PORTUGAL: "Angolagate" Bribes in Local Banks

Portuguese banks that received transfers of money to Angolan politicians implicated in illegal arms sales have kept mum after the Lisbon paper Público reported their involvement.

FINANCE: Watchdogs Criticise World Bank, IMF Mega Projects

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) came under fire last week for failing to adequately promote transparency in extractive industry operations in resource-rich countries where the two institutions work.

TRADE-EAST AFRICA: Low Crop Prices Drive Farmers to Marijuana

Kenyan small-scale farmers have moved across the border into Tanzania to cultivate marijuana or ‘‘bhang’’, as the cannabis sativa plant is locally called. One of them is 25-year-old Steve Odhiambo. He believes that the international and local campaign against bhang harms only the small growers while the true profiteers get away.

PERU: Prosecutors Investigate Wiretapping Operation

Prosecutors in Peru are investigating illegal wiretapping allegedly committed by private security companies or police and military intelligence bodies.

EAST AFRICA: Trade Opportunities Turn Out To Be Death Traps

New trade opportunities after 20 years of fighting in Southern Sudan have turned out to be death traps for Ugandan traders because of violence and physical intimidation by the military and civilians alike.

RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: Court Steps in as Governance Falters

Finding themselves up against corrupt politicians and indifferent governance, Sri Lankans are increasingly turning to the country's Supreme Court for relief, even for solutions to everyday issues.

DEVELOPMENT: Poor Hit by Recession and Tax Havens

With signs of a recession preoccupying policy-makers in industrialised countries, prospects for the success of an international conference on providing finance to the world's poor do not appear high.

CHILE: Achievements in AIDS Fight Marred by Irregularities

Irregularities like delays in notifying 25 people that they were HIV-positive, which led to the deaths of at least two of them, have cast a shadow on Chile's exemplary image in the field of AIDS prevention and treatment.

HONDURAS: President Clashes with Traditional Elites

Some sectors of Honduras’s social and leftist movement, labour unions and other popular organisations are caught up in a revolutionary reverie fruit of President Manuel Zelaya’s strong ties with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez.

ECONOMY-US: From the Guys Who Brought You Enron…

The global credit agencies Moody's, Standard and Poor's and Fitch propelled the financial meltdown by giving high marks to failing financial companies and their risky, sub-prime investments, lawmakers said Wednesday.

CORRUPTION-PERU: Officials Charged in Oil Contract Scandal

An anti-corruption Peruvian prosecutor brought charges against one current and three former high-level officials and 10 other people in a scandal over alleged bribes in lucrative oil contracts awarded to Discover Petroleum, a Norwegian company.

ARGENTINA: Menem on Trial for Weapons Smuggling

Although he did not show up at court, former Argentina president Carlos Menem began to be tried Thursday in Argentina for his alleged involvement in smuggling arms to Ecuador and Croatia, the biggest corruption scandal during his years in office (1989-1999).

WORLD FOOD-DAY-PAKISTAN: Hunger, Poverty Initiatives Suspect

As Pakistan’s food crisis deepens, with an estimated 60 million people facing food insecurity, the GCAP (Global Call to Action Against Poverty) plans to hold rallies through the weekend demanding ‘’public accountability’’ even for hunger and poverty alleviation initiatives.

FRANCE: No Angolans at “Angolagate” Trial

After a decade's delay, the defendants on trial for arms trafficking to Angola include figures of the French élite and an Israeli billionaire, but not a single leader from the vast African country has been summonsed by the Paris court judge.

Q&A: "When There’s Corruption, All Votes Are Not Equal"

"In Chile, like in other countries, there is very little transparency when it comes to political funding," Andrea Sanhueza, executive director of the Chilean non-governmental organisation Corporación Participa, said in an interview ahead of the Oct. 26 municipal elections.

ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Illegal Trade Decimating Wildlife

A great variety of endangered wildlife species end up feeding the illegal market for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) thanks to poor enforcement in stopping the trade, say experts and activists.

CHINA: Nothing Confucian About Toxic Milk

For a country with an enduring tradition of Confucian ethics, the poisoned milk scandal - possibly the worst crisis of its type in Chinese modern history - has had a devastating blow on the public's trust in its government's benevolence.

POLITICS: Unchecked Arms Trade Fuelling Conflict, Poverty

With 1.3 trillion dollars spent every year on the world's militaries, countries enmeshed in conflict are often flooded by weapons which are then turned against helpless civilian populations, say human rights organisations pushing for an international treaty to closely regulate arms sales.

ECONOMY-US: This Sucker Could Go Down

Crises seem to awaken the inner poet of the commentariat, and the Crash of 2008 is no exception.

HONDURAS: Government Advertising Allocation as “Subtle Censorship”

Government practices for allocating official advertising to the Honduran media include reward and punishment policies, payments to individual journalists, and even denial of access to public information - mechanisms that interfere with freedom of expression and the right to information, according to experts.

ECUADOR: Correa May Cancel Payment of Some “Illegitimate” Debt

The day after the new constitution promoted by his government won 63 percent support in a referendum, according to the preliminary returns, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said Monday that he may cancel payment of some loans, but that the country would not default on its foreign debt.