Category: Investigations

Portugal central bank chief Mário Centeno ethics review after being proposed as PM

Portugal’s central bank governor Mário Centeno is facing an ethics review by an independent watchdog after he was proposed as the next prime minister by Socialist premier António Costa, who quit last week over a corruption scandal. Costa’s proposal has triggered a public spat between Centeno and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the president who has the power to appoint prime…

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to face jail trial in Cipher case

Backgrounder. Imran Khan is a former Pakistani cricket player, politician, philanthropist, and prime minister of Pakistan (2018–22). He became a national hero by leading Pakistan’s national team to a Cricket World Cup victory in 1992 and later entered politics as a critic of government corruption in Pakistan. Khan’s calls for investigations into government corruption, along with supporting evidence released in…

Watch: Mexico Journalists Warn Violence Can ‘Curtail Freedom of Expression’

With data showing Mexico as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists outside a war zone, and with the country’s long record of impunity for perpetrators, the country’s media look to one another for safety. VOA’s Jessica Jerreat has the story. VOA footage by Vicente Calderon, Nelson Vignolles. Cristina Caicedo Smit contributed.

Guernsey firm alleges fraud by Thomas Flohr before he launched VistaJet, case not dismissed

Thomas Flohr, owner of luxury airline VistaJet, must fight a claim that he defrauded a Guernsey investment partnership two decades ago after London’s High Court refused to dismiss the case.  Flohr, who denies the allegations, had tried to have the case thrown out on technical grounds related to the circumstances of the case, in which a previously dissolved partnership was…

Russian Hackers Accessed 632,000 Emails From Pentagon, Other Agencies: Report

Hackers have accessed approximately 632,000 emails from the Department of Defense and other federal agencies this year, the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed. The report detailed a large-scale cyberattack in May 2023 in which emails from US government offices, private sectors, airlines, and academic entities were accessed by a suspected Russian group called “CL0P.” Alongside electronic personal data,…

Report: Peter Thiel Was An FBI Informant

In the summer of 2021, Insider has learned, [Peter] Thiel began providing information as a “confidential human source,” or CHS, to Johnathan Buma, a Los Angeles-based FBI agent who specializes in investigating political corruption and foreign-influence campaigns. Charles Johnson, a longtime associate of Thiel’s and a notorious figure in the far-right movement that Thiel has subsidized for a decade, told…

Al Jazeera ‘Finds No Grounds For Israeli Army’s Claim Gaza Baptist Hospital Strike Was a Failed Rocket Launch’

Al Jazeera, whose footage was cited by Israel to claim a failed rocket launch by Gaza fighters caused the al-Ahli Baptist hospital explosion, did their own investigation into Israel’s claims and found they were without merit. An Al Jazeera digital investigation found no grounds for the Israeli army’s claim that the strike on the al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza was…

RSC calls on UK government to take action on PFAS levels in tap water

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is calling on the UK government to reduce the current cap on individual per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water from 100ng/l to 10ng/l, warning that levels above this pose a significant risk to public health. The RSC’s call follows new analysis revealing that more than a third of water courses tested in…

What Google’s antitrust trial means for search

If government regulators prevail against Google in the biggest U.S. antitrust trial in a quarter century, it’s likely to unleash drastic changes that will undermine the dominance of a search engine that defines the internet for billions of people. As the 10-week trial probing Google’s business practices nears its midway point, it’s still too early to tell if U.S. District…

EU is formally investigating X over content about the Israel-Hamas war

As a ‘very large platform’ under the EU’s new Digital Services Act, X is required to respond by next week and could face massive penalties. The European Union (EU) has formally opened an investigation into X, the platform previously known as Twitter, to ensure it’s complying with the Digital Services Act (DSA) following Hamas’ attack on Israel in early October…

FCA calls on insurers to take action as it publishes latest fair value data

In letters sent to all insurance firms, the regulator reminded them of its expectations to make sure they’re checking their products are providing fair value to their customers. The FCA also identified further evidence that some Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) products may be failing to provide fair value to customers. This comes as the FCA publishes its latest insurance Value…

FCA sets out initial findings on bank account access and closures

The information supplied by banks, building societies and payment companies suggests that no firm closed an account between July 2022 and June 2023 primarily because of a customer’s political views. The Payment Accounts Regulations ban banks or building societies discriminating on this basis. The FCA will be doing further work with firms to verify the data and to better understand…

What’s the basis of the Republicans’ Joe Biden impeachment inquiry?

Sept 28 (Reuters) – Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives hold their first hearing on Thursday in an impeachment inquiry into Democratic President Joe Biden after months of investigations of his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. They have not found any evidence of misconduct by Biden himself. The White House says Biden has done nothing wrong and Republicans have no…

Biden impeachment inquiry opens with focus on son’s business dealings

WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Republicans leading an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden detailed foreign payments to members of his family in their first hearing on Thursday, but did not provide evidence that the Democratic president had personally benefited. The initial impeachment hearing by the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee served as a review of evidence that Republicans have…

UBS, Credit Suisse face growing probe over alleged Russian sanctions evasion

The US Department of Justice has stepped up its probe into Credit Suisse Group and UBS Group over suspected compliance failures that allowed Russian clients to evade sanctions, according to people familiar with the situation. What began as a series of subpoenas sent to a range of banks early this year has developed into a full-scale investigation focusing on Credit…

Polish minister launches bill to extradite Ukrainian Nazi WW2 veteran Hunka from Canada

Yaroslav Hunka was hailed as a “war hero” last week in Canada’s parliament, where he received a standing ovation. A Polish government minister has launched a bid to extradite Yaroslav Hunka, the 98-year-old Ukrainian-Canadian man who fought in a German-Nazi division during World War Two and last week received a standing ovation in Canada’s parliament. “In view of the scandalous…