PND - News - NBA Player Charities Often Shoot, Miss.
An analysis of hundreds of tax documents filed by NBA player charities has found that many of the foundations — especially those set up by the athletes themselves — face a dizzying array of problems, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
Although many NBA players devote a portion of their wealth to charity, those efforts often go awry, the Tribune found. According to the paper’s analysis, while the eighty-nine standalone charities set up by NBA players reported total revenue of $31 million between 2005 and 2007, only 51 cents of every dollar spent by the typical charity was allocated to charitable programs — well below the 65 cents most philanthropic watchdog groups view as acceptable. Moreover, up to a quarter of the charities analyzed could not produce the basic documentation required by the IRS; about a third of the charities were funded by the athlete’s own wealth rather than a sustainable stream of donations; and only a few of the player-run charities had hired full-time directors.
Millions missing at Philadelphia-area charity | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/07/2009.
A charitable foundation on the Main Line has lost as much as $15 million entrusted to a self-employed Broomall investment manager, according to one of its trustees.
Joseph S. Forte is the investment manager, and the missing money is inspiring comparisons to the Bernard L. Madoff scandal on Wall Street.
Details emerged late last week and caused a buzz in places ranging from the steps of a church in Wayne to Main Line money-management circles.
A trustee of the Thornton D. & Elizabeth S. Hooper Foundation, which listed $15.22 million in assets under management by Joe Forte L.P. in its latest public filing, said he did not know what had happened to the money.
AfricanCrisis.
Residents of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart.
Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers, including Carter, in a record 17-day “blitz” organised by the charity Habitat for Humanity.
Eight years later it is better known for cockroaches, mildew and mysterious skin rashes.
A forthcoming legal battle over Fairway Oaks threatens the reputation of a charity envied for the calibre of its celebrity supporters, who range from Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt to Colin Firth, Christian Bale and Helena Bonham Carter.
Demonstrations continue worldwide over Gaza violence - Israel News, Ynetnews.
Anti-Israel protests draw masses across world: Hundreds of thousands rally in Turkey against Israel’s actions in Gaza. Demonstrations also in Canada, Australia and US.
January 6th, 2009 in
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Billionaire kills himself over financial crisis - World business- msnbc.com.
BERLIN - German billionaire Adolf Merckle has committed suicide after his business empire, which included interests ranging from pharmaceuticals to cement, ran into trouble in the global financial crisis, his family said Tuesday.
The 74-year-old’s body was found Monday night on railway tracks at Blaubeuren in southwestern Germany, prosecutors in nearby Ulm said in a statement. They described the death as a “railway accident” and said there was no evidence that anyone else was to blame.
Inauguration ticket lists kept secret | DesMoinesRegister.com | The Des Moines Register.
Mum’s the word from members of Iowa’s congressional delegation on who’s getting highly coveted tickets to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Barack Obama.
Only the 240,000 official ticket-holders will have much hope of catching a glimpse of Obama on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. The event is expected to draw unprecedented crowds of 2 million to 4 million to the National Mall.
Congressional staffs have been besieged with requests to attend what’s being called the “civic event of our time.” Senators received just under 400 tickets each to distribute. Representatives received about 200 tickets each.
But those representing Iowa’s seven members of Congress declined to release the names of those who are receiving tickets - meaning it’s impossible to tell how many average Iowans will be included among the many VIPs, congressional staffers, former campaign workers and political donors who are expected to be in the crowd.
CTV.ca | Six countries report complete shutoff of Russian gas.
KYIV, Ukraine — Six countries reported a complete shutoff of Russian gas shipped via Ukraine on Tuesday, in a sharp escalation of a struggle over energy that threatens Europe as winter sets in.
Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Croatia and Turkey all reported a halt in gas shipments from Russia through Ukraine. Croatia said it was temporarily reducing supplies to industrial customers and Bulgaria said it had enough gas for only “a few days.”
January 6th, 2009 in
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Gaza and Israel conflict.
Israel is believed to be using controversial white phosphorus shells to screen its assault on the heavily populated Gaza Strip yesterday. The weapon, used by British and US forces in Iraq, can cause horrific burns but is not illegal if used as a smokescreen.
As the Israeli army stormed to the edges of Gaza City and the Palestinian death toll topped 500, the tell-tale shells could be seen spreading tentacles of thick white smoke to cover the troops’ advance. “These explosions are fantastic looking, and produce a great deal of smoke that blinds the enemy so that our forces can move in,” said one Israeli security expert. Burning blobs of phosphorus would cause severe injuries to anyone caught beneath them and force would-be snipers or operators of remote-controlled booby traps to take cover. Israel admitted using white phosphorus during its 2006 war with Lebanon.
The use of the weapon in the Gaza Strip, one of the world’s mostly densely population areas, is likely to ignite yet more controversy over Israel’s offensive, in which more than 2,300 Palestinians have been wounded.
January 6th, 2009 in
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Europe faces energy crisis as Vladimir Putin cuts Russian gas supply - Telegraph.
As temperatures dropped below zero across much of Europe, the Russian prime minister instructed the head of Gazprom: “Cut it - starting today.”
The cut was ordered to punish neighbouring Ukraine, which Russia accuses of topping up its own gas supply by siphoning off energy meant for European consumers and sent through its pipelines.
But Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-run gas company, said that it was European Union countries, including Britain, that would feel the effects of an increasingly bitter East-West energy row.