Worldcrunch“Can Barbarin fall?” asks French-language weekly Tribune de Lyon on its cover this week, in reference to Archbishop of Lyon Philippe Barbarin, who is accused of covering up acts of paedophilia. Cardinal Barbarin, one of France’s top Catholic clerics, is accused of failing to take action against 70-year-old priest Bernard Preynat in 2009, when he […]
Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth revealed Friday that American and British intelligence spied on Israeli air force missions in Gaza, Syria and Iran. According to the Tel-Aviv-based paper, the U.S. National Security Agency and its British counterpart GCHQ hacked into the onboard cameras’ live feeds of drones (featured on today’s front page) during operations dating back […]
Despite officially resigning in September at the height of Volkswagen’s emissions scandal, former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn is still on the company’s payroll and could earn millions until his contract terminates at the end of 2016, an investigation by Germany’s business daily Handelsblatt and TV network ZDF reveals. Winterkorn, 68, who pulls in an annual […]
The speaker of Brazil’s lowest house of Parliament, Eduardo Cunha, has initiated impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff. The political showdown between two leaders described as “arch enemies” was put in stark terms on the Thursday edition of Portuguese-language Brazilian daily Correio, which used the English word “Impeachment” on the front page. Rousseff is facing […]
Deutsche Bank’s new chief John Cryan believes end-of-year bonus demands harm the company. But bonus culture may be too deeply embedded throughout the financial sector.
U.S. PLANS MORE SOUTH CHINA SEA PATROLS The U.S. will continue conducting patrols near artificial Chinese islands in the disputed South China Sea, Reuters quoted a U.S. defense official as saying yesterday. The official said patrols would happen about twice a quarter, describing that as “the right amount to make it regular but not a […]
Doing business at home is always different than doing business abroad. Here are some lessons for Chinese firms from the German company’s problems in the United States.
There are billion-dollar fines, but the humiliation is what really hurts the bottom line. This is the lesson VW faces amidst the emissions scandal snowballing in the U.S.
Guatemala’s parliament voted to sack President Otto Pérez Molina Thursday, forcing his resignation and immediate arrest for his suspected participation in an extensive corruption ring. Like an ordinary felon, he will have to “answer to justice,” the daily Publinews wrote on its front page. Publinews Guatemala and other Guatemalan dailies also showed the former president […]
Folha de S. Paulo, Aug. 17, 2015 Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets in cities across the country Sunday, calling for Dilma Rousseff’s resignation as the Brazilian president and her party face corruption allegations. “New protests keep Dilma under pressure; 135,000 demonstrate in Sao Paulo,” Monday’s Folha de S. Paulo“s front page […]
-OpEd- JERUSALEM — The government regularly shares its fears about the politically motivated economic boycott of Israel, worried about the long-term damage to the country’s economy and the specter of foreign investors running away. Unfortunately, we don’t see the same energy in battling the international boycott also put into fighting the rampant corruption in Israel, […]
Those who believe that the FIFA scandal is an exceptional case among international organizations should think again. The poison is called “global governance.”
PARIS — Eternally nostalgic of its past grandeur, France is already dreaming about the prospect out loud: Platini! As an attacking midfielder, he led France to the 1984 European Championship and Italian squad Juventus to club dominance, before turning manager and overseeing the 1998 World Cup organization in France and eventually taking over as head […]
The widening corruption probe into FIFA looks like a devastating earthquake for the “beautiful game,” with the epicenter in Zurich, where police arrested seven senior officials of the world soccer body just two days before the controversial FIFA chief was set to be chosen for a record fifth term. But the reverberations of the U.S. […]
After Swiss banking scandals shook global finance, arrests at the Zurich-based world soccer body shine a light on what’s wrong with business as usual in Switzerland.
SENIOR FIFA OFFICIALS ARRESTED IN CORRUPTION PROBE Swiss police have arrested at least 14 senior FIFA officials on charges that include “racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy,” the AFP reports. The charges follow an FBI investigation and allege “widespread corruption in FIFA over the past two decades, involving bids for World Cups as well […]
The Times, May 14, 2015 After a 10-year legal battle, the contents of 27 secret letters written by Prince Charles to British ministers were published Tuesday, revealing the extent of the prince’s attempts to influence the government. On the front page of its Thursday edition, The Times ran a picture of the Prince of Wales […]
La Tercera, May 7, 2015 Hoping to hit the reset button on her slumping presidency, Chile’s Michelle Bachelet has decided to dump not just one or two ministers, but her entire cabinet. Bachelet made the stunning announcement during a Wednesday evening television interview, saying she “requested the resignation of all the ministers” and will take […]
TWO NEPAL CHILDREN RESCUED Photo: Qin Qing/Xinhua/ZUMA A 15-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl were rescued alive from the rubble in Nepal earlier today after being trapped for five days following Saturday’s devastating earthquake, Reuters reports. FRENCH SOLDIERS ACCUSED OF CHILD RAPE French daily Le Parisien reacts to the revelation of accusations that 16 French […]
Le Parisien, April 30, 2015 “The French military at the heart of a scandal” reads the front page of French daily Le Parisien, following the revelation of accusations that 16 French soldiers sexually abused children in the Central African Republic between December 2013 and June 2014. The allegations were kept secret until The Guardian published […]
Lula da Silva spent liberally when the Brazilian economy was booming, leaving Dilma Rousseff to face the deferred impact of the global recession. His personal popularity aside, the country’s current woes are largely his fault.
Brazilians are furious as their personal prosperity slips away amid reports of runaway corrruption. All the while, President Rousseff looks forced to impose new austerity measures. Which way out?
Scandals and stagnation, crime and curbs on democracy are spreading across the region. Are things about to take a sharp turn back to the bad old days?
Clarín, March 6, 2015 “They killed Nisman.” Although once would probably have been enough to earn top billing in Clarín’s Friday edition, Argentine Judge Arroyo Salgado repeated the statement three times during a dramatic press conference Thursday. She was describing the death of state prosecutor Alberto Nisman, her ex-husband and the father of her two […]
In 2010, French police seized a huge stash of previously unseen Picasso drawings at the home of the late artist’s electrician. Were they gifts or stolen goods? An ongoing trial will decide.
Geneva-based daily Le Temps features on its Monday front page an ominous-looking photo of HSBC’s Geneva headquarters together with the headline “What the Falciani files reveal,” referring to the latest developments in the giant tax evasion scheme led by the world’s second largest bank, HSBC via its Swiss subsidiary, HSBC Private Bank. According to a […]
The fallout from the Petrobras scandal continues to consume Brazil. A former head of the energy giant has alleged that the governing Workers’ Party had received between $150 and $200 million in kickbacks from 90 of the biggest contracts Petrobras signed with major companies from 2003 until 2013, O Globo reports Friday. According to the […]
Revelations of massive corruption at Petrobras come with more than economic consequences. The credibility of the entire state is at stake. All eyes are on President Dilma Rousseff.
-OpEd- SÃO PAULO — The ongoing corruption and money laundering scandals at Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras have badly tarnished the image of the company. Once considered as a sort of national treasure, the public firm faces almost daily revelations about kickbacks paid to politicians from oil sales as part of a scheme to buy […]
The past year had lots of bad news, which had us saying lots of bad words, new and old: Ebola, jihadism, selfie. But as a reminder that local and national events often still hold sway, the Word of 2014 in Portugal was corrupção. Corruption was indeed on the lips and minds of Portuguese, as the […]
After World War II, it was SS prisoners in Germany’s Landsberg prison. After 9-11, it was Guantanamo. The U.S. repeats its sins, but also repeats its repentance.
A case in Munich of an outrageously callous landlady prompts the police officer who followed the rape investigation to intervene. But the real estate agent insists the owner is within her rights.
BEIJING — Since Chinese President Xi Jinping took office at the end of 2012, at least 23 high-ranking local officials have been fired because of corruption. What is most striking — though not surprising — is the stark contrast of these officials’ images depicted in the media before and after their fall. Last month, for […]
After striking it big in the U.S., Jurgen Hermann battled financial powers back in Liechtenstein. A reporter recalls the unraveling of a man now accused of murdering a top banker.
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.
-Commentary- In the southern province of Guangxi, a pregnant woman was recently shot dead by a drunken policeman. After the incident, the local government proposed to compensate the victim’s family with 700,000 RMB ($115,000), which included damages for the deceased and child support for the victim’s two children. This was done on the grounds that […]
Wednesday, November 12, 2014 CHINA-U.S. AGREE ON GAS EMISSIONS Presidents Xi Jinping and Barack Obama signed a landmark deal to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, The Washington Post reports. China, for the first time, agreed to cap its output by 2030 or even earlier if possible, and pledged to increase the share of non-fossil fuels […]
Will Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff call off a state visit to Washington?
THE AUSTRALIAN (Australia) Worldcrunch DARWIN – A mining company convicted in a landmark ruling of desecrating an Aboriginal sacred site has apologised after being fined $150,000 for the damage. In the first successful prosecution by a government authority of a mining company for desecration under Australian law, OM Manganese was found to have caused a […]
Monday, July 28, 2014 UN’S MIDNIGHT CALL FOR CEASEFIRE GOES UNHEEDED The UN Security Council agreed on a statement during an emergency midnight meeting calling for “an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas that has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and more than 40 Israeli soldiers […]