Wednesday, 26 March, 2008
- 26 Mar 08, 05:32 PM
ENTENTE AMICALE
In his first , President Sarkozy has certainly turned on all his charm, praising British dynamism and wooing Eurosceptics with flattery over how Europe needs Britain. He says he hopes his state visit to Britain will mark a new era in Franco-British relations. Gordon Brown has also hailed a new era of closer relations between France and the UK, but behind all the hyperbole, what does it all really mean? Michael Crick assesses what both men have to gain from this love-in.
And we'll be discussing what a Sarkozy - Brown alliance will mean with a former French minister, a writer and an academic.
THE WORKFORCE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Chinese workers have traditionally had few rights to speak out, but a country where strikes are illegal is now becoming the strike centre of the world. In the first of two special films from China, Paul Mason reports on the new Chinese workforce - the 300 million people whose cheap labour provides the life force of the economy - and how some are beginning to fight for their employment rights and are being physically attacked in the process.
ASYLUM BATTLE
On the eve of elections in Zimbabwe, why has the British government suddenly decided it鈥檚 safe to end its moratorium and send failed asylum seekers back to the country? Robin Denselow has been investigating.
There are two drugs of choice in the Newsnight office.
Visitors to Television Centre are often amazed by the number of coffee concessions we have here. One reason, I think, is that journalists (among others) frequently work more than 12 hours on the trot; another main driver is smoking - or lack of.