Six In The Morning

Deadly tornadoes hit central US

More than 20 killed as storms stretching from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes devastate communities in three states.

Last Modified: 03 Mar 2012 07:37
More than 20 people have been killed after more than six dozen severe storms and tornadoes hit several states in the central US, authorities say. Homes were flattened, schools and business smashed and vehicles and trees tossed aside by Friday's storms. Authorities said one small town in Indiana was "gone" after the disaster. The National Weather Service had received reports of at least 83 tornadoes in eight states by Friday evening, bringing the week's total to 133. Not all reports were confirmed, however. The service issued "a particularly dangerous" tornado watch, which is set to continue into early Saturday in four states.

Iranian election results suggest rocky time for Ahmadinejad
Early returns show conservative rivals of president pulling ahead, with embarrassing defeat for his sister in one seat

Saeed Kamali Dehghan and agencies guardian.co.uk, Saturday 3 March 2012 07.23 GMT
Conservative rivals of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are leading in the race for Iranian parliament seats, according to early election results. In a huge embarrassment, Parvin Ahmadinejad, a younger sister of the president, was defeated by a conservative rival in their hometown of Garmsar. The conservatives' lead was expected as the elections boiled down to a contest between conservatives supporting and opposing Ahmadinejad. Early returns on Saturday in the capital, Tehran, showed loyalists to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were pulling ahead. Partial results from provincial towns showed conservative Ahmadinejad rivals elected in many constituencies.

Crack down on opposition? I'll do nothing of the sort, vows Putin
As Russia votes, with one clear leader, Shaun Walker reports from Moscow on the would-be President's plans

Saturday 03 March 2012
Vladimir Putin has denied that he plans a crackdown on opposition groups if he returns to office, as expected, in a presidential vote tomorrow. In a meeting with foreign newspaper editors, which was broadcast on Russian state television yesterday, he said he was "not planning anything of the kind". "I don't know where these fears come from," said Mr Putin. "On the contrary all of our proposals are geared toward establishing a dialogue with everyone, with those who support us and those who criticise us."

One village votes, but others await new China


Philip Wen March 3, 2012
A glimpse of a different side of China is on show in the coastal village of Wukan: democracy in full swing. After months of protests late last year, villagers have won the right to vote in an election, to be held today. Villagers staged an unprecedented election rally on Wednesday, with dozens of candidates speaking and more than 1000 people turning out to listen in Wukan's main square. After drawing lots to see who would go first, up stepped a nervous-looking young woman to deliver her maiden campaign speech. ''I may not be old or experienced,'' Xue Jianwan, 22, said, ''but I want to work for what my father did and continue his legacy.''

Swazi pay-off 'over-inflated'
Swaziland is on course to get R2.4-billion from South Africa without any political conditions

LOUISE REDVERS JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Mar 03 2012 07:38
Negotiations for the loan, which was announced in August last year, had stalled due to King Mswati III's apparent reluctance to accept democratic reform in his country where political parties are banned and he rules with absolute power. But Swaziland's Coalition of Concerned Civil Organisations (SCCCO) claims the kingdom will get the money instead via an inflated payment from the Southern Africa Customs Union (Sacu) and this will take away the need for Pretoria to impose political conditions on the loan -- an assertion strongly disputed by the South African Treasury. Sacu economists have forecast a near-doubling of imports into the region and thus a greater tax income for union members.

Obama administration 'gets real' on Cuba
Congressman David Rivera pressed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Cuba this week. Her response showed an awareness of "what is really going on in Cuba," writes a guest blogger.

By Anya Landau French, Guest blogger
What’s the best way to gauge if anyone in Washington understands what’s going on in Havana? Try to grill Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. More than once, I’ve complained about the Obama administration’s tone-deafness on the shifting political, social and economic climate in Cuba. We (and by we, I mean they) were slow-to-absent in acknowledging and encouraging the 2010-2011 political prisoner releases brokered between Raul Castro, Cuba’s Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega and the previous (Zapatero) government in Spain, and President Obama himself has highlighted the ongoing economic changes in Cuba only to call them insufficient.