Wednesday’s Top Stories: Leaked Abramovich documents raise fresh questions for Chelsea FC, RTÉ reforms to include salary cap

Cyprus Confidential: Leaked Abramovich documents raise fresh questions for Chelsea FC

Fresh insights into the financial affairs of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, including offshore transactions apparently associated with his former ownership of Chelsea Football Club, are contained in a huge cache of leaked documents shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) Paper Trail Media and 67 media partners including The Irish Times.

The leaked documents, mainly from financial services companies based in EU member state Cyprus, show the extent of that country’s dealings with hugely wealthy Russian business figures and people close to the Kremlin, many of whom were sanctioned in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Among the documents are financial accounts for 2018 for two companies based in the British Virgin Islands that were owned by a Cypriot trust the beneficiary of which was Mr Abramovich. Among hedge fund investments totalling $3 billion (€2.76 billion) held by the two companies at the end of 2018 were investments worth $358 million in four Irish-resident funds.

Israel-Hamas Conflict

Israel-Hamas war: Israeli soldiers enter Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital: The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said early on Wednesday it was “carrying out a precise and targeted operation” against Hamas in al-Shifa hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza.
‘Quite a number’ of Irish in Gaza expected on latest list allowing exit to Egypt: Hopes for a breakthrough allowing dozens of Irish citizens to leave the war-torn Gaza Strip intensified as Tánaiste Micheál Martin said “quite a number” have been put on a list to enter Egypt on Wednesday.
Israeli ambassador Dana Erlich: Where is the outcry by the Irish for the Israeli children held hostage by Hamas?: Black and white. Three neat, simple words. Easy to explain. Easy to understand. But we know life is rarely black and white.

News from around the World

Ukraine-Russia war: Kyiv says ‘foothold’ established over Dnipro river at Kherson: Ukraine has acknowledged for the first time that its forces in southern Kherson region had established a foothold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, potentially opening a new line of attack towards Crimea.

The Big Read

Trish Murphy writes: 'What is clear is that you have some reconnecting to do.' Photograph: Romolo Tavani/Getty

‘The strange thing about inheriting all this wealth from my parents is all I feel is guilt about it’: “I left the country as soon as I could as I could not bear to be the sole carer for both my parents, whom I had come to resent as I grew older,” our reader says.

The best from Opinion

Today's Business

‘The death knell’: how tycoon behind Chrysler Building, Brown Thomas and Arnotts was forced out: For months, rumours about the financial health of Austrian property giant Signa had been swirling. So its founder René Benko did one of the things he did best: he threw a party.

Top Sports news

Gordon D’Arcy: Welsh rugby has further to sink before it bottoms out: As the final whistle blew in Leinster’s match against Dragons, the scoreboard displaying a decisive 33-10 victory for the Irish side, the Welsh rugby community was left grappling with the harsh reality of their current situation. The defeat marked the end of a miserable few days with all four Welsh regions losing.