Facebook Could Spend £1 Billion on a Premier League Football Team

2018-02-02 11:22:03 | 日記

 


An American investment company, backed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, is interested in buying Tottenham Hotspur. Iconiq Capital has held talks over the north London club that finished second in the Premier League, according to The Sunday Times.

The £5.136 billion (about $6.61 billion) television deal that the Premier League agreed with Sky Sports and BT Sport in 2015 has made English football teams an ever more attractive prospect for potential investors.

The report claims that Iconiq began discussions about buying Spurs in 2014 and was willing to pay £882.6 million (about £1.136 billion); this was rejected by the club’s owner Joe Lewis, who is said to be holding out for £2 billion.

Related: Is Football Wealthiest League About to Break the Transfer Record Again?

Tottenham released a statement that denied the reports of a takeover Monday morning,. “The Club engaged Rothschild  to secure the funding for the new stadium,” the statement said.

“The Board believes this was the optimum solution in the interests of fans, employees and shareholders and for the continued development of the Club. The Board is not in any discussions relating to a takeover offer for the Club.”

Spurs finished second in the Premier League last season and third the year before, spending both campaigns as a title contender.

This season, Mauricio Pochettino ’s team will play home games at Wembley Stadium as White Hart Lane, its stadium, is demolished and rebuilt with state-of-the-art facilities. The rebuild is costing around £750 million.


Tiffany & Co. Is Selling a Tin Can for $1,000—Is It Worth It?

2018-02-01 19:18:28 | 日記

 


In Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Holly Golightly rolls up to the famed jeweler in a little black dress, croissant in hand, to gaze at necklaces and earrings and dream of a better life. To most people, that life does not include a $1,000 tin can.

And yet decades later, here we are.

Tiffany & Co is selling a "tin can" for $1,000.

The sterling silver can, streaked with blue enamel, is part of the store's Everyday Objects line. That line also includes items like a $900 ball of yarn, a $350 crazy straw in silver and rose-colored gilding, and a silver pillbox made to look like a Chinese-food takeout container.  

As Tiffany’s website states, the reason the can costs about as much as an iPhone X is that “beautiful things shouldn’t just live in a drawer. Handcrafted in sterling silver, enamel and wood, this new collection elevates traditional office supplies and accessories into works of art meant to become favorite pieces you use every day.”

The aestheticization of the "everyday" and the price tags attached to them drew some venom on social media.

There is also the fact that the tin can does not appear to contain actual tin. Rather, the can, which can be hand-engraved for an additional $45 or mechanically engraved at a lower cost, is made of sterling silver.  

The can itself may quite literally be worth it, or at least close to the value of the silver used to make it. In the current market cost for sterling silver, actual tin costs something like 55 cents per ounce, while silver is closer to almost $17 per ounce. According to Gizmodo, the tin cans we know and love are usually made from steel and merely lined with tin. Older processes alloyed tin with other metals like lead (the two were combined by soldering)—so at least the Tiffany's can has the absence of anything physically toxic in it. 

While the expense is definitely something, wanting fancy things is understandable in certain contexts. One could imagine a desire for a really, really nice pair of ping-pong paddles (yes, Tiffany’s is selling those too) if money were no object, and if one had a ping-pong table at which to use said paddles. To say the same for a cylinder whose advertised use—other than “[elevating] traditional office supplies and accessories into works of art meant to become favorite pieces you use every day” and looking very expensive—appears to be holding several pencils would be more than a bit of a stretch.

Tiffany’s did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.

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Pollution In Hong Kong Is So Horrible It Has Been Classified a 'Serious' Health Risk

2018-02-01 19:18:28 | 日記

 


Air pollution levels in Hong Kong have repeatedly reached dangerous levels in the last week, including on Monday morning. The South China Morning Post reported Monday that at times, the air quality was so bad that government recommendations encouraged everyone—even people without underlying health conditions—to stay inside. 

Weather conditions, including wind patterns, over the last two days have contributed to the smog. However, some are concerned that the smog cannot be chalked up entirely to winter weather patterns. As Agence France-Presse reported, the number of days when smog posed a high health risk have doubled in the last year and environmental activists are pushing for more electric cars and cleaner fuels, despite a steady decline in pollution near roads.

Smog has become a perennial issue in Hong Kong. In just one month last winter, hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents went to their doctors' offices due to smog-related issues, the Guardian reported in February.

A passenger on a Star Ferry looks out of a window as smog engulfs commercial buildings in Hong Kong on January 22, 2018. The winter months regularly bring worse air quality to Hong Kong and other parts of the region due to wind direction and weather conditions. ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/Getty Images

According to the Morning Post, nitrogen dioxide was the main reason that the air quality was so bad. Nitrogen dioxide “primarily gets in the air from the burning of fuel,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency—basically, it comes from cars and other vehicles. When lots of it is in the air, nitrogen dioxide can make asthmatics’ lives particularly difficult. It can also lead to increases in the levels of particulate matter and ozone levels through chemical reactions.

Ozone and particulates are both regulated as air pollutants in the United States, too. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, particulate matter is associated with heart and lung disease. Only two cities in the United States had air quality classified as “unhealthy for sensitive groups” on Monday. Both were in New Jersey.

Levels in Hong Kong have since declined a bit since Monday morning; by Monday night, only one station reported an Air Quality Health Index measure that landed in the “very high” health risk category. Air quality is also forecast to pose a moderate to very high health risk on Tuesday morning.


People Are Naming Their Dogs After Ivanka Trump and Barb from 'Stranger Things'

2018-02-01 19:13:59 | 日記

 


It has become increasingly clear Ivanka Trump's husband, Jared Kushner, could be in hot water over potential ties to Russia. And yes her father, Presdient Donald Trump, is a historically unpopular president. But at least the eldest Trump daughter can take solace knowing there are good dogs bearing her name.

According to a report Wednesday from the dog-sitter app/network Rover, the number of people naming their dogs Ivanka rose 88 percent this year. That's a signficant leap, but other names actually took a bigger jump.

The popular Stranger Things character Barb (RIP) inspired an 182 percent rise, while Eleven, the superhero of show, saw a 166 percent increase. Next-gen Star Wars heroes Finn and Rey got a 70 percent bump, and Game of Thrones-themed names (Khaleesi was most popular) ticked up 12 percent. Weird internet lingo popularized by accounts like @Dog_Rates (where dogs are called nonsensical cute names) has also apparently led to the name Fluffer rising by 500 percent.

Overall, Rover said, 8 percent of dog names were related to pop culture.

Some 48 percent of the country owns a dog, according to American Pet Products Association's latest national pet owners survey. And folks are apparently putting far more thought into names these days.

"Many of today’s dog owners call themselves 'pet parents,' a huge signal of the familial relationship modern pet owners have developed with their dogs," said Brandie Gonzales, pet lifestyle expert for Rover, in a press release. "In that same vein, pet parents have become more thoughtful about the dog naming process, as is typical for a parental figure. They use it as an opportunity to express something about themselves and the way they feel about their dog."

Despite the growing popularity of pop-culture names, classic dog handles remain the standard. Rover found the 10 most popular names for female dogs were Bella, Lucy, Daisy, Luna, Lola, Sadie, Molly, Maggie, Bailey and Sophie. The app found the most popular names for male dogs were Max, Charlie, Cooper, Buddy, Jack, Rocky, Oliver, Bear, Duke and Tucker. 

Rover said it developed the dog name report from millions of user-submitted dog names from people who use the site. 

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Prince Harry's Fiancée Meghan Markle Is Related to William Shakespeare and Winston Churchill

2018-01-31 13:07:26 | 日記

 


Meghan Markle is set to take up British citizenship after she marries the U.K.’s Prince Harry. But it turns out the actor already has some impressive roots in Britain—she is related to both William Shakespeare and Winston Churchill.

Prince Harry’s American bride-to-be is Shakespeare’s fifth cousin 13 times removed, according to genealogy service MyHeritage.com, which looked into Markle’s family tree following news of her engagement to Harry, 33, Monday.

Shakespeare is, of course, the world’s most famous playwright best known for his great romantic works, like Romeo and Juliet, so it’s befitting the Bard’s descendant is swept up in a modern day love story (hopefully, minus the tragedy).

Markle, 36, is related to Shakespeare on her father’s side and Shakespeare’s mother’s side. They share ancestors John Whalesborough, born in 1369, and his wife Joan Whalesborough.

Meghan Markle and Shakespeare family tree MyHeritage

The familial ties between Markle and Churchill, Britain’s wartime prime minister during World War II, are even closer. They are sixth cousins five times removed and related via Zachariah Howe, born in Essex County, Massachusetts, in 1640. Howe was a descendant of British settlers who originated from the U.K. county of Essex. The connection is through Markle’s paternal family.

"When we heard the wonderful news about Harry and Meghan's engagement, we wanted to help Meghan discover some English roots of her own. I'm sure she will be delighted to know that she comes from such prestigious British stock," a spokesperson for MyHeritage.com tells Newsweek.

"We are not sure if Ms Markle is aware of her connection to such eminent Britons, however, it seems that she was always destined to be a Brit.”

Making matters all the more complicated, Markle and Harry may also have shared ancestry

The U.K.’s Metro reported in October the engaged couple are descendants of Ralph Bowes, a 15th century British high sheriff whose bloodline traces through to the Queen Mother, Harry’s great-grandmother.

Meghan Markle and Churchill family tree MyHeritage