INDIA: ‘Satyam Scam Tip of Corporate Fraud Iceberg’

Three weeks after the Satyam Computer Services promoter-chairman B. Ramalinga Raju confessed that he had cooked the information technology (IT) company's books, the scam continues to send shock-waves through Indian business and industry.

MAURITIUS-RIGHTS: Sceptical Welcome for Equality Law

Nobody shall suffer prejudice in his social life or his place of work because of his or her ethnic origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, political conviction or physical handicap. This is the challenge of Mauritius's new Equal Opportunities Act (EOA).

SRI LANKA: Govt Ignores Supreme Court

Far from heeding charges of human rights abuses and stifling dissent, the government has, this week, added blatant disregard for judicial fiat to its list of sins.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Malaysian, Thai Officials Trafficking Burmese Migrants?

A scandalous trade in Burmese migrant labour involving Malaysian and Thai officials and international human traffickers is now coming to light.

BULGARIA: Protests Rise Above Parties, and Against Them

Protests have been taking place in Bulgarian capital Sofia almost every day since Jan. 14. Bringing together students and parents, farmers and environmentalists, the actions are directed against a political class which, in the words of the organisers, has "robbed" Bulgarians.

ZIMBABWE: ‘‘Dollarisation’’ of Economy Hitting Poor Hard

The collapse of the Zimbabwean economy has led to the ‘‘dollarisation’’ of the economy – and even to what some, who have still maintained some sense of tragicomedy, call the ‘‘petrolisation’’ of the economy because of the re-emergence of barter trade.

CHINA: Melamine Milk – Penalties Disappoint Victims’ Parents

Days before families across China sit down for the Chinese New Year’s feast, the country’s leaders have moved to restore public confidence in the safety of their repast. A Chinese court has sentenced two men to death and awarded stiff sentences to others implicated in the country’s worst food-tampering scam.

VENEZUELA: Journalists Face Escalation of Violence

With chilling calm, the killer dismounted from the motorbike, pulled out his gun and shot Ores Sambrano through the head as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The journalist was on his way to a video store on a busy avenue in Valencia, an industrial town 100 kilometres west of the Venezuelan capital.

FINANCE-US: Treasury Nominee Failed to Halt Bond Scam

U.S. senators at Timothy Geithner's confirmation hearing for Treasury Secretary Wednesday may want to ask him about a failure to act that is costing the U.S. a lot more than the amount he evaded on taxes.

KENYA: Tourism Industry Picking Up Again After Election Violence

As the eagerly awaited recovery in tourism after the election violence in Kenya takes off, bad news has come in the form of corruption allegations.

ZAMBIA: Corruption: Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

Zambia's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) received more than 2,000 corruption complaints from the public for 2008, the ACC yearly report states.

PERU: Navy Intelligence Agents Arrested for Moonlighting as Private Spies

Peruvian prosecutors and police have busted a ring of active and retired Peruvian navy intelligence agents who moonlighted as telephone tapping experts allegedly engaged in spying.

PERU: No Crisis for Arms Purchases

The global economic crisis apparently has not affected the Peruvian government’s plan to modernise the armed forces, which is to cost 650 million dollars from here to 2011.

INDIA: Satyam Scam Questions Corporate Governance

India's government, its corporate sector and its people are stunned after the founder-chairman of one of the country's largest information technology (IT) services companies admitted to years of falsified profits and an audacious financial fraud worth 1.5 billion dollars.

POLITICS-BANGLADESH: Hasina Can Lay to Rest Ghosts of the Past

With a stunning landslide victory under her belt, prime minister-elect Sheikh Hasina Wajed has a second opportunity to put the ghosts of the past to rest and release Bangladesh from a cycle of crises that has plagued this country since its violent birth in 1971.

BANGLADESH: Corrupt Politicians, Cleaner Polls

Bangladesh goes to polls on Monday after a military-backed interim government spent two years trying to cleanse the country's electoral system of fraud and get rid of rampant corruption in public life.

PAKISTAN: Like Other Assassinations Bhutto's Remains a Mystery

"The chapter is closed, and the Pakistan People’s Party [PPP] is dead. It doesn’t matter who killed her," said Mohammad Sharif, a young driver working for a voluntary agency, referring to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on Dec. 27 last year.

FINANCE: Crisis Pits Vatican Against Offshore Bankers

The financial crisis has the U.S. swirling with charges about the immoral greed of some corporate executives who recklessly bet their companies' futures to line their own pockets. The popular fix for this international calamity stops at the nation's borders: decouple top-line salaries and bonuses from stock prices and institute more transparency and regulation.

FINANCE-US: AIG's Offshore Strategies Hide a Scam

The company getting the biggest U.S. bailout operated a scam to help clients cheat on U.S. taxes, regulators say. It is AIG, American International Group, the world's largest insurance conglomerate.

FINANCE-US: AIG's Past Could Return To Haunt

The U.S. will invest 40 billion dollars in American International Group (AIG), and will provide credit lines that could bring federal funding up to 144 billion dollars. It's the largest subsidy that a U.S. corporation has ever received.

CORRUPTION: Little Movement Against Tax Havens

As many feared, little action has resulted from the latest attempt to move against tax havens.