Six In The Morning

No votes, no fuss. How China chose the man who will be the most powerful in the world

The new leader was never in doubt. But, says Mary Dejevsky, the change matters hugely

MARY DEJEVSKY 

SUNDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2012

Only once in a generation does a US presidential election coincide with a scheduled Chinese leadership change. This year the juxtaposition offered a special piquancy because of the perception that China is well advanced on its inexorable way up in the world, and the United States is condemned only to go down. When next the two changes of administration coincide, if they do, in 20 years' time, China – even according to the most conservative forecasts – will have knocked the US off its global economic perch and be well on its way to registering a gross domestic product that is twice as big.

SPAIN

Spain to end mortgage evictions after suicides

Spanish politicians have pledged bipartisan steps to halt evictions after a woman mortgagor's suicide caused widespread anguish. Previously, a newsstand owner in Granada hung himself in anticipation of losing his home.

Mortgage lender Kutxabank announced that it would suspend repossessions after Amaia Egana, a 53-year-old former Socialist councilor, jumped from her fourth-story window in the Basque Country as officials ascended the stairs to evict her on Friday.

Egana's death, the second eviction-related suicide in Spain in recent weeks, added urgency to an agreement reached Wednesday between the ruling conservative People's Party and the Socialists to seek a bipartisan deal over repossessions.

"No one should be without a home for not being able to pay," Socialist leader Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said.

Leaders meet on military plan for Mali

West African leaders meet at an emergency summit on Sunday to firm up military plans to win back Islamist-held northern Mali

11 NOV 2012 06:41 - AFP

Leaders from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States will meet in the Nigerian capital Abuja to approve a military blueprint for action. That plan will eventually be sent via the African Union to the UN Security Council for review.

Countries from outside Ecowas have also been invited to attend the summit, including South Africa, Mauritania, Morocco, Libya, Algeria and Chad, according to a source from the bloc.

Discussions so far have involved the deployment of more than 3 000 troops from the region, backed by soldiers other countries. The Ecowas source said military chiefs were requesting a total of 5 500 troops.

11 November 2012 Last updated at 00:25 GMT

Are one in eight Australians really poor?

By Charlotte PritchardBBC News

A recent study says that one in eight Australians are living in poverty. This seems quite high for a developed country, so what's behind it?

"In this study we used a relative poverty definition," says report author Bruce Bradbury from the University of New South Wales.

"The basic idea of a relative poverty line is that you set a poverty line at some fraction of the middle living standard or the median income in that community. We have chosen 50% so people whose income, after adjusting for their family's size, is below half the middle income of the country in the same year are defined as being poor."

So in this case, poverty is measured by looking at incomes relative to the rest of Australian society as a whole. It's a country-specific measure. This is not unusual. In developed industrial countries it is very common to measure poverty relatively.

Israel kills Gaza rocket crewman in second day of clashes

GAZA (Reuters)

 An Israeli air strike killed a Palestinian militant in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip on Sunday as a surge in cross-border violence entered its second day, local officials said.

Islamic Jihad, a smaller faction than Hamas which often operates independently, identified the dead man as one of its own, saying he was a member of a rocket crew hit by an Israeli missile in Jabalya, northern Gaza.

The Israeli military confirmed carrying out an air strike in the area. The death brought to six the number of Palestinians killed by Israelsince four of its troops were hurt in a missile attack on their jeep along the Gaza boundary fence.

Islamic Jihad said it had fired 70 short-range rockets and mortar bombs across the border since Saturday, salvoes which droveIsraeli residents to blast shelters. At least one Israeli, in the town of Sderot, was wounded, ambulance workers said.