Carnival Celebrations at the Sambodrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Decked up in colorful enticing samba costumes, millions jammed up the streets of Brazil on the first night of extravagant Rio de Janeiro's Carnival parade Sunday.

Amid the majestic set-up, frenetic samba music, thumping of drum beats and magnificent fireworks, the annual carnival parade kicked-off in Rio's Sambadrome, the "Temple of Samba."

Around thirteen best samba schools of the city participated in the parade. The two-day event also saw Hollywood celebrities like Madonna, J.Lo, Beyonce, Jude Law, Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson and Kevin Spacey, Associated Press reported.

Tens of thousands of fans packed Rio's iconic Sambadrome for a second night of dazzling Carnival parades featuring lavishly costumed performers, elaborate floats and thumping music. 

The night parades in the Sambadrome are the high point of the pre-Lent Carnival festival, which has brought this racially diverse country of 191 million people to a near-standstill.

Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez was one of several foreign celebrities to lend their star power to the event, appearing late Sunday in skinny red jeans and a sequined top.

With a deafening burst of fireworks, Sao Clemente was the first of six elite samba schools to take center stage Monday, taking inspiration from a selection of popular Broadway musicals such as "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Cabaret".

Uniao da Ilha do Gobernador was to follow with a presentation illustrating the connection between London and Rio, which will host the next two Summer Olympics in 2012 and 2016.

The schools are vying for the title of Carnival champion. A total of 13 schools are competing for the honor, to be bestowed on Wednesday. Seven schools held their parades late Sunday.

Several have chosen to celebrate the culture of Brazil's northeast, particularly the rich Africa heritage of Bahia state.

Salgueiro, which won the title in 2009, will present a tribute to so-called Cord literature, a genre of folk novels and poems which is very popular in northeastern Brazil.

Mangueira, viewed as the country's most popular samba school, will offer a homage to a popular Rio Carnival band, Cacique de Ramos, which has just celebrated its 50th anniversary.

The school has many national and foreign star followers, including Argentine football great Diego Maradona.

Unidos da Tijuca, which finished 2nd last year, and Grande Rio, one of the newest schools, will round out the proceedings.

Preparation for the Carnival parades starts months in advance, as each samba school mobilizes thousands of supporters who must create the various parts of the school's display.

Favela residents are often members of a local samba school and are deeply involved with the performance and preparation of costumes.

The Carnival turns the spotlight on the artistic talent, creative genius and zest for life found in those predominantly black shantytowns which often lack running water, electricity and sewage systems.

The Sambadrome, which recently reopened after a nine-month makeover, now has a boosted capacity, elevators, and access ramps for the handicapped.

Seats cost between $50 and several thousand dollars, depending on whether one sits on packed benches in the open or in air-conditioned VIP boxes stocked with champagne. Big-name companies invite luminaries like Lopez to their skyboxes to promote their brands.

The Rio Carnival, billed as "the greatest show on Earth," generates 250,000 jobs and revenues of $640 million for hotels, bars and restaurants, according to state estimates.

Carnival is celebrated with equal gusto in other cities and towns, including Sao Paulo, Brazil's economic capital and Latin America's most populous city, and Salvador, the heart of the rich Afro-Brazilian culture.

Sony Xperia S vs Samsung Galaxy S2

Sony Xperia S vs Samsung Galaxy S2

We compare Samsung's Galaxy S2 to the latest Sony Xperia S smartphone

Form

Samsung Galaxy S2 - 125.3x66.1x8.5mm, 116g

Sony Xperia S - 128x64x10.6mm, 144g

The Samsung Galaxy S2 launched this time last year but it's still up there as one of the more attractive looking handsets on the market with its imposing proportions and more angular styling.

Overall the design is minimalist, which makes everything look clean and modern, though it does have a textured back panel to spice things up a little.

The Sony Xperia S is a much striking device with next to no curvature or softening on the corners. In contrast to this the backpanel is completely smooth, which does provide some interesting contrast.

The other significant visual tweak is that the screen takes precedence over the bodywork, leading to a very thin bezel and a more ‘premium' look and feel.

We think Sony's device looks much smarter.

Winner - Sony Xperia S

DisplaySamsung is traditionally pretty consistent at producing some top quality displays for its devices, so much so that other manufacturers, such as Nokia, even buy them for their own handsets too.

The Galaxy S2 uses Samsung's Super AMOLED Plus technology, which offers excellent picture quality, brightness, colour depth and is a bit more battery friendly than your avergae LCD panel.

The 4.3-inch multi-touch capacitive display is also reinforced with Corning's impressively resilient Gorilla Glass and boasts an 800x480 pixel WVGA resolution, giving a pixel density of 217 pixels-per-inch (ppi).

However Sony seems keen to take the South Korean manufacturer down a peg or two.

The Xperia S's display measures the same 4.3-inches as its Samsung rival and while its not Super AMOLED Plus, it still uses a fancy LED backlit LCD screen resulting in some sharp imagery.

As might be expected it's multi-touch capable, but what you might not expect is support for all 10 of your digits.

We can't quite fathom what kind of app we might need all 10 for but we suppose it's always nice to have the option and its certainly not something we're going to hold against the Xperia S.

It's also scratch-resistant and boasts a very impressive resolution of 1280x720 pixels, which is not something you see very often on a smartphone.

The pixel density comes at an astounding 342ppi, which is higher than even the Apple iPhone's acclaimed, and significantly smaller, Retina display.

We have to commend Sony here for producing a brilliantly high-spec display.

Winner - Sony Xperia S

StorageSamsung's Galaxy S2 has two storage options. You've got a choice of either 16GB or 32GB and either one you choose comes with 1GB of RAM and a microSD slot for up to an additional 32GB of card storage.

Sony's new handset only has the one option but it's an ample 32GB and 1GB of RAM. Unfortunately, Sony has decided to forego the usual card slot on this particular model, which is a bit of a shame.

Samsung is holding the trump card for this round with its microSD capability.

Winner - Samsung Galaxy S2

ProcessorInside the Galaxy S2 is a 1.2GHz dual core ARM Cortex-A9 processor running on Samsung's brilliant Exynos chipset alongside a Mali-400MP graphics processing unit (GPU).

It might not have the fastest clock speed on the market but thanks to the chipset and GPU combo this setup is still one of the better performing hardware configurations currently available.

The Xperia S is also a dual core device loaded with a 1.5GHz Qualcomm processor on the MSM8260 Snapdragon chipset and features Qualcomm's new Adreno 220 GPU, which should pack quite a punch. 

We think this qualifies as a draw as both phones are capable of high-end performance.

Winner - Draw

Operating SystemBoth handsets are currently running Android 2.3 Gingerbread but are due to be updated to Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 at some point this year, which should offer a performance boost and a much quicker and more intuitive user interface.

These devices are on an equal footing in this context as well.

Winner - Draw

CameraThe Samsung Galaxy S2 may not have the absolute best 8-megapixel camera out there but it's certainly one of the better ones available, showing the majority of contemporary handsets how it's done.

The resolution clocks in at 3264x2448 pixels and camera features include 1080p video capture, an LED flash, geo-tagging, autofocus, touch focus, image stabilisation and face and smile detection. There's also a reasonably good 2-megapixel secondary camera on the front.

Sony has come straight out of left field with the Xperia S, taking no prisoners with a 12-megapixel beast of a primary camera sporting a 4000x3000 pixel resolution and an Exmor R CMOS sensor.

Features wise it has the same setup as the Galaxy S2 for still images, plus the addition of 3D ‘sweep' panoramic capture.

Again, we were impressed with the quality of its predecessor, the Xperia Arc S, in this category and with that pedigree it should deliver some pretty snazzy pictures.

For video it can capture in 1080p on the primary camera and features continuous autofocus, a video light and video stabilisation. The 1.3-megapixel secondary camera can also capture video in 720p.

Sony is offering one of the most competitive camera set-ups we've seen for some time on the Xperia S so we've no qualms about voting it the winner in this round.

Winner - Sony Xperia S

Final Thoughts
Sony has come close to toppling Samsung's Galaxy S2 from its perch. It doesn't quite achieve this and we'd mainly pin that on the lack of a microSD card so instead it ends up sitting awkwardly on the same branch in this weird phones-as-birds metaphor we've created.

Regardless, It's on an equal footing in terms of the operating system and processing power but has sharper looks, a far superior camera and a much better display.

All in all we have to say that if we were pushed we'd likely go with the Xperia S over the Galaxy S2.

Manchester United vs Liverpool RIVALRY

Manchester United vs Liverpool RIVALRY

Liverpool FC have always held the title as the most successful club in England because of their record breaking 18 First Division Premier League Titles. But recently Manchester United was able to tie with Liverpool’s record during the 2008-2009 seasons. Both clubs are located in the North West of England and the rivalry between the fans of the two clubs has become a part of their culture. Manchester United was the first club to lift the European Cup in 1968 under the leadership of the Scottish manager Sir Matt Busby while Liverpool did not win the European Cup until the 1970s. However Liverpool won that trophy five times while Manchester United only has three European Cups.

Liverpool became very successful in the 1970s and the 1980s while Manchester United became successful in the 1990s and 2000s. Liverpool has not won the League Title in England for the past 19 years. Even if Liverpool won a double over Manchester United during the 2008-2009 Premier League seasons Manchester United was still able to win the League by four points. Matches between these two rivals are often called North West derby. Both teams have won a total of 117 titles. Manchester United has 59 Titles while Liverpool has 58. Games for these rivals are usually played during the midday because of TV interests and to discourage fans from drinking before the games. Games and matches between these two teams are very popular that’s why tickets are very hard to get hold of due to high demand.
The team rivalry is also present among the clubs players. Wayne Rooney is a famous Manchester Striker that grew up in Liverpool but hated his local club while Steven Gerrard plays for Liverpool hates Manchester United. Another player from Manchester United – Gary Neville has been very open and vocal of his hatred for Liverpool. Both clubs currently claim the title of the Greatest English football clubs because they are nearly equal in terms of achievements. Liverpool and Manchester United are considered as the two most successful English clubs in the European competition.

Liverpool used to lead the League but Manchester United was able to get ahead of them during the 2010-2011 Premier League seasons with a record of 19 Premier League Titles. Current records for Cup Titles for both teams are very competitive. Liverpool has won a total of 7 FA Cups and 7 League Cups while Manchester United has 10 FA Cups and 1 League Cup.  Both teams are very strong and well accomplished and have a very strong fan base that supports their respective teams.

The fixture between Liverpool and Manchester United is one of the most significant sporting rivalries in football, sometimes referred to as the North West derby. Both clubs hail from the North West of England. With both cities of Liverpool and Manchester historically being part of the county of Lancashire, this fixture has been known as a Lancashire derby.

The clubs are also the two most successful teams in England; between them they have won 118 honours: 60 for Manchester United and 58 for Liverpool. The fixture is usually played at midday due to media interest and to discourage fans from drinking before the game.[citation needed]

Long-serving Manchester United player Ryan Giggs claimed that Liverpool against Manchester United is "probably the most famous fixture in English football". This rivalry is one of the most high-profile derbies in the country.

Inter-city rivalry

The rivalry can be considered as a manifestation of one which already had existed between the two cities since industrial times. During this time both were competing with each other for supremacy of the north-west, with Manchester famous for its manufacturing prowess while Liverpool was famous for the importance of its port.

Once the Manchester Ship Canal was built, ships could bypass Liverpool and transport goods directly into Manchester. The Ship Canal was an audacious project and upon completion in 1894 it was the longest man-made ship canal in the world. The Ship Canal meant less dues for Liverpool merchants which consequently resulted in job losses at the Port and resentment from the local people of Liverpool. Historians generally regard this as the key incident as to why such inter-city rivalry exists. Furthermore, the crest of Manchester United includes a ship representing the Manchester Ship Canal and reflects Manchester's trade roots. Furthermore this ship is also included on many other Mancunian institutions such as Manchester City Council and rivals Manchester City F.C..

During the late 1970s and 1980s, the two cities had been in decline due to the downturn of industries. However, both cities have again grown and found success, with Manchester now being recognised as a world-class city. Recently, Manchester hosted the 2002 Commonwealth Games, while Liverpool was awarded the title of 2008 European Capital of Culture.

Football rivalry

Both clubs claim the title of 'the Greatest English Football Club', having won over 50 major trophies each. Liverpool dominated English football during the 1970s and 1980s, claiming the league title eleven times and the European Cup on four occasions during that period, including winning a treble of the League, the League Cup and the European Cup in 1984. Manchester United, however, have dominated the 1990s and 2000s, winning the league title a record twelve times, a European Continental Treble (European Cup, the Premier League and the FA Cup) in 1999, two domestic Doubles and The European Double of the Premier League and European Cup in 2008. Both clubs are also the two most successful English sides in European competition, with Liverpool having been European champions 5 times, and Manchester United 3 times. With Manchester United's victory in the Premier League season 2010–11, they moved ahead of Liverpool with a record 19 league titles. Despite Liverpool's success in England, they have never won the Premier League since its founding in 1992. Winning the League Cup in 2010, Manchester United then set a new English record of 33 domestic honours - moving one clear of the Merseysiders for the first time. Manchester United currently have 34 domestic honours after their victory in the 2010–11 Premier League season.

As well as competing on the football pitch, both teams are also two of the biggest-earning, and widely-supported, football clubs in the world.

The rivalry has extended to the players as well: United striker Wayne Rooney, a product of Liverpool's city rivals Everton described how, although he is from Liverpool, he grew up hating the Reds,[6] while Liverpool's Steven Gerrard took a film crew on tour of his home where he showed off a collection of football shirts he had swapped with opposing players as part of the after match routine; he pointed out that there were no Manchester United shirts in there and that he would never have one of them in his house. Manchester United's Gary Neville has been publicly vocal in the past with regards to his dislike of Liverpool; following a fixture in which John O'Shea scored a stoppage-time winner in front of the Kop in 2007, Neville described O'Shea's achievement as "a lifelong dream" for himself. Neville was berated by Liverpool fans for his role in celebrating in front of them in 2006, kissing the crest on his jersey and appearing to shout angrily towards the fans.

Player transfers

 The rivalry between the two clubs has become so intense that since the 1964 transfer of Phil Chisnall from United to Liverpool, no player has been transferred directly between the two clubs.[8] Some players, however, have played for both clubs, but having played elsewhere between each tenure, such as Paul Ince (playing for Internazionale in between) and Peter Beardsley (Vancouver Whitecaps and Newcastle United) and more recently Michael Owen (Real Madrid and Newcastle United).

In 2007, there was a bid from Liverpool to sign Gabriel Heinze from United, but United refused to allow him to join their biggest rivals due to the ongoing feud. United claimed that it was agreed Heinze would only join a foreign club if he chose to leave. Heinze went public with his request to join Liverpool which was seen as the ultimate betrayal by the Manchester United fans. The Manchester United fans who once chanted "Argentina" in honour of the player now turned their backs on him. Heinze was eventually sold to Real Madrid instead.

Hooliganism

 With the rise of football hooliganism across English football during the 1970s and 1980s, matches between the two clubs brought some minor and major incidents of hooliganism.[citation needed] Since then, the modern game has seen a decrease in violence between the rival supporters and incidents are fairly uncommon. This is more likely due to an increase in Police presence and CCTV with huge steps taken to keep the fans separated. To this day, both sets of fans still hold a resentment toward each other. As well as physical violence, sections of the clubs' fan bases often taunt each other with unsavoury chants about the Munich air disaster and the Hillsborough disaster respectively.

At the 1996 FA Cup Final, an unidentified Liverpool fan spat at Eric Cantona and threw a punch at Alex Ferguson as a victorious Manchester United team walked up the steps at Wembley Stadium to collect the trophy from the Royal Box.

After an FA Cup match in 2006 between the clubs, an ambulance carrying Alan Smith, who had broken his leg during the match, was attacked on its way to the hospital by Liverpool fans.  The same match featured foreign objects thrown at Man Utd fans by Liverpool supporters, including human excrement.  A Liverpool FA Cup Semifinal game against Chelsea later that year also resulted in damage to Old Trafford, including graffitti about serial killer Harold Shipman. 

At Anfield, fans are banned from going near the away team entrance on matchdays following an incident in the late 1990s where a Liverpool fan threw an egg at Alex Ferguson.[citation needed]

In March 2011, the Daily Mail reported that an FA Youth Cup game between the two clubs was marred because of "sick chants" about Hillsborough and Heysel coming from the Manchester United fans present at Anfield. The article also claims that six Manchester United fans were ejected from the stadium due to bad behaviour.  Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge was at the game and told the Liverpool Echo that "the level of abuse was absolutely sickening." 

In January 2011, the Manchester Evening News reported clashes between the M.I.B (Manchester United Firm) and the Urchins (Liverpool Firm) in Deansgate after Manchester United's FA Cup 3rd Round win over Liverpool at Old Trafford. Several Liverpool fans were injured and around 20 to 30 people were arrested.

Significant games

 In 1977, the two clubs met in a cup final for the first time, when they reached the final of the FA Cup. The two clubs took to the field at Wembley on 21 May, with Liverpool having just won the league title, knowing that winning this game would put them on course for a unique treble as they had the European Cup final to look forward to four days later. However, United ended Liverpool's treble dreams with a 2-1 win, with goals from Stuart Pearson and Jimmy Greenhoff, five minutes apart with a Jimmy Case consolation goal in between.

Six years later, on 26 March 1983, the two sides met for the Football League Cup final. Goals from Alan Kennedy and Ronnie Whelan won the game 2-1 for Liverpool, who collected the trophy for the third year in succession. Norman Whiteside scored United's consolation goal. It was the last of Liverpool manager Bob Paisley's nine seasons in charge (during which Liverpool had dominated the English and European scene) before his retirement, and his players allowed him to climb the 39 steps to collect the trophy from the Royal Box.

On 4 April 1988, Liverpool were 11 points ahead at the top of the league and almost certain of winning the First Division title with barely a month of the league season remaining. United, in their first full season under the management of Alex Ferguson, were their nearest rivals. The two sides took to the field for a league encounter at Anfield and with the second half just minutes old the home side had a 3-1 lead with goals from Peter Beardsley, Gary Gillespie and Steve McMahon, with United's only goal coming from Bryan Robson. Robson then pulled a goal back for United, and with 12 minutes remaining fellow midfielder Gordon Strachan equalised to force a 3-3 draw.

Nearly six years after this clash, Anfield was the scene of another 3-3 draw in the league between the two sides, only this time it was the home side who climbed back from the jaws of defeat. On 4 January 1994, in the second season of the new FA Premier League, United took a 3-0 lead at Anfield in the opening 25 minutes with goals from Steve Bruce, Ryan Giggs and Denis Irwin. Liverpool managed to claw back to draw 3-3 with two goals from Nigel Clough and another from Neil Ruddock. It was one of the last games in charge of Liverpool for manager Graeme Souness, who had resigned by the end of the month.

On 1 October 1995, United's Eric Cantona made his comeback to the side after serving an eight-month suspension for attacking a spectator in a game against Crystal Palace. His comeback game was against Liverpool in the Premier League at Old Trafford. United took an early lead through Nicky Butt, only for Liverpool's Robbie Fowler to score twice and give the visitors a 2-1 lead. However, United were awarded a penalty in the 71st minute and Cantona converted it successfuly, forcing a 2-2 draw.[28]At the end of the season, the two sides met again at Wembley for the FA Cup Final. The game stayed goalless until the 85th minute, when Liverpool condeded a corner, which David Beckham swung into the box to be cleared by David James, only for Eric Cantona to fire home United's winner.

On 14 March 2009, the two sides met at Old Trafford in the Premier League. United were ahead at the top of the league and Liverpool were looking to make a late run to the title which had eluded them since 1990. United went ahead in the 23rd minute with a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty, but Fernando Torres equalised five minutes later for Liverpool, and a Steven Gerrard penalty just before half time put Liverpool in the lead. United had Nemanja Vidić sent off in the 76th minute, and their misery was swiftly confounded by late goals from Fabio Aurelio and finally Andrea Dossena, condemning them to a 4-1 defeat - their heaviest at Old Trafford in any competition for 17 years.[30]However, United managed to finish the season as league champions for the third season in succession,with Liverpool finishing second.