Inug

inagural blog for the protracted election of the Ukrainian president. Putin appears to be very calm, perhaps because the rich half of the Ukraine may now break away. Is it called a coup if you lose the election and then join the Russia next door? I think guns have to be fired for it to be a coup. Maybe not with the KGB around though. Either way, those Yukos executives had the right idea getting out of the country. With Khodorkovsky still in jail and and Putin's consolidation of government, I would get the hell out if I had a million dollars too. If there is more civil war in Russia does the US dollar go up? Yes. Terrorism means sales.

Yanukovych (left): 49.46%
Yushchenko: 46.61%
Western observers report:
Abuse of state resources and "overt media bias" in favour of Mr Yanukovych
State workers pressured to give absentee voting certificate to their superiors
Intimidation at some polling stations
Suspiciously high turnout - 96% - in the key pro-government region of Donetsk

Thanks BBC, but what do Tony and the UN say?