Latest news with #StephenVaughan
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Controversial businessman Stephen Vaughan dies as son hails 'best man I've ever known'
Controversial Liverpool businessman Stephen Vaughan has died, his son has announced. The former football club owner's death was announced by his son, of the same name, in a Facebook post. Stephen Vaughan Jr, a former Liverpool reserves player, posted on social media: "Absolutely devastated the best man I've ever known RIP Dad our hero." Vaughan's football legacy is controversial after her bought Chester in 2001 from American Terry Smith and oversaw the club's promotion back to the Football League in 2004. The club ran into financial difficulty and collapsed into administration with debts of £8 million following relegation in 2009 – the same year Mr Vaughan also became the first owner to fail the Football Association's 'fit and proper person' test. READ MORE: Live updates as main road shut after police incident READ MORE: Woman who collapsed in holiday hotel room given devastating news It came after he had six fraud charges involving deception and obtaining high value cars dropped at Liverpool Crown Court in March 2008 while still serving as Chester City owner. They were alleged to have occurred between March, 2005, and March, 2006. The Liverpool-born businessman was also over the years a boxing promoter, a director of rugby league club Widnes Vikings and owner and chairman of Barrow. In late 2009 Mr Vaughan was disqualified from acting as the director of any company for 11 years following his involvement in an alleged £500,000 VAT fraud while he was owner of Widnes Vikings. Posting on Facebook, Liverpool-born former boxer Derry Mathews wrote: "They say he only takes the best and he's taking one of the greatest men ever, my first ever manager who got George out of retirement to train me, thank you for everything Ste people in the boxing world are going miss you. "No one could do a prep talk before a fight like you, you would have me wanting to walk through walls and with you by my side in changing rooms we could beat anyone. Gutted for my mate @stephen_vaughan_85, Pat and all the family on the loss. Goodnight God bless Ste." Mr Vaughan also bought Maltese club Floriana in April 2012 with his son, who captained Chester during his father's ownership and was appointed president soon after. The Vaughan family ended its association with Floriana in February 2014 but continued to have an involvement in Maltese football as sponsors of Mosta and Hibernians. The off-duty policeman died after he was struck in Colquitt Street in the early hours of Friday, December 19. His son's Facebook post was filled with tributes from friends and family, with many simply posting 'RIP' and broken heart emojis, while another said: 'So sorry to hear this sad news Ste, condolences to you and the family'. A second added: 'Condolences to the family Ste! What a gent your dad was!' And a third said: 'So sorry to hear this awful news about your Dad RIP. Sending my deepest sympathy and condolences and prayers to you and all your beautiful family.'
BBC News
19 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Stephen Vaughan, controversial former football club owner, dies
A controversial Merseyside businessman, boxing promoter and owner of football and rugby league clubs has died aged 62. Stephen Vaughan's death was announced by his son and business partner Stephen Vaughan Jr, who described him as his "hero". Mr Vaughan had spells as majority stakeholder in Chester City, Barrow AFC and Widnes 2009, while in charge at Chester, Mr Vaughan became the first person to fail the Football Association's 'fit and proper person' test over his involvement in a £500,000 VAT fraud. Former professional boxer Derry Matthews, from Birkenhead, also paid tribute to his "first ever manager" - writing on Facebook: "No one could do a prep talk before a fight like you." Mr Vaughan was banned from acting as a company director for 10 years after an Insolvency Service investigation concluded he had been involved in a "carousel fraud" while a director at Widnes Vikings in 2006. Carousel frauds involve the cross-border trading of goods aimed at illegally reclaiming had entered into administration in October 2007 with liabilities of more than £ the FA struck off Mr Vaughan in 2009, he was forced to handover the reigns at Chester and sold his stake to his son. Prison sentence Mr Vaughan took over Barrow FC in 1995. But he resigned as chair in 1997 after being named in a Customs and Excise money laundering probe centred around Liverpool drugs baron Curtis Warren. The case was eventually dropped and he returned as chairman before leaving the club permanently in 1998. In 2010 Mr Vaughan was convicted of an affray and the assault of a police officer in Wirral and received a 15 month prison sentence. He was released the following year and in 2012 moved to Malta, where he purchased local club Floriana FC and appointed Stephen Vaughan Jnr as chairman. In 2016, the pair were linked to a buy-out at Bangor City FC in North Wales, and Mr Vaughan Jr was player-manager until 2019. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fans can show their support for returning Warriors at Sixways Summer Bash
SIXWAYS Stadium are gearing up for their Summer Bash festival, where all the profits will go back into the Worcester Warriors playing department. The one-day event will take place at the stadium on Saturday July 19, with Warriors CEO Stephen Vaughan considering it a great way to get behind the returning side. Mr Vaughan said: "There are a lot of things happening off the pitch this summer. "The Summer Bash is going to be an amazing day for all of the family. Amazing events, food, drink and entertainment. "These are the things where people can really show their support." The family-friendly event will host a variety of on and off-pitch activities, including nine-hole mini golf, rodeo rugby and laser clay pigeon shooting. Alongside this, there will be a variety of food and bars open for business and live music. The festival will finish with an 80s tribute concert. READ MORE: Worcester Warriors to announce player signings in coming days READ MORE: Worcester beer festival returns as latest plans and prices revealed READ MORE: Matt Everard announced as Worcester Warriors head coach Mr Vaughan added: "So many people have said to me in the street, 'how can we get behind the club? What can we do?' "These are the things, outside of the obvious of coming to watch us, season tickets, hospitality and everything else. "Try to come and support as many events as you can - every single penny of generated profit from that is going right back into the playing department, so do your bit."
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Doctors raise alarm about rise in 'sloth fever' infections linked to birth defects
A surge of infections from a tropical virus is raising alarm among public health officials because it appears to be causing birth defects similar to those associated with Zika virus. Known as Oropouche virus, it can trigger a fever that may cause pregnant people to miscarry or their babies to have birth defects known as microcephaly, or smaller than usual heads. Disease caused by this virus currently has no treatment or vaccine, although most cases are generally asymptomatic or mild and resolve on their own. Epidemics of Oropouche fever have occurred multiple times in the past, with approximately 380,000 infections between 1961 and 2007. Last year, more than 16,000 cases were reported, including four deaths, with 8,600 cases in Brazil alone, many in places where the virus hadn't been reported before. Over 100 of these cases traveled to the U.S, but there has been no local infections or transmission. All of this indicates that the virus is becoming more prevalent, posing greater risks to the public. 'Case numbers have been steadily increasing this year. In areas with previous Oropouche transmission the number of cases have approximately doubled compared to last year and there have been many reports of cases in new areas,' Dr. Stephen Vaughan, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Calgary, told Salon by email. 'Due to the nonspecific presentation and limitations in testing for this virus in most countries, the number of reported cases are an underestimate of the true burden of disease.' Vaughan co-authored a recent guide published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal warning travelers, especially pregnant people, to take precautions and avoid insect bites that can spread the illness. 'Since late 2023, new outbreaks have been reported in Bolivia, Brazil, Peru and Cuba, including among travelers returning to Canada and the United States,' the report states. Notably, more Canadians are ditching vacation plans in the U.S. and traveling to South America instead, according to a recent Business Insider report, in response to tariffs imposed by the U.S. government. But Oropouche can be hard to detect, and is easily confused with other diseases. 'Malaria, Zika, dengue and chikungunya are also endemic in some regions affected by Oropouche virus,' the report notes. Indeed, Oropouche can mimic dengue and chikungunya with similar symptoms of fever, chills, headache and myalgias, which can often cause the infection to be misdiagnosed. It primarily spreads from biting midges such as Culicoides paraensis, but like Zika, it can be transmitted via certain mosquitoes (Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes serratus.) Non-human primates, including howler monkeys and sloths, can also be infected with Oropouche, which is why the disease is sometimes nicknamed 'sloth fever.' Infection can be prevented by wearing long-sleeved clothing and using mosquito nets, as well as chemical insect repellents such as DEET. 'As this is a recent outbreak, there aren't any treatments or vaccines available, and vaccine development pipelines are in their infancy (pre-clinical),' Vaughan explained. But 'arbovirus vaccines' meant to target viruses transmitted by arthropods and insects 'have been recently approved in many countries,' he said, including vaccines for dengue and Chikungunya, which are similar but more severe.'One of the dengue vaccines has been authorized for use in the U.S.,' he continued, but only for patients with evidence of previous infection. 'If Oropouche continues to circulate for a few more years and there is confirmatory evidence of birth defects in pregnant travelers then it is likely a vaccine will be prioritized.' That, however, would take years to move through the approval process. As with other pathogens, from bird flu to malaria, the increase in Oropouche infections can be explained partially by global heating and the ongoing destruction of the environment. 'Climate change has allowed the expansion of mosquito vectors into new areas exposing more humans,' Vaughan said. 'Also, degradation of natural habitats have driven mosquitos into surrounding areas. Ease of travel (airplanes) and the relative lack of symptoms with Oropouche allow infected patients to carry the virus over long distances to new areas without detection, then expose a new population.' To further complicate matters, surveillance of the Oropouche virus is likely imperiled by recent cuts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the Trump administration's decision to pull out of the World Health Organization. 'Decreased funding and inability to collaborate with international organizations will lead to increased threats from emerging pathogens,' including Ebola, mpox and Zika virus, Vaughan said. 'Without properly supported surveillance networks, infections (including Oropouche) will continue to enter and circulate in the population prior to being recognized with the possibly of severe consequences.' He said he hoped the CDC would 'continue to be the most important organization to identify, monitor and advise the public of ongoing and emerging) outbreaks. It is better to know which infections are going to cause the next outbreak (through surveillance) to act quickly allowing health authorities to make educated decisions.' One significant outstanding question about Oropouche is whether it can spread via semen, which would effectively make it a sexually transmittable disease. Zika virus can be spread this way, though the viruses are entirely different species. A 42-year-old Italian man who visited Cuba in July 2024 contracted Oropouche fever, with tests revealing he was shedding the virus in his semen, though it's not yet clear if that means infection can spread from person to person this way. 'Our findings raise concerns over the potential for person-to-person transmission of [Oropouche virus] via sexual encounters and may have implications for sperm banking and assisted reproductive technologies,' a report in Emerging Infectious Diseases states, adding that more research is needed. In the meantime, there have yet to be any reports of Oropouche infections in the U.S. or Canada and it's still not entirely clear how damaging the virus can be to the health of babies. 'Currently, the number of cases in the U.S. remains low,' Vaughan said. 'However, the possibility of infection is greater with travel to the Caribbean and South America. The possible association with birth defects is still under investigation. I would recommend that pregnant travelers discuss their travel itinerary with a travel health professional to determine their individualized risk.'
