Latest news with #IrishTimes
Metro
a day ago
- Metro
British teens recruited to world's most feared mafia - the Black Axe gang
British teenagers are being lured into joining a Nigerian gang that forces recruits to drink blood to prove their loyalty. Law enforcement agencies warn that the Black Axe gang is preying upon debt-ridden students and professionals working at large organisations, offering them an opportunity to make fast cash. Some are used as 'money mules' who facilitate the transfer of fraudulent money through their bank accounts. Multinational gangs including Black Axe are now responsible for a majority of the world's cyberfraud, according to Interpol. Recruits, who are often male, are first required to undergo an 'initiation' ceremony which involves being stripped, tortured and made to drink blood, before they become 'Axemen'. Not only does the gang target well-healed professionals, many of its recruiters often hold jobs in the IT industry. Detectives say the gang uses Snapchat to distribute registration forms, taking advantage of instantly disappearing 'snap' messages to cover up their fraudulent activities, the Irish Times reported. However, the social network's parent company Snap Inc. insisted content suspected to be illegal is saved and reported to authorities. Black Axe, which operates as a mafia-style organisation, has an estimated 30,000 members across dozens of countries worldwide. More Trending It is thought to take as much as £3.8billion from victims each year through its scams, which also include romance and inheritance frauds as well as phishing and ransomware. Among the recruits of the scheme was 26-year-old university graduate Funmi Abimbola, who was jailed for three years last October for laundering money. The bank worker was said to have had 'many good qualities', but was lured into the crime group, for which he provided bank accounts for the transfer of money. Ireland's Operation Skein has so far identified 1,400 individuals connected to Black Axe. It has prosecuted more than 300 affiliated people, cautioned 39 juveniles, and identified more than 1,000 money mules during the investigation. 'Individuals need to realise that if they act as a money mule, they are interacting with vicious transnational organised criminals', said Garda Detective Inspector Michael Cryan. He added that the gang 'controls' its recruits, demanding that they hand themselves over in the event money is stopped or frozen by their bank. 'People who get involved in this are destroying their own futures because they could go to jail, end up with a criminal record and be prevented from getting jobs.' Forces from 196 countries are also able to draw on data from Interpol, which has created an intelligence database on the gang. Interpol dealt a 'major blow' to the gang after coordinating a huge operation which saw more than 300 people linked to Black Axe and affiliated groups arrested worldwide, including in the UK and Ireland. The probe, codenamed Operation Jackal III, recovered £2.24million in stolen assets including luxury items and cryptocurrencies, and saw more than 700 bank accounts frozen. It also uncovered large transactions to Nigerian bank accounts. A senior official for the multinational crime organisation said that Black Axe were 'early adopters' in money transfer technology. More Trending Tomonobu Kaya said that the rise of fintech banks, which operate digitally and have little to no physical presence, have helped facilitate the quick and seamless transfer of money around the world. In another operation, three members of the same family in the UK were jailed for more than 16 years after being found to have worked with Black Axe's alleged leader. The Nakpodia siblings laundered more than £1million through email and phone scams between 2007 and 2015 for their Nigerian-based brother-in-law Augustus Bemigho-Eyeoyibo. A BBC investigation into the Nigerian gang also found evidence of severe torture and brutality from pictures of dead bodies shared on social media. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Why is a Russian ‘shadow fleet' using Irish waters?
Earlier this month, the Sierra tanker set off from a Russian port on the Baltic Sea laden with thousands of tonnes of crude oil and set a course for India. There was nothing unusual about that – Russia has continued to export vast amounts of fossil fuels despite the international sanctions imposed following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, when the Sierra, a 250 metre tanker, reached Dutch waters, it did something which left maritime and naval experts scratching their heads. Instead of taking the safest and most economically efficient route through the English Channel and down the coast of France, the ship abruptly turned north. It sailed all the way around the British Isles into the North Atlantic before coming down the Irish west coast on July 10th. It skirted down the very edge of the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) before continuing south to India. READ MORE Two weeks previously, the Marathon, another sanctioned vessel carrying Russian oil, made the exact same journey. The Sierra and Marathon are part of what has become known as Russia's shadow fleet and are just two of an increasing number of vessels which have been engaging in suspicious and sometimes bizarre behaviour around Irish waters in recent months. This has raised both environmental and national security concerns among Irish officials, especially given Ireland's extremely limited ability to monitor such vessels. An Irish Times investigation has identified 19 shadow fleet vessels sailing in, or just outside, the Irish EEZ since May. Five of these ships appeared more than once. All are subject to US or UK sanctions, while 11 are subject to EU sanctions. [ New €60m sonar system aims to protect transatlantic cables, gas pipelines in Irish waters Opens in new window ] The most recent sailing occurred on Saturday when the Matari, a crude oil tanker flagged in Sierra Leone, sailed north through the EEZ on its way to the Gulf of Kola in the Russian Arctic. There are various definitions of a shadow fleet vessel, but most involve a ship engaging in deceptive practices to transport sanctioned oil or other cargos. In the majority of cases, these ships fly the flag of a small country with a poor reputation for maritime regulations. Sometimes, as is the case with the Sierra which claims it is flagged in the landlocked African nation of Malawi, the registration is fraudulent (it previously flew the flags of Sao Tome and Principe, Liberia, Gabon and Barbados). The tally of 19 ships observed around Ireland recently is likely an undercount. The vessels were tracked using tools from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, a New Zealand-based marine software firm, and open source marine tracking platforms. Their location was based on the signals from their automatic identification systems (AIS). A defining feature of shadow vessels is that they often sail with AIS turned off, which makes them all but impossible to track. The figure of 19 shadow fleet vessels does not include the Shtandart, a replica of a historic Russian navy ship, which visited a Co Louth port earlier this month despite being under EU sanctions. [ State needs to invest in Navy and Air Corps to beef up our ability to protect vital undersea connections Opens in new window ] Many of the recent incidents in Irish waters involved ships engaging in unusual and economically inefficient practices, including sailing outside of recognised shipping lanes and taking the long way around Ireland on the way to the Baltic Sea. 'Vessels don't take longer routes, especially those that include the North Atlantic, unless there's a reason,' said Mark Douglas, a maritime domain analyst with Starboard Maritime Intelligence and a former New Zealand Royal Navy officer. 'The important thing about all of this is, I don't know why this is happening and no one else does either,' he said. One possible explanation for the growing number of sanctioned ships sailing up the Irish west coast is increased monitoring of traffic in the English Channel by UK authorities. UK officials are now challenging by radio an average of 40 shadow vessels every month off the British coast as part of a joint campaign with a group of EU countries to tackle Russian sanction busting. Christian Panton, an expert in maritime open source intelligence, said European countries are increasingly concerned about the presence of unflagged or fraudulently flagged vessels in their waters. The Russian oil tanker Sierra. Photograph: Marinetraffic/Hannes van Rijn The Shtandart, a replica of a historic Russian navy ship, in Dublin. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw He pointed to a recent joint communication from the NB8++, a group of 12 northern European countries, stating that 'if vessels fail to fly a valid flag in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, we will take appropriate action within international law'. Ireland is not a member of this group, meaning vessels may feel more comfortable sailing off its west coast than going through the English Channel. Evidence suggests shadow fleet ships may also be attempting to avoid areas which impose specific environmental conditions on oil tankers. Since 2005, the Western European Tanker Reporting System (Wetrep) has required oil tankers to provide details of their crews, cargo and seaworthiness when sailing through a designated area. Ireland is a member of Wetrep and much of its EEZ is classified as a designated reporting area. Several of the shadow vessel ships tracked through the EEZ in recent weeks appeared to be just skirting the Wetrep area, meaning they did not have to provide details on their operations to authorities. The increased presence of the shadow fleet off Ireland has raised concern among national security officials. During one recent voyage through the English Channel, the Sierra was escorted by a Russian warship which had disguised itself as a fishing vessel. [ Ireland cannot protect its waters alone, UN expert says Opens in new window ] There is concern Russia intends to start regularly providing military escorts for shadow vessels to deter western intervention. This raises the chances of military escalation. Secondly, there is concern about the activity of shadow fleet vessels around Irish undersea cables. In a small number of cases, vessels have been observed by the Irish Air Corps or Naval Service loitering in the areas of these cables. Last March, the Arne, a shadow fleet tanker previously boarded by German federal police over suspicions of sabotage, was spotted by the Naval Service near undersea cables off Cork. The main risks to undersea infrastructure may come not from deliberate action but from the poor condition of shadow fleet vessels. Douglas points out accidents account for 90 per cent of incidents of damage to undersea cables globally. Many shadow fleet vessels are in poor condition and are crewed by inexperienced sailors. The countries they are flagged in take little interest in enforcing safety standards or crew working conditions. All of this raises the danger of an anchor being accidentally dropped and dredged across some cables, said Douglas. The biggest concern for Irish officials is that the poor condition of these ships could result in an ecological disaster. Eleven of the 19 ships identified in recent weeks were carrying full loads of crude oil when sailing off Ireland. The clean-up costs for an oil spill from a single shadow fleet tanker could be nearly €750 million, according to recent estimates from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Such an incident would be devastating to Irish waters, even if the ship was sailing just outside the EEZ, as was the case with the Sierra and Marathon. 'That is the thing would keep me up at night, more than anything with cables,' said an Irish maritime official. 'There are redundancies built into the cable system. There's no redundancy for an oil spill.' It is not an entirely hypothetical scenario. In January, the sanctioned tanker Eventin lost control while at anchor off Germany. The Blue, a sanctioned oil tanker heading for the Baltic, took an unusual route around Ireland. Photograph: Marinetraffic/Hans Rosenkranz Last week, the Pushpa, a shadow fleet oil tanker, reported losing control about 50 nautical miles off Malta. 'Imagine that on Ireland's Atlantic coast,' said Douglas. The right of Ireland to do anything about these ships is up for debate. Maritime law is ambiguous about the rights of countries to board or seize shadow fleet vessels. In April, the Estonian Naval Service boarded an unflagged shadow fleet vessel off its coast, but no other country has taking similar action. Ireland largely lacks the ability to conduct such operations, but some action is being taken. The Defence Forces and Coast Guard monitor many of these vessels as they pass through. The newly acquired Airbus C295 maritime patrol aircraft, which has extended range and more advanced sensors than its predecessors, has proven invaluable. Just last Friday, an Air Corps C295 set a course for the Mayo coast where it monitored the Blue, a sanctioned oil tanker heading for the Baltic and taking an unusual route around Ireland. It is understood the Defence Forces received prior intelligence about the ship, which has since left Irish waters. Earlier in the week, it intercepted the Belgorod, another sanctioned tanker sailing north through the EEZ. A Defence Forces spokesman declined to comment on the operations but said it 'maintains a continuous presence and vigilance within Ireland's maritime domain. 'We monitor all activity within our Exclusive Economic Zone as part of our routine operations to ensure the security and integrity of our waters.' The Department of Transport, which regulates maritime traffic, said the Irish Coast Guard 'has instituted specific measures to monitor the presence of these vessels and passage through and out of Irish EEZ'. It said the Coast Guard is specifically concerned about the increased possibility of maritime casualty incidents 'from such vessels'. A spokesman also pointed to several measures being taken to crack down on shadow fleet vessels operating without maritime insurance. Ireland is taking part in a one-month 'focused inspection campaign' to check the insurance documents of oil tankers calling to ports. It has also signed up to a new EU system to monitor shadow fleet vessels. Nevertheless, recent events suggest shadow fleet traffic is only likely to increase. Last week, the EU agreed an additional sanctions package for Russia which will further limit the legitimate market for its oil exports and increase Moscow's reliance on its shadow fleet.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Key final matchups: Maurice Brosnan's duels that will swing Cork v Tipperary
Ronan Maher v Brian Hayes In the aftermath of the 2024 All-Ireland final, Brian Hayes got back to the team hotel, dropped his bag to his room and was hit immediately by a crippling wave of hurt. The only antidote to that defeat was to seek out the group. 'It is harder when you are on your own,' he recalled last year. 'Days after driving the car by yourself and it hits you. Normal life away from it is actually tougher.' The pain of that loss remains a constant source of fuel for him and his teammates. Hayes has had a transformative impact on Cork since he came into the starting team. This season, he has scored or created 20 of their 35 goals. His puckout prowess is such that Maher could be tasked with dropping back and battling in the air. The captain did a similar role on TJ Reid. Tipperary know this defensive adjustment can work once more. After the Galway quarter-final victory, Liam Cahill gave an honest explanation of the impact three late changes had on his side. 'Our match-ups, we were thrown a little bit at the start with the three different changes for Galway.' That forced Eoghan Connolly to wing-back to take on Conor Cooney. It worked. In the semi-final, Connolly once again went out to the half-back line and clipped three points from play. Rhys Shelly v Patrick Collins In the Munster championship meeting, Rhys Shelly did not start for Tipperary. Since coming into the team, they have scored 7-40 from Shelly's restarts. When Cork won the U20 All-Ireland title, the man on the opposite sideline was Paul O'Brien. He works as a GAA Development Officer at Dublin City University and produces outstanding tactical columns for the Irish Times. O'Brien is with Tipperary as an analyst this year. Former Kilkenny goalkeeper David Herity has also taken on a more prominent coaching role. Together they possess a deep knowledge of how to maximise their puckout against Cork and to counter Collins at the other end. Both number ones can expect to be busy. Shelly demonstrated his shot-stopping ability against Galway with four saves. Collins has the same skill, which he has demonstrated since the opening round when he expertly denied Peter Duggan in the first half. The middle Cork and Tipperary are powered by a similar engine. Their style of hurling is full throttle. Go. Go again. Leave the opposition legless. Pace and power that demands a colossal effort. It starts at the centre. Liam Cahill and Pat Ryan opted for unchanged teams for Sunday which means Conor Stakelum and Willie Connors will dual with Tim O'Mahony and Darragh Fitzgibbon. Those driving runs down the middle have been an awesome weapon for the Munster champions. Tipperary know they have to match that. The standout statistic from the semi-final was that Dublin were turned over 17 times in midfield compared to just eight for Cork. Ryan's side hit 5-11 from turnovers. That is the point for both sides on Sunday. Midfield pressure isn't just about protection, it is a platform. Noel McGrath's outstanding pass to Oisín O'Donoghue earned deserved plaudits but consider that play in its entirety. Tipperary won possession deep inside their own half and Connors was the outlet, inside his own 45. From there he could pick out McGrath on the opposite wing. When he collected possession, two Tipperary forwards were inside the Galway 45 with a clear swathe in front of them. This decider will be dictated by who can conquer centrefield.
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Independent
Obituary: Sarah Coyle, Ireland's oldest resident at 108 who lived with ‘positive outlook' despite being blind for 68 years
A mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who lost her sight at the age of 40, she lived through the early years of Irish independence and the Civil War, two World Wars and several pandemics. She was born Sarah Byrne on July 24, 1916, in Knockatomcoyle, Co Wicklow, and was one of a family of 10 reared at Coolkenno, near Tullow on the Carlow-Wicklow border. She had clear memories of significant periods in Irish history, including recounting how members of the Black and Tans called to the family farm. They brought her grandfather James out and 'were going to shoot him at the gable end [of the house] — for no reason', her daughter Marian Galligan told the Irish Times earlier this year. However, after he blessed himself, the group leader ordered his men to put down their guns and let him live. Ms Coyle moved to Dublin at 17 and became a housekeeper in Foxrock. At a dance in Dún Laoghaire she met a Cavan man, Tom Coyle, and they married and moved to Drumcondra on Dublin's northside. Tom worked as a postman, and the couple grew vegetables and kept hens, supplying their neighbours with eggs. Their first two children, two girls, died just 10 days after they were born, but the couple went on to have a daughter, Marian, and son, Patrick. Sarah began to lose her eyesight in her 30s and her daughter believes it may have been linked to an incident where she was accidentally hit in the face and it affected her optic nerve. However, as those at her funeral in Blanchardstown on Friday heard, she never complained. Her husband Tom died in 1968 when only in his late 50s after suffering a stroke and a brain haemorrhage. With her two children still quite young, she was given much support by neighbours and her family. Her grandson, Thomas Galligan, said that she continued to garden, using guide wires that she made to navigate from the back door to the flower beds, including roses, and to her tomato plants. She was always someone who was so comforting He described her as very adaptable with a 'positive outlook on life'. One of her most frequent pieces of advice was 'not to bear a grudge' as life was 'too short'. She had been an avid reader before losing her sight, and continued with audiobooks. Ms Coyle also had a strong faith. She welcomed visitors, providing generous hospitality, and loved the sound of children's voices. 'Because she lost her sight, the radio was her insight into what was going on in the world,' Mr Galligan said. 'She loved keeping on top of things and then, when she would be chatting to us, she would be discussing it and getting our opinion. 'She was always someone who was so comforting. She had a very gentle way about her, someone that you go to if you're upset or have any issues. She would calm you.' She was happy to sing a song or recite a poem at social gatherings, but 'to keep the party going' rather than because she wanted to perform. She rarely drank alcohol, apart from the odd sherry on social occasions and attributed her longevity to a good diet, including using the first new nettles of spring to blend with cabbage and help to 'purify the blood'. She received eight presidential medals, the first being when she turned 100. After Ireland's then oldest resident, Phyllis Furness, died last August at the age of 109, Ms Coyle took on that mantle. She was just 10 days short of her own 109th birthday when she died at her daughter's home in Castleknock, where she had been living latterly. Sarah Coyle is survived by her children, her five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Irish presidency poll reveals just how tuned out of the process people are
In the week when actual candidates for the presidency finally stuck their heads above the parapet, today's Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll finds that nobody has really caught fire with the public at this early stage. In so far as there is a frontrunner, it is the Fine Gael candidate Mairead McGuinness . She was confirmed in that position last Tuesday, though apparently plans no active campaigning until September. Asked who they would 'probably vote for', 14 per cent of respondents plumped for McGuinness; she was the only candidate to get into double figures. As expected, McGuinness's strongest supporters are Fine Gael voters, among whom 37 per cent say they will probably vote for her. More surprisingly, perhaps, she is also the favourite choice of Fianna Fáil voters, as 25 per cent favour her. That is more than the 17 per cent who nominate Bertie Ahern and 9 per cent who say Micheál Martin would get their vote. The very low level of support for Martin suggests that Fianna Fáil voters want him to continue as Taoiseach. Independent TD Catherine Connolly attracts the support of 9 per cent of respondents – a decent, though hardly show-stopping, performance. She scores strongly among voters of the left-wing parties – except for Sinn Féin voters, where only 5 per cent of respondents favour her. READ MORE Instead, Sinn Féin voters would vote for Mary Lou McDonald (33 per cent), far ahead of Michelle O'Neill (6 per cent) and Gerry Adams (3 per cent). [ Mairead McGuinness leads in presidential election poll but public imagination yet to be caught ] Perhaps the most instructive finding in the presidency poll relates to the number of people who said 'none of the names so far appeal to me' (18 per cent). Similarly, 20 per cent of the electorate said they were not sure how they would vote. To say the race is wide open at this stage is something of an understatement. Finally, voters are roughly evenly divided on whether they would like the next president to be a current or former politician, or someone from a non-political background – 43 per cent prefer a politician, with 41 per cent saying they would like a non-politician. The poll also asked about the potential next leaders of the three big parties. For each of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin, respondents were asked if the current leaders were to step down, who they would like to see as the next leader. As you might expect, the 'don't knows' were relatively high, but some clear preferences emerged. In Fianna Fáil, the leading contender is Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan, who is favoured by 16 per cent of voters. He is followed by Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers on 13 per cent and Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien on 9 per cent. A fifth of voters (20 per cent) favoured someone else, while a hefty 42 per cent said they didn't know. Among Fianna Fáil voters, however, O'Callaghan has a clear lead with 32 per cent support, ahead of Chambers on 21 per cent and O'Brien on 15 per cent. There is a clear favourite in Sinn Féin. Finance spokesman Pearse Doherty is the choice of 28 per cent of all voters to succeed Mary Lou McDonald, followed by Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill on 17 per cent and housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin on 9 per cent. Just 16 per cent say they would like someone else, while 35 per cent say they don't know. Doherty is also the strong favourite among Sinn Féin voters, where he wins 42 per cent support. In Fine Gael, there also is a clear favourite: Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe is the choice of 29 per cent, followed by Helen McEntee on 12 per cent and Jennifer Carroll MacNeill on 8 per cent. 'Don't knows' are at 35 per cent and 16 per cent say they would like someone else. Among Fine Gael voters, the choice is even more overwhelming: 50 per cent say they would like Donohoe to be leader if Simon Harris stepped down. There is further good news for Donohoe when voters were asked how they rated the performance of Cabinet Ministers. [ The presidency is not a Rose of Tralee contest for over-35s Opens in new window ] Voters rate him ahead of any of his colleagues – and far ahead of most of them. Asked if they thought each Minister was doing a good job, a poor job or if they had no opinion, Donohoe – who has recently been warning of the need for a cautious and prudent budget, pledging to end the one-off giveaways of recent years – was the standout performer. The popularity of Donohoe at a time when he is warning of the need for budgetary prudence suggests a certain degree of nervousness about the country's economic prospects, but also confidence in the Minister for Finance to manage the potentially difficult times ahead. Almost half of all voters (48 per cent) said he was doing a good job, with 26 per cent saying he was doing a poor job and 26 per cent not sure. That gives Donohoe a net positive rating of 22 points – along with the lowest number of don't knows. Just five other Ministers have net positive ratings, while two had neither positive or negative net ratings – net zero, if you like. The worst performer was the Minister for Housing James Browne. Just 15 per cent of respondents felt he was doing a good job, with 59 per cent saying he was doing a poor job. Just over a quarter (26 per cent) were unsure.
