ECONOMY: World Bank Sees Progress Against Corruption

Developing and former Soviet countries are making rapid progress in controlling corruption and promoting political stability and government accountability, the World Bank said in a new report Tuesday.

SWITZERLAND: No Takers for Ex-Dictator’s Money

A Swiss court has ordered eight million Swiss francs to be unblocked in favour of the heirs of Mobutu Sese Seko, the former dictator of Zaire. The Swiss are trying to convince the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to send an envoy to collect the money in the name of the Congolese people, but Kinshasa doesn't seem to care.

DEVELOPMENT: Water Flowing Back Into Public Hands

The announcement by the Paris municipality that water services will return to public hands by 2010 is in line with a global trend of ending privatisation of such services.

ECONOMY-ANGOLA: Slowdown Will Hurt Trade Partners

Slower economic growth in Angola will have a negative effect on exports from the southwest African nation’s main trading partners, especially Portugal and Brazil.

PERU: Something Fishy About Imported Military Rations

Army troops from Peru and the United States are fighting very different enemies in extremely different geographical areas. But now they are eating the same rations, purchased from the U.S.-based International Meal Supply company.

BULGARIA: Netting of Big Fish Brings Hope

A conviction in a high profile corruption case may alleviate some of the toughness expected from a July report of the European Commission on the progress by Bulgaria in combating corruption and organised crime.

BALKANS: Now the Safest

After years of bloody chaos, instability and violence, the Balkans have turned into one of the safest areas in Europe, a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) report says.

ASIA: Civil Society Uniting Against Corruption

Cambodian lawmakers are still to offer unanimous support for a petition aimed at combating corruption that was presented to the National Assembly in mid- May. The call was a cry from ordinary people - over a million of them.

AFGHANISTAN: Yet More Promises Come

The international support conference on Afghanistan this week fell short of offering an adequate answer to the multiple problems facing the country.

IRAN: Corruption Scandal Could Become a “Gladiator’s Game”

An Iranian official who accused more than 40 high-ranking officials and grand ayatollahs of financial corruption in a speech to a student group early last month in the city of Hamadan was arrested in Tehran Wednesday.

PERU: Acquittals for Lawmakers Accused of Taking Bribes

A court in Peru acquitted nine former lawmakers accused of taking bribes to switch party allegiance and vote with the government of former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), so as to assure him majority support for his initiatives.

ECONOMY-INDIA: Foreign Money Transfers Under the Scanner

With Indians spending more money abroad and even picking up blue chip firms the government has decided to take a closer look at suspected money laundering activity and dubious international fund transfers.

RIGHTS-BRAZIL: Paramilitary Militias Contaminate Politics

The results of the October municipal elections "will not be legitimate" in this Brazilian city, because 1.7 million local residents live in communities where the conditions are not in place for them to vote freely, city councillor Andrea Gouvea Vieira told IPS.

MEXICO-US: Bold Anti-Drug Plan on the Rocks

The Merida Initiative, a U.S. anti-drug aid plan for Mexico and, to a lesser extent, Central America, is floundering. Originally trumpeted as an unprecedented instrument for cooperation, it is now the object of accusations that it would undermine national sovereignty.

ECONOMY-CAMBODIA: Resource Curse or Blessing?

Cambodia is facing a natural resource boom, prompting donors and non-government organisations (NGOs) to warn that without measures to improve financial transparency, promote better governance and curb corruption, the potential windfall could be squandered.

FILM: An Apocalyptic, Hopeless Den of Iniquity

The room is packed, the film ends with pounding music, and the word "Gomorra" is shown in an uncomfortable fuchsia over black. The audience applauds and leaves quietly while the music continues to hammer home the message.

GUYANA: Officials Implicated in Death Squad Scandal

Neither party has ever sought to hide their highly interlinked relationship, based to a large extent on symbiosis and mutual convenience.

VENEZUELA: Fifty-Two Violent Deaths a Day, and No Respite in Sight

On the day a report was released ranking Venezuela as one of the most violent countries in the world, a local anti-drugs prosecutor was murdered, a mob lynched a suspected criminal in the capital, and gunmen fired 20 shots, killing another suspect.

MEXICO: Disappeared Oil Workers – Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Five workers and three pensioners from the Mexican state oil company PEMEX disappeared one year ago. A lawmaker suspects that they were detained by the army, but there are also signs that point to drug traffickers or the company’s own union.

POLITICS-BANGLADESH: With More Leaders Arrested Democracy Retreats

As the military-backed interim government continues to arrest leaders of mainstream political parties on charges of corruption, hopes for early restoration of democracy in Bangladesh are receding.

CHINA: Bowing in Grief, to Public Demand

The national mourning observed this week for victims of the Sichuan earthquake is the first public remembrance in modern China’s history ordered to commemorate ordinary people rather than political leaders.