Europe | Greece | Corruption

Mother of Greek ex-minister withdrew $178,000 before capital controls

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The 85-year-old mother of Nadia Valavani, former Greek deputy finance minister from the ruling Syriza party, admitted that she withdrew 200,000 euros ($178,000) from her bank account in Crete on the eve of the imposition of capital controls in the country. “The money was my life savings, I was scared and I took it home,” she said in an interview. After the revelation, many raised political and moral issues after connecting the the two events, accusing the former deputy of fraud.
North America | United States | Corruption

Did NAACP president lie about her race? City investigates

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The City of Spokane announced Thursday it's investigating whether the president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP violated the city's code of ethics in her application to serve on the citizen police ombudsman commission. Rachel Dolezal serves as chair of the independent commission, in addition to her work as an adjunct faculty member at Eastern Washington University and president of the NAACP local chapter. On her application to serve on the commission, she identified herself as African-American. But public records, including Dolezal's own birth certificate, list her biological parents as
South Asia | India | Corruption

Court acquits adored party leader in corruption case

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Celebrations broke out in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu after the High Court acquitted the former chief minister of the state, J Jayalalitha. She was charged with disproportionately amassing assets. Following the verdict, party members held special prayers, burst crackers, distributed sweets, and held demonstrations in support of their leader. The ruling has huge implications for the state as a conviction would have left Jayalalitha ineligible to contest elections. Her party would have found it difficult to survive with its leader locked up in jail. Jayalalitha had to resign after the c
Latin America | Chile | Corruption

Chile waits as Michelle Bachelet considers new cabinet after scandal

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President’s approval ratings fell to 29% before she sacked her entire cabinet, in a move that may strengthen her authority as a no-nonsense leader After sacking her entire cabinet, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet kept the nation guessing on Friday as she considered a new lineup to steer the country out of one of the country’s most dramatic political crises since the 1973 military coup. Ensconcing herself in her hillside home in Santiago, the Socialist party leader has not yet uttered a word to the public about her intentions to deal with a series of corruption scandals that have
Africa | Uganda | Activism

Angry women strip naked in Ugandan land dispute protest

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A long-running district border dispute in northern Uganda took a new turn when a group of elderly local women stripped naked before two visiting ministers, in protest against perceived land grabbing. Members of the local Acholi tribe fear that a government plan to draw up new boundaries between the districts of Amuru and Adjumani will be the prelude to mass evictions, as happened in 2012 when over 6,000 Acholis were evicted to make way for a game reserve. The protest led the ministers to announce a postponement of the boundary demarcation exercise pending further consultations with inter