1 week agoNewsComments Off on TikTok founder, 41, takes title of China’s richest man three years after stepping down from firm
TIKTOK’S founder has taken over the title of China’s richest man.
Zhang Yiming, 41, the founder of the app’s parent company ByteDance, is now worth £38billion.
AFPTikTok’s founder has taken over the title of China’s richest man[/caption]
ReutersZhang Yiming, 41, the founder of the app’s parent company ByteDance, is now worth £38billion[/caption]
The tech guru stepped down from running the firm in 2021, but is understood to still own a 20 per cent stake in it.
Hurun Research Institute, which compiled the rich list, says Yiming’s worth is up 43 per cent on last year.
He is the first person born in the 1980s to get top spot.
He leapfrogged bottled water magnate Zhong Shanshan, who had been previously top, but saw his fortune fall 24 per cent to £36billion.
The survey of the entrepreneurs on the list found that their total wealth was down ten per cent on 2023.
GettyRuben Amorim will fly to England to finalise his Man Utd move[/caption]
Ex-United boss Jose Mourinho and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola have both endorsed Amorim, 39, even though he only became a coach five years ago.
Sporting yesterday confirmed: “Manchester United have expressed their interest in recruiting coach Ruben Amorim and have said they are ready to pay the 10m euro release clause.”
Ten Hag’s No 2 Ruud van Nistelrooy will take temporary charge for tonight’s home Carabao Cup tie against Leicester.
Amorim led Sporting to the Portuguese title last season and his team have won ALL of their first nine league games this season.
Mourinho, who sat in the United hotseat from 2016-18, claimed the Sporting boss would be able to handle a Prem move, insisting he was capable of managing “in any club”.
The Special One added: “I like him as a person, I like him as a coach.
“He has the conditions to be able to coach in any league and in any club.”
Amorim had served an internship under Mourinho at United in 2018 before taking charge of lower-league Lisbon club Casa Pia the same year.
The ex-midfielder, who hung up his boots in 2016, joined Sporting in 2020, having impressed during a stint at Braga.
Ten Hag was dismissed on Monday morning with the club 14th in the Prem.
Guardiola also gave Amorim a glowing reference and said: “Why is it too quick? I started at Barcelona when I was 37. So knowledge is knowledge.
“If you are able, age doesn’t matter. If age was a reason, Lamine Yamal could not play football at 17 years old.”
Guardiola, who was due to face Amorim’s Sporting next week in the Champions League, added: “If Manchester United are thinking about him, it’s because he’s a good manager.”
City had been strongly linked with a move for Amorim if Guardiola quits at the end of the season — with the Lisbon club’s sporting director Hugo Viana heading to the Etihad this summer.
Sporting have lined up B team coach Joao Pereira as Amorim’s replacement.
Ruben Amorim leaves Sporting on a high
By Charlie Wyett
RUBEN AMORIM would have preferred to leave Lisbon in a blaze of glory after winning a third Primeira Liga title.
Yet football does not work like that. And in what was surely his final game before taking charge of Manchester United, Amorim prepared to say his goodbyes at a half-empty Estadio Jose Alvalade in a League Cup quarter-final against Nacional.
Sporting won 3-1 thanks to second-half goals by captain Morten Hjulmand and Viktor Gyokeres, who scored two.
Luis Esteves pulled back for Madeira-based Nacional.
The stadium will be a good deal more lively on Tuesday when Manchester City are here for a Champions League match — although Amorim should by then have his feet firmly under his desk at Old Trafford.
Liverpool and Aston Villa were both interested in Europe’s most sought-after coach. Even City could have been a possible destination post-Pep Guardiola.
Yet the United job is one Amorim, 39, could not turn down — even if not everyone saw it that way at Sporting last night.
There is clearly a huge split in the Portuguese club’s fan base over their coach leaving at this stage of the season with many believing he should have seen the job through.
Yet Amorim, along with the three-man coaching team who are expected to follow him, leaves a club in a much better state than when he arrived here in 2020.
Inside the stadium, there was applause — albeit muted — when his name was read out before the game along with the line-ups.
And there did not appear to be any jeers when Amorim shuffled out from the tunnel awkwardly towards the dugout.
So, while his departure is hard to take for some, none of the fans will forget his legacy.
This is a club which is back as the dominant force in Portugal. Even this term, Sporting have won their first nine league games, scoring 30 goals and conceding just two.
They are also eighth in the Champions League table, which is one hell of an effort.
In contrast, Lisbon was not exactly hit by League Cup fever last night.
Amorim made lots of changes, which saw Sporting’s star man Gyokeres, the former Coventry striker, start on the bench.
There was, however, a first appearance in six weeks for former Tottenham winger Marcus Edwards.
He is certainly one player who has been transformed by Amorim since arriving at the club from Vitoria in 2022 and will be sorry to see the coach leave.
While he changed his team, Amorim stuck with his tried and trusted formation of a back three.
It will certainly be something Manchester United’s fans will have to get used to over the coming months.
But looking at the Premier League table, none of them will be complaining about the change.
1 week agoNewsComments Off on Scorching 6,800C alien world is ‘hotter than the Sun’ as Nasa says it ‘could be another circle of hell’
Screenshot
A ROCKY alien world is so toasty that Nasa says it “could be another circle of hell”.
The scorching 6,800C planet is called Kepler-70b (or KOI-55b), and it’s just over 4,000 light-years from Earth.
The rocky planet is described as being “hotter than the Sun”NasaNasaThe planet is believed to have once been a gas giant – but evaporation has dramatically reduced it to a fiery terrestrial world[/caption]
It’s described as a “terrestrial” planet – a rocky world with a similar structure to Earth.
The planet is orbiting the star Kepler-70 in the constellation Cygnus.
This star is too faint to be seen with the naked eye – but can be spied with a telescope.
Nasa says it’s “one of the hottest planets discovered”, and warned that “the planet itself is evaporating, soon to be another victim”.
Scientists think that the planet started out as a gas giant that spiraled toward Kepler-70.
The star became a red giant, which evaporated most of it – except for a solid core.
Now Nasa says that the planet is a “a rocky world hotter than the Sun”.
“Kepler-70b (a.k.a. KOI-55 b) could well be another circle of hell,” Nasa explained.
“With an average temperature of about 12,000 degrees F (6,800 C).
“It used to be Jupiter-sized until it spent time inside its now-dead star.
“A trip that destroys most planets, but left this one a Freddy Krueger-like burned world smaller than Earth.”
The planet was first detected in 2011 – and has since been flagged by Nasa as a “horror” world.
It was spotted due to the reflection of starlight caused by the planet – alongside another world named Kepler-70c.
The alien world would be toastier than the hottest confirmed exoplanet KELT-9b, which has a measured temperature of 4,326C.
The planet orbits what Nasa describes as a ‘now-dead star’Nasa
What is an exoplanet?
Here's what you need to know...
An exoplanet is a planet that is located outside of our Solar System and one that is orbiting its own star, as Earth orbits the Sun
They are very hard to see with telescopes because they are often hidden by the brightness of their star
Nasa sent the Kepler space telescope into orbit with the purpose of finding Earth-sized exoplanets that might support life
More than 5,500 exoplanets have been discovered so far and more missions to find even more exoplanets are planned
A good way to spot an exoplanet is to look for “wobbly” stars because a disruption to starlight can indicate that a planet is orbiting it and blocking its light intermittently
Expoplanets are very common in the universe and the more we find that look like Earth, the closer we get to knowing whether Earth is the only life-bearing planet
Scientists think that the host star Kepler-70 stopped being a red giant around 18.4 million years ago.
Eventually it will run out of helium and turn into a white dwarf.
This is an extremely dense star that isn’t very luminous – and is typically the last stage of a star that isn’t massive enough to become a neutron star or black hole.
Sadly it’s unlikely that we’ll ever be able to visit Kepler-70b.
At a distance of 4,015 light-years from Earth, it would take an extraordinary amount of time to reach.
Later Apollo spaceships reached speeds of around 24,500mph.
At that speed, it would take around 965 million years to reach the planet.
1 week agoNewsComments Off on Channing Tatum and Zoe Kravitz call off engagement as they split after three years together
HOLLYWOOD couple Channing Tatum and Zoe Kravitz have split after three years together.
The pair, who got engaged in October 2023, have reportedly called off their engagement.
GettyChanning Tatum and Zoe Kravitz have split after three years together[/caption]
GettyThe pair have reportedly called off their engagement[/caption]
The Magic Mike star, 44, and the 35-year-old Batman actress were first linked in 2021 and their relationship was confirmed last summer.
But it looks like it’s all over as sources told People on Tuesday that the pair had recently split.
It comes as a surprise after reports that they were set to marry.
Last year, multiple insiders told People that the A-List couple will soon be walking down the aisle.
Zoe, 32, seemingly showed off her ring while arriving at Kendall and Kylie Jenner’s Halloween Party at the Chateau Marmot in Los Angeles, California over the weekend.
The Batman actress dressed as Rosemary Woodhouse from the 1968 horror film, Rosemary’s Baby; meanwhile, Channing, 41, dressed as a baby.
Photographers got a glimpse at the large rock on her ring finger as she held onto a sharp knife.
The ring is is a 7-carat diamond according to ring expert Sam Mee, with a value of more than $250,000.
The reports of their relationship emerged in 2021 just days after the Big Little Lies actress filed for divorce from her husband, Karl Glusman.
The two reportedly met on the set of Pussy Island, a thriller movie in which she is making her directorial debut and he plays the lead role.
The pair may have dispelled dating rumors in the past, but in August 2021 they appeared very much coupled up during a sighting in New York City by Page Six.
The duo were spotted going for a stroll together in the East Village and were seen laughing and joking.
Channing and Zoe were then seen going on a joint bike ride, with her arms wrapped around him.
‘A WONDERFUL HUMAN’
Zoe publicly discussed her relationship with Channing with GQ last November.
“He’s just a wonderful human,” she said at the time.
“He makes me laugh and we both really love art and talking about art and the exploration of why we do what we do,” she said.
“We love to watch a film and break it down and talk about it and challenge each other.
“Whether it was making me tea or pouring me a drink or going to whip someone into shape or whatever — he really was my protector and it was really wonderful and sweet.”
The star concluded: “I think if you can do something like that together, it’s a good test. And we came out even stronger.”
Magic Mike hunk Channing previously dated Jessie J.
In October 2020, his on-again, off-again girlfriend confirmed they were broken up, writing in a now-deleted post on Instagram: “Single life in a pandemic is [crystal ball emoji].”
The pair got engaged in October 2023GettyGettyZoe publicly described Channing as a ‘wonderful human’ last November[/caption]
1 week agoNewsComments Off on Kylie Jenner stuns in a striking prickly dress as she leads glam at CFDA Fashion Awards
KYLIE Jenner goes out on spike in a prickly porcupine-inspired dress.
The reality star and beauty mogul, 27, wore the striking black outfit to the CFDA Fashion Awards in New York on Monday night, having first tried it on more than 18 months ago.
GettyKylie Jenner stuns in a spiky Jean Paul Gaultier dress[/caption]
RexThe 27-year-old Kardashians star wore the striking black outfit to a fashion awards night[/caption]
She shared a photo on Instagram of her in a fitting wearing the dress in February 2023 and wrote: “I’ve been saving this masterpiece for the perfect night.”
Actress Blake Lively, 37, and model Sabrina Dhowre Elba, 35, wore white gowns, while Katie Holmes, 45, added a splash of colour in a pink and red dress.
The annual ceremony honoured singer-songwriter Erykah Badu with the Fashion Icon award while esteemed photographer Annie Leibovitz, 75, took home the Media Award.
Earlier this year, the Kardashians star uploaded a new clip of her singing the ABCs with her son Aire, 2, as the two enjoyed some food at the kitchen table.
Kylie notoriously sang the phrase “Rise and Shine” to her daughter Stormi, now 6, when she was a baby.
Poking fun at her own vocals, the video showed her hilariously showing off her singing ability as she sang out of tune.
“Aire was born a little late for rise and shine but he sure knows my beautiful abcs,” Kylie wrote in her caption.
Kylie started singing the song with her son before letting him take over fully, joining back in on the letter q.
Aire could only be seen from behind, while Kylie sat at the table wearing one of her red Khy sweatshirts with a blanket draped over her shoulder.
GettyKatie Holmes, 45, added a splash of colour in a pink and red dress[/caption]
GettyActress Blake Lively, 37, looked heavenly in a white gown paired with a blazer over her shoulders[/caption]
GettyModel Sabrina Dhowre Elba looked incredible in a plunging white dress[/caption]
1 week agoNewsComments Off on Rogue tradesmen targeting Generation Z because they are more clueless about DIY than the elderly
Gettyworker doing renovations in an apartment[/caption]
ROGUE traders are targeting Gen Z because they are more clueless about DIY than the elderly.
More than eight in ten 18 to 24-year-olds believe they have been ripped off by shoddy workmanship and hidden charges, a survey shows.
GettyRogue traders are targeting Gen Z because they are more clueless about DIY than the elderly (stock picture)[/caption]
Jambu Palaniappan, of Checkatrade said: ‘Dishonest operators erode trust in the trade industry and it’s alarming to see these unsavoury characters are zeroing in on Gen Z targets’
Fewer than half of those over 65 felt the same.
Jambu Palaniappan, of Checkatrade, which carried out the poll, said: “Dishonest operators erode trust in the trade industry and it’s alarming to see these unsavoury characters are zeroing in on Gen Z targets.
“It’s vital all consumers are alert to red flags to avoid being ripped off.
“This is especially key for the next generation of home improvers whose age and inexperience may make them easier victims.”
Nearly a quarter of those aged 18-24 looking for that TikTok interior admitted accepting a price without a breakdown.
A third relied on verbal quotes alone.
This has led to projects soaring over budget.
A worrying two thirds of all people have been victims of dishonest tradesmen.
Those scammed have suffered anxiety, frustration, stress and sleepless nights.
Another person said: “Thank you for everything, you are part of my childhood.
“The Valley was a better place in the 60s and 70s when I grew up there and you are part of what made it a better place.
“Whatever you do I hope you have a wonderful time, after your decades of hard work you deserve it. Sending you my love and thanks.”
A third person said: “Congratulations on an amazing 64 years of service to the local community all of you.
“Wishing you all some nice lie-ins!”
Speaking to the BBC, Alan said “I’ve mixed feelings.
“I’m ready for a rest but I’ll miss the customers so much.
“They’re more like friends.”
Destined for a career in engineering, a 19-year-old Alan Hartley turned towards the fruit and veg scene, purchasing an empty unit in November 1960.
The family owned and run business included Alan’s sister Janet, as well as his son Lee and his grandchildren.
Son, Lee, ended up taking over the day-to-day running in the 1990s, while Alan still remained involed.
Ahead of the store’s closing, Alan’s sister Janet, 89, said she was saving her tears.
“We’ve had tears from several customers,” she told the BBC.
She added: “We’re a big family. That’s our strength.
“When it’s backs to the wall. We present a united front.”
Over the years the shop’s nostalgic vibe has also caught the attention of TV producers.
The exterior was used for the 1980s-set ITV underwear drama Brief Encounter, while in 2022 the Disney TV series of Sheffield-based The Full Monty used the store as a newsagents.
But Kop boss Slot, who had only started him in two of the ten previous games since taking over from Jurgen Klopp, admits he is “worried” about the loss of Jota and Chiesa ahead of a punishing spell.
Former Feyenoord gaffer Slot brushed off suggestions Chiesa could return to Italy on loan in January.
And he was not jumping for joy at being forced to turn to Nunez, who has just 35 goals in 106 appearances since arriving from Benfica more than two years ago.
Slot added: “About Darwin, I gave him credit for the fact he worked so hard in previous weeks when he didn’t play a lot to be able to play three games in a row.
“Three games in eight days, so that says a lot about him.
“But it also says a lot about the quality of our performance staff and medical staff that we were able to give him the right sessions to prepare him in the right way.
“You always need the player to buy in because you can give him the right sessions but if he doesn’t give everything then it is very difficult for him to do what he did.”
He played against Peru and Ecuador last month, with Slot saying: “It was a good thing his ban for the Uruguay team was cancelled so he could play.
“That has probably really helped him to play the way that he did in the last three games.
“I’m not talking about the quality he played with, but the intensity he played with. The quality was also good — so that was a positive thing.”
Slot is planning on making changes on Wednesday night as Liverpool host Brighton in the Prem on Saturday, as well as ex-Kop hero Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League before a visit from Aston Villa.
Seagulls boss Fabian Hurzeler is without defender Lewis Dunk who has a “small muscle issue” and conceded his captain is “not easy to replace”.
Hurzeler added: “He’s a great healer, so we have to go day by day. For sure, we can’t take any risks with him — but he’s keen on coming back as soon as possible.”
1 week agoNewsComments Off on I’m the last British reporter alive who was at Rumble in the Jungle… it was the most bizarre 10 days of my life
TODAY is the 50th anniversary of the Rumble in the Jungle, when Muhammad Ali confirmed his immortality by knocking out George Foreman to regain the world heavyweight championship.
That fabulous, mind-blowing fight that took place before an African dawn broke over Kinshasa has been described as the greatest sporting event of the 20th Century.
AlamyIt has been 50 years since the epic Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman[/caption]
Colin Hart is the last British reporter alive who was at the historic fightNews Group Newspapers LtdNews Group Newspapers LtdSunSport’s man was ringside as Ali regained his heavyweight crown[/caption]
Sadly, I’m the only British journalist who was at ringside that night who is still alive to tell the tale of what occurred before, during and after that epic battle where heroic Ali plotted his greatest triumph and Foreman met his Waterloo.
It may have happened half a century ago but it’s a fair bet if you should mention the Rumble in the Jungle from Angola to Zanzibar, most people will know what you are talking about.
Unquestionably it is the most written and talked about contest ever and the saga for me actually began nine months before in Caracas, when there was a press conference on the eve of Foreman’s title defence against Ken Norton.
It was chaired by a strange-looking and very loud American promoter, whose hair was standing straight up as if he’d been scared out of his wits at seeing a ghost. It was my first introduction to Don King.
King announced Foreman would be making his third defence against Ali in an open-air stadium in Kinshasa, Zaire — the first bell would sound at 4am and the two men would each be paid $5million.
He also explained that Zaire’s President Mobutu Sese Seko was putting up the money — the idea was to attract tourism to his country and for Ali and Foreman to return to their African roots.
I found it difficult not to laugh out loud at the absurdity of it. George took less than two rounds to dispose of Norton and, come the autumn, I was in Kinshasa about to experience the most bizarre ten days of my working life.
Mobutu was probably the most terrifying, murderous dictator who ever ruled a nation on the African continent — and with Uganda’s Idi Amin as a rival, that is saying something.
His presence was all-pervading — giant photographs of him were on every street corner and, when the local TV station was turned on in the evening, the opening three hours were devoted to his speeches.
The Zairians were scared to death of him, with good reason. Soon after he came to power, he had the Prime Minister and three cabinet ministers publicly hanged in front of a 50,000 crowd.
AP:Associated PressAli and Foreman’s fight is the most analysed in history[/caption]
AP:Associated PressAli showed he was still the top dog in the ring[/caption]
When we were given a tour of the 20th of May Stadium where the fight took place, we came across a wall pock-marked by dozens of holes.
We asked Tishimpupu Wa Tishimpupu, the Minister of Publicity, how the holes came to be there and he told us matter-of-factly that was where Mobutu had dissidents and coup plotters executed by firing squad.
To say communications between Kinshasa and London were difficult is an under-statement. Nobody could get telephone calls to their offices and, during the build-up to the fight, stories had to be sent by telex.
The problem was many telex-operators used to disappear to have a sleep. The foreign press complained to Tishimpupu, who sent our displeasure on to Mobutu himself.
The President’s unequivocal edict to the workers was “the next telex operator who is found asleep when he should be on duty will be shot”.
They knew he meant it and it had the required effect. From that moment, they were beavering away non-stop.
Frustratingly, the trouble was many messages ended up at the wrong address. The Times correspondent, Neil Allen, sent a 2,000-word fight preview which was somehow found spewing out of a machine in a Cambridgeshire woodyard’s office.
There were many incredible moments from the boutAP:Associated PressForeman and Ali went on to become pals[/caption]
Such was the magnitude of the Ali-Foreman clash around the globe, three of America’s literary giants — Norman Mailer, Budd Schulberg and George Plimpton — were there to cover it for various high-class publications in the States.
They were all extremely famous award-winning authors but just as enthusiastic fight fans as the regulars at York Hall — drinking with them most evenings in the casino bar and talking boxing was another unforgettable experience.
There couldn’t have been a greater contrast between Ali and Foreman — Beauty and the Beast perhaps sums them up best.
Ali, being his usual garrulous self, was adored wherever he went from the moment he set foot in Zaire. He was worshipped by the entire population.
His training camp was at N’Sele, 30 miles from Kinshasa, and thousands of men, women and children would come out of the bush to line the road and wait for hours just to get a glimpse of him as he was driven to the capital.
Foreman at 25 wasn’t the smiling carefree giant who resembles a benign Buddha that we see today. He was surly, extremely bad tempered and far from lovable.
Having won 37 of his 40 fights by knockout — his fists were like two wrecking balls and menace seemed to ooze from every pore — he made Sonny Liston look like a soft, cuddly teddy bear.
AP:Associated PressNew ways of looking at the fight keep coming to light[/caption]
APIn another 50 years it will still be analysed by boxing experts[/caption]
Ali at 32 was far from the first flush of youth. Hardened veterans who had been connected to boxing all their lives were among many who genuinely feared for his health and safety.
It was even seriously suggested The Greatest was likely to be bludgeoned into A&E or even worse by the time Foreman had finished his demolition job on him.
As they made the long walk from the dressing room to the ring the exotic setting was perfect for Ali, with throbbing tribal drums and 60,000 frenzied fans chanting “Ali, Boma ye” — Ali, kill him.
Having been close to the action and seen the film of the fight many times since, I still shake my head in disbelief that Ali allowed one of the most powerful men who ever laced on the gloves to punch himself out on his body.
Tactics that appeared suicidal and had his trainer Angelo Dundee going mental.
Medals are usually handed out on battlefields for that kind of calculated bravery.
The end came for the utterly exhausted and demoralised Foreman in the eighth round, when a five-punch combination sent him spinning to the canvas to be counted out.
Heritage AuctionsHart reckons it was the most bizarre fight of his career[/caption]
Our man brought you all the news on the event in 1974News Group Newspapers Ltd
Ali had defied logic by winning back the crown he first held ten years before. I had a gut-feeling Big George lacked stamina, which is why in SunSport I picked Ali to beat him in nine rounds.
My Fleet Street colleagues, who to a man had gone for Foreman, thought I’d taken leave of my senses.
As Foreman, bewildered and broken, was being led back to his corner, I shamefully behaved unprofessionally by leaping out of my seat and punched the air.
Like Ali, I was elated at being proved right against all the odds.
But I was quickly brought down to earth when I got a cable from my sports editor — the incomparable Frank Nicklin — which said “Why wrong round?”.
A heartbroken Foreman summed up his defeat, saying: “I felt totally empty. I hadn’t just lost the title, I’d lost what defined me as a man. I felt as if my core had evaporated.”
I know George well enough to realise he has never fully got over being humiliated by Ali, despite ending up friends with his rival.
And I wouldn’t be surprised when the 100th anniversary of the Rumble in the Jungle comes around that boxing fans will be just as eager to find out what went on at the sport’s most surreal and historic episode.
ReutersChancellor Rachel Reeves will insist the prize of a better Britain is immense — but the country will have to stomach tax rises of up to £35billion[/caption]
instagram/rishisunakmpRishi Sunak has called out the Government for deception and broken promises, in his last major outing as Tory leader[/caption]
Money will be ploughed into the NHS, rebuilding schools and building more affordable homes, as she vows to “invest, invest, invest” to drive growth in her Budget plans.
But she faces ex-PM Rishi Sunak, who has called out the Government for deception and broken promises, in his last major outing as Tory leader.
He will criticise her as she is set to change the fiscal rules, allowing for a borrowing spree of up to £50billion.
Ms Reeves will insist workers’ pay will be protected as she will not raise income tax, national insurance and VAT.
But there is speculation that employer national insurance contributions and capital gains tax will go up in the Budget.
Ms Reeves will say: “The prize on offer today is immense.
“And the only way to drive economic growth is to invest, invest, invest.”
Mr Sunak said: “Ms Reeves vowed she wouldn’t change the debt target as that would be ‘fiddling the figures’.
