In Ukraine , the prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, looked more likely to become the country's next president after aides to the current head of state, Leonid Kuchma, said that they would back the premier in elections in October.

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The middle-of-the-road Popular Party, which holds the current balance of power in parliament with just 7% of the vote, is celebrating too: its members now hope that one of their own preferably the incumbent, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro will be elected state president next month by the current method: a horse-traded vote in parliament.

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What's the current state of play, what might the next year or so hold for them - and how might their strategies unfold?

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For the past month, I have interviewed businesspeople hard at work to understand the current state of television amid rapidly changing technologies. (Next Monday I will present a wrap-up of those interviews.) Each of the participants have a vested interest in a business model that works for creators, media rights holders, distributors and the audience.

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The prospect is for near-interminable wheeling and dealing once the last of the current batch of regional polls comes to an end in the city-state of Berlin next month.

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