After all, when it comes to the rhetoric, the chancellor and his Labour shadow seem poles apart.

BBC: Osborne, Balls and the OECD: Where they agree

The FTC and Wyndham are poles apart on their estimates of the effect of the credit-card thefts.

ECONOMIST: Businesses and cyber-security

Cullen believes the perception of Widnes and the actuality reality of the situation he finds himself in are poles apart.

BBC: Cullen lowers Widnes expectations

The two are poles apart on the crucial issue of the economy and how to tackle the economic crisis in Catalonia.

BBC: Catalonia election: Separatists win majority

"The good thing is, we're not poles apart in brand imagery and there's no overlap between our vehicles, " points out Pawan Goenka, the ex-GM executive who heads Mahindra's auto and farm-equipment business and now chairs SsangYong.

FORBES: The Global 2000

The region is also in danger of falling under the strange influence of insurgent and terrorist groups, drug cartels and distant countries that historically have been poles apart from the region's culture and civilization (mainly Iran, China, and perhaps Russia).

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

Four of these cover the whole world, apart from the poles.

ECONOMIST: Technological advances are liberating news reporting

The fence consisted of seven or eight strands of high-voltage barbed wire, spaced about a foot apart, strung between tall poles.

WSJ: Escape From a North Korean Prison

It looks like a normal lake - apart from the rooftops, willow trees and power poles jutting from the muddy water.

CNN: DISPATCHES FROM FLOOD COUNTRY