POLITICS-UGANDA: Sharing the National Cake

Their caricatures show great wealth and status, being driven in flashy four-wheel drives surrounded by bodyguards, and receiving benefits including mansions, cars, medical care and travel and sitting allowances. They are treated as Very Important Persons.

BALKANS: Seized Cars, Property Say Crime Does Not Pay

A rare fleet of 20 luxury cars and snazzy jeeps has remained parked in front of the heavily guarded special court in the capital for days now.

EUROPE: Shadow Falls Over New Leaders

Allegations of racism and financial impropriety have spiced up an otherwise lacklustre two-week ritual in which nominees to the European Union's executive arm are quizzed by the EU's only directly elected institution.

ZAMBIA: Police Breaking the Law to Prevent Crime

Juniper Mwale was attending a funeral in another town when her husband jumped bail and fled the country. Despite not being aware of her husband's escape, police tracked her down and detained her illegally in an effort to force her spouse home.

HONDURAS: Military Chiefs Face ‘Abuse of Power’ Charges

As the Honduran Congress prepares to vote next week on an amnesty for both sides in the conflict triggered by the Jun. 28 coup in which President Manuel Zelaya was overthrown, the country's top military chiefs have been charged with "abuse of power" for their role in the ouster.

HONDURAS: Entrenched Corruption Stymies Hope

Corruption in Honduras has taken root at every level of the state, which is helpless to combat it because of the lack of credibility of most of its institutions, the erosion of social capital and the public perception that the problem is here to stay.

COLOMBIA: Farm Subsidy Scandal Exposes Corrupt Policies

The Attorney General's Office of Colombia is keeping a tight lid on developments in its investigation of 113 million dollars in farm subsidies handed out over the last three years to wealthy families, many of whom have no involvement in the agricultural sector whatsoever.

KENYA: Anti-Money Laundering Bill Passes, But Does Govt Mean Business?

Kenya's Parliament finally passed the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Bill in December. But while the passing of the bill is viewed as a highlight of the Tenth Parliament, many fear it may just be a gimmick by the government to appease international partners.

CORRUPTION: The Great Afghan Gem Heist

In the last eight years Afghanistan's precious stones and artifacts have been pillaged at record levels. Thieves, both foreign and domestic, often steal the riches from under the noses of officials.

UGANDA-CORRUPTION: Where ‘Kitu Kidogo’ is Cheaper than Facing the Law

You are driving through the streets of the Ugandan capital and suddenly a traffic police officer waves you down. He immediately notices that the side-mirror on the passenger’s side is missing. He threatens to give you a penalty ticket that costs 50,000 shillings (25 dollars).

ZAMBIA: Telecommunications Sale ‘Lacks Transparency’

The impending privatisation of the Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel) is being opposed by civil society organisations and opposition political parties, who accuse the government of lacking transparency in selling one of the last remaining state-utility firms.

ZAMBIA: Chief Justice Accused of Collusion by Opposition

Chief justice Ernest Sakala has been accused of colluding with the president’s administration to protect high-profile people accused of corruption. But the Law Association of Zambia has rejected the charges as unfair.

EUROPE: No Qualms Funding Tax Haven-Tainted Banks

Although the links between tax evasion and global poverty are officially recognised, the European Investment Bank, the lending arm of the European Union (EU), has no qualms financing banks known to stash away money in tax havens.

CORRUPTION-AFRICA: A Crime Against Development

Corruption is preventing the world from reducing extreme poverty, from averting child deaths and even from fighting epidemics like HIV/AIDS. And it will have a devastating effect on the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals if not tackled directly by each national government.

CORRUPTION-SIERRA LEONE: President Challenged on Corruption

The country’s president has failed to meet his electoral commitment of running a transparent and accountable government, free of tribalism and regionalism, opposition parties say.

U.S.: Climate Policy Derailed by Corporate Interests

As the U.S. climate delegation arrives in Copenhagen nearly empty-handed, watchdog groups back at home say they know why: a political system gone astray due to the influence of huge amounts of corporate cash.

SENEGAL: Farmers Anxious About Aid

As part of a project to support community initiatives and fight poverty in South Senegal, the Sédhiou Local Development Fund received a donation of agricultural equipment worth more than half a million dollars in a bid to reverse the region's dramatic drop in agricultural production in recent years.

MALAYSIA: State of Sarawak Forests: Gov’t Agency Stands by Report

For a long time, activists had believed that rainforests in the vast northwest Borneo state of Sarawak were being logged unsustainably, rapidly making way for tree (acacia) plantations, oil palm plantations, dams and secondary growth. But few listened.

AFGHANISTAN: Corruption Fight Begins, Again

When the Independent Election Commission announced that Hamid Karzai would be president for another five years, local and international powers began to demand that the newly re-elected president clamp down on the corruption that had spread like a virus throughout his administration and the ministries.

CORRUPTION-UGANDA: Leaders’ Integrity Questioned

Seated at a u-shaped table is an assembly of middle-aged men and women clad in business suits, faces stern and expressionless. Refreshments - bottled water, sodas and giant flasks of tea - clutter the long table, competing for space with piles of documents.

AFGHANISTAN: Insurgents Infiltrate Security Forces

A Taliban fighter infiltrated the Afghan police force, killing seven Afghan officers and British soldiers. Similar attacks have taken the lives of U.S. troops.