Wrapped Away around Russia's 'Mink' War

With her very own tawdry reality-TV exhibit, Canada Goose Jacka in addition to a flavour meant for high fellas in addition to outdoors get-togethers, Kseniya Sobchak appeared to be any poster child to your unique Vladimir Putin creation. A youngster if your girlfriend parent, Saint. Petersburg Gran Anatoly Sobchak, have become an important main character to help large numbers owing to the idealistic nation-wide politics along at the the twilight series within the Soviet Marriage, Master of science. Sobchak epitomized a hedonistic commitment to make sure you glamour and even glitz within the oil-stoked "fat 2000s" with Russian federation.

Her generation's politics viewsif that you had any specific on allwere seeing that hard-edged in addition to doubting as being the past KGB representative that happened to run the region.

Reality-TV super star plus protester Kseniya Sobchak during May.

"We've purchased right up out this hips, Moncler Vest at this moment we'd like even more, inches suggests Tina Kandelaki, a good 36-year-old talk-show variety. "This is actually a development that could be useful to doing choiceschoosing where by to be family vacation, deciding upon what precisely van to shop for. inch Skin longer ever since finished enjoying talk about telly, any Kremlin's most important propaganda program. Any disorderly together with severely fundamental World-wide-web had taken it is position.

Ms. Kandelaki, for instance a good many others, Canada Goose Parka to start with welcome younger Mr. Medvedev's entails "modernization" together with an individual's take of your World-wide-web, European using of which unfortunately bending for the period of his or her some a long time throughout business office. These days they can be livid they've already mainly very little claim with the way Italy will be perform.

"This stands out as the Putin iteration it's evolved, inches suggests Master of science. Kandelaki. "That would not lead to gardening absolutely love Putin. "

They're presently remaining identified as all the "new Decembrists, inches a powerful reveal within the Tsarist authorities exactly who throughout 1825 increased right up following on from the passing away within the reformer Alexander My spouse and i. Sometimes leading to a protests, Russia's affluent were voting utilizing their little feet and even pouches, changing young families, enterprises together with immeasureable pounds to another country. Investment capital journey this current year is a best for the reason that optimum proceed the particular financial doom and gloom with 08.

Whether up to date tide in unhappiness will do to have a innovation is always doubtful. Gradually, Canada Goose Jacket any Kremlin includes well shared the nation's enemy by means of unwanted a number of and also doling outside assistance along with television for computer policy so that you can other individuals. Representatives did actually go like this all over again that 1 week simply by revealing protesters they need noticed his or her complaintswithout literally engaging in a great deal that will answer customer them all. Observers tell you which will Kremlin management likewise look thoroughly taking care of the particular politics professions involving a lot of visiting team people in politics to who some people think are usually not as well harmful to generally be assigned the phone.

One pick, any playboy billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, appeared that will sai that they would most likely function next to Mr. Putin to your obama administration while in the Mar contemplate elections. This touch management meeting, dealt with for status television for computer, got one week following on from the Kremlin's major politics strategist explained that she comprehended the particular "annoyed metropolitan communities" required a new thoughts with the sterile and clean politics product. Mr. Prokhorov's top may just be sufficiently to help you encourage many demonstrators there's at this point a number of selection, mainly considering Mr. Prokhorov complex quicker this current year together with the Kremlin, which unfortunately yanked any get at his or her parliamentary plan. However , exclusively days or weeks prior to when saying his or her presidential function, Mr. Prokhorov discussed Mr. Putin during an individual's web log seeing that "the one simple perfect for managing that unsuccessful express product. "

Mr. Prokhorov's possibilities of succeeding any obama administration surface sleek, however , her top, alongside obscure promises about politics change by Mr. Putin, may very well be more than enough that will sap all the demonstrators' might, mainly when using the Different Year's annual vacations emerging. Becoming alternative visiting team persons, including preferred tumblr Alexei Navalnyi, over the ballot would probably will need not acting on immediately that election, that this Kremlin has got eliminated.

"The exclusively idea everyone wouldn't have can be beneficial management, inches laments activist Betty Gaidar.

Mr. Putinwho tells which will he or she is far too chaotic to apply your Internetcan nonetheless mobilize her backers with the rates within the demonstrators' mothers and fathers and additionally grandfather and grandmother, primarily away from the substantial towns and cities. Regarding This, around this first of all huge open overall look for the reason that elections, she belittled a demonstrators during an individual's characteristically salty option, telling that your along with white wide lace many people put on for a warning involving help to get thoroughly clean elections reminded your ex about "condoms. inches

But sometimes any Putin electorate is normally demonstrating to signals connected with wobbling. Sergei Belanovsky, who seem to tests common feeling for that important Moscow imagine reservoir, tells that they up and running lifting "anger" with regards to the Kremlin involving more aged, extra practical voters for totally focus communities in relation to 1 . 5 years before. During recently available many weeks, very best officers, together with Mr. Putin, were booed for common occurrences intended for to begin with. "The presidential elections has to be robust prompt just for a lot of these politics aids, inches Mr. Belanovsky shows.

The innovative iteration has recently switched Ruskies state policies, more rapidly even more greatly when compared to everybody envisioned. However, the very first Decembrists managed precisely the same basically a few decades agoand were being paid, thus to their problem, utilizing charge together with exile to make sure you Siberia.

The particular 1% Contains Noticed The country's Moses

Despite the country's move on on the way to a fabulous reasonable, Belstaff Coat the same contemporary culture, various minorities remain struggling just for the legal.

They much time being remedied really. Some people desire just for dignity and also identification from other colleagues. They desire many other individuals to grasp there're simillar to these people with the exception of they also have enormous amounts along with quantities of money.

They will be the 1%, and also as a result of specific description, Canada Goose Trillium Parka they may be that few about minorities.

In ones own seek out proper rights, their particular move contains weren't getting some transcendent head. Positive, Belstaff Outlet they've got Residential home Republicans which will sacrifice their particular existence to give up better income taxes, though most of the purpose provides sustained with significant portion as it is short of a new number so, who echoes for your kids, an individual almost everyone areas and additionally with who the particular bigots come across tricky for you to refute.

Enter Leon "Lee" Cooperman, an important hedge-fund titan just who proven Omega Analysts after having a 25-year job in Goldman Sachs Collection Inc. Mr. Cooperman can be a person in all the 14% belonging to the 1%, how many most prosperous Men and women so, who developed their particular bundle with Wall membrane Avenue.

Last few days, Belstaff Outlet Mr. Cooperman shook over shackles in oppression and even, in a opened note to make sure you Lead designer Barack Obama, cried the particular 1%'s adaptation in "Let great families move. ''

Mr. Cooperman labeled as around the lead designer to make sure you "eschew typically the polarizing vernacular regarding politics militancy. ''

"It's an excellent note, '' Mr. Cooperman said. "I employed an important thesaurus. ''

It's catchy and also brief saying, not necessarily different from "We will certainly address, '' and a second that ought to be have on a symbol, however, you will have to craft quite, tiny.

In merely a seven days, Mr. Cooperman's manifesto moved virus-like. This has been exceeded for the Word wide web not to mention discussed.

For the particular 1%, most definitely typically the fraction of those whom produce his or her enterprise for Wall membrane Avenue as well as have had as a result of oppression, that Cooperman standard could be the interest with captivated your shoots involving flexibility.

"I struck an important diet sensors, '' Mr. Cooperman mentioned Sunday. "I do not presume it could set off virus-like. ''

Mr. Cooperman's concept is without a doubt which will, even while cash inequality can be a condition, demonizing his particular specialized make of tossing since money grubbing is known as a even larger trouble.

Don't "assume the well-to-do is a monolithic, egoistic not to mention unfeeling whole lot whom has to be subjugated via the power belonging to the point out, '' Mr. Cooperman lectured the particular lead designer.

Mr. Cooperman and even an individual's category understand that getting prosperous is not an happiness experience.

The abundant, sensing allowed to remain out of the herd are actually compelled for you to segregate independently throughout region organizations, gated residential areas and even personalized high schools. Some people are affected the best establishments not to mention automobiles. You'll find it a very important factor to help you survive this unique living, though being belittled as a result of most of the lead designer and also, inside Mr. Cooperman's terms, his / her "minions, '' that includes be mean to to make sure you trauma.

As Mr. Cooperman produces, the particular full can be valid profession makers. While not project building with the home owner loan bubble, Mr. Cooperman's budgetary market will have been recently confused at the moment as soon as the idea needs to drop 40, 000 careers.

He moreover tips high provide his or her's staff using health-care insurance policy coverage. Arranged, and the ones simply discover a method to have fun here immediately after they are let go.

Mr. Cooperman solved which will he could be long been essential of several involving his or her colleagues about Divider Block, yet dwi charge.

In the larger envision, Mr. Cooperman highlights the fact that the full experience assigned us all brand-new companies along with goods. At Selection St you can find at a minimum a couple of: property foreclosure generators and even mortgage-backed stock options. They may have equally assigned a good start an individual can a bankruptcy proceeding sector.

And just what Mr. Cooperman gets given that the best injustice can be we that include them genuinely wish to shell out a lot more taxation (apart from suggested debt purchases income tax, carry on year's Economic crisis Task Expense, the particular expiry in Plant income tax reductions, as well as the private-equity trade, in which lives in demanding maintained fascination on the 15% cash benefits amount with the 35% standard tax costs, even though Mr. Cooperman pronounces they have cheerful compensating an increased carried- attention levy pace).

"We pay out much of our acceptable present, inch she or he pronounces, yet So i'm "fine through repaying further fees. "

Moreover, Mr. Cooperman highlights which usually he's got a colleague belonging to the chief executive.

He's leaned Democratic on his particular voting over time and additionally voted for the purpose of Mr. Obama inside '08. Mr. Cooperman continues to be types an adequate amount of to be able to dietary supplement his or her page along with a presidential "platform'' in which Web design manager Obama can be liberal to use right from.

Among these: freeze out entitlement services not to mention enhance the Sociable Stability retirement to help 75, handle medical care at a "serious way" along with control govt shelling out so that you can down below 1% regarding tiny major every day solution though installing an advanced Succeeds Develop Managing to set up system. Would As i reference which usually help and advice has been no cost?

Mr. Cooperman in addition has various reminders concerning how to deal with Wall structure Block: reinstate that up-tick secret just for little vendors along with remove excessive consistency dealers. And also nonetheless she or he just didn't assert thus, you'll find it not possible some of those plans get whatever related to the hedge finance and the ambitious hobbies.

As you can view, this is simply not a couple of thin-skinned billionaire, it's really a asking designed for the law. Mr. Cooperman, regardless of his particular most beneficial results, has been pushed in this specific group training although they came into this world with the Bronx towards daddy who has been a fabulous plumbing technician in addition to a immigrant mum. She or he still went along to people universities ahead of having the MBA with the Ivy Category.

"I started out through not a thing, inch Mr. Cooperman mentioned. "I get the job done sixty periods weekly. So i'm not just a wardrobe chase. So i'm no paintings financial institution. My partner and i live life reasonably. '' And also she or he pronounces, "I'm not necessarily thin-skinned. "

He's not by yourself. "My adventure is without a doubt not completely unique. Actually, i know various those people who are moreover positioned by simply both equally extremely humble family tree and also hard-won good results, inch Mr. Cooperman published. Inside his particular court case, this individual blogs, "and significant amounts of beginners luck. "

Bad fortune undoubtedly. So, who in our midst would like to consider the duty regarding $19. 1 k (the common family riches belonging to the wealthiest 1% involving Us citizens when outlined via the Federal government Wildlife reserve and also Economical Insurance policy Initiate) and have that will put up with typically the slights for the director as well as his particular "minions? "

Bravo to be able to Mr. Cooperman. She or he spun "I use a dream" right into "I've long been daydreaming. "

Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer accuses the ANC of apartheid-style censorship

Nobel prize-winning author Nadine Gordimer has spoken out against her government's controversial new secrecy legislation,Canada goose parka suggesting it is a move back towards the harsh censorship that existed under apartheid.

In an article written for the ObserverGordimer said freedom of expression had been "struck out as a danger to the state",Canada goose chilliwack under the harsh Protection of State Information Bill, which may become law in South Africa by the end of the year. Leading commentators, editors and opposition parties dubbed the day the bill was passed in the South African parliament last week "Black Tuesday".

The bill bans the publication of classified documents – even if the information could be in the public interest – and allows the government to class almost any category of information as secret. Anyone involved in whistleblowing or any journalist or editor involved in publishing such information could face 25 years in prison. The bill is also seen as a way of the government controlling how it is represented,Canada goose expedition and there are worries that its provisions are so all-encompassing that it could even curtail freedom of expression in literature.

Gordimer argues that the attack on media freedom is an attack on everyone's "right to know and think",Canada goose trillium parka which would affect the work of all writers. ANC politicians have said the laws are necessary because the country is under threat from "spies" and foreign invasion, while state security minister Siyabonga Cwele has claimed that groups opposing the bill were "local proxies of foreign spies".

President Jacob Zuma has been accused of having too close a relationship with his country's security services and of conducting a personal vendetta against South African media who have been putting his party and his leadership under ever increasing scrutiny. Raymond Louw, veteran former anti-apartheid editor and media activist, has told reporters the law is a betrayal of the ANC's commitment to press freedom.

"The intention of this bill is to stop the media from disclosing corruption, malpractice and misgovernance, and inefficiencies," he said. "It is a betrayal of the commitment to a free press and the constitutional commitment to a free press because it is so wide-ranging. And it is not reasonable for them to want to cover up secrets beyond those which are absolutely necessary for protection of national security."

Gordimer's attack is likely to embarrass the ANC ruling party, especially those who are already uncomfortable with the bill, which has two further stages to go through before it is signed into law by Zuma.

The author pours scorn on the idea that South Africa might be under any kind of threat from outside forces, saying: "Is Cuba going to send an invasive force to bring to power our small communist party?"

She writes that the bill would not just affect the press but also poets, novelists and playwrights: "Workers in all literary modes will be subject to the bill through our fictional characters' actions and opinions, alive in our books."

The author has long links with the struggle against black oppression. She had three books banned under the infamous apartheid regime's censorship laws, along with an anthology of poetry by black South African writers that she collected and had published.

Gordimer was born in Gauteng, South Africa, in 1923 to immigrant European parents. She was called one of the great "guerrillas of the imagination" by the poet Seamus Heaney, and a "magnificent epic writer" by the Nobel committee, and is a hugely respected figure involved in charitable and anti-censorship projects.

She became active in the then banned South African National Congress after the Sharpeville massacre, and was one of the first people Nelson Mandela asked to see when he was released in 1990. When her west Johannesburg home was raided by violent robbers in 2006, it sparked national outrage.

Cuba's capitalist road

A Cuban reads the Granma newspaper announcing the new private-property law Thursday in Havana. (AFP/Getty Images)

Since succeeding his brother Fidel as president in 2008, Raul Castro has repeatedly promised to adopt market reforms intended to help save Cuba's ailing economy.

And he has delivered, for the most part, slowly but steadily. The year he took over, Castro made it easier for Cubans to buy cellphones. Last year, the government agreed to increase the number of permits issued for privately run barbershops, beauty salons,Belstaff jacken restaurants and other businesses in the hopes of spurring grass-roots economic activity. At the same time, it approved a plan to let foreign investors rent state-owned land, a move intended to help boost international tourism. And last month, a new law took effect legalizing the private sale of autos.

Still, unlike in Vietnam or China,Canada jakker where ideologues have made dramatic concessions to economic reform, Cuba's leaders have been much less aggressive about moving away from a state-dominated economy. At least until this week.

Starting Thursday, Cubans will be able to buy and sell their homes, and even set their own prices, without government intervention. That's a sea change in a country where, until recently,Goose jakker private ownership was strictly forbidden and the accumulation of wealth considered a sin against the revolution. Fidel Castro confiscated most land titles after the 1959 revolution. Since then, Cuba's version of property rights has amounted to little more than allowing citizens to occupy or swap homes. Even bequeathing homes to relatives who did not live in them was prohibited.

The new law allowing the sale of property will not satisfy all critics, especially those in Miami's exile community. That would require the removal of the communist government. Certainly,Canada goose much more than a smattering of small businesses and a real estate market is needed to improve life for most Cubans. Residents still rely on some government help and employment to survive — something Raul Castro has admitted the government can no longer afford. The Soviet subsidies that kept the country afloat are long gone. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has stepped in to fill the role of Cuba's sugar daddy, providing oil. And remittances from Cubans abroad have helped sustain families still on the island.

Surely the new law offers some hope. Owning private property offers a path to prosperity for individual Cubans. China and Vietnam have given Cuba a model to follow as it moves toward a mixed economy. Let's hope Castro continues to follow it.

Puss Boots Tower and Kumar in Another Weakened Weekend

A little cat shall lead them. Puss in Boots stayed atop the hot tin roof of the North American box office, winning the weekend with $33 million, according to preliminary studio estimates. The DreamWorks animation spinoff of the Shrek franchise, with Antonio Banderas voicing the flirtatious feline felon, was expected to lose to newcomer Tower Heist, pairing Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy as high-rise employees planning to rob a Bernie Madoff type (Alan Alda) of his ill-gotten zillions. But Puss confounded all forecasts and pulled off his own heist. The cat burglar triumphs again.Tods Borse

In the process Puss humiliated the weekend’s other new comedy, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, third in the Asian-American dopester series, which sniffed out a mild $13 million. Then again, the weekend as a whole was off 25% from 2010′s first weekend in Nov., when the top three films (Megamind, Due Date and For Colored Girls) earned $98.2 million to the $71.1 million amassed by Puss, Tower and H&K. In fact, virtually the entire fall season has been foul, and the low numbers for the year’s first Christmas film must put moguls in a Grinchy mood about their vaunted year-end releases. If Hollywood were to commission a holiday number sung by Bing Crosby, with Yanni on the keyboards, it would be: “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas — in Greece.”Tods　

(MORE: Read Richard Corliss’ review of Puss in Boots)

Give Puss props for holding on tenaciously in its second frame. The movie dropped only 3% ($1 million) from last weekend’s opening, when it had to fight off a Word Series game 7 on Friday and a freakish October snowstorm on the East Coast Saturday. DreamWorks Animation often releases its autumn features the first weekend of Nov., like last year’s Megamind. But the studio’s marketing boss Ann Globe told The Wrap that DreamWorks had always planned a two-weekend opening strategy for Puss. The $75.5 million that the film has earned in 10 days would seem to validate that plan; but do note that Megamind, in its first 10 days, had taken in $88.8 million, or about 18% more than the little ginger cat.Tods Shoes

The smart money of Internet prognosticators had been on Tower Heist as a kind of Ocean’s Eleven caper with a boost from the hate-Wall-Street Zeitgeist. Produced for $85 million, and pegged to earn at least $30 million in its first three days, the movie opened at $25.1 million, which is just a smidge higher than the $23.8 million earned by last autumn’s grittier heist film, the R-rated The Town. It was the most anticlimactic vault opening since Geraldo Rivera unlocked Al Capone’s safe.Tods Outlet

(MORE: Read Mary Pols’ review of Tower Heist)

The Tower Heist take also disappointed those who were trumpeting Murphy’s return to box-office magnet status. The last live-action hit for the one-time superstar and Shrek donkey was Norbit in 2007 ($95.7 million); his 2008 Meet Dave and 2009 Imagine That earned less than $30 million between them. Whatever magic Murphy was supposed to demonstrate in Brett Ratner’s social comedy didn’t exactly spark. Undaunted, Ratner, who is producing next Feb. 25′s Oscar TV presentation, has picked Murphy is to host the show. That’s good cross-promotion for the Tower Heist DVD, which should hit the stores around then. But if the film doesn’t gain some momentum at the wickets, Murphy will stride on stage as the star of three consecutive big-screen flops.

H&K 3D Xmas makes mock of seasonal sentimentality, but it did honor one hoary Hollywood tradition: opening a Christmas movie in early Nov. For the studio bosses, the horror films of Halloween give way instantly to Yuletide merriment. Five times in the previous nine years, a Christmas film has premiered the week after trick-or-treat night: Tim Allen’s The Santa Clause 2 at $29 million in 2002, Will Ferrell’s Elf at $31.3 million in 2003, Allen’s The Santa Clause 3 at $19.5 million in 2006, Vince Vaughn’s Fred Claus at $18.5 million in 2007 and Jim Carrey’s A Christmas Carol at $25.6 million in 2009.

(MORE: Read Richard Corliss’ review of A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas)

Granted, all these films were toplined by veteran or blooming comedy stars, whereas John Chu (Harold) and Kal Penn (Kumar) are cloutless; and the movie cost only $19 million to make, so no one connected with it will get coal for Christmas. But the home-video longevity of the series and the hazy indulgence of the critics (73% on Rotten Tomatoes) should have goosed the gross. Even though 95% of its patrons paid the surcharge for 3D goggles, the third installment opened below the $14.9 million premiere of the previous 2-D episode, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay in 2008. Demographically, 3D Xmas and Tower Heist neatly split the weekend’s comedy lovers: 65% of the Stiller-Murphy audience was 35 years or older, while 95% of H&K‘s patrons were under 35. In CinemaScore’s polling of early moviegoers, both films pulled a B.

Among indie films, Like Crazy expanded to 16 theaters in its second weekend and attracted $270,000, for a $450,000 10-day total, which is somewhere between sane and sensational, while Martha Marcy May Marlene passed the $1 million mark with $471,000 on 98 screens in its third frame. The big new film was The Son of No One, starring Channing Tatum, Al Pacino, Katie Holmes and Tracy Morgan, but all that marquee firepower fizzled: the film took in less than $20,000 in 11 venues.

China to step up social media censorship

China has vowed to intensify controls on social media and instant messaging tools, in the highest-level official response to the extraordinary surge in microblogging in the country.

The communique from the Communist party central committee follows growing boldness among users, who have discussed sensitive topics, highlighted scandals and attacked official abuses or inefficiency.

This summer's high-speed rail crash in Wenzhou led to an outpouring of fury on microblogs about the handling of the disaster. That spilled over into mainstream media.

China already has the most extensive and sophisticated internet control system in the world. But censors have struggled to keep up with the flow of information on popular microblogs. The number of registered users on domestic services reached 195 million by the end of June, triple the figure of six months earlier, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre.

"This [communique] is what we have been waiting for; there have been signs for weeks now," said David Bandurski, of Hong Kong University's China Media Project. "It is important, but it does not tell us exactly what's going to happen. It sends the signal: 'Everyone watch out'.

"Usually [these kind of directives] are followed by some more concrete actions, but it's often very difficult to draw a line between a government policy flare like this and a particular action because control is a constant in China."

Communiques are a way for senior leaders to stress their priorities. "Strengthen guidance and administration of social internet services and instant communications tools, and regulate the orderly dissemination of information," said the document, carried in the official People's Daily newspaper and by the state news agency Xinhua. "Apply the law to sternly punish the dissemination of harmful information."

Microbloggers reacted with predictable disdain. One, using the name Luse Zhuren, wrote: "Good culture will all disappear if opinion keeps being guided."

Another, Wu Sanfan, warned: "I faintly feel that weibo (microblogging services), this big tea house where ordinary people speak with freedom, will hang a wooden board up saying 'No talk about the country's politics'."

Content is already blocked or deleted from services. But censors have found it hard to match the speed at which news can spread on microblogs or the way that users evade controls, such as by using euphemisms or homophones to refer to sensitive issues.

Analysts believe that officials will not shut down social media sites because they are simply too popular, and closing them would create a backlash. Chinese authorities have sought to use social media proactively, launching their own accounts.

Instead, they are likely to step up pressure on the operators, who have large in-house teams of staff to monitor, block and remove sensitive content.

"The more important risk we see for Sina Weibo and other [microblogs] is that they self-regulate out of business [interests] … and that they self-neuter and that makes the platform so boring no one wants to use it," said Michael Clendenin, managing director of RedTech Advisors, a research company.

Separately, Xinhua reported on Tuesday that authorities were stepping up efforts to prevent the spread of rumours online and punish those who share them. It cited a statement from the State Internet Information Office. The document said three people, including a website editor, had been punished for spreading rumours, with one Shanghai resident held by local police for 15 days. He had apparently posted a falsified tax document.

The internet portal editor, surnamed Pei, was apparently given a warning by his employer after microblogging about an air force fighter crash? without confirming the source and facts?

Sir Alex Ferguson feels the pain of his 'worst-ever day'

The word Sir Alex Ferguson used was "shattered". The last time Manchester United were humbled so comprehensively by Manchester City, a 5-1 defeat at Maine Road in September 1989, Ferguson went home and lay for hours with his head buried under a pillow. This 6-1 defeat will certainly have hurt even more. "I can't believe it," he said. "It's our worst-ever day."

United have not lost this heavily at home to City since 1926. One more goal for Roberto Mancini's team would have equalled United's worst home defeat, inflicted by Newcastle United the following year. As for Ferguson, his record books have been scarred forever. "It's the worst result in my history, ever," he said. "Even as a player I don't think I ever lost 6-1. It's an incredible disappointment."

Mancini tried to play down the achievement when he was asked whether United's first home defeat in 38 games represented one of the more satisfying results of his career. "No," he replied, "I'm satisfied because we beat United away and I don't think there are a lot of teams that could win here. But in the end there are only three points – we don't take six points."

But this felt like far more than just another win. Darren Fletcher described United's performance as "naive" and Ferguson accused the 10 men of being carried away by United's history of improbable comebacks.

"It was hard to believe we were 1-0 down but that's retrievable. The sending off [of Jonny Evans] was the killer blow. After that, we kept attacking. It's all right playing the history books but common sense has to come into it. When we went to 3-1, 4-1 we should have settled for that. We kept attacking and we should have just said: 'We've had our day.' But our two full-backs were playing like wingers. At times it was two versus three at the back. And that was suicidal, crazy."

Mancini had generous words for the beaten side. "This is important for our confidence but we should appreciate the mentality United have. United are too strong for this [to affect them]. They know, like me, there are only three points and this is only one game."

United, he said, are "still one yard above us. We can change this only after we win the title. After that, maybe it will be different but, for now, United are still better than us."

Mancini could afford to laugh at Mario Balotelli's latest self-inflicted controversy, the striker's house catching fire after he and four friends let off fireworks from a bathroom window in the early hours of Saturday.

"If we want to talk about Mario as a football player, I'd put him in the first five players in the world," City's manager said. "The problem is his age. He is young and he can make mistakes.

"As a player, he is incredible and I hope for him, and for football in general, we arrive at the day when Mario has completely changed his mentality because, after that, he becomes one of the best three players in the world, like [Lionel] Messi, like Cristiano Ronaldo."

The message Balotelli revealed on his T-shirt – "Why always me?" – after scoring the first of his two goals summed it up. "It's Mario," Mancini said. "He's crazy. But I love him because he's a good guy. I don't know what happened with the fireworks. The good thing is he was not hurt. But all I know is that he is sleeping at a hotel now."

The day ended in angry scenes outside Old Trafford, with missiles thrown at the car taking the Glazer family away from the stadium.

"We have to recover," Ferguson said. "In the history of Manchester United this is another day and we will recover. But that kind of defeat will make an impact on the players. There's a lot of embarrassment in that dressing room and quite rightly so."

Ferguson once derided the modern-day City as being "all talk". Now he has hard evidence that Mancini's team are the most serious threat to United's title hopes. "People call us the noisy neighbours," Micah Richards, the City right-back, said. "Well, here we are."

Parliamentary researcher 'used four-year affair with Lib Dem MP to gather intelligence for Russia', immigration tribunal hears

An alleged Russian spy yesterday admitted a four-year relationship with a married Liberal Democrat MP - but denied she was a honey-trap sent to snoop on Britain.
Katia Zatuliveter, 26, also had a string of affairs or 'flirtations' with other political figures including a Nato official and a Dutch diplomat.
She is accused of trying to access secret defence information from Mike Hancock, for whom she worked as an aide.
She admitted opening his 'private and confidential' defence select committee letters, and allegedly influenced questions he asked in Parliament.
Yesterday she launched an appeal against Government efforts to deport her and insisted she was not a Russian agent.
Miss Zatuliveter told a hearing that she first met Mr Hancock in 2006 when she was 21 and studying international relations at St Petersburg University.
He attended a conference in the city and she was assigned to ‘chaperone’ him.
On the night they met she resisted his advances after they went for a drink in the lobby of his hotel, she said.
'He told me he wanted to sleep with me. He went up to his room and he brought a CD and some money,' she said.
She refused to sleep with him or take the money. 'He made it very clear from the beginning he was interested in me. He tried to kiss me. He was very charming during this time.
'I was not getting much attention from men during this period.'

Later she travelled to Moscow to meet him, but told the court her intention was to practise her English before an exam and not to sleep with him.
Jonathan Glasson, for the Home Office, said: ‘The real motivation was so you could develop a sexual relationship wasn’t it?’
She replied: ‘I could prepare to do an exam in St Petersburg or I could go and spend a few days with a native speaker.’

Mr Glasson went on: ‘You knew exactly what was going to happen didn’t you, and it didn’t have anything to do with practising your English? It was to develop a relationship with Mr Hancock.’ She answered: ‘No it wasn’t.’
Their relationship began in June 2006, and that year Miss Zatuliveter moved to Britain.
She said she worked part time for Mr Hancock three or four days a month and applied for, and was given, a Parliamentary pass. In 2008 she began working for him full time as a Parliamentary researcher, with access to his Parliamentary email account.
She then moved in with Mr Hancock at his central London flat, where she opened weekly correspondence from the select committee including letters marked ‘private and confidential’. She said: ‘I was able to read them, but I was not interested.’

But Mr Glasson said: ‘You have been reporting from Londongrad, from the heart of British democracy, the UK Parliament.
‘You were much more than a researcher for a backbencher MP. You have ensured that the Russian Intelligence services have eyes and ears in the House of Commons, you were someone who would ensure that questions were asked in Parliament.’
He added: ‘You were pleased to be getting attention from a man who was in a powerful and influential position?’
She replied: ‘I know he is not particularly powerful, he is a back bench MP – why are you trying to portray him as a senior government minister?’
Giving evidence before a panel of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, which will rule whether she can stay in the country, Miss Zatuliveter claimed she had no idea the Portsmouth South MP was married until the end of their affair.
But she admitted taking money from him.
Lawyers for the Security Service claim she knew Mr Hancock was a womaniser and used that knowledge to get close to him. Mr Glasson said Mr Hancock was ‘potentially vulnerable’ to the Russian intelligence services because allegations of his extra-marital affairs ‘have circulated for many years’ and were published in the British press.
Miss Zatuliveter denied any knowledge of this. Later, she said he told her he had an ex-girlfriend in Moscow.
The court heard her role was a ‘dream job for a Russian’.
The hearing was also told that Mr Hancock was chairman of the All Parliamentary Group on Russia.
And it heard that Miss Zatuliveter had contact with a suspected Russian spy – given the name ‘Boris’ by the court – who has since been expelled from Britain.
‘He was a Russian intelligence officer, wasn’t he?’ Mr Glasson said.
She replied: ‘That’s what I was told by MI5, so I don’t know it’s true.

'But they also said that I was, so I don’t know.’
She claimed she broke off contact with Boris on Mr Hancock’s advice after he tried to arrange a meeting with her.
Miss Zatuliveter said there was ‘no truth’ in MI5’s allegation that she was an agent for the Russian intelligence services by April 2006.
She added: ‘I am innocent and I don’t believe I should be deported without having done anything.
'I am legally here, I have a work permit until August 2012.’
She was served with deportation notice in December 2010.
The hearing continues.

Big Brother bin searches double in a single year as councils snoop through the rubbish of 30,000 families

Council snoopers went through the bins of more than 30,000 families last year.
The figure was double that of the previous year, despite a Coalition pledge to stamp out the intrusive practice.
It was revealed in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Daily Mail.
We can reveal that inspectors are building up a disturbingly detailed profile of families’ lives by rifling through their rubbish in secret.
In some cases, they divide the contents into 13 main categories and 52 sub-categories of waste.
Councils claim it is so householders can be targeted for future recycling efforts such as leafleting campaigns.
But campaigners fear this data could be passed to other departments such as health or social services.
The audits, which are held on a database, can reveal an extraordinarily sophisticated portrait from what sort of foods are eaten and what kind of goods are bought in a particular street.
Inspectors, often hired in from the private sector, check supermarket labels, types of unwanted food – and even examine the contents of discarded mail.
Councils were accused yesterday of using Big Brother tactics to ‘spy on residents with alarming frequency and for ever more spurious reasons’.
Nick Pickles, director of the privacy and civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, added: ‘Councils need to come clean with what they are doing with the results of these surveys.
'It would be unacceptable for details to be kept of the contents of individual households’ bins, or any link to be made with other council records.’
In some areas the covert analysis is so sophisticated that specific streets are targeted to provide data on certain types of people, based on their social and economic backgrounds.
Council chiefs claim an analysis of the rubbish allows them to look at trends in a particular street and work out where resources should be spent to increase recycling rates.
In 2010 a total of 40 local authorities in England either carried out their own survey or commissioned researchers to do it for them.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has already banned councils from fining families who inadvertently put rubbish in the wrong bin. A source close to him said he was opposed to councils secretly rifling through people’s bins ‘as a matter of principle’.
In North Lincolnshire the council commissioned a study of waste from homes in its area to target specific types of households.
Families in parts of Scunthorpe were classed as being in ‘Municipal Dependency’ – characterised by living in large council estates, watching a lot of television and having low incomes and low aspirations.
In contrast the inhabitants of parts of nearby Bottesford were classed as being in ‘Suburban Comfort’.
The audit found that the poorer families threw out three times as much rubbish as the richer households.
Poorer homes were also more likely to have overflowing bins and discard more items that could have been recycled.
The inspectors even analysed electrical items which were thrown out and found the richer homes had discarded hedge trimmers, a watch, a calculator and a set of hair tongs.
The poorer households had jettisoned a vacuum cleaner, hair straighteners and a TV remote control among other items.
Other councils which conducted surveys included Coventry, Reading, Birmingham, Wigan, Calderdale in West Yorkshire and Surrey. Emma Boon of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said it ‘beggared belief’ that councils had increased spending on intrusive waste audits at a time of cuts.
‘Residents paying council tax expect to have their bins collected on time and regularly. They don’t anticipate that money will be spent on bin snoopers, rifling through their rubbish.’
David Parsons, chairman of the Local Government Association’s environment board, said: ‘From time to time it may be necessary to check that waste is not being thrown in recycling bins and contaminating recyclables which people have diligently separated.
‘A recent slight increase in contamination rates demonstrates why it is important for councils to be able to identify and work with people who misunderstand or make mistakes when sorting their rubbish.’

SIX-FOOT wasps nest grows over garden centre shelf stacked with insect killer

A six-foot-long wasps nest inhabited by thousands of the creatures grew over a garden centre shelf stacked with insect killer.
The giant nest ballooned over the course of six months at the Avery Garden Centre in Taunton, Somerset - watched by manager Alan Avery, who was untroubled by his new workmates.
The 63-year-old gardener said: 'There were thousands of wasps in the nest, but amazingly I only got stung once.
'I got a bit too close to one of the guards and they stung me on the head so I didn't go too near it again.
'When I look back at the size of the nest in the pictures, I'm glad they didn't take a dislike to me.'
Mr Avery found the nest in his storage room in April. He decided to let them stay as long as they 'didn't cause any problems'.
'The funny thing is they chose to build the nest above the bug killer,' he added.
'The size in the photos doesn't do it justice. It was actually bigger - I'd say it was about six-foot in length.
'We said that if they caused problems we'd get rid of them but they didn't cause any bother at all.'
Last year, another six-foot wasps nest was found in the attic of a Southampton pub. It was verified by Oxford University experts as the biggest example recorded in Britain.
The average wasps nest is about 15 times smaller, containing 4,000 to 5,000 wasps - but colonies have been known to reach populations of 20,000.
Their nests tend to break down once Autumn arrives.
There have been plenty of wasps around this summer, as last year's balmy summer and autumn meant there were more wasp colonies started.
An icy winter provided the perfect environment for hibernation and a warm spring encouraged the wasp population to grow rapidly.

SUNDERLAND BOSS STEVE BRUCE FACES THE AXE

SUNDERLAND manager Steve Bruce is hanging on to his job by a thread.
Fears that he could be the first Premier League manager to be sacked this season mounted last night amid speculation that Martin O’Neill has been sounded out about succeeding him.

It is understood the approach to O’Neill was made three weeks ago, but went no further because the Irishman would not consider it while Bruce was still in the job.

But with Bruce’s big ally, Niall Quinn, now replaced as chairman by US owner Ellis Short – and no sign of Sunderland’s poor start to the season ending – a new move appears to be on the cards for the former Celtic and Aston Villa boss, who is now also being linked with his old club, Nottingham Forest.

Short, a Texas billionaire, has ploughed ￡100million into the club and backed Bruce heavily in the transfer market. But he has been bitterly disappointed by the team’s early-season failures, particularly the 1-0 home defeat by Newcastle.

Now Short’s unexpected jump into the chairman’s hotseat is seen as a desperate move to try to halt Sunderland’s slide.

And with just one win so far, Bruce, who signed 12 players during the close season, is now fighting to save his job.

This is despite claims by Quinn, who has taken on a new role in charge of the club’s “global development”, that Bruce will be given more time.

Bruce will, however, need to get something from both his next two games – away to Arsenal and Bolton – to stay out of the firing line.
His plight is echoed by punters and as a result he is now 7-2 second favourite behind Blackburn’s Steve Kean in the bookies’ list to be first in the Premier League sack race.

Sunderland have had a string of poor results stretching back to last Christmas. Towards the end of a disappointing campaign last season they picked up only one point in nine games, which led to Bruce being vilified by Black Cats fans.

Selling Darren Bent to Aston Villa for ￡24m – which signalled a freefall in the club’s fortunes last season – and Jordan Henderson (￡20m) to Liverpool in the summer have also attracted widespread criticism.

In the meantime, the under-fire boss has had several fallouts with high-profile players as well. Record ￡13m signing Asamoah Gyan now refuses to talk to Bruce after angrily refuting the manager’s claims that his recent shock loan move to the Arab Emirates club, Al Ain, was driven by money.

Another recent departure, defender Anton Ferdinand, also claimed that Bruce had pushed him out of the club and into a move to QPR because he had earlier refused to join the Ukrainian club Dnipro.

And Marcos Angeleri, the Argentinian international full-back for whom Bruce paid Estudiantes ￡1.5m, claims he has been frozen out by the manager.

Angeleri, who returned to Argentina for treatment on a knee injury, has made only three appearances since joining the club 18 months ago.

Meanwhile, the previously reclusive Short moved to calm fans’ fears but fell short of giving Bruce a vote of confidence. He said: “I can assure our fans that it’s the same group of people continuing to lead the club.”

Explaining Quinn’s new job, he added: “With financial fair play rules coming into effect, it is essential for the long-term success of the club that we develop interests on a global scale and there’s no one better than Niall to sell

the ethos of Sunderland to an international audience.” Whether the under-fire Bruce will be there to be part of it is looking more and more unlikely.

Steve Jobs, mort d'un génie

D'Apple, il était le visionnaire, le génie. Celui qui était devenu indissociable de la marque à la pomme. Celui qui était derrière l'iPhone et l'iPad.

Chacune de ses annonces dans la Silicon Valley, dans son sous pull noir à col roulé, était attendue par tout le monde de la high tech comme une nouvelle innovation capitale.

Mais mercredi soir, Steve Jobs aura du céder face à la maladie. Dans un communiqué publié vers 20 heures, heure de New York, Apple a annoncé que son co-fondateur était mort, à 56 ans .

La nouvelle n'a pas surpris ceux qui le connaissaient et tous les fans d'Apple. Jobs, qui se battait contre un cancer du pancréas depuis plusieurs années, avait pris un congé maladie en janvier dernier puis avait démissionné en ao?t de son poste de directeur général de la compagnie. Pour laisser la place à Tim Cook, son numéro deux.

L'histoire de Jobs est à la hauteur de sa légende. C'est dans un garage qu'il fabrique son premier ordinateur Apple, avec son compère Steve Wozniak, un passionné d'informatique. La marque à la pomme voit le jour le 1er avril 1976 et l'ordinateur sera mis en vente quelques semaines plus tard, au prix de 666, 66 dollars.

Jobs était un pionner, l'un des premiers à avoir introduit l'ordinateur personnel dans les foyers et à reconnaitre l'intérêt de la souris. Le premier ordinateur grand public commercialisé par Apple sera ainsi lancé en 1984 et sera baptisé le Macintosh.

Personnage singulier, il avait révélé un jour qu'un voyage en Inde en sac à dos et la consommation importante de drogues de toutes sortes, l'avaient aidé à créer "sa vision artistique".

Visionnaire à fort caractère, Jobs sera évincé d'Apple en 1986. Il créera alors les fameux studios Pixar, qu'il rachète à George Lucas. Pixar va devenir l'un des plus grands succès des studios d'animation à Hollywood avec des films comme "Toy Story", "Nemo" etc....

Puis Jobs revient dans la compagnie de Cupertino en 1996. Il sera alors le principal instigateur derrière la révolution d'Apple avec le lancement de l'iMac, de l'iPod, de l'iPhone et de l'iPad. Avec la création des comptes Itunes également qui offre une alternative payante au piratage de la musique sur Internet, il révolutionne le monde de la musique et créait un nouveau modèle économique.

Il y a quelques semaines, le New York Times avait salué Jobs comme l'un "des plus grands innovateurs de l'histoire moderne du capitalisme". "Un personnage d?té d'une intuition phénomènale", relevait le journal. Lors de sa dernière apparition publique, Jobs, toujours en sous pull noir et baskets, avait paru très frêle et à plusieurs reprises déjà, de nombreuses rumeurs avaient fait état de son décès.