Fuel prices, the farming crisis, taxes, inner city regeneration, the peace process, which of these, I wonder aren't 'real' issues, or don't affect everyday life?

BBC: Measuring up to the giants of the past

In America, the foreclosure crisis has pushed people back into cities and inner suburbs, says William Frey of the Brookings Institution, though it is not clear whether that trend will last.

ECONOMIST: Urban living

He called the global turmoil "far more large-scale and far more dangerous than the 1998 crisis", but said Russians "showed that we are a mature, creative, confident nation with inner vital strength".

BBC: Russian opposition MPs snub Putin with walkout