When Snoop Dogg sang the praises of Swansea City, it signalled the unlikely arrival of the latest celebrity owner in the once unfashionable Championship, English football’s second tier.The American rapper has joined the Welsh club’s ownership structure, investing an undisclosed sum to rub shoulders with former Real Madrid stalwart and World Cup finalist Luka Modric, who has also sunk his money into the club.”The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me. This is a proud, working-class city and club. An underdog that bites back, just like me,” Snoop said in an introductory video.In North Wales, Wrexham are dreaming of an extraordinary promotion to the Premier League this season on the back of the enthusiastic and lucrative support of Hollywood star Ryan “Deadpool” Reynolds and fellow actor Rob McElhenney.Meanwhile, former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady has a minority stake in Birmingham City, very much the second club in England’s second city after Premier League outfit Aston Villa.His arrival in 2023 was not met with universal approval, with one fan asking “Tom Brady, who’s he?” in the Amazon Prime Video series “Built in Birmingham: Brady and the Blues” which follows his early, whirlwind involvement in the club that includes the sacking of manager Wayne Rooney.Brady says his is a “visionary role” and he tries — not always successfully — to pass on his experience of winning seven Super Bowl winner’s rings to the Birmingham players and their young manager, Chris Davies.But why do so many celebrities want to invest a slice of their fortunes into the Championship?Christopher Winn, course leader at the University Campus of Football Business (UCFB), told AFP the principal reason was because they see it as an attractive investment — with the carrot of the Premier League’s riches if the team can gain promotion proving irresistible.”There is the notion of long-term returns, in other words buying low (in a lower league) and selling high,” Winn told AFP.”While on-field success and subsequent off-field returns are no guarantee, should the promised land of the Premier League be reached, a significant profit would likely be generated on any future sale of the club, in other words generating returns for investors well beyond their initial investment and operational outlay.”Granted, that does not mean the investors are all out to make a return — football can often be a game of utility maximisation after all, and for some a personally funded passion project.”- ‘We could make money’ -Brady’s friend and co-owner at Birmingham, the New York-based investor Tom Wagner, reveals in the documentary they originally tried to buy a Premier League team but the deal fell through.Then the chance to snap up Birmingham presented itself.”We thought we could make some money, have a good return, which is our ultimate objective, so we just couldn’t pass it up,” Wagner says.Birmingham manager Davies has quickly felt the effect of having a sporting icon breathing down his neck — he good-naturedly recounted to The Times that his attempts to relax on a family holiday in the Maldives were disrupted by Brady insisting on scheduling daily conference calls at the children’s dinner time.In Wagner and Brady’s first season, Birmingham crashed down into League One, or England’s third division, but with Davies in charge they emphatically secured promotion to the Championship this year, romping away with the League One title with a record points total.That was largely due to the Americans’ injection of funds for new players such as forward Jay Stansfield, acquired from Premier League club Fulham for £15 million ($20.3 million), a huge fee for League One.Celebrities are active behind the scenes at other Championship clubs.Birmingham kicked off the season last week with a 1-1 home draw against Ipswich Town, who count multi-million-selling music star Ed Sheeran among their financial backers.Ipswich confirmed last year that Sheeran had bought a 1.4% stake in his local club and he has been the shirt sponsor for the last four years – although in a cautionary tale for other star owners, his involvement did not stop Ipswich being relegated from the Premier League last season.

At US President Donald Trump’s new migrant detention center in the Florida Everglades, time has no discernible meaning.Prisoners are barely able to see sunlight in the windowless space, living under fluorescent lamps that are always on, with no clocks or anything else by which they might mark the days.Several detainees, their family members and lawyers have denounced appalling conditions at the facility, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” by an administration that has likened undocumented migrants to “animals” and promised to deport millions. AFP spoke with several “Alligator Alcatraz” detainees by phone and obtained further information about conditions there from relatives, lawyers and legal documents.Detainees spoke of facilities covered in filth, a lack of medical care, mistreatment, and the violation of their legal rights.”They don’t even treat animals like this. This is like torture,” said Luis Gonzalez, a 25-year-old Cuban who called AFP from inside the center.  Florida authorities built the facilities in eight days — opening the center on July 2 at an abandoned airfield in the Everglades wetlands.Governed by Republican Ron DeSantis, the southeastern state signed an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain undocumented foreigners, a power that until now had been reserved for federal authorities. Now, the Trump administration wants to make this a model for other detention centers across the country. – Like ‘murderers’ –Gonzalez arrived in the United States in 2022 and settled in Florida after authorities released him while his asylum application was being reviewed. Last month, when an immigration judge dismissed his case, ICE agents arrested him and took him to “Alligator Alcatraz.”They kept him chained by his hands, waist, and feet on a bus with other detainees for more than a day before taking him to one of the large tents that house eight cells each, he said.”I haven’t seen sunlight in the 14 days I’ve been here,” he said. “When they take us to the dining hall, they take us with our hands on our heads as if we were murderers.” He lives in a cell with about 30 people, a space enclosed by chain-linked fencing that he compares to a chicken coop. It is hardly ever cleaned, he says, not even the three toilets that everyone shares. At the time of the call, Gonzalez had not showered for a week. The days are hot, with swarms of mosquitoes in the cells, and the nights are not much better. – Beatings, attempted suicide –Gonzalez and other detainees have denounced the lack of medical care available at the site. Michael Borrego Fernandez, 35, complained of pain but was not treated until he began to bleed, according to his lawyers and legal documents. He underwent emergency surgery for hemorrhoids, only to have to be hospitalized again when he was not given antibiotics and his wounds became infected. Some prisoners, such as Marcos Puig, 31, have rebelled. Before a visit from officials, guards isolated him to prevent him from protesting, he said by phone from another Florida facility where he is now being held. Outraged, he broke a toilet in his new cell, prompting a dozen guards to enter, handcuff him, and punch and kick him all over his body. Afterward, he says, they left him kneeling for about 12 hours in a space without cameras or air conditioning before transferring him to another detention facility. “I arrived here broken. I was covered in bruises,” he said. Another inmate, Gonzalo Almanza Valdes, reported seeing guards “beat up” detainees, according to a recorded phone call with his wife. Desperation has pushed some to the limit. On Sunday, Sonia Bichara called her partner, detainee Rafael Collado.Through the speakerphone, the 63-year-old man said: “I have tried to kill myself twice, I have cut my veins.” When contacted by AFP, Florida authorities denied allegations of abuse.- ‘Completely illegal’ – Activists and lawyers are demanding the closure of the facilities, which are facing two lawsuits. The first alleges that migrants’ right to due process is not being respected. “There are people who have been there since they arrived and have still not seen a judge. And that cannot be, it is completely illegal,” said Magdalena Cuprys, Gonzalez’s lawyer. She said detainees were unable to request bail or a case review because the courts that should be hearing the cases are not doing so, claiming they have no jurisdiction over the state-operated center.The second lawsuit alleges that the facility threatens the Everglades ecosystem.Last week, a federal judge ordered a 14-day suspension of all new construction at the center while she reviews the case. 

Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” will be released on October 3, the star has revealed, as she showcased cover art and a tracklist for what is expected to be one of the biggest albums of the year.The news came during Wednesday’s episode of the “New Heights Show,” a podcast fronted by her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce, and his brother Jason.It was also confirmed on Swift’s own social media accounts.”And, baby, that’s show business for you. New album The Life of a Showgirl. Out October 3,” she wrote on Instagram.Swift’s official website shows four different CD versions, with a “sweat and vanilla perfume edition” also available on cassette and vinyl.The album cover for that version shows the 14-time Grammy winner partially submerged in slightly grubby-looking water, wearing what appears to be a rhinestone-studded top.Only the star’s mouth, nose, eyes and forehead and a blinged-out wrist are above the water.The tracklist, which was also unveiled on Wednesday, shows 12 entries, including the title track which it says features Sabrina Carpenter.Swift’s last major release, “The Tortured Poets Department” came in April last year.Just hours after it dropped, the “Shake It Off” singer expanded it into a double album called “The Anthology” which dominated charts for the year.The 35-year-old has recently wrapped up a nearly two-year world tour, with a $2 billion dollar take that shattered records.The 149 shows of the Eras Tour were typically more than three hours long, delighting fans who had shelled out big bucks for the chance to see one of pop’s biggest ever stars.Though Swift is famed for singing about heartbreaks with her famous exes, her two-year relationship with Kelce, one of the NFL’s most bankable players, has further inflamed her celebrity.However her endorsement of Democrat Kamala Harris in last November’s US presidential election, was not enough to tip the scales — though it did anger winner Donald Trump, who declared on social media “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT.”

US pop great Billy Joel will auction the motorcycle collection he maintains in New York state after being diagnosed with a brain condition that forced him to cancel a planned tour, his management said Wednesday.In May, Joel scrapped dates in Britain and a packed schedule crisscrossing the United States from July 2025 up until July 2026 because of a diagnosis of a rare condition, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH).”Due to a recent medical diagnosis, Billy will be auctioning off his bike collection later this year,” his publicist told AFP.Joel’s extensive collection of motorcycles is housed at a shop in the Long Island town of Oyster Bay, where they can be seen free of charge on weekends.”He will not be renewing the lease on the 20th Century Cycles bike shop once it expires late September,” the publicist said.The 76-year-old “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “New York State of Mind” legend has been a pop mainstay since the 1970s, and motorcycles have long been part of his public persona.In the hit song’s music video, he whisks away an “Uptown Girl” on the back of his motorcycle, and sings about riding a motorcycle in the rain in the song “You May Be Right.”His collection includes more than 75 bikes, per the shop’s website. “I like the older style,” with some motorcycles dating back to the 1940s, Joel said in a promotional video.Joel’s condition arises if cerebrospinal fluid cannot properly flow throughout the brain and spinal cord, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. The excess fluid and pressure can cause brain damage.The institution said on its website that NPH is rare, and can cause cognitive impairment including memory problems as well as trouble walking.Joel said previously “this condition has been exacerbated by (previous) concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision, and balance.”

The NBA on Wednesday approved the sale of the Boston Celtics to an investment group led by Bill Chisholm, five months after the deal worth a then-record $6.1 billion was agreed.”The NBA Board of Governors has unanimously approved the sale of the controlling interests in the Boston Celtics to an investor group led by Bill Chisholm,” the league said in a brief statement.”The transaction is expected to close shortly.”Chisholm is the managing director and co-founder of Symphony Technology Group. When he and his co-investors agreed to purchase the storied Celtics franchise “at an initial valuation of $6.1 billion,” that was the highest ever offered for a North American sports team.It has since been surpassed by the $10 billion sale, in June, of the Los Angeles Lakers by the Buss family to billionaire Mark Walter.When the Celtics sale was announced, it was stated that Wyc Grousbeck would continue in his roles of chief executive officer and governor, overseeing team operations through the 2027-28 season.The Grousbeck family and Steve Pagliuca purchased the Celtics for $360 million in 2002.But US media reported this week that Chisholm — a Massachusetts native who calls himself a “die-hard Celtics fan” — will assume the role of governor because under the terms of the deal, Grousbeck will no longer have the required 15% ownership stake the league requires to hold that role.Nevertheless, ESPN reported that Chisholm and Grousbeck “plan to run the team together as originally planned.”The Celtics are one of the most storied in the NBA’s history, with a record 18 championships, the most recent in 2024.