All posts tagged: warring

The warring conmen at the heart of a €5bn carbon trading scam | Carbon tax

The warring conmen at the heart of a €5bn carbon trading scam | Carbon tax

Published by skeptic

A good scammer sees opportunity everywhere, including in their own downfall. In 2006, the police showed up at Gustav Daphne’s house in Beverly Hills. They had come once before, when a neighbour complained about his trash. Daphne happened to be swimming in his pool at the time, and because he is French, he came to the front door in a tiny little bathing suit. The police were appalled; they gave him a reprimand about storing his garbage more tidily and scurried away. This time was different. The cops came straight into the house. There were a dozen of them, wearing bulletproof vests. They took him outside in handcuffs and put him in a car. Maybe he was paranoid, having built a multimillion-dollar empire on fraud and deceit, nurturing connections with international criminal rings, but at first he thought he was being kidnapped. When he saw the jail, he was relieved. The feeling was short-lived. The jail was cleaner than those in Europe where he had been held before, but after a couple of hours he …

Inside L.A.’s greatest family feud: Warring brothers. Billions at stake

Inside L.A.’s greatest family feud: Warring brothers. Billions at stake

Published by skeptic

Four brothers gathered in silence in the Los Angeles courtroom to hear the jury’s verdict. The decision came after 20 years of legal maneuvering by the brothers — bitter decades filled with accusations of fraud, intimidation and betrayal. At issue was whether two of the brothers had struck an oral agreement nearly 30 years ago. Such a contract would determine ownership of vast real estate holdings worth billions, one of the highest stakes ever seen in a Los Angeles civil courtroom. One brother swore the contract existed; another denied it ever happened. What might have been an uplifting story of an immigrant who soared to the pinnacle of American wealth had devolved into a saga embroiling not just the siblings but their mother as well. And now, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, jurors filed into the courtroom where they had heard the story of a young man who had left his family in India and improbably had made, and possibly lost, a fortune. It had all started with an opalescent rock. Shashikant Jogani had …

Cop29 summit to call for peace between warring states, says host Azerbaijan | Cop29

Cop29 summit to call for peace between warring states, says host Azerbaijan | Cop29

Published by skeptic

This year’s Cop29 UN climate summit will be the first “Cop of peace”, focusing on the prevention of future climate-fuelled conflicts and using international cooperation on green issues to help heal existing tensions, according to plans being drawn up by organisers. Nations may be asked to observe a “Cop truce”, suspending hostilities for the fortnight-long duration of the conference, modelled on the Olympic truce, which is observed by most governments during the summer and winter Olympic Games. Cop29 will be held in November in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, amid two big wars – the Ukraine invasion and the Israel-Gaza conflict – raging in neighbouring regions and worsening geopolitical tensions. But the host country’s top national security adviser said that the climate summit, which 196 governments are expected to attend, could become an engine for peace, by finding common ground among countries in the urgent need to tackle global heating. “Azerbaijan continues and will exert additional efforts to make Cop yet another success story with regard to peace, and to make Cop29 a Cop …

Israel, Hamas Battle in Gaza as Warring Sides Consider New Temporary Cease-Fire 

Israel, Hamas Battle in Gaza as Warring Sides Consider New Temporary Cease-Fire 

Published by skeptic

Israel said Thursday its troops battled Hamas militants across the Gaza Strip, including killing dozens of fighters in central and northern Gaza, while Israeli airstrikes hit Khan Younis in the southern part of the strip. The fighting went on as the negotiators of a proposed new cease-fire waited to hear of progress in securing agreement between Israel and Hamas that would bring a short-term halt in fighting and the release of prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza. The outline for the proposal came out of talks in Paris among U.S., Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials earlier this week. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was expected to travel to Cairo to discuss the plan. Asked about the details of the proposal during a briefing Wednesday at the White House, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said no pieces were final until the deal itself was finalized. “I will tell you that, in broad strokes, we are looking at an extended pause is the goal,” Kirby told reporters. “How long? That’s all part of the discussions, but longer …

IGAD Gives Sudan’s Warring Factions 2 Weeks to Meet

IGAD Gives Sudan’s Warring Factions 2 Weeks to Meet

Published by skeptic

ENTEBBE, UGANDA —  East Africa’s Intergovernmental Authority on Development has given Sudan’s warring factions two weeks to meet face-to-face to de-escalate the situation. The meeting, which also discussed the tension between Ethiopia and Somalia, made it clear that Somalia’s integrity must be respected. The IGAD meeting in Kampala described the conflict and political tension in the Horn of Africa and Sudan as a disturbing, senseless and devastating development. Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, also the IGAD chairperson, said the group’s heads of state met with a sense of urgency as the region grapples with challenging times. The conflict in Sudan broke out in April between the national army, led by General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo of the Rapid Support Forces. Since then, 7 million people have been displaced and 12,000 have been killed. Sudan suspended its participation in the Kampala IGAD summit, accusing the regional body of violating its sovereignty and setting a dangerous precedent. In a communique, read by Djibouti’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, the heads of states, including …

Golf’s warring factions miss merger deadline day to leave future still in flux | Golf

Golf’s warring factions miss merger deadline day to leave future still in flux | Golf

Published by Sam

The concept of peace in our golfing time was always more interesting than the level of detail required to turn that dream into a reality. The sporting world was rocked by the announcement on 6 June that the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund would combine to form a new entity. Vitriol attached to LIV’s march on to the scene would supposedly vanish on the basis those controlling the elite game had decided to kiss and make up. Another date, 31 December, became key. The parties had identified the end of 2023 as the cut-off point to turn a framework agreement into something binding. This always looked a hugely optimistic target. The new year will come and go without a proper outline of the future. Those with knowledge of the continuing discussions point out 31 December was a loose target rather than a legally enforceable necessity. This deadline could always be extended, whether anybody chooses to announce that or not. A further element of complication arrived after Fenway Sports Group, …

scale of the catastrophe must bring the two warring factions together

scale of the catastrophe must bring the two warring factions together

Published by skeptic

A century ago, the coastal city of Derna was well known for picture-perfect beaches, palm trees and whitewashed villas mainly inhabited by Libya’s Italian colonial occupiers. Today, in the aftermath of Storm Daniel, which brought 400mm of rain to the region, overwhelming two dams and sweeping millions of tons of water across the city, much of Derna has been flooded. Entire suburbs are reported to have been washed into the sea by the tsunami-like wave that barrelled down the normally dry river Wadi Dern through the heart of the city. The death toll from the catastrophe is estimated at more than 11,000 with another 10,000 missing and feared dead. Countless more people – perhaps one-third of Derna’s inhabitants, have been left homeless. Derna has been a centre of resistance to successive Libyan regimes. The former Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, regarded the city with distrust and deprived it of basic resources and infrastructure. On the eve of Gaddafi’s overthrow by Nato-backed forces in 2011, the Libyan government described Derna as a “hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism”. In …

UK imposes sanctions on companies linked to warring Sudanese factions | Sudan

Published by Sam

The UK has put sanctions on six companies it says are associated with the two sides fighting for power in Sudan, though the prospect of any of the Gulf states most entwined in the Sudanese economy joining the UK remain remote. The Foreign Office slapped sanctions on three firms linked to leaders of the Sudanese armed forces and three connected to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The warring factions have been involved in a bloody battle for power since April, which forced more than 680,000 to flee the country. A further 2.2 million are thought to have been internally displaced. António Guterres, the UN secretary general, last week warned Sudan was on the brink of all-out civil war after an airstrike on a residential area killed two dozen civilians. The effect of the sanctions is that no UK citizen, bank or company can have any dealings with the six sanctioned firms, the Foreign Office said. In practice, none of the firms have a big commercial footprint in the UK so the announcement is predominantly …

Sudan: warring sides agree to new ceasefire after fighting intensifies | Sudan

Published by Sam

Sudan’s warring generals agreed to a new 72-hour truce to take place from Sunday, US and Saudi mediators said, after fighting intensified with deadly airstrikes in Khartoum and an exodus of wounded from Darfur over the border into Chad. Airstrikes killed 17 civilians, including five children, in the capital on Saturday, a citizens’ group said, while medics in Chad reported hundreds of wounded from Darfur seeking treatment. Multiple truces have been agreed and broken during the two-month war, including after the United States slapped sanctions on both generals when a previous attempt collapsed at the end of May. A 24-hour ceasefire from 10 June to 11 June provided Khartoum residents with a brief respite from the airstrikes and artillery exchanges that have ravaged whole neighbourhoods of the capital. But the fighting resumed within 10 minutes of the ceasefire ending. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United States of America announce the agreement of representatives of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a ceasefire throughout Sudan for a period of …