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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Posted in: bad-boy,Haiti's,president

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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Posted in: Satellite,space,station,threat

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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Posted in: plant,radiation,reduced