The attorney for a former Playboy model accused with two other people of killing a California psychiatrist in Las Vegas said his client had no role in the doctor’s death.
Kelsey Nichole Turner, 25, “categorically denies any role in the death of Dr. [Thomas Kirk] Burchard,” Brian James Smith, the model’s attorney, told The Associated Press. Turner was arrested on March 21 in Stockton, California. She is currently behind bars at the Clark County Jail in Las Vegas and being held without bail.
Burchard, 71, was discovered in the trunk of a blue Mercedes-Benz on March 7 near the entrance to the Lake Mead National Recreational Area in Las Vegas. Investigators spoke with Turner’s landlord, who told them the doctor paid for her rent on March 1 and “her lease was paid through June 2019,” KSNV reported which obtained the court records stated.
Burchard's girlfriend of 17 years, Judy Earp, said that Burchard had given Turner at least $300,000 over the years that she knew of, and that she considers Turner "as evil as Charles Manson." He reportedly gave a number of other women money over the course of their relationship, she said. Earp added that she believed Burchard was in the early stages of Alzheimer's at the time of his death.
On Saturday, a second woman, Diana Nicole Pena, 30, was arrested in connection with the doctor’s death. She surrendered to police in Las Vegas. Her attorney, Jess Matsuda, said his client didn’t kill Burchard. She was jailed without bail.
A third person -- Turner’s boyfriend Jon Logan Kennison -- remains wanted on murder and conspiracy charges. Pena is accused of working with Turner and Kennison to murder the doctor, according to The Californian. The three lived together at an apartment in Las Vegas.
Fox News’ Anna Hopkins and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
FILE PHOTO: Mar 9, 2019; Greensboro, NC, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Tiana Mangakahia (4) dribbles the ball against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half in the women's ACC Conference Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
March 26, 2019
South Dakota State advanced to its first Sweet 16 by winning 75-64 at Syracuse in a second-round NCAA Tournament game in the Portland region on Monday.
The sixth-seeded Jackrabbits will meet No. 2-seed Oregon in a regional semifinal on Friday in Portland, Ore.
Trailing 62-59 with 4:55 remaining, South Dakota State went on a 12-0 run over the next 4:25 to take a 71-62 lead with 30 seconds left.
With No. 3-seed Syracuse leading 62-61, South Dakota State senior Madison Guebert hit back-to-back 3-pointers, the second of which hit the front of the rim, bounced in the air and went through the basket, giving the Jackrabbits a 67-62 lead with 2:59 left.
A layup by Tagyn Larson with 54 seconds left and two free throws by sophomore Myah Selland with 36 seconds remaining completed the 12-0 run.
Guebert made 6 of 10 shots from 3-point range to finish with 20 points. Selland had 17 points and eight rebounds and junior Macy Miller had 11 points and eight rebounds for South Dakota State (28-6), which is on an 18-game winning streak.
The Jackrabbits last lost on Jan. 6.
Junior Tiana Mangakahia had 18 points and eight assists for Syracuse (25-9).
Trailing 53-47 going into the fourth quarter, the Orange stormed back, going on a 10-0 run over the first 3:21 of the period to take a 57-53 lead.
Syracuse held a 38-36 lead at halftime, but South Dakota State surged ahead in the third quarter, going on a 13-0 run over a span of 4:11 to take a 53-45 lead with 1:45 remaining in the third quarter.
FILE PHOTO: Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg arrives for a campaign stop at Portsmouth Gas Light in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S., March 8, 2019. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
April 14, 2019
By James Oliphant
(Reuters) – Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who has enjoyed a surge in opinion polls and a torrent of media coverage, will formally launch a bid on Sunday for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
The announcement in South Bend comes as little surprise. No potential contender in the burgeoning Democratic field has seen as rapid a rise in the early stages of the campaign as Buttigieg, who went from obscure Midwestern politician to top-tier contender in a matter of weeks.
At 37, Buttigieg will be the youngest entrant in a field that features 77-year-old U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and, likely soon, 76-year-old former Vice President Joe Biden – a contrast Buttigieg has emphasized in campaign events.
The man known as “Mayor Pete” has styled himself as the voice of the millennial generation, often talking about what the United States might look like decades from now. He is the first openly gay major presidential candidate, which has given him inroads into a Democratic base that increasingly values diversity and progressivism.
As mayor of South Bend since 2012, he has presided over an economic turnaround that has brought new investment into the struggling northwestern Indiana industrial town, an achievement likely to be a central plank of his presidential campaign.
Polls of voters in Iowa and New Hampshire released last week showed Buttigieg in third place in both early-voting states, although still well behind Biden and Sanders. Buttigieg raised $7 million in the first quarter of the year, surpassing more established rivals such as U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
More than a dozen Democrats have announced a run for the chance to take on President Donald Trump, a Republican, in the November 2020 general election. Democratic voters will begin the process of selecting a nominee in a series of contests beginning early next year.
A former Rhodes Scholar, consultant for the firm McKinsey and Co and U.S. Navy reservist who served in Afghanistan, Buttigieg has the kind of background that could appeal to both moderates and progressives in the party.
But questions will persist about whether the mayor of an Indiana city of 100,000 residents is ready to run a nation of 330 million.
Buttigieg talks about his faith more frequently than many Democrats on the campaign trail. That recently brought him into direct conflict with Vice President Mike Pence, a former governor of Indiana.
At a lesbian, gay and transgender rights group event in Washington last week, Buttigieg made headlines when he argued that being gay was not a choice.
“That’s the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand: that if you’ve got a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”
Pence answered the criticism in an interview with CNN, saying “I hope Pete will offer more to the American people than attacks on my Christian faith or attacks on the president as he seeks the highest office in the land.”
(Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan Oatis)
Acting ICE director Ron Vitiello in Richmond, Virginia. Former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen issued a statement Wednesday announcing Vitiello’s departure and thanked him for his “unwavering” leadership. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Outgoing DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen issued a statement Wednesday announcing Vitiello’s departure and thanked him for his “unwavering” leadership.
“For over three decades, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Ron Vitiello has protected our homeland with courage and conviction,” the statement read. “Ron’s knowledge and expertise as a seasoned law enforcement professional has been invaluable to DHS, and he has left a legacy of excellence as our Department has expanded and refined our efforts to curb illegal immigration and secure our borders.”
“On behalf of DHS I want to thank Ron for his service and dedication, and I wish him the very best in this next chapter of his career.”
An ICE official told Fox News that Vitiello’s last day will be Friday.
His departure was the latest in a string of resignations coming as President Trump has aimed to take a tougher stance against immigrants at the southern border.
After Nielsen’s resignation last Sunday, officials said Monday that Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles was stepping down, and DHS’ acting deputy secretary Claire Grady - who was technically next in line to replace Nielsen - resigned on Tuesday.
Trump over the weekend named Kevin McAleenan, the head of Customs and Border Protection, to serve as acting secretary.
Fox News' Gregg Re and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
Mar 3, 2019; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano (22) celebrates after winning the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports
March 23, 2019
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Joey Logano offers understanding, but no apologies.
After he applied the bumper to Martin Truex Jr.’s Toyota in the final corner of last year’s fall race at Martinsville Speedway, Logano edged past Truex for the race victory and a guaranteed berth in the Championship 4 event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In that season finale, Logano went on to win his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title.
Logano understood why Truex was upset at being denied his first short-track win on the final lap. But Logano wasn’t sorry.
Given that the series is returning to Martinsville this weekend for the first time since last November’s memorable race, it was inevitable that the subject of the bump-and-run would come up.
“I mean, it’s in the past at this point,” Logano said. “But I think at that point Martin texted me and, like I told you guys, he was pretty clear that he was frustrated with the move. I understood, and I think he understood why I had to do it, and it kind of played out and worked out, but my move to him was that I didn’t wreck you. I gave the old bump-and-run.
“That happened 15 times a race here at Martinsville, and that one was just a little more popular. I think there’s a fine line. You don’t want to straight out bump somebody on purpose, but you also, when it comes down to the end of the race like that and there’s that much on the line, … that was our shot to win a championship.
“So I think every driver has a line that they are OK with and that you can go to sleep at the end of the night and say, ‘I did what I had to do and I’m all right with it,’ and if it happened to me, you have to be OK with that as well. I think that was the situation for me that I was trying to explain to him.”
COREY LAJOIE SUFFERS BRAKE FAILURE, HARD CRASH IN PRACTICE
Perhaps the most uncomfortable feeling at any race track comes from stabbing the brakes and feeling the pedal sink to the floorboard.
That’s what happened to Corey LaJoie, whose No. 32 GoFas Racing Ford crashed hard into the Turn 1 wall after his brakes failed in Saturday’s opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.
The car suffered extensive front-end damage, leaving the right front tire barely rolling at a cockeyed angle as LaJoie nursed the car back to pit road.
“I’ll tell you, there is no coffee strong enough that will wake you up like losing brakes into Turn 1 at Martinsville,” LaJoie said after the crash. “It’s not a good feeling losing brakes. It had like a half-pedal, and then it felt like it blew through the seal or something.
“It’s unfortunate, because small teams like ours, we don’t really bring a backup (car) that’s fully ready to go, so my guys have a lot of work ahead of them. I’ll probably pitch in and help a little bit, but, obviously, our backup is not going to be as good as the car that we choose and bring as our primary.”
MARTINSVILLE CUP PRACTICES PRODUCE MIXED BAG OF LEADERS
With teams toggling back and forth between race trim and qualifying trim, Saturday’s two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice sessions at Martinsville Speedway produced radically different groups of cars at the top of the leaderboard.
Clint Bowyer, defending race winner in Sunday’s STP 500 (2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), paced the opening session with a lap at 97.674 mph. Daniel Suarez and Aric Almirola, Bowyer’s teammates at Stewart-Haas racing, were second and third fastest, respectively.
Happy Hour was a completely different story. With Chase Elliott leading the way at 97.542 mph, Hendrick Motorsports drivers claimed the top three spots on the leaderboard. Alex Bowman was second fastest, followed by nine-time Martinsville winner Jimmie Johnson, who is looking for a turnaround after four straight finishes of 12th or worse at the .526-mile short track.
Martin Truex Jr., the victim of a last-lap bump-and-run in last year’s Playoff race at Martinsville, figures to be a contender again Sunday, after leading consecutive-lap averages over runs of five, 10 and 20 laps.
Near the end of final practice, Cody Ware wheel-hopped into the outside wall. His No. 51 Chevrolet sustained heavy damage in the accident.
–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR wire service. Special to Field Level Media.
The mainstream media has truly jumped the shark by labeling liberal podcast host Joe Rogan a “far-right influencer”.
Axios, a left-leaning news outlet that has received funding from DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and NBC News, published an article today about the interests of “alt-right communities” in different Democratic presidential candidates.
The article then cites Storyful journalist and analyst Kelly Jones and notes that Andrew Yang has built up momentum “thanks to support he has garnered from far-right influencers, like Richard Spencer and Joe Rogan.”
Richard Spencer is a white supremacist member of the alt-right who advocates for an ethno-state. To equate Joe Rogan with him is completely demented.
Anyone who listens to Rogan’s podcast knows that he is a social liberal who supports numerous progressive issues.
But merely because Rogan is open minded enough to talk to people with whom he disagrees, while also occasionally challenging the regressive left’s authoritarianism and language policing, he is now a target too.
This underscores precisely what the new left has become – a hysterical, intolerant, shrieking cult that ostracizes anyone who refuses to amplify its myriad of bizarre, ever-expanding ‘woke’ narratives.
It also serves as a reminder that we live in a moment of contrived moral panic where anyone who dares utter a word of dissent against far-left dogma is immediately conflated with actual extremists and neo-nazis by the mainstream media.
Did you know that it costs significantly more to mail a package to Boise from Boston than it does from Beijing?
According to the U.S. Postal Service, it costs around $20 to mail a small parcel weighing 4.4 pounds from one U.S. state to another, yet mailing the same package from China only costs about $5. Millions of Americans who have purchased consumer goods online from Chinese sellers for a few bucks, shipping included, have likely noticed this disparity first-hand.
This shipping differential is the product of the U.S. government subsidizing Chinese shipments. The government estimates USPS delivers Chinese goods at a 40% to 70% discount, losing money on each package it delivers.
This unfair dynamic hurts U.S. small businesses, whose bottom lines are increasingly reliant on e-commerce, because it allows China to dump its often-counterfeit products in the U.S. market at an artificially low cost. And it sticks taxpayers with the tab because they are on the hook for bailing out the government-funded USPS. Yes, you read that right. Uncle Sam allows this to happen and is ultimately to blame. With a friend like this, who needs enemies?
The Universal Postal Union, a United Nations agency that sets postal rates among its 192-member countries, dictates USPS's artificially low rates. It bizarrely groups China – the world’s second-largest economy – with developing nations like Gabon and Fiji into its third tier of shipping rates, which are just a fraction of what the developed world must pay.
Successive U.S. presidents have turned a blind eye to this injustice. Until now. The Trump administration has made correcting this shipping status quo a priority. Last month, the federal Advisory Committee on International Postal and Delivery Services, a unit of the State Department, met to discuss its plan to reform UPU rules to allow the U.S. to self-declare rates for inbound delivery rather than follow UPU diktat. Self-declaration is already standard for larger packages that weigh more than 4.4 pounds.
Last October, President Trump announced the U.S. would begin to withdraw from the UPU entirely -- a process that takes one year to complete -- while simultaneously seeking to renegotiate UPU terms. In an effort to retain the U.S. as a member, UPU officials are meeting this month to consider the U.S.’s proposal.
Given that nearly half the world's mail goes through the U.S., the UPU would be wise to accept the administration’s offer. If it refuses to do so, Trump shouldn't let bureaucratic inertia at the State Department slow down his order to extricate the U.S. from this bad deal by this October.
Consider some examples of how this current shipping dynamic is hurting U.S. small businesses. Jayme Smaldone, a small New Jersey travel mug manufacturer, pays $6.30 to ship a mug domestically. His Chinese counterparts sell knock-offs of his product for $5.69, including free shipping all the way from China. Becca Peter, a Washington state designer packaging tape manufacturer, pays $3.50 for domestic shipping. Her Chinese competitors charge just $2 for their version of the product, shipping included.
Bigger businesses and franchises, such as the recently bankrupt Radio Shack and Toys R Us, are also negatively affected. Arthur Herman, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, highlights how an electric voltage measurer cost $24.99 at Radio Shack versus $15.82 at Deal Extreme, a Chinese e-commerce company. At this price differential, many Americans would have purchased at Radio Shack given its reputation and return policy. Yet factor in shipping -- $5.95 at Radio Shack versus free at Deal Extreme – and all of a sudden American consumers are being asked to pay twice as much to purchase their product domestically. Herman argues this dynamic helped kill Radio Shack.
USPS loses about $300 million per year on Chinese imports -- losing about $1 per small package it delivers. Given that China will deliver hundreds of millions of small packages this year, eliminating this postal subsidy would be enough to move USPS from the red into the black when it comes to Chinese imports.
Until this happens, USPS will be forced to continue raising domestic shipping rates in an attempt to recoup losses, as it has done in recent years. This means taxpayers and American shippers are effectively subsidizing Chinese merchants.
Reforming UPU rules has received broad support from across the political spectrum. It is a non-controversial way to level the playing field to help U.S. small businesses compete fairly against their Chinese competitors while also improving the trade deficit.
Whether UPU terms are reformed to allow the U.S. to self-declare its own rates, or whether the U.S. leaves the Swiss-based organization altogether, the days of something costing less to mail across the world than across the county line are numbered. Get ready to chalk up another victory for U.S. small businesses and taxpayers under President Trump.
Alfredo Ortiz is the president and CEO of the Job Creators Network.
FILE PHOTO – Otto Frederick Warmbier (C), a University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea since early January, is taken to North Korea’s top court in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo March 16, 2016. Mandatory credit REUTERS/Kyodo/File Photo
April 26, 2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said the United States did not pay any money to North Korea as it sought the release of comatose American student Otto Warmbier.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump had approved payment of a $2 million bill from North Korea to cover its care of the college student, who died shortly after he was returned to the United States after 17 months in a North Korean prison.
Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London, Britain, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Gerhard Mey
April 26, 2019
By Hanna Rantala
LONDON (Reuters) – Irish rockers The Cranberries are saying goodbye with their final album released on Friday, a poignant tribute to lead singer Dolores O’Riordan who died last year.
“In the End” is the eighth studio album from the band that rose to fame in the early 1990s with hits likes “Zombie” and “Linger”, and includes the final recordings by O’Riordan, who drowned in a London hotel bath in January 2018 due to alcohol intoxication.
Work on the album began during a 2017 tour and by that winter, O’Riordan and guitarist Neil Hogan had penned and demoed 11 tracks.
With O’Riordan’s vocals recorded, Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler completed the album in tribute to her.
“When we realized how strong the songs were, that was the deciding factor really… There was no point… trying to ruin the legacy of the band,” Noel Hogan said in an interview.
“It was obvious that Dolores wanted this album done because when you hear the album, you hear the songs and how strong they are, and she was very, very excited to get in and record this.”
The Cranberries formed in Limerick in 1989 with another singer. O’Riordan replaced him a year later and the group went on to become Ireland’s best-selling rock band after U2, selling more than 40 million records.
O’Riordan, known for her strong distinctive voice singing about relationships or political violence, was 46 when she died.
“She was actually in quite a good place mentally. She was feeling quite content and strong and looking forward to a new phase of her life,” Lawler said.
“A lot of the lyrics in this album are about things ending… people might read into it differently but it was a phase of her personal life that she was talking about.”
The group previously announced their intention to split after the release of “In The End”.
“We are absolutely gutted we can’t play (the songs) live because that’s something that’s been a massive part of this band from day one,” Noel Hogan said.
“A few people have said to us about maybe even doing a one off where you have different vocalists… as kind of guests of ours. A year ago that’s definitely something we weren’t going to entertain but I don’t know, I think it’s something we need to go away and take time off for the summer and have a think about.”
Critics have generally given positive reviews of the album; NME described it as “(seeing) the band’s career go full-circle” while the Irish Times called it “an unexpected late career high and a remarkable swan song for O’Riordan”.
Their early songs still play on the radio. This week, “Dreams” was performed at the funeral of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead in Londonderry last week as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid.
“We wrote them as kids, as a hobby and 30 years later they are on radio and on TV, like all the time… That’s far more than any of us ever thought we would have,” Noel Hogan said.
“That would make Dolores really happy because she was very precious about those songs. Her babies, she called them and to have that hopefully long after we’re gone… that’s all any band can wish for.”
(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; additoinal reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Susan Fenton)
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston, Texas, U.S. April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott
April 26, 2019
By Joshua Schneyer and M.B. Pell
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce a bill Friday that offers new protections for U.S. military families facing unsafe housing, following a series of Reuters reports revealing squalid conditions in privately managed base homes.
The Reuters reports and later Congressional hearings detailed widespread hazards including lead paint exposure, vermin infestations, collapsing ceilings, mold and maintenance lapses in privatized base housing communities that serve some 700,000 U.S. military family members.
(View Warren’s military housing bill here. https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dy5aht)
(Read Reuters’ Ambushed at Home series on military housing here. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/usa-military)
The Massachusetts Democrat’s bill would mandate both regular and unannounced spot inspections of base homes by certified, independent inspectors, holding landlords accountable for quickly fixing hazards. The military’s privatization program for years allowed real estate firms to operate base housing with scant oversight, Reuters found, leaving some tenants in unsafe homes with little recourse against landlords.
The bill would also require the Department of Defense and its private housing operators to publish reports annually detailing housing conditions, tenant complaints, maintenance response times and the financial incentives companies receive at each base. The provisions aim to enhance transparency of housing deals whose finances and operations the military had allowed to remain largely confidential under a privatization program since the late 1990s.
The measure would also require private landlords to cover moving costs for at-risk families, and healthcare costs for people with medical conditions resulting from unsafe base housing, ensuring they receive continuing coverage even after they leave the homes or the military.
“This bill will eliminate the kind of corner-cutting and neglect the Defense Department should never have let these private housing partners get away with in the first place,” Warren said in a statement Friday.
The proposed legislation comes after February Senate hearings where Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, slammed private real estate firms for endangering service families, and sought answers about why military branches weren’t providing more oversight.
Her legislation would direct the Defense Department to allow local housing code enforcers onto federal bases, following concerns they were sometimes denied access. Warren’s office said a companion bill in the House of Representatives would be introduced by Rep. Deb Haaland, Democrat of New Mexico.
In response to the housing crisis, military branches are developing a tenant bill of rights and hiring hundreds of new housing staff. The branches recently dispatched commanders to survey base housing worldwide for safety hazards, resulting in thousands of work orders and hundreds of tenants being moved. The Defense Department has pledged to renegotiate its 50-year contracts with private real estate firms.
Congress has been quick to take its own measures. Earlier legislation proposed by senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California, along with Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, would compel base commanders to withhold rent payments and incentive fees from the private ventures if they allow home hazards to persist.
FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London, Britain, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo
April 26, 2019
By Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar
(Reuters) – Deloitte quit as Ferrexpo’s auditor on Friday, knocking its shares by more than 20 percent, days after saying it was unable to conclude whether the iron ore miner’s CEO controlled a charity being investigated over its use of company donations.
Blooming Land, which coordinates Ferrexpo’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, came under scrutiny after auditors found holes in the charity’s statements.
Ferrexpo on Tuesday said findings of an ongoing independent investigation launched in February indicated some Blooming Land funds could have been “misappropriated”. It did not provide any details or publish its findings.
Shares in Ferrexpo, the third largest exporter of pellets to the global steel industry, were 23.4 percent lower at 206.1 pence at 1022 GMT following news of Deloitte’s resignation.
“Ferrexpo’s shares are deeply discounted vs peers … following the resignation of Deloitte, we expect downside risks to dominate Ferrexpo’s shares near term.” JP Morgan analyst Dominic O’Kane said in a note on Friday.
Swiss-headquartered Ferrexpo did not provide a reason for the resignation of Deloitte, which declined to comment, while Blooming Land did not respond to a request for comment.
Funding for Blooming Land’s CSR activities is provided by one of Ferrexpo’s units in Ukraine and Khimreaktiv LLC, an entity ultimately controlled by Ferrexpo’s CEO and majority owner Kostyantin Zhevago, Ferrexpo said on Tuesday.
Ferrexpo’s board has found that Zhevago did not have significant influence or control over the charity, but Deloitte said it was unable reach a conclusion on this.
Reuters was not immediately able to contact Zhevago.
In a qualified opinion, a statement addressing an incomplete audit, Deloitte said it had been unable to conclude whether $33.5 million of CSR donations to Blooming Land between 2017 and 2018 was used for “legitimate business payments for charitable purposes”.
Deloitte said on Tuesday that total CSR payments made to Blooming Land by Ferrexpo since 2013 total about $110 million.
Ferrexpo, whose major mines are in Ukraine, has said that the investigation was ongoing and new evidence pointed to potential discrepancies.
Zhevago, 45, who ranked 1,511 on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires for 2019 with a net worth of $1.4 billion, owns the FC Vorskla soccer club and has been a member of Ukraine’s parliament since 1998.
(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev; editing by Gopakumar Warrier, Bernard Orr)
Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba, Mozambique April 26, 2019 in this still image obtained from social media. SolidarMed via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES
April 26, 2019
By Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer
JOHANNESBURG/LUANDA (Reuters) – Cyclone Kenneth killed at least one person and left a trail of destruction in northern Mozambique, destroying houses, ripping up trees and knocking out power, authorities said on Friday.
The cyclone brought storm surges and wind gusts of up to 280 km per hour (174 mph) when it made landfall on Thursday evening, after killing three people in the island nation of Comoros.
It was the most powerful storm on record to hit Mozambique’s northern coast and came just six weeks after Cyclone Idai battered the impoverished nation, causing devastating floods and killing more than 1,000 people across a swathe of southern Africa.
The World Food Programme warned that Kenneth could dump as much as 600 millimeters of rain on the region over the next 10 days – twice that brought by Cyclone Idai.
One woman in the port town of Pemba died after being hit by a falling tree, the Emergency Operations Committee for Cabo Delgado (COE) said in a statement, while another person was injured.
In rural areas outside Pemba, many homes are made of mud. In the main town on the island of Ibo, 90 percent of the houses were destroyed, officials said. Around 15,000 people were out in the open or in “overcrowded” shelters and there was a need for tents, food and water, they said.
There were also reports of a large number of homes and some infrastructure destroyed in Macomia district, a mainland district adjacent to Ibo.
A local group, the Friends of Pemba Association, had earlier reported that they could not reach people in Muidumbe, a district further inland.
Mark Lowcock, United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, warned the storm could require another major humanitarian operation in Mozambique.
“Cyclone Kenneth marks the first time two cyclones have made landfall in Mozambique during the same season, further stressing the government’s limited resources,” he said in a statement.
FLOOD WARNINGS
Shaquila Alberto, owner of the beach-front Messano Flower Lodge in Macomia, said there were many fallen trees there, and in rural areas people’s homes had been damaged. Some areas of nearby Pemba had no power.
“Even my workers, they said the roof and all the things fell down,” she said by phone.
Further south, in Pemba, Elton Ernesto, a receptionist at Raphael’s Hotel, said there were fallen trees but not too much damage. The hotel had power and water, he said, while phones rang in the background. “The rain has stopped,” he added.
However Michael Charles, an official for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said heavy rains over the next few days were likely to bring a “second wave of destruction” in the form of flooding.
“The houses are not all solid, and the topography is very sandy,” Charles said.
In the days after Cyclone Idai, heavy inland rains prompted rivers to burst their banks, submerging entire villages, cutting areas off from aid and ruining crops. There were concerns the same could happen again in northern Mozambique.
Before Kenneth hit, the government and aid workers moved around 30,000 people to safer buildings such as schools, however authorities said that around 680,000 people were in the path of the storm.
(Reporting by Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer; Writing by Emma Rumney; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Alexandra Zavis)
Click below to consent to the use of the cookie technology provided by vi (video intelligence AG) to personalize content and advertising. For more info please access vi's website.