Six In The Morning

Two Countries That Have Vastly Different Views Of The World Whats Not To Mistrust    



‘Distrust lingers on both sides,’ Clinton says of U.S.-China relations

Reporting from Washington – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that the U.S.- China relationship does not fall “neatly into black-and-white categories like ‘friend’ or ‘rival.’ ”

Clinton, assessing the important relationship in a speech in advance of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Washington next week, acknowledged that in President Obama’s first two years in office the two nations have had “some early successes, but also some frustrations.”

Even Though I’ve Run Away I’m Still President Can’t You See That?

• Tunisian PM Mohamed Ghannouchi declares temporary rule

• Ben Ali takes refuge in Saudi Arabia  

Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali forced to flee Tunisia as protesters claim victory

Tunisia’s president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has fled his country after weeks of mass protests culminated in a victory for people power over one of the Arab world’s most repressive regimes.

Ben Ali had taken refuge in Saudi Arabia, at the end of an extraordinary day which had seen the declaration of a state of emergency, the evacuation of tourists of British and other nationalities, and an earthquake for the authoritarian politics of the Middle East and north Africa.

Who To Blame? How About The Idiots We Elected



‘Ireland’s meltdown is the outcome of the policies of its elected politicians’

He rejects outright the contention that the ECB pushed the Government into the rescue zone, defends the interest rate on the bailout loans and warns that default is not an option for Irish banks or the Irish State.

“We and the governments of the other countries have helped Ireland because we think that Ireland is solvent. If the Irish people think that Ireland cannot remain solvent, they should know the major disruptive effects that this could produce on the Irish economy, as they would be the first to suffer,” he says.

A lean Italian in his mid-50s, Bini Smaghi is a ranking member of the ECB executive board and was a key figure behind the scenes in the drama that saw Ireland seek an EU-IMF bailout two months ago.

Sometimes Positive Things Happen  



A Roma Community Fights Against the Odds

There are no shops, cafes or other small businesses in Alsószentmárton. One of the few things that stands out from the rows of one-story, shabby houses, is the imposing white church at the entrance to the village. Children play and cycle their bikes on the streets and young women, not much older, push strollers and call out greetings to one another.

Alsószentmárton is a small village in southwestern Hungary and all of its residents are Roma, Europe’s most marginalized people. Living here on the very edge of the European Union, right up against the border with Croatia, the villagers are fighting the affects of decades of social exclusion and disadvantage. A project run by the local Catholic priest is attempting to tackle that poverty and to address one of the Roma population’s biggest handicaps: the lack of access to a decent education.

A Chip Off The Old Racist Block It’s Nothing To Be Proud Of

France’s National Front is set to widen its support base if Marine Le Pen is chosen to succeed her father as the far-Right party’s new leader this weekend, posing a growing threat to President Nicolas Sarkozy.  

Marine Le Pen posing a growing threat to Nicolas Sarkozy

The 42-year old mother of three is the runaway favourite to succeed her 82-year-old father Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the National Front (FN) in 1972 and will remain its honorary president.

On Friday, vote counting took place from a mail ballot among the FN’s 24,000 members and the official result is due to be announced on Sunday at a party congress in Tours.

The firebrand Mr Le Pen was in no doubt of the outcome. “I have been unable to enact the programme that I believe salutatory for France, (but) the second stage of the Le Pen rocket is Marine,” he told Le Parisien.

It’s OK Its Just The Stuntman

Hollywood is obsessed with explosive – and expensive – stunts. And those who have to perform them are paying the price

The bigger they come, the harder they fall

Stunt performers are re-examining some of their more dangerous tricks following a spate of accidents both in Britain and in Hollywood.

Over the last five years there has been an increase in accidents and the industry is bracing itself for a court case this March that will examine the death of stuntman Conway Wickliffe who was killed on the set of The Dark Knight.