The uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stood trial in Paris on Monday accused of pumping tens of millions of pounds of “ill-gotten gains” into a vast property empire for himself and his extended family.

However, Rifaat al-Assad, dubbed the "Butcher of Hama" for allegedly commanding troops that put down an uprising in central Syria in 1982, was not present in court “for medical reasons”.

His lawyers said doctors of the 82-year-old British resident had “recommended he avoid any stressful situations”.

Mr Assad, who splits his time between France and Britain, has been under investigation in France since 2014.

He is charged with organised money laundering to illegally build a €90 million (£76m) property portfolio in France.

His reported French empire comprises two Paris townhouses, one measuring 32,000 square feet, 40 luxury flats, as well as a stud farm, a chateau and 78,500 square metres of office space in Lyon.

The trial, scheduled to last until Dec 18, concerns crimes allegedly committed between 1984 and 2016, including aggravated tax fraud and misappropriation of Syrian funds.

He denies the charges.

Mr Assad, who served as head of the feared Defense Companies paramilitary unit in the 1970s and 80s, went into exile in Europe after a failed coup against his brother Hafez, Bashar’s father, in 1984.

He has spent the last three decades between his properties in Paris, Marbella and his £10m Georgian townhouse in Mayfair. But the lavish lifestyle of the exile and his four wives and 16 children raised eyebrows.

In 2013, Sherpa, an activist group representing the victims of financial crime, lodged a complaint which claimed his fortune was stolen during his time at the heart of the Syrian regime.

The Assad family insists it was the result of gifts from wealthy Saudi supporters, including former king Abdullah, with whom he shared a love of horse-racing.

Despite documents from Mr Assad’s lawyers meant to justify gifts of almost $25 million (£19m) between 1984 and 2010, French investigators registered transfers of only $10 million from Saudi Arabia.

Beyond France, he and his family built up a huge portfolio of 507 properties in Spain, valued at around €695 million, all seized by the authorities in 2017.

Mr Assad trial is one of two “ill-gotten gains” cases in court on Monday.

The other is the appeals trial – also in absentia – of Equatorial Guinea vice-president Teodorin Obiang, who received a three-year suspended jail term in October 2017.

Obiang is appealing his conviction of squandering €100 million in public money on funding a jet-set lifestyle in Paris, where he owned dozens of supercars and an entire building on the capital’s most exclusive avenue.

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Both trials continue.

Europe faces extreme heat waves every two years over the coming decades as the effects of climate change drive up global temperatures, the EU’s environmental watchdog has warned.

In a report published on Wednesday, the European Environment Agency said that Europe would face heat waves that are more severe than recent record-breaking events every two years from 2050 onwards.

Hans Bruynincx, the agency’s director, said: “Europe’s environment is at a tipping point. We have a narrow window of opportunity in the next decade to scale up measures to protect nature, lessen the impacts of climate change and radically reduce our consumption of natural resources.”

The report makes sobering reading for the EU which prides itself on being a global leader in tackling climate change and meeting high environmental standards.

It warns that the EU’s progress towards cutting greenhouse-gas emissions and boosting the share of renewables in the energy mix has dropped off and that the bloc will miss its goals.

Global temperature anomaly (°)

“Recent trends highlight a slowing down of progress in areas such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, industrial emissions, waste generation, improving energy efficiency and the share of renewable energy. Looking ahead, the current rate of progress will not be enough to meet 2030 and 2050 climate and energy targets.”

The EU has set a target to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030 but the environment agency says that without further action, emissions will only be cut by 30 per cent by the target date.

The report also says that the EU is failing to meet its goals for protecting soil, air and water quality.

“If current trends continue, they will result in further deterioration of nature and continued pollution of air, water and soil,” it said. 

It points out that the failure to reduce air pollution is causing 400,000 premature deaths in Europe every year.

The European Commission will use the report in its arguments for an ambitious new European Green Deal, which is due to be unveiled on December 11.

Carbon Dioxide levels in the last 20yrs

The Green Deal, which will be the first major policy presented by the commission under newly elected President Ursula von der Leyen, is a plan to make the EU net carbon neutral by 2050. It is expected to include plans to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 55 per cent by 2030 and includes a trillion euro sustainable investment plan.

Addressing a United Nations climate change meeting in Madrid on Monday, President von der Leyen said: “Our goal is to be the first climate neutral continent by 2050.”

Making the transition to a carbon-neutral economy would require a “generational change,” she said, while the Green Deal would “generate new jobs” and improve people’s quality of life .

The plan is expected to run into stiff opposition from Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary, all of which use a lot of coal for energy production.

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The “Fighting With My Family” movie based on Paige’s wrestling family will be filming after tonight’s RAW at the Staples Center in Los Angeles goes off the air. As noted, WWE Studios and The Rock’s Seven Bucks Productions are partnering for the movie.

Rock has been busy working on the movie this past week, as seen below. Rock and Florence Pugh, the actress who will play the character based on Paige, were at the Staples Center earlier doing work. He also posted a photo of Thea Trinidad, who plays the Divas Champion in the movie, in the ring with indie wrestler Tessa Blanchard, who is apparently doing stunts/ring work for Florence Pugh, the actress playing Paige.

With the movie filming tonight after RAW, The Rock is rumored to be appearing. Below are some of this recent posts on the movie:

Thank ya bud. Everyone’s working hard. Especially the actors learning to wrestle. Hard stuff but they’re doing great. #FightingWithMyFamily https://t.co/2QwTpJzfUN
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 19, 2017

I reunite with this cream puff today. We shoot our scenes in a couple of hours. He’s been fantastic in the role. #FightingWithMyFamily https://t.co/8x2i7En4Ar
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 19, 2017

Big night tonight for our hard working @Florence_Pugh. Once @WWE RAW goes off the air we shoot her big scene. #FightingWithMyFamily https://t.co/yIuP1XBPBc
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 20, 2017

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WWE Considering Big Turn, Must See New Maryse & Noelle Foley, Triple H Ready to Push Former TNA Star on RAW, WrestleMania 33 Main Events, WWE Star Gets Backstage Heat, New GIFs & Galleries, More

Click:HPMC HEMC HEC Factory
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown and 205 Live will take place from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota as the Road to WrestleMania 33 continues.
Confirmed for SmackDown is Luke Harper vs. AJ Styles with the winner facing WWE Champion Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania, Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James in a 2 of 3 Falls match, Apollo Crews vs. Dolph Ziggler in a Chairs Match and John Cena on MizTV. 205 Live will see WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville give his State of 205 Live Address.
WWE is focusing on the following points in their SmackDown preview for tonight:

* AJ Styles to battle Luke Harper for the right to face Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania
* What will happen when John Cena comes to “Miz TV” tonight?
* Becky Lynch to battle Mickie James in a Two of Three Falls Match
* Will Apollo Crews get retribution on Dolph Ziggler in Chairs Match?

Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.
WWE Considering Big Turn, Must See New Maryse & Noelle Foley, Triple H Ready to Push Former TNA Star on RAW, WrestleMania 33 Main Events, WWE Star Gets Backstage Heat, New GIFs & Galleries, More

Gross, Benick #1; Stoll #2

Amateur Wrestling News Individual Rankings for October 17, 2013 have been released.

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Visit awn.theopenmat.com to view the rankings.

– As seen above and below, The Bella Twins and crew spent this past weekend in Lake Tahoe for some fun in the snow.

– Mojo Rawley will be Jonathan Coachman’s guest on tonight’s “Off The Top Rope” segment during ESPN SportsCenter. They will talk WrestleMania 33, the NFL and Mojo’s relationship with New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski.

– The following matches were taped for tonight’s WWE NXT episode from the University of Central Florida. It should be noted that these tapings were done out of order and tonight’s episode could feature other matches.

* Ember Moon vs. Billie Kay

* Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. HoHo Lun

* Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young

* Loser Leaves NXT: Elias Samson vs. Kassius Ohno

* Shinsuke Nakamura vs. TJ Perkins

* The Ealy Twins vs. NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain

Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.

WWE Considering Big Turn, Must See New Maryse & Noelle Foley, Triple H Ready to Push Former TNA Star on RAW, WrestleMania 33 Main Events, WWE Star Gets Backstage Heat, New GIFs & Galleries, More

– Below is the latest episode of “Our Home” with John Cena and Nikki Bella showing off their luxurious kitchen:

– Monday’s WWE RAW ranked #3 among series & specials for the night in Nielsen’s social media TV ratings, behind Love & Hip-Hop and Dancing With The Stars. RAW had 111,000 interactions with 26,000 unique authors on Twitter. This is down from the March 6th show, which drew 131,000 Twitter interactions with 28,000 unique authors. RAW also had 241,000 Facebook interactions with 156,000 unique authors, down from the March 6th show, which drew 308,000 interactions with 198,000 unique authors on Facebook.

– Below is the new “Hero In All Of Us” video package from WWE:

Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.

WWE Considering Big Turn, Must See New Maryse & Noelle Foley, Triple H Ready to Push Former Star on RAW, WrestleMania 33 Main Events, WWE Star Gets Backstage Heat, New GIFs & Galleries, More