Category: Corruption
Former Illinois lawmaker sentenced to over 7 years in prison for corruption
The number of years former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan spent in Springfield has often been used as shorthand to explain his outsized impact on state government and politics. His political career spanned 50 years in the General Assembly, 23 years chairing the Democratic Party of Illinois, and 36 years as House speaker — the longest tenure of any state or federal legislative leader in U.S. history. But on Friday, a new term was added to the former speaker’s list…
Money Laundering Scandal Rocks SunTrust Bank: EFCC Arraigns MD Halima Buba, Executive Director Over $12M Fraud
In a high-profile case that has sent shockwaves through Nigeria’s financial sector, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday, June 13, 2025, arraigned Halima Buba, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of SunTrust Bank Ltd, and Innocent Mbagwu, the bank’s Executive Director/Chief Compliance Officer, before Justice Emeka Nwite at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The duo faces a six-count charge of money laundering involving a staggering $12 million, in what the EFCC describes as a blatant violation of…
Ghana’s former finance minister place on Interpol Red Notice list over corruption allegations
Ghana’s former finance minister Kenneth Ofori-Atta has been placed on Interpol’s Red Notice list, accused of using public office for profit.
Trump’s LA intervention sets the stage for a bigger political showdown
LONDON – The clashes between rioters and federal and California National Guards troops now unfolding in Los Angeles have played out in typical American fashion, with exaggerated claims and disputes about the interpretation of supposedly grand constitutional principles. US President Donald Trump claims that, had he not deployed a total of around 5,000 troops, Los Angeles “would be burning”. But Ms Karen Bass, Los Angeles’ mayor, argues that law and order was never truly threatened in her city, and that…
Turkish court issues arrest warrant for owner of pro-opposition TV channel
An Istanbul court has issued an arrest warrant for the owner of a television channel aligned with Turkey’s main opposition party on charges of bid-rigging, the prosecutor’s office said late on Tuesday. The arrest warrant for Cafer Mahiroglu, owner of Halk TV, was issued as part of an investigation into an alleged criminal organisation suspected of rigging public tenders by bribing public officials. Several main opposition CHP members including district mayors were arrested under the investigation, part of a widening…
Fear Mongering: Gabbard warns global nuclear annihilation is close
WASHINGTON – Ms Tulsi Gabbard, the US director of national intelligence, released a video on June 11 warning that the world is closer to nuclear war than ever and accusing unnamed political elites of trying to foment conflict between world powers. Ms Gabbard didn’t cite any countries by name, but her remarks echoed long time claims by Russian officials and, more recently, by far-right commentators in the US who have warned that the Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s strategic bomber…
UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway sanction Israeli Cabinet ministers
Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway said Tuesday they have imposed sanctions on two far-right Israeli government ministers for allegedly “inciting extremist violence” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich face asset freezes and travel bans from the five countries. The ministers are champions of expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The decision by Western governments friendly to Israel was a sharp rebuke of Israel’s settlement policies in the West Bank and of settler…
US agencies tracked foreigners visiting Musk’s properties in 2022 and 2023, WSJ reports
WASHINGTON – U.S. government agencies tracked foreign nationals’ visits to Elon Musk’s proprieties amid concerns over possible attempts to influence the tech billionaire, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The investigation, which tracked the foreigners in 2022 and 2023, included the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department, according to the report. It focused on people visiting the Musk from countries in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, the Journal said. Musk, who runs…
No evidence of corruption in AIFF, says President Kalyan Chaubey
All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Kalyan Chaubey has strongly denied accusations of corruption that have been made against India’s football governing body. Chaubey, who has led the AIFF since 2022, insists that the organisation has followed due process and that if there was any evidence of corruption, then it would have come to notice. “If there was any corruption, then it must have been noticed or red-flagged. These comments have been made by 3-4 people who have either lost…
Marines arrive in LA under Trump orders as protests spread to other cities
LOS ANGELES – Hundreds of US Marines arrived in Los Angeles overnight and more were expected on June 10 under orders from President Donald Trump, who has also activated 4,000 National Guard troops to quell protests despite objections from California Governor Gavin Newsom and other local leaders. Los Angeles has seen days of public outrage since the Trump administration launched a series of immigration raids on June 6, though local officials said the demonstrations on June 9 were largely peaceful….
Greek court strips three far-right lawmakers of parliamentary seats on deceit allegations
ATHENS – A Greek court has stripped three far-right lawmakers of their seats in parliament on accusations they deceived voters in a June 2023 national vote, the semi-official Athens News Agency and a legal source said on Tuesday. The ruling means parliament will operate with 297 lawmakers instead of 300, while the number of seats needed for an absolute majority drops to 149. The three former lawmakers were elected with the far-right Spartans party in 2023. An election court, however,…
When Ideas Become Too Dangerous to Platform
Professor Gigi Foster delivered a TEDx talk titled The Manipulators’ Playbook at the University of New South Wales in 2024. It was an examination of how, in times of crisis, fear and conformity can be deliberately harnessed by those in power to manipulate public behaviour. Her message was a call to defend the freedom to question authority and think independently. The local TEDxUNSW team had worked closely with Foster to ensure her talk met TEDx standards. ”But when the video was submitted to TED’s US headquarters for publication on YouTube, it was rejected. Across the digital landscape, we’re witnessing a broader pattern…
The Manipulators’ Playbook – Gigi Foster
Video: TedX talk by Gigi Foster in Australia, October 2024
Chinese researchers charged with smuggling plant pathogen into the US
Two Chinese nationals have been charged with smuggling a plant pathogen into the US for research at a University of Michigan laboratory, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on 3 June. The couple has also been charged with making false statements and visa fraud. They were arrested in connection with allegations related to secretly transporting the fungus Fusarium graminearum, which federal prosecutors claim is classified in the scientific literature as ‘a potential agroterrorism weapon’, although experts Chemistry World spoke to…
US decision to sanction ICC judges ‘deeply corrosive’ to justice: UN rights chief
Mr. Türk was responding to an announcement by Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, on Thursday, of measures targeting the judges, who are overseeing a 2020 case of alleged war crime committed in Afghanistan by US and Afghan military forces, and the 2024 ICC arrest warrants issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former Defence Minister. “I am profoundly disturbed by the decision of the Government of the United States of America to sanction judges…
Former Franklin County Jail Deputy Pleads Guilty to Civil Rights Violation
A former Franklin County sheriff’s deputy pleaded guilty in federal court in Columbus, Ohio, today to depriving an inmate of his civil rights. Matthew Carey, 28, of Grove City, admitted to depriving an individual of their right to be free from a deputy’s deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of serious harm, while acting under color of law. According to court documents, in March 2022, Carey intentionally disclosed a pretrial detainee’s pending charge of rape of a minor to Gmier…