US ELECTION: HOW CAN IT COST $6B?

The estimated price tag for the US elections in November is almost $6bn (£3.8bn). Why so much?”The sky is the limit here,” says Michael Toner, former chair of the US Federal Election Commission.”I don’t think you can spend too much.”

In a time of general belt-tightening, it may sound like a surprising argument, but Toner believes there should be more – not less – spending on US elections.

Anything that engages voters, and makes them more likely to turn out is, he says, a good thing.

“It’s very healthy in terms of American politics… it’s a symptom of a very vigorous election season, there’s a lot at stake here.”

On 6 November, Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, is set to challenge Barack Obama for the presidency, and polls suggest the margin between them could be wafer thin.

New figures just released by the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent research group which tracks money in politics, estimate the total cost of November’s elections (for the presidency, House of Representatives and Senate) will come in at $5.8bn (£3.7bn) – more than the entire annual GDP of Malawi, and up 7% on 2008.

It makes UK election spending look microscopic by comparison. A total of £31m ($49m) was spent by all parties in the last general election in the UK two years ago – making US spending 120 times as much, and 23 times as much per person.

“You could say we’ve gotten into a crazy world, where the cost of elections has sky-rocketed, and that we are in a wacko world of crazy spending,” says Michael Franz, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political ads.

But, he says, “it all depends what apples and oranges you want to compare”.

Franz argues that US elections are “relatively cheap” when compared with spending on, for example, the US military operation in Afghanistan.

Michael Toner has his own favourite analogy: “Americans last year spent over $7bn [£4.5bn] on potato chips – isn’t the leader of the free world worth at least that?”

Online campaigning is the biggest area of growth, but it still accounts for a relatively modest amount of money spent.

TV campaign ads reign supreme in the battle for votes (at least in terms of costs), eating up, it is estimated, over half of all campaign spending.

“People are carpet bombed,” says Philip Davies, director of the Eccles Centre for American Studies in London.

For some in the battleground states, where ads are most densely targeted, it can get a bit much.

“It’s extremely annoying,” says Katie Loiselle, a 26-year-old teacher living in Virginia, which used to be a safe win for the Republicans, but is now a crucial swing state.

Loiselle is one of the much-coveted undecided voters. She voted for Obama in 2008, but this time she is not sure.

In theory, she should be a plum candidate for persuasion. In practice, she does all she can to avoid what, over three months before election day, is already starting to feel like an onslaught.

“I’ll change my channel when they come on… I might start flipping through a magazine or talking to someone.

“It’s not like what they are going to say is going to rouse my intelligence. It just seems they are spending a whole lot of money bashing each other.

“I’m kind of dreading these upcoming months.”

It is the presidential debates in October, not the campaign ads, that will help inform her choice, she says.

But for voters like Katie Loiselle, it could be a case of nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Some experts believe that this year the amount of airspace in key target areas, could – quite literally – run out.

And it is not just the number of ads that is up, the tone has been raised too.

“The negativity is off the charts – 2008 is quaint by comparison. It’s approaching two-thirds of all the ads so far,” says Michael Franz.

It could hardly be more different in the UK where airtime for campaign ads is free – indeed you not allowed to buy it – and tightly limited.

In the last general election, the two main parties were allowed four or five party political broadcasts each in England , and six between Scotland and Wales – compared to hundreds of thousands of ads in the US .

It is nothing new for a US election to be “the most expensive ever” – there has been a clear and sharp upwards trend for decades.

This time the increase is driven by the Congressional elections. The presidential race itself will cost an estimated $2.5bn (£1.6bn), which is actually slightly down on the 2008 figure of $2.9bn (£1.9bn) – but this time only one party has held primaries to choose their candidate.

And one key factor likely to push spending up is the rise of the relatively new – but already infamous – Super Pacs, which are making their presidential election debut, and can spend as much as they like on political advertising, as long as they do not co-ordinate directly with the campaigns.

They are the “wild cards” in this election (in the words of the Center for Responsive Politics) and predicting how much they will end up spending is next to impossible.

Super Pacs are unpopular with voters, but there seems little chance of getting the rules changed – political spending by corporations and unions was classed as a form of free speech by the Supreme Court in 2010, and is therefore protected under the US Constitution.

Any effort to restrict such spending would, says Michael Toner, probably need a constitutional amendment, and – he says – this would be both “very difficult” and “highly ill-advised”.

The US does have a government-run public finance system designed to keep a lid on campaign spending. But both candidates have opted out of it this year, giving them free rein to spend as much as they like.

Obama was the first-ever presidential contender to opt out in 2008, and many experts say the extra money he spent in the final weeks was a significant factor in his victory over John McCain.

But they have to raise it to spend it, and in practice, this means an unrelenting schedule of fundraiser after fundraiser for both Obama and Romney.

Critics say this takes away from the time that candidates spend with the average (not so wealthy) voter, and in the case of a president, risks detracting attention from his day job of running the country.

The media tends to focus on fundraising figures, seeing this as one sign of the overall health of a campaign (Romney outraised Obama by $35m, £22m, in June for example).

But there is a school of thought which says that both money and campaigning matter less than we imagine.

It is the big picture that counts, not the nitty-gritty day-to-day stuff, argues James Campbell, chair of the political science department at the University at Buffalo .

“Every wheeze, misstep or gaffe, every little twist and turn, is heightened for the next day’s headlines,” he says.

He jokes: “It’s like reading a cardiogram and the lines spike up and down, and it’s like ‘Oh my God, is the patient still alive?’… We are trying to get a bit more perspective.”

Campbell , like a number of other political scientists, specialises in predicting election results, and says voters make their choice not so much on campaign ads or electioneering, but based on a few key “fundamentals” – the economy being the most important one.

It is very rare, he says, for a person to change their party affiliation, so the pool of persuadable voters is small, perhaps as little as around 2% or 3% he argues, once you exclude people who will not vote.

But in a close race, tiny margins can be the difference between winning and losing.

“The ads aren’t just trying to change the undecided,” says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and author Packaging the Presidency.

“Most of the time, they’re trying to mobilise their base.”

“Money matters,” she says starkly. “You would be giving up the election if you decided to stop advertising

Source: BBC

TALES OF PROSTITUTION,DRUG AT KURAMO VILLAGE

Kuramo village fell to ocean fury and the rage of  the Lagos State government last week. But tales of prostitution and drug peddling which defined its exixtence have come to the fore, as insiders recount, reports SAMUEL AWOYINFA

Kuramo Beach, to its residents, is escapism of some sorts. Besides its regular occupants, prostitutes and drug peddlers see the place as haven for their operations. It was like an island on its own.

For those who wanted to ‘feel high’ on illicit drug, Kuramo also gave them that illusion of being on top of their world. Kuramo offered unending music, blaring from speakers of numerous drinking joints that lined the ocean front.

But the music stopped early hours of Saturday, August 18, around 3:00am, when ocean surge, entombed a large section of the shanties and cabins. It was not only the shanties and cabins that fell casualties, about 16 persons were also swept away by the ocean rage.

By Sunday, the picture became clearer, as government agents moved in, and demolished the remaining shanties. As a result,  the residents have scattered. But some of them  still wished it were a bad dream that would soon go away. They were seen on  Wednesday still hanging around the Kuramo Beach extension.

Some of them lived there for over 10 years, and for those in this category, it is difficult, having another place to call a home. One of them, who pleaded anonymity, said Kuramo though offered them a shelter; it also played host to a lot other negative indulgences.

According to him, over 50 per cent of the inhabitants were prostitutes and they were the main attraction, given the number of men who trooped in, mostly at night.

He said, “The prostitutes are the main attraction in Kuramo village. They were there in all shapes and sizes. From 8:00pm, men would start arriving. Some after gulping some bottles of alcoholic drink, would face the commercial sex workers.

“Besides prostitution, drug also came handy here. Whatever it was you wanted. Is it marijuana or crack (cocaine)? They were available. A pinch sold for N250, a wrapper of marijuana is N50. Again, there was another form of marijuana, which a wrap sold for N200. That one was the concentrated type.

“And for those who wanted to enhance their sexual performance, there were those who sold the local aphrodisiac called Bura ntasi.”

This source who spoke fluent English, said the prostitutes who lived inside the cabins, where they paid between N800 -N1000 daily, depending on the size of the room, were however, conscious of being infected with HIV/AIDS, as they insisted their clients must put on condoms. But he however, added that they had perfected some tricks, in which they swindled some unsuspecting clients.

The source said,“These prostitutes had agents, and the agents normally lurked around. As soon as any man entered the room with any of them, he would be asked to hang his trousers by the window. As soon as the client got carried away by the sexual ecstasy, the agent stealthily picked the trousers from outside, and emptied the money and valuables therein.

“Many patrons of prostitutes here had lost their valuables in that manner”. According to him, the prostitutes charged between N500 -N1000, and all depending on negotiation skills of the client.

“Kuramo ran on 24 hours basis, it hadly went to sleep.”

One of the former inhabitants, Mr. Samuel Adebayo could not be bothered about sex hawkers and their antics.

His concern was where he would start his tailoring business again. Having lived in Kuramo for over 10 years, and being thrown out under three hours, had left him puzzled for now. He was among those seen at the Bar Beach sea front, about 100 metres from Kuramo, on Wednesday.

He denounced the claim of the Ministry of Waterfront  Infrastructure that they were given four days notice.

“I had lived in Kuramo Beach for over 10 years, it was not true that there was any notice. It was on Sunday (August 19) morning that the DPO of Bar Beach police station led his men to this place and told everyone to come out.

“We were given only two hours to pack our belongings. How many things could one pack in two hours? So, some of us only took a fraction of what we have, before the caterpillar moved in,” he said.

He recollected that there were about 110 cabins, and they paid for everything there. “There was no water, no toilets and no bathrooms. We bought water at the rate of N50 per bucket. To bath, one would pay N100, and to use the toilet, it attracted N100.”

On his own part, Mr. Laja Obasi, who said he was a security man at Kuramo, also said he lived there for almost 11 years, and he was almost regretting it.

Obasi who explained that he earned N3,000 per week, stressed that his fear was how to get another job.

Himself and his colleagues were for now, living at the mercy of friends and passers-by. He moaned, “I’m still fit to work as security man, but who can employ me?”  He suffers a limp in one of his legs.”

Another former resident, who simply preferred to be addressed as Prince, said he was a tourism promoter at the beach front, and all that had gone with the wind. Dressed in a jeans trousers and ash-coloured sweater, he said he was in the business of making those who visited the beach comfortable, providing them good drinks and accommodation.

As at Wednesday, Prince was still in a quandary about the way forward.  “I really want to retrace my steps by going back to God in a seven-day prayer and fasting,” he began. “After that, I will now decide what next to do. I have two options -either to raise money for my young wife to start business, because I had been the one shouldering the family’s burden or buy a car which I will be using to do kabukabu.”

The commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure, Mr. Olusegun Oniru, who visited the site on Monday reiterated that a four-day warning was given to traders and residents. He said, “It is not that we waited for this disaster to happen before we started acting. We gave them a four-day warning of the looming ocean surge and high waves but they wouldn’t listen. It is rather unfortunate that they waited for nature to force them out.”

Oniru added that the state government was faced with an Herculean task, because some of the residents, had no place to go. Some have constructed some shanties, directly in waterfront at the Bar Beach, and inside and outside where they kept their wares and personal effects.

Besides, some traders who were equally dislodged displayed their wares inside their buses and cars.

While most of the residents and traders ruled out compensation of any kind, some of them were still bogged down by uncertainty of their future.

FG REVIEWS NATIONAL GENDER POLICY

The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina, has said the review of the National Gender Policy 2006 and its strategic implementation will bring the much-needed peace and development in Nigeria.

In a statement after a National Stakeholders Forum on Friday, the minister said the exercise would enable the administration to fine-tune its priorities on women development and gender balance in national life.

According to her, the much-needed peace and development in Nigeria would only be achieved with a quality investment in women and girls, whom she described as the nation’s hidden treasures and resources.

“This review therefore, is another major step to further build a true platform for the development and real empowerment of women and other vulnerable members in our society,” Maina said.

She added that the current administration under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan, had demonstrated unflinching commitment to ensuring that men and women have equal rights and opportunities in all spheres.

“As we undergo this phase of our policy document review, all stakeholders are being presented with another opportunity to note and correct the past wrongs,” she said.

The Permanent Secretary, George Afamefuna, also said the exercise was long overdue.

“This meeting is coming up six years after its adoption as a transformation agenda to engineer social change and women’s empowerment in Nigeria. We need to review the policy implementation so as to identify gaps, challenges and evolve strategies to strengthen it,” he said.

He stated that the review process was a practical demonstration of the ministry’s quest to promote not only the advancement of women but gender equity and equality in Nigeria.

“The ministry expects that this review will carry all stakeholders along and facilitate a better operational policy document and create an environment for government to develop mechanisms that will assist in the achievement of the national goal of gender equality,” he added

‘ODESHI’



Sunday, 26 August 2012

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Home » Commentary » Columnists

 By Olu W. Onemola

I often find that the analogies I use to convey ideas stem from my past conversations. I remember sitting in the backseat of a car earlier this week in Abuja, daydreaming, yet still conscious of the multiple-lane, mile-long queue that began at the gate of a closed filling station. I remember seeing all sorts of vehicles, from the relatively infamous, oft maligned, evolved Okadas – the Keke Napeps; to the Peugeots driven by chauffeurs that work for the federal ministries; all the way to Danfo buses that were only occupied by their drivers. Although the aforementioned vehicles were the most conspicuous in the random motorcade of motionless vehicles, there were a host of others, driven by all kinds of drivers that embodied the diversity of the Nigerian people.

One thing in particular that struck me on this particular afternoon, was the fact that although businessmen in Lexus’ waited patiently alongside commercial taxi drivers in Toyotas, and civil servant mothers in their parked SUVS, perspired next to spinsters in their beat-up 1999 Honda Accords, on this particular day, they all had one thing in common – their facial expressions spelled ‘frustration.’

As we inched across the motorway – which was congested because of the extra cars that congested the driving lanes, I began to think of Nigeria in terms of cars. Specifically, a Danfo, as a ride on such a bus usually involved passengers sitting next to a vast array of people – in other words Nigeria and its many interlocking, yet separate tribes. As I thought more about the analogy, and grappled with the idea of many of our leaders being uncooperative drivers and shady conductors, it dawned on me that the same rules that govern passengers that are being driven to unknown locations against their will, also applies to citizens who are held captive by the inability of their government to adequately provide basic twenty-first century necessities like constant power in our homes and places of work, clean water in our taps, tarred roads in our cities, and most importantly, security.

After a while, I played with the idea of the passengers assertively demanding that the driver take the right course, or electing one of their own to take the wheel. At that moment, I turned to the little 14-year old who was seated beside me at the back of the car and I portrayed the analogy to her, ending with the question: “What if we finally made explicit demands of the driver, instead of just waiting for him to comply? What if we finally take the wheel?” The 14-year old in question is a lot more politically astute than many of her peers, and when I was done speaking, she casually raised her hand and pointed out the window and said: “Really? How do you expect Nigerians to take the wheel if there is no fuel in the country?”
Honestly speaking, her response had me cracking up in the car that day, as it was hilarious, simple and true. Yet, it was not simpleminded. The 14-year old was right, there was definitely a scarcity of fuel in parts of the country, and even though in a literal sense, she meant that there was no gasoline in town, symbolically, Nigerians are still without an adequate source of fuel to propel them into action. This ‘lack’ of fuel clearly does not originate from a lack of problems in our country, but by the seemingly impenetrable resilience of our people.

What I mean by this is that almost at every turn, while performing even the most routine tasks in Nigeria, we are weighed down by unnecessary complexities ranging from our friends at PHCN taking light, to our friends in law enforcement taking bribes. It is as if these issues that blatantly plague us are not enough to have us stop, look around us, and carefully examine our individual predicaments, in an effort to demand practical answers and positive change. More than anything, it seems like the more hiccups and setbacks we experience, the more ‘Odeshi’ we become.

I use ‘Odeshi’ in the Bakassi Boys sense. In other words, instead of taking a bullet and bleeding each time we are hit by problems, Nigerians always seem to be unmoved by our daily bullets. Think about this for a second: picture our problems as a hunter in the forest with a rifle, searching for prey. As luck would have it, he stumbles upon a colony of rabbits. Each rabbit is close enough for him to shoot at point-blank range. This particular problem is great marksman, but, in order not to miss his shot and scare of all the other rabbits, he picks a target, steadies himself, holds his breath, and takes the shot. “Bulls eye!” he thinks to himself. But, once the gunpowder clears, the rabbit he picked, which should have been hit, remains unperturbed and continues about its rabbit business. Even more baffling, is that the other rabbits around it also continue about their rabbit business not paying any attention to the hunter. If you were the hunter, what would you do in this situation? More likely than not, take another shot. Then another. And another. Personally, I would keep on shooting until one of the rabbits in question gets the message. In other words, all our problems are interrelated.

Now, suppose all the huntsman’s bullets miss their target after his chamber is empty, what do you think he would do? I can only speak for myself, but personally, if I was the hunter, I would run back to the village, gather all my hunter friends (with their guns and extra ammunition), find the spot where I found the rabbits, and try to have a ‘rabbit free-for-all.’ Problems tend to magnify, when they are not dealt with.

Think of Nigeria as the colony of rabbits. We are peaceful people, who only want to go about finding our daily bread (or grass in the case of the rabbits). Suddenly, a big bothersome hunter comes along and starts shooting at us. From his perspective, the bullets are missing their target, but what we see on the ground is much different. To our left, one of our brothers has a bullet lodged in his little rabbit toe, but he just keeps on going about his rabbit business. To our right, another one of our sisters has also been hit, but she brushes it off and says: “Odeshi. It could be worse.” Then all of a sudden he brings all his friends, and they too start shooting at us – and eventually we all have a bullet or two lodged in our bodies, and they are still shooting at us. But because this is our little rabbit territory, and this is our land, we do not run away, we cannot fight back. I mean, after all, we are only rabbits. Or, are we?

Nigerians, how many more of the huntsman’s bullets do we have to take to understand that eventually, something has to break or bleed if he and his friends keep shooting at us? More importantly, what will it take to make us realize that we are not rabbits, but lions – that is why we can endure the pain of a few little bullets? When are we going to realize that yes, they have the weapons, but we have the numbers? If there were no prey, there would be no hunters. If there were no apathetic people, there would be no blatantly corrupt and shamelessly ineffective leaders.

Yes, we have all taken a lot more than our own fair share of bullets. As lions who often behave like rabbits, we have let a few hunters fire shots from weak weapons at us. Now that we know what we are capable of, now that we are frustrated about getting hit at every turn with bullet upon bullet – there should not be a scarcity of fuel to wake us up and ignite our latent but fierce fire. We need to come together and roar.

What will we do? Better yet, what will you do? Will you just continue to wait in line until the gates of the filling station open up so you can fill your tank and drive around anytime there is fuel scarcity? What is going to happen when you finally exhaust your gasoline? Will you do the same thing over and over again? Come back and wait in line, again? For a few more hours or days, like you did the last time, or the time before that. Or will you choose to do something different this time? Yes, you can say “Odeshi” and let this minor infraction slide, again. You can say, I will choose to deal with it tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. But at the same time, you can choose to be proactive. You can choose to start by taking baby steps. This week, let’s challenge ourselves and spread this message. Let us all find the numbers of our elected representatives in the National Assembly. Let us pick up a phone and call, or even send a text message (if it is a mobile number). For those of us that are able to, let us (try to) schedule meetings with our elected representatives, and let them know peacefully but surely, that we are tired of them taking implicit, explicit, deliberate or unintentional shots at us through their actions or inaction. Let them know that it is time that they begin to see us as more than just bulletproof rabbits who can take a bullet, and more like lions that are ready to bare our teeth and roar, if they do not put their guns away and get to work.

11 PERSONS DIED IN YOBE FLOOD AND ABOUT 200 HOUSES DESTROY

A top government source has just informed SaharaReporters that at least 11 persons died two days ago in a flood that swept through Gashua, Yobe State. Our source said the flood “drowned some parts of Gashua town,” leaving hundreds of residents homeless. The flooding was caused by a heavy downpour that occurred in the area.

Our source added that nearly 200 houses were destroyed. He stated that property damage had not been estimated, but suggested that it would be substantial.

Our correspondent learnt that the torrential rainfall had also caused flooding problems in other parts of Yobe as well as in Bauchi and Jigawa states.

The traditional ruler of Gashua, Abubakar Umar Suleiman, disclosed that his aides were advising residents to refrain from discarding their garbage in drainages. In addition, he stressed the need for residents to keep their environment clean in order to reduce the severe effects of flooding after heavy downpours.

Abdullahi Bego, a spokesman for Governor Ibrahim Geidam, said the government had set up a committee on the flood. He said he was in no position yet to say the exact number of casualties, adding that the committee would soon submit its findings.

Source: SarahaReporters

SAMSUNG TO PAY APPLE,$1B

A US jury has ruled for electronics giant Apple in its huge smartphone patent infringement case involving South Korean competitor Samsung.

Samsung has vowed to appeal the verdict all the way to the US Supreme Court if need be, arguing that Apple’s patents for such “obvious” things as rounded rectanglar shapes were wrongly granted. A September 20 hearing is scheduled.

After a year of fierce litigation, a jury decided on Friday that Samsung copied the innovative technology used by Apple to create its iPhone and iPad devices.

Samsung has been ordered to pay $1.051bn to Apple in damages, according to the verdict reached by the jury in San Jose, California.

In its legal case filed last year, Apple Inc had demanded $2.5bn while accusing Samsung of copying the design technology of iPhones and iPads. Samsung had also filed counterclaims, accusing Apple of infringing on some of its wireless patents.

During closing arguments at the trial, Samsung attorney Charles Verhoeven called Apple’s demand ridiculous and asked the jury to award Samsung $399 million in connection with the countersuits.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Alfred Siew, a Singapore-based technology reporter, said that the patents the iOS-maker has accused Samsung of deliberately copying were too general.

These are “really generic patents – the shape of a phone, the design to unlock a screen – these are really generic types of patents that could very easily be infringed by many companies”, Siew said.

The two companies lead the $219bn market for smartphones and computer tablets. They are enmeshed in similar legal cases in the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia.

In a statement released after the verdict was read, Samsung called the decision “a loss for the American consumer” because it would stifle innovation and push up prices.

“This is not the final word in this case or in battles being waged in courts and tribunals around the world, some of which
have already rejected many of Apple’s claims,” the statement said.

Referring to the nature of Apple’s claims, Siew told Al Jazeera that it was indeed true that “consumers now probably have even less of a choice than before” as both firms accounted for nearly half of all mobile phone sales in the world.

The verdict could lead to an outright ban on sales of key Samsung products, and may solidify Apple’s dominance of the smartphone and mobile computing market.

Apple said after the verdict that it would be filing a sales injunction against Samsung within the next seven days.

However, referring to a case in which Apple lost a similar case against fellow Android phone-maker HTC, Siew said “this ruling is quite unique to the US”, and that Samsung was still free to sell its products in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

A number of companies such as Samsung that sell smartphones based on Google’s Android operating system may now face further legal challenges from Apple, a company that is already among the largest and most profitable in business history.

The jury deliberated for less than three days before delivering the verdict on seven Apple patent claims and five Samsung patent claims.

Shares in Apple, which just this week became the biggest company by market value in history, climbed almost two per cent to a record high of $675 in after-hours trade.

Brian Love, a Santa Clara law school professor, described it as a crushing victory for Apple: “This is the best-case scenario Apple could have hoped for.”

He said that Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the case, could potentially triple Apple’s damages award, since the jury found that Samsung had “willfully” infringed on five of seven patents. 

Apple’s position was that Samsung had willfully copied its products when designing its own range of tablets and Android-powered smartphones. Samsung’s lawyers argued that Apple did not have patent rights over rectangular devices with large screens and rounded corners.

Earlier on Friday, a South Korean court found that both companies shared blame, ordering Samsung to stop selling 10
products including its Galaxy S II phone and banning Apple from selling four different products, including its iPhone 4.
But the trial on Apple’s home turf – the world’s largest and most influential technology market – is considered the most
important.

The companies are rivals, but also have a $5 billion-plus supply relationship. Apple is Samsung’s biggest customer for microprocessors and other parts central to Apple’s devices.

Earlier this year, sales of Samsung’s smartphones outstripped Apple’s for the first time. Together, the two companies account for more than half of all global smartphone sales.

WAYNE ROONEY OUT FOR FOUR WEEKS DUE TO INJURY

Wayne Rooney faces at least four weeks on the sidelines after picking up a badly gashed knee at the end of Saturday’s game against Fulham. The striker will miss England’s World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine next month as a result of being caught by Hugo Rodallega’s studs as the pair challenged for the same ball following a free-kick.

“It’s a very bad one, he’s gone straight to hospital,” Sir Alex Ferguson said. Several players near the incident on the pitch recoiled in horror at the sight of the gaping wound, but the injury is thought to be just a deep cut, with no added complications. “I don’t know quite what happened, I think the player followed through and caught him but Wayne is going to be missing for maybe four weeks,” the United manager said. “It was just an accident.”

If Manchester United are going to have to manage without Rooney during September they made a start on Saturday. The England man began the game on the bench, with Robin van Persie up front and Shinji Kagawa just behind him, and each managed their first goals for the club in a 3-2 win. Van Persie’s equaliser was probably the pick of United’s goals, an unanswerable left-foot half-volley that gave the Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer little chance after Patrice Evra had sent over a cross from the left.

“It was a fantastic goal from Robin to get off the mark,” Ferguson said. “It was his first full game for us and he will develop a better understanding with the other players as time goes on. That goal lifted the team, from that moment on we played very, very well, but instead of winning by four or five goals, as we should have done, we gave away a goal in the second half through bad defending and suddenly it became a match again when it should never have been a match.

“Once again it was all a bit too nervy as the end when we should have been in easy street.”

Martin Jol, the Fulham manager, actually agreed with Ferguson about United being up to half-a-dozen goals better. “We had a good win last week, put playing here is a little bit different to playing at home against Norwich,” he said. “Even though we scored an early goal we were still not full of confidence, and United played so well in the first half I thought it might be a really bad day for us. We just couldn’t keep up with Tom Cleverley and Anderson, but we managed to win the second half 1-0, so it was a game of two totally different halves.”

Ferguson did not dispute that Fulham came back strongly in the second period – David de Gea made a save from Bryan Ruiz in stoppage time to help atone for his earlier mistake in presenting the visitors with a goal to get back into the game – though he did feel the visitors should have been down to 10 men at that point.

“Brede Hangeland should have been sent off for his tackle from behind on Van Persie,” the United manager said. “It was a terrible challenge, and the rules are very clear, but because he had already been booked and would have had to be dismissed, the referee let him off. I was very disappointed with that. It was a great game and I am sure everyone enjoyed it, but the one bad feature was poor refereeing.”