From bad-boy star to Haiti's president

Michel Martelly defeated his challenger, former first lady Mirlande Manigat, in a landslide, winning 67.6% of the vote. STORY HIGHLIGHTSMichel Martelly made a name as a bad-boy carnival singerHis popularity escalated him to a political victoryMartelly vowed to restore people's confidence in governmentHaitians wanted change, says a newspaper editorRELATED TOPICSMichel MartellyHaitian PoliticsMirlande ManigatHaiti (CNN) -- It was just before Christmas when Michel Martelly mulled over events in his troubled land and concluded that everything had been done to ensure loss for him at the polls. An election rife with fraud had ousted him from the race. Martelly's dreams of leading Haiti were all but dead. But four months of recounts and reviews and then a runoff changed everything, and the unexpected...

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Satellite hunk no threat to space station

NASA is monitoring a piece of space junk that could come close enough to collide with the International Space Station. STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Tracking data indicates it is not on a collision course with the stationThe station's crew of three was warned to seek shelter if necessaryThe debris is expected to be near the station at 4:21 p.m. RELATED TOPICSNASAInternational Space StationSpace Debris (CNN) -- NASA determined Tuesday that a piece of space junk will not pose a threat to the crew aboard the International Space Station. The space agency had been monitoring a piece of a Chinese satellite that was destroyed in 2007 and had warned the crew to begin making plans to take shelter in the Russian Soyuz capsule if necessary. However, tracking data...

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Radiation leak at nuke plant reduced

Workers try to stop the spread of radiation at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: The most recent attempt brings a decrease in leaking radioactive waterNEW: More than 5,700 tons of less radioactive water are purposefully released so farRadiation levels drop sharply offshore, but are many times the legal limitWater in a pit that's leaking into the sea had radiation 7.5 million times above the norm Tokyo (CNN) -- An attempt to plug a leak of highly radioactive water from a Japanese nuclear reactor has shown a "significant difference," despite the material not setting as hoped, officials said late Tuesday. Tokyo Electric Power Company, which runs the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, said the injection...

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China's 'meteoric rise' as a science power

More than one out of every 10 scientific papers published in the period from 2004 to 2008 came from China. STORY HIGHLIGHTSChina moves from sixth place to second in the publication of science articlesThe United States remains on top, but its dominance is slippingChina's influence isn't growing as fast as its outputThe findings come from the Royal Society in BritainRELATED TOPICSChinaHong Kong London (CNN) -- China is experiencing a "meteoric rise" in the publication of scientific papers in the past two decades, and while the United States remains on top, its dominance is slipping, a new study found this week. Fewer than one out of 20 of the world's scientific articles came out of China in the decade up to 2003, the study shows. But the number rose to more than one out of 10 in the period from...

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Former President Carter returns to Cuba

Jimmy Carter arrives in CubaSTORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Carter visits a Jewish center and temple and meets with the archbishop of HavanaThe trip is officially to strengthen bilateral tiesHowever, there are hopes the ex-president may try to lobby for an American prisonerThe U.S. contractor was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, landed in Havana on Monday for a private visit aimed at reducing tension between the Cold War enemies and seeing first-hand the economic reforms sweeping the communist island. But expectations are high that Carter also will work behind the scenes to secure the release of American contractor Alan Gross, who was recently sentenced to 15 years in a Cuban prison. Unlike his first visit in 2002,...

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