Backed by the United States during the Cold War, Soeharto used the military to dominate civilian affairs and crush dissent. He was also accused of massive corruption and nepotism benefiting his family and cronies, although no charge was proven and he never went on trial due to his failing health. So who was Soeharto, who ruled Indonesia for 32 years? And what's behind President Prabowo's decision to honour the late general?
Ukraine's anti-corruption agency has launched a wide-ranging investigation into alleged bribery within the country's energy sector, focusing on the state-owned nuclear company Energoatom. The independent agency said Monday that a former adviser to the energy minister, Energoatom's head of security, a businessman, and four other employees were involved. It said business partners of Energoatom had been coerced into paying large bribes.
According to the indictment unsealed Sunday in federal court in Brooklyn, the highly paid hurlers took several thousand dollars in payoffs to help two unnamed gamblers from their native Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 on in-game prop bets on the speed and outcome of certain pitches. Clase, the Guardians' former closer, and Ortiz, a starter, have been on non-disciplinary paid leave since July, when MLB started investigating what it said was unusually high in-game betting activity when they pitched.
"Iraq is the best it's ever been," Khudair al-Ali, a young man who works for one of Iraq's oil companies but drives cars for Careem, the Middle East's version of Uber, on weekends, enthuses. "But we still have problems," he says, gesturing at potholes he's trying to avoid. "The streets need to be fixed and there are too many cars in Baghdad."
Tens of thousands of people have gathered in the Serbian city of Novi Sad to mark the first anniversary of a railway station disaster. Mourners placed flowers and candles along temporary fencing near the damaged station entrance on Saturday, where 16 people died when the canopy collapsed on November 1, 2024. I feel great pain and sadness, Svetlana, a 45-year-old woman, told the AFP news agency, capturing the sombre mood at the memorial gathering.
"I was convinced that we could bring about real change, but unfortunately, the project has strayed from its path," Pagano told DW about her motives. She said the government has ignored the needs of the middle class and disadvantaged groups such as people with disabilities and pensioners. And "in cases of suspected corruption, the suspects were not fired as promised, but have even been protected," she said indignantly.
As he was transported to La Sante prison in Paris on Tuesday, Nicolas Sarkozy posted a message brimming with defiance on X, writing It's not a former president of the republic who is being jailed this morning, it's an innocent man. A court of appeal will eventually give its view on the veracity of the second clause of that statement. But unfortunately for Mr Sarkozy, the drama and significance of his fall cannot simply be wished away.
Everything seemed to be in order. Mexico's Attorney General's Office (FGR) had seized a ton of cocaine in the state of Guerrero. As required by law, the drugs were to be incinerated. However, a group of officials sneakily replaced the cocaine with powdered milk and that's what went up in flames. The scheme was uncovered, prompting the dismissal of a dozen officials, including the agency's comptroller, Arturo Serrano Meneses, the one ultimately in charge of giving the go-ahead for this type of operation.
Anti-government protests have erupted again in Madagascar, with demonstrators calling for President Andry Rajoelina to resign. Police fired tear gas at demonstrators on the streets of the capital, Antananarivo, on Monday, the start of a third consecutive week of protests. The unrest began over water and electricity cuts, but has evolved into broader anti-government anger against Rajoelina's administration. list of 3 itemsend of list Protesters have gathered in cities across the country, with local TV stations broadcasting footage
The youth-led protesters are decrying what they see as alleged rampant corruption at the public's expense. At least three people have died in Morocco during protests against alleged corruption and decisions in public spending, as the country braces for a sixth night of demonstrations. Security forces opened fire on demonstrators on Wednesday, killing three people in Leqliaa, a small town outside the southern city of Agadir.
At least 19 people, including a police officer, have been injured during protests against the government of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte and Congress, according to authorities and human rights advocates. Hundreds of people marched over the weekend towards the seats of government in central Lima, under a heavy police presence. Groups of young people threw stones, petrol bombs and fireworks at law enforcement, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
The most astonishing aspect of the entire Tom Homan story, the border guy who took the 50 grand, is that A, there's no denial that he took the fifty grand. And B, they're just sort of like, nothing to see here. We've just shut down the investigation. I mean, it's, you're just like, are we really living in normal times, right? Or are we, or did Biff take the gambling book and he went back in time and we're living on some alternative timeline, right.
The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a trial in which he and aides were accused of making an alleged corruption pact with the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to receive funding for the 2007 French presidential election campaign. But Sarkozy was was acquitted of three other charges, including passive corruption and illegal campaign financing.
But in recordings aired this month by Afghanistan International TV which is based in London and has been banned by the Taliban Kargar is heard asking for the $10,000 payment to be transferred to the account of one of his close associates. Once it arrives on Saturday, I will inform the coach, and then he can proceed with the arrangements, he says in one recording made public. We will say that $10,000 was donated to the national team, he says in another.
Corruption is one of the most important-and misunderstood-concepts in contemporary American politics. Some examples are unambiguous: for instance, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez taking gold bars from foreign governments in exchange for policy favors. But corruption covers a wide range of behavior, far beyond kickbacks and bribery. I've spent my career studying how it shapes legal and political systems, and I've found that it's rarely a single act or brazen deal;
Variously described as an architect, painter, novelist, communist and convicted fraudster, Fernand Pouillon's life was punctuated by abrupt reversals of fortune that might have sprung from the pages of Dickens or Dumas. Throughout an eventful career, he ricocheted from intoxicating success, to financial scandal, prison, exile and eventual rehabilitation. In 1985, when Pouillon was in his early 70s, he was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by President Francois Mitterrand. Yet just over 20 years earlier, Pouillon found himself in custody awaiting trial on charges of corruption.
In his guilty plea, the veteran Mexican drug lord publicly acknowledged what was already widely known: that he bribed police officials, military personnel, and politicians to operate freely in the country. The allusion to that last group, elected representatives, has sent a chill through the entire Mexican political class. The statement is brief and general, so general that anyone could use it as a weapon, even at the risk of it coming back to haunt them.
* This Eric Adams ally corruption story has everything: snacks, questionable lawyering, and a wad of cash. [ The CITY] * A Trump U.S. Attorney in Virginia abruptly resigns. Hmmmm... wonder what's going on there. [ Bloomberg Law] * Ninth Circuit clears way for Trump to end Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from Nicaragua, Honduras and Nepal. [ Reuters] * Is revenge a good justification for a federal case? We'll see! [ Law and Crime]
The San Jose Police Officers' Association denounces incompetence, falsehoods, and corruption, emphasizing a broken discipline process that reflects systemic issues within the SJPD.
