Double dose of F1 Americana thrills Bernie Ecclestone

The Formula One map is set for more change with the confirmation of plans to host a street-circuit race in the state of New Jersey, with the Manhattan skyline as its backdrop.

Bernie Ecclestone has been trying to break into the Big Apple since before his Beatles haircut turned white and now, with Austin, Texas, scheduled to host a race next year and New Jersey set to join the calendar in 2013, the ringmaster will have two footholds in the US.

"I'm pleased that New Jersey will play host to Formula One beginning 2013, bringing one of the world's most popular and exciting sports right to our backyard," the governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, said on Tuesday night.

"The race will be a 3.2-mile road race, run on existing roads through Port Imperial and at the top of the Palisades in Weehawken and West New York. Up to 100,000 people are expected to attend each race, starting with practice Friday, qualifying on Saturday and racing on Sunday."

Ecclestone, Formula One's commercial-rights holder, will be 81 on Monday and is not expected to be running affairs for too much longer, but changes to the calendar have been gathering pace. This week the inaugural Indian Grand Prix will take place on the outskirts of New Delhi, representing another conquering of a Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economy; Brazil and China have already been gathered in, while Russia waits in the wings for 2014.

But it is the US that still carries the most allure and the sport's stakeholders, the FIA, the teams and their sponsors, have been putting pressure on Ecclestone. When Austin was still in the planning stage, Ecclestone showed interest in bringing a grand prix to New Jersey should the Texas race fall through.

Nonetheless, there are already 20 grands prix on the calendar for next year, and there will be resistance to racing any more than that the following season, with 20 the unofficial maximum. The addition of New Jersey would take that to 21, which could have implications for other grands prix if the teams do not agree to an increase to the calendar.

The future of some races is already in doubt. Turkey has dropped off next year's roster and serious doubts remain about the viability of racing in Bahrain and South Korea.

While Formula One has deserted many of its traditional homes, such as Portugal, France and South Africa, it has moved into areas where some believe it is more concerned with the advertising platform provided than the sporting landscape.

The US, though, could prove a great success, even if some fans there think IndyCar is better because the cars are faster. It is not as if Formula One has not been here before, of course. It has, but much of the experience has been airbrushed from the memory, especially since the 2005 event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, when only six cars took part after a row about tyre safety.

Tony Jardine, the Sky Sports News F1 expert and someone with vast experience of the sport in the US, says: "It was often successful over there, in places like Long Beach and Detroit. But the tracks couldn't always meet the increasing budget demands.

"But I think New York could be very good for the sport. It has already got Texas on the way, which will take interest in F1 into Latin America. And now this move could really open up a lot of opportunities in North America.

"It's not as if people over there haven't heard of Ferrari and McLaren and Lewis Hamilton, because they have. Now I think they will really take to European chic."

US racing could be, should be, a great success. But the trouble with Formula One is that it too often squeezes every last penny from "clients", before asking for a little bit more each time they go back. If F1 and Ecclestone can curb that propensity then the move to the US – both in Austin and New York – should be a spectacular triumph.

The concerns about the Indian adventure have still not been entirely dispelled, with the race only four days away. As recently as two weeks ago, Ecclestone was pessimistic over the readiness of the track to host its inaugural grand prix. That is unlikely to be the case in New Jersey on a street circuit.

"It will provide a very challenging course," the West New York, New Jersey, attorney Joe DeMarco said on Tuesday. "They compare it to Spa in Belgium but it will have the feel of Monaco."

The West New York mayor, Felix Roque, said: "It's incredible. This is going to be an economic boom for this whole region. While political and public servants talk about creating jobs, the governor has put the pedal to the metal and delivered."

Roque and the mayor of Weehawken, Richard Turner, whose district is also involved in the race project, have stressed that no taxpayers' money will be spent to host the grand prix and it will instead be dependent on private investment. The Wall Street Journal reported that talks had taken place with a consortium of investors.

But before everyone starts whooping and hollering it should be remembered that previous F1 adventures in the US have not ended well

We're losing count now, Lauren! Miss Goodger steps out in yet ANOTHER unflattering dress as she admits she's still sleeping with ex Mark Wright

She's not exactly making a name for herself as a style icon.
And last night Lauren Goodger stepped out in yet another unflattering outfit as she hit the town in London wearing an incredibly short black dress.
Lauren's night out came as she admitted during an episode of The Only Way Is Essex that she and Mark had spent the night together just a week previously.

Her admission came as something of a surprise given that relations haven't exactly been civil between the formerly engaged pair, following Lauren's revelations that she had aborted Mark's baby.
Talking to her sister Nicola, Lauren said: 'I saw Mark once and I was drunk last week.'
Refusing to actually confirm what had happened between her and Mark, a giggling Lauren added: 'I know I've got the power. I can talk to him and walk away from him. It made me feel a bit better because I know I'm the stronger one.'

Nicola replied: 'As long as there's no emotions involved that's fine.'
Lauren later recalled what had happened with Mark during a conversation with Sam Faiers.
She said: 'Something happened between us that shouldn't have happened so it's hard because we've been together for so long.'
When Sam asked: 'So you two slept together then?' Lauren replied, 'I don't want to say.'

Mark was similarly cagey about the status of his relationship with Lauren during a discussion with Sam, who he had asked out on a double date to the dry ski slopes with Lydia Bright and James 'Arg' Argent.
When he refused to answer, Sam said: 'If that's how you cope with getting over it then that's fine but I just think it's weird.'
Sam and Mark's 'date' at the ski slopes caused problems with Lauren and Sam's ex Joey during last night's episode.

After arranging to meet up with Lauren ahead of the date, Sam broke the news to her that Mark had asked her out.
A clearly baffled Lauren replied: 'It does feel weird hearing you say it but he's got to do what he's got to do. I appreciate you coming to meet me anyway.'
But when Lauren attended Joey's pool party later in the day, she told him her true feelings about the situation.

She told Joey: 'I met up with Sam earlier and she told me that she and mark had gone on a date but it wasn't a date it was just a meet.
Joey replied: 'Oh my God. What is Sam doing? Mark was with you when I was getting with Sam.
'Now Mark has split up with you and now for some reason he thinks he can get with some girl I was with.
'I didn't think Mark would do this to me. I don't know what to say - I thought he was my pal.'
And when Joey asked Lauren if she was OK, Lauren replied: 'I don't want to be with Mark, I just want to be single and enjoying myself.'
Lauren was last night joined by TOWIE pals including Joey Essex's sister Frankie, who donned a black and pink dress, and Chloe Sims at the Firetrap by Sunday Girl launch party held at 33 Portland Place.
Lauren Pope was also in attendance, looking stunning in a red lace dress, alongside other famous faces including Diana Vickers and Made In Chelsea's Cheska Hull and Chloe Green.

What’s Wrong With Rick

“I want to share one little story that happened to me,” Rick Perry says, sounding almost wistful as he recalls a favorite moment from the early, exuberant days of his presidential campaign—just seven weeks ago.

On a sunny day in late August, Perry’s campaign bus made an unscheduled stop in Gaffney, S.C., to give a ride to a local pol, state Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, who’d been a key early supporter. “When we came around the corner to this little restaurant parking lot, there were probably a hundred-plus people there, carrying homemade signs,” Perry says. “And so I just got off and dove into the crowd.” Witnesses to the moment recall seeing Perry at his essence, the consummate political retailer—touching, listening, connecting as he worked the crowd. Perry noticed that one woman seemed particularly intent as he made his way toward her. “This is a person,” Perry thought, “who’s really excited about seeing what may be the next president of the United States.”
The woman, Shellie Wylie, is a mother of two who runs a small travel agency in Gaffney. She’d come to ask Perry one thing: could he help struggling small businesses like hers? But when her moment came, she broke down, sobbing. Perry took Wylie in his arms and assured her that she would be all right. And Wylie believed. “It was a compassionate moment, one person to another,” Wylie recalls. “That sincerity goes a long way. And he meant it.” Wylie left that day a committed Perry supporter, convinced that he was the candidate to defeat Barack Obama.

It’s understandable that Perry, in a recent conversation with Newsweek, would return to that day, which came near the high-water mark of his candidacy. Perry had been at it for only 10 days at that point; in another week, he’d built a double-digit lead over Mitt Romney in the polls. Then, just as suddenly, came the collapse. The confident, handsome Texan, who’d bounded onto the national stage with the swagger of a natural frontrunner, took his place on the debate circuit and turned into a tongue-tied tackling dummy for his competitors. Perry’s ability to work a room or rouse a crowd was legendary, but onstage with a group of antagonists whose ambitions matched his own, he seemed unable to formulate intelligible sentences, much less coherent policy arguments. It was almost comically weird, like those recurring Seinfeld gags when Jerry’s latest girlfriend is revealed to have some bizarre flaw (“She has man-hands!”), killing any hope of romance.

Perry’s camp blamed his performance on the fact that he had gotten into the race late and hadn’t yet found his groove and was keeping too rigorous a schedule. But Perry himself probably answered the question best after last week’s smackdown, when he told reporters, “Debates are not my strong suit.” It may have been the understatement of the political season.
The rationale for a Perry candidacy had been his promise as the anti-Romney; he was the longest-serving governor of that big red state where business prospered, jobs bloomed, and government got the hell out of the way. “Our most important attribute,” he says of himself, “is to have been the chief executive officer that has worked with the private sector to create more jobs than any other state in the nation during the decade of the 2000s.”

That message, the Perry camp knows, has been obscured by the candidate’s stumbling performances onstage. Asked by Newsweek how he meant to prepare for last week’s debate in New Hampshire—framed by the political press as his do-or-die moment—Perry said, “My job is to fend off the arrows, fend off the attacks, and to pivot back to what is obviously the most important issue to the America people: jobs.” His campaign team prepped him hard for the exchange and made sure he got enough rest before the event. As it happened, Perry needn’t have worried about fending off attacks—he was virtually ignored in the debate.

Right-wing disappointment in Perry was tartly expressed the next day by conservative radio commentator Mark Levin, who told his listeners: “I need somebody in a debate who’s gonna sit up straight, look Romney in the eyes, and take the guy on. Is that too much to ask?”

The polls have reflected that view, with Perry’s support falling in the Real Clear Politics compilation to the lowest point—13.7 percent—since he entered the race, trailing not only Romney but also the new star of the moment: the former bit player Herman Cain.

White House state dinner for South Korea has sparkles amid the rain

An idea for the next White House renovation: mudroom.

In an evening that progressed from muggy drizzle to thunderous downpour, guests attending Thursday’s state dinner honoring South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrived in various states of disarray. But hey — the weather is always a great topic to bond over.
“So much for the hair salon,” sighed ABC News’s Juju Chang as she slogged past reporters.

So it was that President Obama and the first lady welcomed Lee and 224 other guests for an evening of otherwise undampened spirits. It was the administration’s fifth state dinner, and it was beautiful — once people dried off.

“I’m going to be brief because President Lee has had a very full day — and a very wet day,” Obama said in his pre-dinner toast.

The South Korean president, who Obama revealed is known by the nickname “Bulldozer,” told a story of being a young boy and longing for American blue jeans. He also spoke, through an interpreter, about the “everlasting friendship” between his country and the United States: “We are gathered here to reaffirm our friendship and to renew our common commitment towards our shared goals.”

Bless the state dinner. Approval ratings can be down, the economy can be dank, but when a president puts on a tux, he looks good. Official. Presidential! The entire evening is crafted to showcase the Diplomat in Chief engaging on the international stage, which is especially good for an administration, such as this one, whose recent claims to fame have been foreign triumphs: Osama bin Laden felled, Iranian assassination plots foiled.

And for the rest of you: pretty dresses.

Michelle Obama selected a purple, one-shouldered gown by Doo-Ri Chung, a Korean American designer known for her draping. The first lady also sported a sparkly belt, a style she so often favors.

The biggest fashion treat came from the musical entertainment: R&B singer Janelle Monae wore an incredibly chic satin tuxedo with a teeny-tiny bow tie, towering heels and her trademark pompadour. A few women wore navy or silver, but most opted for black and more black — a safe choice that also turned out to be the best hue for hiding soaked hems.

Chang wore a purple dress chosen by voters — “The crowdsourcing was right,” she said, as she joined the slow parade of guests headed to the East Room for dinner.

The guest list was short on glitz, heavy on political clout. For the fifth time in a row, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) declined the president’s invitation for a state dinner. But an unusual number of administration officials got the nod: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chief of Staff Bill Daley, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, national security adviser Tom Donilon, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, press secretary Jay Carney and Michelle Obama’s chief of staff, Tina Tchen. Also, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and several senators and members of Congress, including John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Bikini girl Kate Beckinsale is ready for her close up as she smooches poolside with husband Len Wiseman

English actress Kate Beckinsale is fast approaching 40.
But as these pictures show, the Pearl Harbor star has the body that could make a woman half her age turn green with envy.
Kate, 38, put her stunning figure on show in a black bikini while lapping up the sunshine in Mexico with her husband Len Wiseman.
Lucky Len was treated to an impromptu poolside performance from Kate as she stood up to fix her long brunette locks into a tight bun.
And he was apparently quite enamoured by the view as he happily took snaps of his wife on his phone.
The couple, who met on the set of Underworld, then enjoyed smooching together on the sun loungers.
Kate climbed on top of Len, showering him with kisses, as he willingly reciprocated with a hands-on approach.
Beckinsale relocated to Los Angeles in 2003 with Wiseman, before marrying him the following year.
She maintains a healthy lifestyle, having quit smoking and she doesn't drink alcohol either.
Next year the screen beauty will be seen in Underworld: Awakening, the fourth film in the franchise.
She is also starring in Contraband and Total Recall - with both set for release next year too.
It will mark her comeback to the silver screen following her 2009 flick Everybody's Fine.

Man in wheelchair caught on CCTV looting during riots is jailed

A MAN in a wheelchair captured on CCTV with a stolen TV during the summer riots has been jailed for a year, Scotland Yard said yesterday.

David Knott, 18, was filmed holding a boxed flat-screen Alba.

An accomplice had looted the telly and plonked it on his pal’s lap before wheeling him away.

Knott, who is not wheelchair-bound but was -recovering from a broken leg, was sentenced to 12 months on Thursday for handling goods looted from an Argos store.

He was collared after a CCTV trawl by police working on -Operation Withern, the -investigation into August’s violence and looting.

Commander Richard Wood said: “Officers from the operation continue to arrest suspects nearly every day.

“We have plenty of footage which is being closely analysed. Officers are looking for those circulated as wanted. We will not rest until we have arrested them.”

They have notched up 2,952 arrests, 1,774 suspects charged and 317 convictions including 96 jail sentences.

Knott, of Eltham, South East London, committed the offence in nearby Woolwich and was sentenced at Inner London crown court, police said.

Let off with a $268 fine: State senator who caused crash that killed pregnant woman

A Colorado state senator who caused a fatal car crash that killed a pregnant woman escaped with only some minor traffic citations and a $268 fine.
Suzanne Williams, 65, caused the accident when she started driving on the wrong side of the highway and ended up crashing into a car and killing Brianna 'Brie' Gomez, 30, who was pregnant with her third child.
The accident happened in Channing, Texas on the day after Christmas last year when Mrs Williams was driving with her grown son Todd Williams, 41, and her two grandchildren, Tyler, 7, and Tristan, 3.
The Williams family was driving north from Dallas to Vail, Colorado, when Ms. Williams drove into the southbound lane for an unknown reason.
Mrs Williams' vehicle then crashed into the car of Eric and Brie Gomez, high school sweethearts and parents of two who were travelling with their children.
Mrs Gomez, a child therapist and counsellor, was airlifted to a nearby hospital and doctors performed an emergency C-section to save her baby, Curran. Mrs Gomez died shortly after the baby was delivered.
Also injured in the crash were all three passengers in Ms Williams' car.
Ms Williams, who is the vice-chair of the transportation committee in the Colorado State Senate and has fought actively to strengthen seatbelt laws, was the only person in her car that was wearing a seatbelt.
Her son Todd and grandson Tyler were ejected from the car and were treated after the crash, with Todd being placed in serious condition at one point.
All passengers in the Gomez car were wearing their seatbelts.
Initial reports suspected that Mrs Williams may be charged with criminally negligent homicide, a Texas jury decided not to charge Mrs Williams for the crime.
On Friday, she received citations for having an unsecured passenger under 17, having a child under the age of 8 unsecured by a safety seat system, and driving on the wrong side of a highway.
'All of the facts and circumstances were covered, and the grand jury determined no charges were brought,' Texas District Attorney David Green said.
In total, those three traffic violations demand a fine of $200. The remaining $68 came from court fees.
The crash attracted some national attention at the time because of the perceived hypocrisy that Mrs Williams was Colorado's most vocal supporter of strict seatbelt laws but failed to enforce the rule in her own car.
At the time of the crash, her son Todd was trying to get the children into their pyjamas and ready for bed.
'I cannot express the horror, sadness and grief I feel for an accident that will change forever the lives of a young family,' Mrs Williams said in a statement shortly after the crash.
'It is a burden I will carry with me for the rest of my life,' she continued. 
Most notably, Mrs Williams passed a measure in Colorado that required children under the age of 8 to be secured in booster seats, which her two grandchildren were not doing at the time of the crash.
Williams succeeded in passing a measure requiring children 8 and younger to ride in booster seats. The previous law required children 6 and younger to be secured in booster seats. The new measure went into effect in August.
When a local ABC News affiliate contacted Mrs Williams after the verdict on Friday evening, she had little to say.
'The case is over, that is not something I want to talk about,' Mrs Williams told ABC 7 Denver.
Mrs Williams is Colorado's only Native American legislator and is now in her second and final term as a Democratic State Senator.

Tiger Scores a Comeback

The moment has come for Tiger Woods to move beyond the heat rub and get back into the big time.

Two years after a sex scandal demolished the golfer's endorsement career, he has signed on with watchmaker Rolex, his first major pact since the incident.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Sports marketing experts say privately held Rolex SA is likely getting Mr. Woods for much less than the millions of dollars he commanded when he was untarnished and at the top of his game.

Mr. Woods was the most powerful brand endorser on Madison Avenue before marital infidelities and other foibles landed him in the tabloid press in 2009. Amid the public-relations nightmare, Mr. Woods lost several major sponsors, including AT&T, Accenture and Gillette.
Experts are surprised that Mr. Woods was able to grab such a high-profile consumer brand, especially given that he hasn't won an event in almost two years and fell out of the top 50 golfers for the first time since 1996. Earlier this year, Mr. Woods signed with a small Japanese company to endorse a muscle-pain heat rub.

Mark Steinberg, Mr. Woods's agent, declined to comment on the specifics of the deal but said his client wasn't entering the marketplace at a significantly reduced rate. "I feel confident and bullish on his marketability," said Mr. Steinberg, who added he is in the late stages of negotiations for a bag sponsor.

Before the scandal, Mr. Woods earned roughly $90 million a year from his marketing pacts and was seen as the most powerful endorsement property in sports.

Research suggests that prior to the scandal, Mr. Woods was the 11th most effective product spokesperson—on par with Bill Cosby. As of July, Mr. Woods ranked 2,775th, putting him alongside Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, according to Davie-Brown Entertainment, an Omnicom Group Inc. unit that tracks celebrities' appeal using online consumer polls.

Rolex and Mr. Woods have a long history. Mr. Woods promoted Rolex's Tudor watch for about five years and then switched alliances to rival Tag Heuer in 2002. At the time, Tag Heuer agreed to pay about $2 million annually for three years, according to people close to the company.

When he jumped to Tag Heuer Mr. Woods said, "My tastes have changed."

Tag Heuer, owned by LVMH Mo?t Hennessy Louis Vuitton, ended its relationship with Mr. Woods several months ago—after standing by the golfer during the scandal.

Rolex said it believes Mr. Woods "has a long career ahead of him and that he has all the qualities required to continue to mark the history of golf."

The deal is a "clear indicator that mainstream corporate America is coming around," says Kevin Adler, founder of Engage Marketing, a sports-marketing firm in Chicago.

Mr. Woods is scheduled to play this week in the Frys.com Open, an opportunity to practice a new swing he has tried to develop. He didn't qualify for the Tour Championship, professional golf's late season playoff.

"Marketers and consumers love a comeback story," says Sam Sussman, senior vice president and director at Starcom, a media buying unit of ad giant Publicis Groupe SA.
—Matthew Futterman contributed to this article.

Roman's defence: Russia was like a medieval state

Be it the blacked-out Maybachs, gargantuan bodyguards or billions of pounds at stake, there was no shortage of intrigue yesterday as the 'Battle of the Oligarchs' entered its second day at London's High Court.

Perhaps the most captivating element of all in the bitter dispute between Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich and his former friend, the wanted businessman and politician Boris Berezovsky, was its promise to shed light on the shadowy gangland world of mid-90s Russia.

That light burst into brilliant luminescence as Britain's leading barrister, Jonathan Sumption QC – rumoured to be receiving an eight-figure fee – delivered his opening arguments in defence of Mr Abramovich.

The Chelsea owner, worth an estimated ￡8.6bn, and his former mentor Mr Berezovsky, whose fortune totals a meagre ￡500m, again sat on opposite sides of the courtroom, surrounded by lawyers, as Mr Sumption – a medieval historian in his spare time – said conditions in Russia after the collapse of communism "have not been seen in this country since the 15th century".

He told Mrs Justice Gloster that it was "not easy" for lawyers to understand those "quite extraordinary conditions" but added: "Your Ladyship must have read Shakespeare."

The QC then launched into a tale of threats, favours and intimidation between a cast of Russian billionaires and Presidents, either dead, imprisoned, sat in court or in one case still in high office in the Kremlin and expected to return to the presidency.

"There was no rule of law," he said. "Police were corrupt. The courts were unpredictable at best – at worst open to manipulation by major political or economic interest groups.

"Nobody could go into business without access to political power. If you didn't have political power yourself, you needed access to a godfather who did."

Mr Abramovich is being sued by Mr Berezovsky – who alleges breach of trust and breach of contract over the oil firm Sibneft and is claiming more than ￡3.2bn in damages. On Monday Mr Berezovsky's barrister, Lawrence Rabinowitz QC, portrayed the two oligarchs as friends and equal partners in Sibneft, before Mr Abramovich intimidated him into selling his shares at a knockdown price or face their being seized by the Kremlin.

The tale told by Mr Sumption yesterday was markedly different. He said Mr Berezovsky was paid millions of pounds by businesses controlled by Mr Abramovich for his services as a "political godfather".

"Mr Berezovsky was a highly controversial figure in Russian politics in the 1990s," he said. "Boris Berezovsky was a power broker."

Mr Berezovsky's lawyers shook their heads as Mr Sumption described him as a man with no knowledge or interest in the oil business – his only significant contribution to Sibneft being securing for Mr Abramovich valuable political introductions and his influence over then President Boris Yeltsin via his daughter Tatyana Yumasheva and her husband, Mr Yeltsin's chief of staff.

"He didn't contribute a single cent to the acquiring or the building up of the business," said Mr Sumption. "Nor did he contribute to its managerial success."

Mr Abramovich's acquiring of the controlling interest in Sibneft at a relatively modest price came in return, he claimed, for support for President Yeltsin from Mr Berezovsky's television station, ORT, in the 1996 Presidential elections. Mr Abramovich in turn acknowledged the "debt of honour" he owed Mr Berezovsky, and made regular payments to him totalling millons of pounds. These payments, known as "krysha", or "roof", we might recognise as "refuge, or protection" said Mr Sumption, a service Mr Berezovsky provided along with his associate, the Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili, who died suddenly and unexectedly at his Surrey mansion in 2008.

Mr Berezovsky "demanded more and more," Mr Sumption said. "Expenses on an exuberant scale - palaces in France, private aircraft, jewels for his girlfriends, valuable painting at Sotheby's."

After Mr Berezovksy fell out with President Putin and was forced into political exile in 2000, Mr Abramovich at made a payment of ￡1.3bn to Mr Berezovsky, which he claims was his "debt of honour", and bore no relation to Sibneft's prosperity. Mr Berezovsky claims the money represented a forced sale of his share in Sibneft at a knockdown price. In 2005, Mr Abramovich sold his share in SIbneft for ￡7.4bn, at the time the largest transaction in Russian history.

The most significant problem for Mrs Justice Gloster over the coming 12 weeks will be that there is little proper documentation to support either party's claims.

As Mr Sumption pointed out: "The agreement to sell television support to the President of Russia in return for the sale of state assets could never be recorded in writing. Of course not."