DEVELOPMENT: Activists Prod World Bank on Canadian Corruption Case

Watchdog groups are urging the World Bank to conclude an internal investigation on debarring Acres International, a major Canadian construction company, after a court in the African kingdom of Lesotho found the firm guilty of bribery and corruption.

CORRUPTION-BRAZIL: Campaign Treasurers Play High Risk Game in Politics

The ideal is for campaign treasurers to stay in the shadows. If their names appear in the headlines, it's usually a sign that disaster has struck, because they have become the most frequent catalyst of political scandals in Brazil.

ECONOMY-NIGERIA: The Oil Leaks That Yield Vast Profits – and Tragedy

It happens at night, under cover of darkness. Thieves move into the mangrove swamps and creeks of Nigeria's southern Niger Delta region, homing in on the oil pipelines that criss-cross the area.

CORRUPTION-KENYA: "Bribe Taxes" Lessened in 2003

A report launched in Kenya this week indicates that levels of bribery in the country decreased last year.

IRAQ: Groups Want Heavyweights to Join Halliburton Contract Probe

U.S. President George W. Bush and Congress should join Pentagon and State Department probes into allegations that construction giant Halliburton overcharged the U.S. government for its work in Iraq, to ensure accountability of other military contractors, watchdog groups here say.

POLITICS-MEXICO: Video Scandal Puts Green Party on Defensive

The Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM), whose political power is the envy of green parties elsewhere in Latin America, suffered a blow Tuesday to its credibility when a video was publicised showing its leader being tempted with bribes from foreign business executives.

CORRUPTION-NIGERIA: Scam Artists Find Themselves in the Cross Hairs

"Our point is this," says Shamsudeen Usman, Deputy Governor of Nigeria's Central Bank: "You may not be able to catch all of them, but Nigeria must begin to catch a few and make a typical example of those that you catch. That is the way you can remove the incentive for other people to join them."

EDUCATION-CAMEROON: Schools for Scandal

Authorities in Cameroon are engaged in a battle to stem corruption in the education system where, as mathematics teacher Victor Pene describes it, graft "is in the process of institutionalizing itself".

CORRUPTION-MIDEAST: Use of EU Funds Probed

New investigations have been ordered into complaints over use of EU money by the Palestinian Authority.

POLITICS-KENYA: Calls for Truth Commission to Tackle Past Abuses

Human rights groups in Kenya have called on the government to set up an independent truth and reconciliation commission that will, amongst other things, try judges who were suspended last year on charges of corruption.

MALAYSIA: Arrests Boost Anti-corruption Drive, Sceptics Unconvinced

The arrest Thursday of a Cabinet minister on corruption charges marks the second high-profile catch this week in Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's anti-corruption crusade.

CORRUPTION-NIGERIA: Police Anti-Graft Squad Has Limited Success

Two years ago, Nigeria's Inspector-General of Police - Tafa Balogun - came into office promising to clamp down on corrupt police officials.

MEDIA-ZAMBIA: Government Accused of Stalling on Information Bill

Media organisations in Zambia are staging a five-day campaign this week to lobby for the proposed Freedom of Information Bill to be brought before the current session of parliament.

POLITICS-GREECE: Democracy Runs Again in the Family

Greece is heading towards a hotly contested national election where all that is certain in its 'hereditary democracy' is that the next prime minister will again be either a Papandreou or a Karamanlis.

POLITICS: France Makes a Great Leap Backward

France produced revolutionary ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity but is now retreating from all these, critics of the government say.

MALAYSIA: U.S. Groups Demand Sanctions for Illegal Timber Trade

A coalition of leading U.S. environmental groups called Thursday for the administration of President George W. Bush to impose trade sanctions against Malaysia unless it takes immediate steps to crack down on the illegal timber trade.

MEXICO: Opaque Justice

Half of the inmates of Mexico's prisons are serving sentences for minor theft committed without violence, 80 percent have never even seen the judge who sentenced them, and 70 percent received no legal advice when questioned by prosecutors.

ECONOMY-NIGERIA: Pensioners Become Beggars

While African culture may venerate the aged, the continent's pensioners don't always find themselves living out a peaceful retirement. This is nowhere more true than in Nigeria, where the collapse of pension schemes has pushed many former civil servants into poverty.

ECONOMY-ZIMBABWE: Debt Collectors Come Under Scrutiny

He could well be a lawyer, what with his reputation for having more to do with legal affairs than most people in that profession. In fact, many people in town think he is - a label that no doubt enhances his business profile.

ANGOLA: Wealth for Just a Few

Corruption, a lack of transparency, a weak democracy and a population that barely scrapes by while watching the country's leaders get richer and richer - these are some of the things said to describe the Angola ruled by President José Eduardo dos Santos.

ECONOMY-LIBERIA: Perilous Times for the Banking Sector

Public confidence in Liberia's banks appears to be at a new low, with many people now opting to keep their money elsewhere - some in foreign accounts.