Tag: corruption

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Society

In Malaysia, Creative Ways to Duck Government Censorship

Planting "flowers" in Kuala Lumpur
Planting "flowers" in Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Spring Facebook page

Zulkiflee Anwar Haque, better known as Zunar, is a cartoonist who has been drawing editorial and political cartoons for over 20 years. His cartoons cover a range of issues, but are known for being critical of the government. “Most of the mainstream media neglect or black out the important issues, just focusing on petty or sensational issues. They want to distract people’s minds from focusing on the fundamental issues. Through my cartoons I want to highlight the important issues in Malaysia, like corruption; there are so many cases of corruption that have been blacked out by mainstream media.” As rules […]

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blog Geopolitics

The French Connection In Trial Of Putin Critic

May 2013 protest in support of Alexei Navalny in Moscow
May 2013 protest in support of Alexei Navalny in Moscow Anna Sergeeva/ZUMA

An accusation, later withdrawn, by French cosmetics giant Yves Rocher stands at the center of the case of against celebrated anti-Kremlin blogger Alexei Navalny. Who’s pulling the strings?

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Geopolitics Ukraine Winter

In Ukraine, Corruption Is Everywhere You Look – Still

Bribery culture
Bribery culture Valdemar Fishmen

The Maidan protests were driven by public disgust with corruption, more than picking sides between the EU and Russia. But ousting Viktor Yanukovych has not ended the dirty business woven into the fabric of Ukrainian life.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Erdogan’s Bond With Turkey’s Conservative Masses

Virtual one-man rule?
Virtual one-man rule? David Honl/ZUMA

ISTANBUL — The current state of Turkey offers little cause for comfort. • The claims of corruption and theft multiply with each passing day. • Those same claims are about to be swept under the rug. • The judiciary is effectively finished. • Limitation of basic freedoms is on the rise. • Authoritarianism is alive […]

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Society

Big Pharma Targets German Medical School Students

Lubeck Faculty of Medicine's auditorium
Lubeck Faculty of Medicine's auditorium Thomas Kohler/Worldcrunch montage

MUNICH — Pharmaceutical companies know that doctors more frequently prescribe medicine produced by companies whose sales representatives visit them regularly. That very logic means that these same companies are also busy trying to “recruit” future doctors across Germany, according to a recent survey of German medical school deans and some 1,100 med students. The study, […]

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Society

Subway Rust And Chaos In South America’s Biggest City

Sao Paulo's "Blue Line"
Sao Paulo's "Blue Line" Bruno Soares

Do Sao Paulo’s public transport woes bode badly for this year’s World Cup?

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Society

Cocoa Farming vs. Chimpanzees In Ivory Coast

Cocoa Farming vs. Chimpanzees In Ivory Coast
CocoaInitiative (screenshot)

In Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest source of cocoa beans, illegal cultivation has spread into Mont Péko National Park, threatening both wildlife and the well-being of children.

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Society

Xi’s Corruption Crackdown *Spoils* Chinese New Year

New Year's shopping in northern Chinese city of Taiyuan
New Year's shopping in northern Chinese city of Taiyuan Fan Minda/Xinhua/ZUMA

Times are tough for corrupt officials who have long counted on cashing in when the Chinese New Year festival arrives.

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blog

10 Best Places To Stash Your Bribe Money, China Edition

Look inside
Look inside Andrew Smith

BEIJING — It’s not something most of us have to worry about these days, but for some, having too much money can pose serious problems. Take, for example, your average corrupt Chinese official. Former deputy director of Hohhot Railway Bureau in Inner Mongolia, Ma Junfei, was arrested, tried, sentenced to death and then reprieved for […]

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Ideas Society

Education Or Integrity: How Best To Boost A Nation’s Well-Being?

Schoolgirl in Macau
Schoolgirl in Macau Jose Goulao

China is asking hard questions about what it takes to make a big nation a great nation.

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Ideas

What The World Cup Will Do To Brazil’s Economy

Gooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaal... ?
Gooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaal... ? Thomas

Six months from kickoff, two economic assessments, pro and con, as the world’s most popular sporting event lands in the ‘B’ of BRICS.

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Geopolitics

Turkey’s Spiraling Corruption Scandal, A Timeline Of Events

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan (waving) and other AKP party members on Dec. 24
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan (waving) and other AKP party members on Dec. 24 Mustafa Kaya

Over the past two weeks, an alleged corruption scandal has engulfed Turkey. Follow the rapidly changed events in these hectic days as Prime Minister Erdogan fights for his political life.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Why Turkey’s Bribery Probe Stopped Short Of Erdogan’s Son

Why Turkey's Bribery Probe Stopped Short Of Erdogan's Son
Jodi Hilton/Nurphoto/ZUMA

The unfolding scandal of alleged bribery by people close to the ruling AKP party looked set to reach Bilal Erdogan, but the investigating magistrate was removed from the case.

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Ideas Society

Time To Send Brazil’s Education Minister To The Principal’s Office

A classroom in Sao Manoel, Maranhao, Brazil
A classroom in Sao Manoel, Maranhao, Brazil Andrea Testoni/ZUMA

A poor education ranking in the latest international PISA report failed to humble the country’s top education official, who instead hailed the outcome as a “great triumph.”

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Geopolitics

Berlusconi, The Perils Of Not Knowing When To Say Goodbye

A February 2013 protest against Silvio Berlusconi in London
A February 2013 protest against Silvio Berlusconi in London Alan Denney

-OpEd- ROME — We must remember that Wednesday’s vote to oust Silvio Berlusconi from the Senate does not mean his political demise. Still, his exclusion from Parliament, the sentence for tax fraud and the other alleged cases — involving underaged prostitution, extortion, the bribing of parliamentarians, and corruption of witnesses — put the former prime […]

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Geopolitics Society

Pakistan’s Ghost Schools, Rusting Symbols Of A Nation’s Lost Potential

Waiting for teachers to arrive in Pakistan's ghost schools
Waiting for teachers to arrive in Pakistan's ghost schools LicencePaternitéPartage selon les Conditions Initiales Certains droits réservés par

Beyond the Taliban’s attack against Malala, there is also widespread corruption and poor state monitoring that leads to many Pakistani schools being simply abandoned buildings.

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Geopolitics

Ebola Nurse Cured, Pope Overruled, Italy’s Baby Bonus

Kung Fu students at the 10th Zhengzhou International Shaolin Wushu Festival
Kung Fu students at the 10th Zhengzhou International Shaolin Wushu Festival Zhu Xiang/Xinhua/ZUMA

Monday, October 20, 2014 TURKEY TO LET IRAQI KURDS FIGHT IN KOBANI Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced the country would let Iraqi Kurds cross its border and join Syrian Kurds fighting against ISIS in the city of Kobani, the BBC reports. The announcement came after U.S. aircraft dropped ammunition, small arms and medical supplies […]

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Ideas

The Dark Powers That Feed Guatemala’s Violence

Gray skies in Guatemala City
Gray skies in Guatemala City johrling

-OpEd- GUATEMALA CITY – In Guatemala, we know about the damage done by gangs and drug traffickers. We see them paraded across the national and international media as the embodiement of “evil,” with their steely glares and tattooed arms. But too often, simply blaming the gangs and drug trade ignores the complex set of elements […]

Categories
Economy

Match Fixing International: How Soccer Has Been Corrupted By The Hand Of Organized Crime

Place your bets
Place your bets intellax

PARIS – Between 2004 and 2005, Zheyun Ye knocked on the door of almost every professional soccer club in Belgium. By introducing himself as a timely investor, this Chinese expat managed to convince the board of the penniless Lierse SK club to accept a check worth 370,000 euros ($500,000). Except that Zheyun Ye was not […]

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Economy Geopolitics

No, Colombian Farmers: Free Trade Is Not To Blame

A farmer participates in the demonstration supporting the agricultural national strike in Bogota.
A farmer participates in the demonstration supporting the agricultural national strike in Bogota. Jhon Heaver Paz - Xinhua/ZUMA

Striking farmers in Colombia say free trade agreements are responsible for their woes. Better to look closer to home, including industrial cartels and all the contraband entering the country.

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Geopolitics

Brazilian Foreign Minister Quits Over Bolivian Senator Scandal

BBC, O GLOBO (Brazil), LA RAZÓN (Bolivia) Worldcrunch BRASILIA — Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota resigned last night in the wake of a diplomatic row with Bolivia, the BBC reports. He sent his resignation to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff after it emerged that a Bolivian senator accused of corruption who had been sheltered in the […]

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Society

Strangers In Moscow: A City’s Contradictory Contempt Of Immigrants

Moscow's Red Square
Moscow's Red Square verygreen

Although the number of foreign workers has declined sharply in Russia, Muscovites in particular fear the influx of immigrants – not that they necessarily want to do their jobs.

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Geopolitics

A “Dirty War” Orphan’s Open Letter To The Argentine President

Dear Cristina K,
Dear Cristina K, Casa Rosada

The daughter of a couple kidnapped during Argentina’s Dirty War chastizes the country’s leader for appointing a suspected war criminal as army head.

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Geopolitics

Zimbabwe Election “Compromised”

BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch This week’s election in Zimbabwe was “seriously compromised” with up to a million people prevented from voting, the country’s largest observer group said Thursday. Most of those turned away were in urban areas, where support for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is strong, said the Zimbabwe Election Support Network. It noted that […]

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Geopolitics

China’s Former Political Star Bo Xilai Charged With Bribery, Embezzlement

BBC (UK), XINHUA (China), REUTERS Worldcrunch JINAN– Bo Xilai, a former rising star of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chief of Chongqing Municipality, was charged on Thursday with corruption, abuse of power and embezzlement, reports Xinhua news agency. The indictment, delivered to the Jinan City Peopl’es Court, marks the latest twist to a political […]

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Geopolitics

Putin Critic Alexei Navalny Freed On Bail

CNN, KOMMERSANT (Russia), RIA NOVOSTI (Russia) Worldcrunch KIROV – Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released from detention on bail Friday, one day after being sentenced to five years for theft and embezzlement. The Kirov regional court, east of Moscow, ruled that keeping him in custody would deprive him of his right to stand in […]

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Geopolitics

Stark Putin Critic Sentenced To Five Years In Prison

KOMMERSANT (Russia), BBC, CNN Worldcrunch KIROV – Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to five years in jail for theft and embezzlement on Thursday. The Kirov City Court found the anti-corruption campaigner guilty of defrauding about $500,000 worth of lumber from a state-run company, reports Russia’s Kommersant. The tough sentence did not come as […]

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Geopolitics

Why Real Reform In China Can No Longer Wait

Tiananmen Square at sunset
Tiananmen Square at sunset Dave Proffer

BEIJING- Not long ago, I raised the question of why 35 years after China began to open up its political and economic system, the task of reform seems harder than ever. Why, in other words, is it so difficult to change a system? Wouldn’t it be better to just proclaim that China has built a […]

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Geopolitics

Berlusconi, The End Is Near

On his way out?
On his way out? Tina Hager - Worldcrunch montage

-Analysis- ROME – Silvio Berlusconi’s sentence to seven years in prison and a life ban from public office signals the end of his political adventures. More generally, it also marks the end of Italy’s so-called “Second Republic”: the political era that began in 1992 of which the ex-prime minister has been the ubiquitous figure, just […]

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Ideas

Algeria At A Crossroads: Time For Ailing, All-Powerful President To Step Aside

Algerian riots two years ago over high unemployment and food prices
Algerian riots two years ago over high unemployment and food prices Magharebia

-Op-Ed- ALGIERS – The confusing communication strategy orchestrated by supporters of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika around his recent hospitalization in Paris — and the mystery surrounding the actual state of his health — have led the Algerian press and the opposition parties to denounce the lack of transparency and secrets that are so characteristic of […]

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Geopolitics

Andreotti, The Moro Affair And The *Noir* Of Italian Public Life

Giulio Andreotti in 1973
Giulio Andreotti in 1973 National Archives

Italy’s Giulio Andreotti died this week at the age of 94. His handling of the abduction of fellow politician Aldo Moro tells us much about the seven-time prime minister.

Categories
Economy

Why The Luxury Market In China Has Taken A Sudden Dive

XINHUA NEWS, CHINA BUSINESS TIMES (China) Worldcrunch SHANGHAI – Not so long ago, the world’s luxury brands were enjoying the rapid development of the Chinese market, but since the end of 2012, this trend has taken a sharp downwards turn. As Xinhua News pointed out, even though in 2011 the GDP per capita in China […]

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Ideas

Does China Have The Stomach To End The Public Feast Of Corruption?

Each year Chinese officials spend 300 billion RMB ($48 billion) of public money just for eating
Each year Chinese officials spend 300 billion RMB ($48 billion) of public money just for eating Ctny

Excessive feasting by public officials has a long and wide history in China. The fundamental source of its prevalence is actually not even the hearty appetites of the officials in question. These people are sacrificing a lot themselves in this banquet culture. On the lighter side, people may just lose a previously slim figure. In […]

Categories
Economy

Is China Being Corrupted By The ‘Feng Shui Economy’

ZHEJIANG DAILY, ECONOMIC OBSERVER, HUBEI DAILY (China), CHINA TIMES (Taiwan) Worldcrunch BEIJING – Is Feng Shui a superstition or a true form of wisdom? A confessional article by a Chinese official published by the Zhejiang Daily recently sparked enthusiastic discussions among the Chinese public and press. “Put a screen at the entrance to block the […]

Categories
Society

China’s Railways Minister, And A Runaway Train Of Corruption

Dalian Railway Station in northeastern China
Dalian Railway Station in northeastern China Mike Saechang

The sensational details surrounding the case of disgraced Liu Zhijun have captivated the public and media. But the real question is why is this the norm?

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Geopolitics

Maduro Claims Victory In Venezuela Vote, Opposition Demands Recount

EFE; BBC; FRANCE24 (France); EL UNIVERSAL, EL NACIONAL (Venezuela) Worldcrunch CARACAS – Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor Nicolas Maduro declared himself the narrow winner of Venezuela’s highly anticipated presidential election, but his opponent has already demanded a recount. The Spanish news agency EFE reported the final tallies were 50.66% for Maduro and 49.07% for rival candidate […]

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Geopolitics

Campaigning Ends In Venezuela As Vote Looms To Pick Chavez Successor

EFE; CLARIN (Argentina); LA TERCERA (Chile); EL UNIVERSAL, TELESUR (Venezuela) Worldcrunch CARACAS – Campaigns have officially closed in Venezuela ahead of Sunday’s election showdown between the heir to Hugo Chavez’s legacy, Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Henrique Capriles. Just five months after reelecting Chavez, the country is being called back to the polls following the […]

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Geopolitics

Why Is Vladimir Putin Auditing Every Single Government Employee?

Government employees, Putin is watching you.
Government employees, Putin is watching you. www.kremlin.ru

MOSCOW – Last week President Vladimir Putin put into place the mechanisms to audit all of Russia’s government employees, who have until July 1 to rid themselves of any overseas property, stocks or bank accounts. Based on an Executive Order he signed last week, Putin’s administration – not an independent auditor or other part of […]

Categories
Society

Killing Tradition: What It Will Take To End The Death Penalty In China

An 1867 public execution in China.
An 1867 public execution in China. Felice Beato

After several high-profile miscarriages of justice, could a Chinese movement take root to abolish capital punishment? But public outrage cuts both ways.

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Geopolitics

Cash For A Cop? Prostitute As A “Gift”? What Qualifies As A Bribe In Russia

KOMMERSANT (Russia) Worldcrunch MOSCOW – It’s a thorny question that has plagued governments for years: What exactly constitutes a bribe? It is particularly relevant in Russia, where corruption is so rampant that even well-meaning business people must grease the wheels in such a way that their counterparts in the West would scoff at. Russia’s Supreme […]

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