Tycoon emerges from wine cellar to find retreat ravaged
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS: Sir Richard Branson’s private Caribbean retreat, Necker Island, suffered widespread damage as it was pounded by Hurricane Irma.
The Virgin tycoon refused to leave his home in the British Virgin Islands, and survived the storm by hiding in the wine cellar as Irma lashed the archipelago.
Branson, who retreated to the concrete bunker with his staff, said he was counting the cost of the ‘‘extensive damage’’ on Necker.
Yesterday, Sam Branson, his son, wrote on Instagram: ‘‘Glad to say that all humans on Necker are OK although a lot of buildings destroyed.
‘‘Very concerned for our friends and everyone on the neighbouring islands and people in its path. Please don’t take this hurricane lightly if it is heading your way. If your building is not very solid, do find somewhere safe! Homes can be rebuilt but lives can’t.’’
In a later post, he told his followers that his father and staff were ‘‘OK’’. but stressed that there had been ‘‘lots of damage’’ to Necker.
‘‘No cell, power or Wi-Fi coverage in VG [the British Virgin Islands],’’ he wrote, adding that the capital, Road Town, was ‘‘flooded with many roofs ripped off’’.
He also detailed significant damage suffered across the British Virgin Islands, urging people to remain ‘‘cautious’’.
A statement on the Virgin website said Necker had suffered ‘‘extensive damage’’. It added: ‘‘Our hearts and thoughts are with our friends and family in the Caribbean. We are very grateful to be able to report that all of our team on Island have been accounted for as safe as well.’’
Before the hurricane’s arrival, Branson described how the ‘‘howling wind and rain’’ that battered his home had created an ‘‘eerie but beautiful’’ atmosphere as he and his staff waited for Irma to hit.
He revealed that those left on the island would be camping out in the concrete wine cellar.
‘‘Knowing our wonderful team as I do, I suspect there will be little wine left in the cellar when we all emerge,’’ he said.
Necker is also home to a variety of animals, including more than 80 lemurs, hundreds of flamingos, red foot tortoises, exotic birds and rare Anegada iguanas. It is unclear what exactly Branson did with the collection of animals during the storm, but they were ‘‘safe’’, a Necker official said.
- Telegraph Group
Dissident asks for asylum
Chinese real estate tycoon Guo Wengui, one of the ruling Communist Party’s most wanted exiles, has applied for political asylum in the United States. The move could keep him out of Beijing’s grasp for at least several more years. Guo’s asylum request poses a diplomatic quandary for the Trump administration, which must decide whether to expel a highprofile Chinese dissident or risk infuriating Beijing. Chinese officials say Guo is being investigated in at least 19 major criminal cases that involve bribery, kidnapping, fraud, money laundering and rape, allegations he has denied. Above all, Guo has attracted Beijing’s ire by making numerous allegations of high-level corruption within the Communist Party that have rocked Chinese politics. He has relentlessly targeted Wang Qishan, the party’s anti-corruption czar and a key ally of President Xi Jinping.
Amazon farmers killed
Six farmers have been shot dead in the Peruvian Amazon by a group of masked men, in an apparent dispute over land rights. Five bodies, one with hands and feet bound, had been thrown in a river and a sixth was found by the side of a road in the jungle region of Ucayali, police said yesterday. The victims were part of a community of peasant farmers that had refused to leave the lands they worked on when pressured by oil palm growers, said Robert Guimaraes, the head of an indigenous federation in Ucayali. Witnesses had testified that a group of 30 to 40 men carrying shotguns tried to kill some 20 farmers altogether, Huari said.
Plumber foils bomb plot
A jihadist bomb-making factory has been discovered by accident in a Paris suburb by a plumber, who contacted police after spotting chemicals and electrical components for detonators in a flat. The plumber had been called by the residents’ association after neighbours complained of a water leak in the flat in Villejuif. He could not get in, but looked through a window and saw the equipment. Three men, including the flat’s owner, have been arrested. French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the men claimed they were making explosives for a bank robbery, but they had been in contact with people in Iraq and Syria, and one of them was among the 18,000 people under intelligence agency surveillance in France.
Vader actor bows out
The man behind the mask of Star Wars villain Darth Vader, English actor David Prowse, has dementia and won’t be making any more public appearances. Prowse, 72, announced the decision in a post on his Twitter account yesterday. ‘‘Beginning in January 2018, Dave will no longer be doing any personal appearances or conventions due to health problems,’’ he wrote. Prowse portrayed Luke Skywalker’s ominous nemesis in the original trilogy of the sci-fi films, although the character’s voice was famously provided by American actor James Earl Jones. Proswe was reportedly nicknamed ‘‘Darth Farmer’’ by his late Star Wars co-star Carrie Fisher because of his strong West Country accent. In 2014 it was reported that he had been diagnosed with dementia, and he said in an interview at the time that ‘‘there’s nothing you can do’’.