The Air Jordan 13 trainers worn by Jordan in the 1998 NBA Finals have become the most valuable sneakers ever sold.A pair of sneakers worn by NBA superstar Michael Jordan has sold for $2.2m, making them the most valuable sports footwear ever sold, auction house Sotheby’s said. The auctioned shoes were a pair of the Air Jordan 13 sneakers that the basketball great wore during the 1998 NBA Finals, known as “The Last Dance”. The online sale cements Jordan’s position as the most valuable athlete at auctions for sportswear memorabilia. The previous record holder was a pair of Kanye West’s…
Author: National Tone
Cape Town, South Africa – The digital clock on Shaykh Safwaan Sasman’s smartphone turns 18.59, and the 32-year-old looks up. Beside him, a dozen other men in thobes and matching black puffer jackets embroidered with the words ‘Crescent Observers’ stand in silence, staring at the sky. A splash of orangey-red streaks across the horizon, announcing the dusk. Below, the Atlantic laps the coastline; a midweek stream of joggers and cyclists shuffle across Cape Town’s Sea Point promenade; and families relax while children play on the grass. In the 37 minutes between the sun setting and the moon slipping below the…
Taipei, Taiwan – Scrolling through Twitter during the past few weeks, Sarah Hurst, an independent journalist in the United Kingdom, began noticing changes in the way the platform displayed certain government and media accounts. Hurst, who writes about Russia and Ukraine, started seeing more tweets from Russian government accounts, Russian state media and government mouthpieces in her “For You” tab. Twitter launched the tab in January as the new default view for users, displaying algorithmically-selected tweets along with those from accounts the user follows. “Previously on your settings, you could choose to have tweets organised by ‘top tweets’ or chronologically…
The WHO says the woman, who died in March, probably contracted the virus at a live poultry market and the risk of further spread is low.A 56-year-old woman in southern China has died after testing positive for H3N8 avian influenza, marking the first human death from that strain of bird flu, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). While H3N8 is “one of the most frequently found” subtypes of flu in birds, it had not been detected in humans before two cases emerged in April and May last year, both in China. In a statement, the WHO said the woman,…
Weenarin Lulitanonda sounds angry. “The air people are breathing in northern Thailand is cutting their life short by three, four years. It causes cancers, mental health issues, other problems. And almost no one is taking up the cause, there is so much passivity,” she told Al Jazeera. Weenarin is the co-founder of Thailand Clean Air Network, an NGO, and a former World Bank economist. She is trying to rally the Thai public and force the government to address what has become one of the region’s most acute environmental disasters. Every year between February and April – now simply referred to…
Kevin Kiermaier made quite the introduction to his new home crowd during the Toronto Blue Jays‘ Rogers Centre opener on Tuesday. In the top of the second inning, the centre-fielder — who was a free-agent acquisition during the off-season — scaled the newly renovated, shorter outfield wall to rob Detroit Tigers Designated hitter Kerry Carpenter of a home run. With a track record of stellar defensive play, the game marks the first time Kiermaier is showcasing his talents at home in a Blue Jays uniform, and he’s made it count. Fans, media and onlookers alike were left completely stunned, with…
UN says about half of Somalia’s population will need humanitarian assistance this year, with 8.3 million affected by the drought.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed for “massive international support” for Somalia, which is facing the worst drought in decades. During a joint news briefing with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on his visit to the country, Guterres told reporters in the capital Mogadishu on Tuesday that he was in Somalia “to ring the alarm” on the country’s need for significant international support. Five successive failed rainy seasons in parts of Somalia, as well as Kenya and Ethiopia, have led to the…
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is prosecuting former President Donald Trump in a case related to hush-money payments made to an adult-film actress, has sued a Republican legislator probing his investigation. In the lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Bragg accused Representative Jim Jordan, the chair of House Judiciary Committee, of a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” him after the New York district attorney indicted Trump on 34 felony charges of falsifying business documents. The lawsuit — the latest salvo in a back-and-forth between the Democratic prosecutor and Republican legislators — asked a judge to invalidate subpoenas that Jordan has…
Inter Milan ended a month-long winless run as they ran out 2-0 winners in their Champions League quarter-final first leg at Benfica.Nicolo Barella and Romelu Lukaku scored second-half goals in Lisbon’s Stadium of Light to move the Italian team into a good position to reach the semi-finals of the European competition for the first time in more than a decade. Aiming to win five consecutive Champions League games for the first time since 1990, Benfica controlled the pace of the game but it was Inter that struck with a header by Barella off a long cross by Alessandro Bastoni into…
Reading striker Rachel Rowe volleyed Wales to a creditable friendly draw with World Cup-bound Portugal as they continued their preparations for the Nations League.Rowe struck 17 minutes from time to cancel out Telma Encarnacao’s 49th-minute opener and ensure the game ended 1-1 at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques in Guimaraes despite skipper Sophie Ingle’s stoppage-time dismissal. Gemma Grainger’s side started well against a Portugal team featuring 11 changes to that which started Friday’s 2-1 defeat by Japan, although it was the home side who were first to threaten.Ana Rute took aim from distance and saw her shot cannon back off the…