UKRAINE: Ukraine's president Viktor Yushchenko and his rival Viktor Yanukovich have almost nothing in common apart from their first name, but fate keeps throwing them together.
The two men have become a metaphor for the divisions in Ukraine itself: between the Ukrainian-speaking west that looks towards Europe and the Russian-speaking east that links its destiny with Russia.
They were on opposite sides of the barricades in the Orange revolution two years ago. Then, Mr Yanukovich was declared winner in a presidential election and Mr Yushchenko mobilised thousands of protesters to have the result declared void.
Mr Yanukovich was humiliated but staged a comeback. His party's strong vote in a March parliamentary vote gave Mr Yushchenko little choice but to work with him running the former Soviet republic of 47 million people.
Mr Yushchenko is a smooth former central banker with an American wife who is most comfortable speaking Ukrainian and wants to take his country into Nato and - eventually - the EU.
Mr Yanukovich (56), is a rough-hewn man from the Donetsk region, a coal-mining centre in the east, and wants to maintain historical ties with Russia.
He has a reputation as an awkward public speaker and stumbles when speaking Ukrainian; he wants stronger rights for regions, especially those with Russian-speaking majorities.
Mr Yushchenko (51) has a disfigured face: the result of poisoning that he says was carried out by his opponents. When he triumphantly took office after the Orange revolution, he promised to remake Ukraine, sweeping out corruption and cronyism, taking the country into the European mainstream. But he has disappointed many.
The economy has spluttered. He sacked his Orange revolution partner Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister after a bout of infighting. His Our Ukraine party finished third in the inconclusive parliamentary election.
Mr Yanukovich has already served as prime minister, from 2002 to 2004 under former president Leonid Kuchma. In that period Ukraine enjoyed strong economic growth, but he was accused of having cosy relations with powerful business interests.
Since his defeat in 2004, Mr Yanukovich has rallied his supporters and had coaching from Western political consultants.
His Regions party took the biggest share of the vote in the March election. He has embraced some of the liberal ideals of the Orange revolution. Addressing a rally this week, he said the events of 2004 "were of benefit to everyone . . . We all want to live in freedom". - (Reuters)