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.