07 Oktober 2010

City owner back on top of rich list

Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour has returned to the top of football's rich list, according to the latest figures from FourFourTwo magazine.

Sheikh Mansour (centre)

The 40-year-old's vast fortune is estimated to have risen by £3billion, moving him back in front of QPR shareholder Lakshmi Mittal, whose fortune has dipped to £17bn.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, whose wealth once dwarfed all other fortunes on the list, has now dropped as far as fourth - displaced by Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov, whose estate has exploded to rise from £1.3bn to £8bn.

Usmanov's fellow Arsenal shareholder Stanley Kroenke is eighth on the list with a fortune of £1.85bn, while Mittal's partner at QPR, Bernie Ecclestone, also makes it into the top 10 with his £1.4bn estate.

The controversial owners of Manchester United, the Glazer family, are ranked ninth with an estimated fortune of £1.53bn.

Others figuring in the top 10 are Southampton owners the Liebherr family, fifth with a fortune of £3bn, Tottenham owner Joe Lewis, sixth at £2.7bn, and Celtic's Denis O'Brien, seventh with a fortune of £1.87bn.

Tom Hicks and George Gillett, whose ownership of Liverpool could come to an end if the club's other directors are able to force through a sale, do not feature on this year's list at all. Having been listed joint 16th last year with an estimated £500million each, analysts said it was now impossible to verify their worth as the turmoil continues at Anfield.

Among players, David Beckham still tops the list by a huge margin, but his worth is said to have dropped from £125m to £100m, pushing him from 38th overall to 49th.

Wayne Rooney, meanwhile, has dropped from third to sixth, beneath Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell and Ryan Giggs. Michael Owen is second on the players' list with a fortune of £40m, £6m more than Manchester United team-mate Ferdinand.

England boss Fabio Capello tops the managers' list with a fortune of £36m, ahead of Ipswich boss Roy Keane, whose £28m fortune was largely accumulated as a player at Manchester United. He sits one place above his old boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, third, with a fortune of £26m.

Telefon bimbit untuk pengguna


DENGAN tawaran fungsi ringkas dan mudah, Nokia 5250 menyasarkan aplikasi daripada golongan pengguna biasa.

PERMINTAAN tinggi terhadap telefon bimbit dengan fungsi skrin sentuh mendorong syarikat pengeluar produk telekomunikasi terkenal, Nokia untuk terus menghasilkan peranti seumpama itu.

Terbaru, syarikat berkenaan telah memperkenalkan model Nokia 5250 dengan sasaran pengguna biasa yang ingin beralih kepada telefon bimbit pintar.

Walaupun mempunyai binaan yang ringkas, namun ia masih mengekalkan reka bentuk moden sesuai untuk pengguna daripada pelbagai peringkat umur.

Nokia 5250 didatangkan bersama sistem operasi Symbian S60 5.0 dengan memori binaan dalam 51 megabit (MB) selain disokong oleh kad memori microSD sehingga 16 gigabit (GB).

Paparannya pula disempurnakan dengan skrin TFT luas yang mempunyai nisbah 16:9 serta bersaiz 2.8 inci.

Ia turut mempunyai keunikan memberi peluang kepada pengguna memuat turun beribu-ribu fail lagu dan muzik tanpa had menerusi platform Ovi Music.

Di samping itu, aplikasinya juga dilengkapi bersama penalaan radio FM, akses laman web rangkaian sosial, permainan video yang boleh dimuat turun daripada Ovi Store serta capaian kepada pelbagai akaun e-mel.

Ia termasuk Ovi Mail, Yahoo Mail, Gmail dan Windows Live Hotmail untuk memudahkan pengguna menerima e-mel mereka secara mobiliti.

Untuk tujuan rakaman foto pula, model berkenaan mempunyai kamera dua megapiksel.

Selain itu, pengguna juga boleh berkongsi gambar dan video yang telah diambil secara dalam talian melalui medium Ovi Share.

Kelebihan lain yang ditawarkan oleh model ini adalah seperti capaian Bluetooth 2.0, slot USB mikro dan sambungan audio visual 3.5 milimeter (mm).

Dengan berat hanya 107 gram (g), Nokia 5250 disediakan dalam pilihan warna kelabu, biru, merah, ungu dan putih.

Turut ditawarkan beberapa pilihan aksesori tambahan seperti set kepala Bluetooth stereo, pembesar suara mini Nokia dan set kepala Nokia.

Tin terlekat pada kepala kucing


PENYELAMAT cuba mengeluarkan tin makanan yang terlekat pada kepala seekor kucing di bandar Linz, Austria baru-baru ini.


LINZ, Austria - Kepala seekor kucing betina tersangkut pada satu tin makanan semasa ia mencari makanan di belakang sebuah pasar raya di bandar ini, lapor sebuah akhbar semalam.

Anggota-anggota jabatan bomba menyelamatkan kucing itu selepas mendapatkan maklumat daripada orang awam yang menghubungi talian kecemasan 999, baru-baru ini.

Kucing itu merayau-rayau di jalanan dengan tin terlekat di kepalanya.

Pemotong logam digunakan untuk menanggalkan tin makanan itu daripada kepala haiwan tersebut sebelum ia dihantar ke sebuah pusat perlindungan kucing.

"Kucing itu tidak dapat melihat ke arah mana ia berjalan atau apa yang dilakukannya.

"Adalah sesuatu yang ajaib kerana ia tidak berjalan keluar, pergi ke jalan raya dan dilanggar kereta," kata seorang anggota bomba. - Agensi

Tasik unik di Austria


SEORANG penyelam menyelam di dasar Green Lake yang mempunyai pokok-pokok hijau di Tragoess, Austria baru-baru ini.


TRAGOESS, Austria - Satu kawasan tasik di sini mempunyai pemandangan unik kerana di dasarnya mempunyai pokok, rumput, bangku dan jambatan, lapor sebuah akhbar semalam.

Tasik itu dikenali dengan nama Green Lake yang terletak di sini mempunyai pokok, rumput, bangku dan jambatan asli kerana ia tenggelam buat seketika.

Apabila musim sejuk, kawasan tasik itu akan kering dan ia dijadikan taman.

Namun, apabila suhu semakin meningkat, ais dan salji di kawasan pergunungan dekat tasik itu mula cair menyebabkan kawasan taman berkenaan dipenuhi air.

Tasik itu kini menjadi tumpuan penyelam untuk melihat keunikan pemandangan semulajadi yang tidak ada di tempat lain. - Agensi

06 Oktober 2010

Lebih Sejuta Spesis Tinggal di dalam Lautan

Dracula fish, bald bird among 145 new Mekong finds: WWF

BANGKOK — Wildlife researchers said Wednesday they had discovered 145 new species in the Greater Mekong region last year, including a fish with fangs and a seven-metre (23 feet) tall carnivorous plant.

The "bald" Bulbul bird discovered in Laos' Savannakhet province

Other new finds include a frog that sounds like a cricket, Asia's only known bald songbird, and a "sucker fish", which uses its body to stick to rocks in fast flowing waters to move upstream, according to conservation group WWF.


Local fishermen in Chiang Khong, northern Thailand show off a giant Mekong catfish

With fangs at the front of each jaw, the "dracula minnow" is one of the more bizarre new species found in 2009 in the Mekong River region, which comprises Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China's Yunnan Province.

Discovered in a small stream in Myanmar, it is largely translucent and measures up to 1.7 centimetres long.

It is not yet known whether the species is endemic to a single ecosystem within Myanmar, or spread throughout the region as a whole.

Other bizarre discoveries include the Bare-Faced Bulbul bird, which is bereft of feathers on the face and side of the head and has pale blue skin on the rear of the head and around the eyes. It lives in sparse forest on limestone karsts in central Laos.

Among newly recorded plants, the Nepenthes bokorensis plant, found in southern Cambodia, has a climbing length of up to seven metres, with pitchers that trap ants and other insects for food.

"The rate of discovery in the Mekong is almost without equal globally," WWF regional conservation director Stuart Chapman told AFP.

"That's attributed to the enormous geographical and climatic range within the region, going from high altitude to dense tropical forests through to some of the richest freshwater in the world," he said.

"Undoubtedly this region is one of the richest in terms of its biodiversity, but it's also one of the most threatened."

The Greater Mekong region is home to some of the planet's most endangered wild species including tiger, Asian elephant, Mekong dolphin and Mekong giant catfish, said the World Wide Fund For Nature.

WWF has warned the Mekong giant catfish -- one of the world's biggest freshwater fish -- could be driven to extinction if plans to build hydropower dams on Southeast Asia's longest river go ahead, blocking spawning grounds.

"We need to keep one of the treasure troves of the world properly conserved," said Chapman.


Sumber - AFP

Largest Yacht Ever Built in Italy Knocks Paul Allen Off the Top 10



Billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen no longer owns one of the world's 10 largest yachts thanks to the just-launched Serene (above) from Fincantieri. At just under 440 ft. Serene is the largest yacth ever built in Italy, and enters the list of the world's largest yachts at No. 9, according to Camper & Nicholsons – just behind the floating brothel Savarona. That knocks Allen's famed 414-ft. Octopus out of the top 10 altogether (No. 1 of course is still, by a mere 18 inches, Roman Abramovich's Eclipse). The billionaire buyer of Serene is unknown. Designed by Espen Oeino, the Serene, which took four years to complete, has seven decks, a tender hangar and two helipads. The high-tech megayacth features a large seawater swimming pool and a submarine with a diving depth of up to 100 metres. The 4,500 square meter interior boasts super-luxe accommodations and entertaining spaces designed by Pascale Reymond of London's Reymond Langton Design.

1959 Ferrari GT Sells on Ebay for $3.26 Million



A gorgeous, mint condition 1959 Ferrari GT sold on Ebay.com for $3.26 million. The car, with 52,000 miles on its odometer, was listed from an owner in Pittsburgh, Pa., and sold after 86 bids. The car's official designation is a Ferrari California Spyder 250 GT CS. It has a 12 cylinder engine, manual transmission and a cloth convertible top. Designed for export to America, the California Spyder was Ferrari's interpretation of an open-top Gran Turismo Car.
The concept was driven by California enthusiasts and a leading Ferrari dealer who prevailed on the Italian company to create a sports car for Californians who regularly drive with the top down.
Of the approximately 51 Long Wheelbase (LWB) California Spyders made, at least 10 were built for competition and nine of these were made with aluminum bodies.
1627GT was one of them. This rare California Spyder features a Tipo 508 D frame, which was one of nine created. 1627GT is also one of the initial California Spyders to be equipped with disc brakes, an innovation for its time. A replica of this car was featured in the film,
Ferris Bueller's Day Off.



Rare Pink Diamond Could Be One Of The World's Most Expensive Stones

Another big pink diamond will test its luck at Sotheby's this fall. A 24.78 carat Fancy Intense Pink diamond that was last seen on the market 60 years ago, when it was purchased from Harry Winston, will be auctioned off at Sotheby's Geneva on November 16, 2010. The emerald-cut stone is mounted in a ring and has been determined to be part of the type IIa classification, a rare type of stone that represents less than two percent of all of the world's gem diamonds. The stone is currently graded as VVS2 clarity, but the report from the Gemological Institute of America states that the stone may be internally flawless after repolishing. The stone is offered for sale with a pre-sale estimate of $27-38 million. Last year a five-carat pink stone sold for $10.8 million setting a new per carat record.

Wanita 107 tahun masih dara



CORNWALL - Seorang anak dara berusia 107 tahun, Clara Meadmore mengakui dia tidak pernah melakukan hubungan seks, lapor sebuah akhbar semalam.

Perawan warga emas itu meraikan hari jadinya yang ke-107 pada Ahad lepas.

Ditanya bagaimana dia mengekalkan daranya sejak sekian lama, wanita itu menyatakan, dia terlalu sibuk dan percaya seks cuma mengganggu kehidupannya.

Menurut Clara yang berasal dari sini, England, semasa usianya remaja pada tahun 1920-an dan 1930-an, seks adalah untuk wanita yang telah berkahwin.

Dia tidak berhasrat untuk berumah tangga dan pernah menolak beberapa lamaran sebelum ini.

"Orang pernah bertanya sama ada saya homoseks dan jawapannya adalah tidak," kata Clara.

"Saya mempunyai ramai kenalan lelaki tetapi tidak berminat dengan seks atau perkahwinan," tambahnya. - Agensi

DUIT