Relief Programme. More American lawmakers are set to pronounce on the issue on Friday January 22nd. The House Financial Services Committee is set to hold hearings to discuss the highest paid in America’s financial industry.

• LEGAL tribulations for Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, will continue this week. On Monday January 18th a trial is set to resume which relates to alleged fraud and false accounting over the purchase of TV rights by a media company that Mr Berlusconi controls. Another trial, relating to alleged corruption, in which Mr Berlusconi is accused of bribing his former tax lawyer to lie in two court cases, resumed on January 15th. Last year Italy’s constitutional court ruled that a law granting immunity from prosecution to Silvio Berlusconi while in office was unconstitutional.