Looking Ahead

GOP campaign continues

The Republican nomination process rolls on Nov. 1 when Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad takes the microphone to moderate a forum for GOP presidential hopefuls in Pella, Iowa. The debate will be sponsored by the National Association of Manufacturers, a powerful industry lobby representing manufacturing businesses.

Against G20

While leaders of the 20 largest nations meet in Cannes, France, from Nov. 1 to Nov. 4, protest organizers promise that the real headlines will be made by protesters gathering alongside the G20 in Nice, France, under the banner People First, Not Finance. With proposed slogans like, "They're 20, we're billions," the protests could take on the feel of New York's Occupy Wall Street protests, or they could boil over into the sort of rioting seen earlier this year in London.

Euro debt plan

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to resolve Europe's sovereign debt crisis (see "Sharp turns," Nov. 5, 2011) will meet its first real political test on Nov. 3 when officials present it to the Group of 20 Summit.

Orphan Sunday

The Christian Alliance for Orphans hopes that churches around the nation will turn their attention to the world's orphans on Nov. 6. According to the group, there are some 18.3 million children alive today who have lost both their mother and father. The National Day of Orphans coincides with an apropos children's initiative: National Adoption Month.

Election Day

Elections are few and far between this year, but at least some Americans will be poll-bound for the off-year elections on Nov. 8. Citizens in Kentucky and Mississippi will be voting for governor, and pundits don't expect it to be close. Incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear is favored in Kentucky, while Republican Phil Bryant is expected to hold onto the governor's mansion for the GOP in Mississippi.