International
New $34 million military headquarters in Afghanistan will sit unused
The U.S. military has erected a 64,000-square-foot headquarters in Afghanistan at a cost of $34 million, but has no plans to use it. Senior military officials told The Washington Post that they insisted they did not need the facility and see no point to moving into it as they withdraw forces from the area. Military…
Read MoreICIJ Releases Offshore Leaks Database Revealing Names Behind Secret Companies, Trusts
Readers can search information about the ownership of more than 100,000 offshore entities in tax havens and discover the networks around them in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ Offshore Leaks Database.
Read MoreSome traffic violators getting off with bribes in South Africa
According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation, 65% of fatal crashes that happen on weekends, in South Africa, are because of alcohol abuse by drivers and pedestrians. However, in a report filed by Kirsti Buick, a journalism student from Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa, many drivers are getting off with paying a bribe, “some…
Read MoreAfter Decades of Neglect, Pakistan Rusts in Its Tracks
“A journey across Pakistan’s crumbling railway presents a picture of the country’s troubles: natural disasters and hardened insurgencies, abject poverty and feudal kleptocrats, and an economy near meltdown.”
Read MoreBorder patrol agents shooting into Mexico, killing civilians
Washington Monthly reports that “over the past five years U.S. border agents have shot across the border at least ten times, killing a total of six Mexicans on Mexican soil.” According to the report, border patrol shootings were a rarity before 2009, with only a handful occurring. But after an increase in border patrol agentst between…
Read MorePolygraphs show border agency applicants admitted to rape, kidnapping
According to documents obtained by the Center for Investigative Reporting, applicants who have sought sensitive law enforcement jobs in recent years with the U.S. Border Patrol and its parent agency, Customs and Border Protection, admitted to a host of astonishing crimes during the application process, including rape, kidnapping. “The records – official summaries of more than…
Read MoreLack of transparency, nervous feelings surround three Haiti mining permits
Haiti Grassroots Watch reports: “The population of Cadouche, a small village about 12 kilometers south of Cap-Haitian in Haiti’s North department, is nervous about three new mining exploitation permits granted last December in an opaque and secretive process.” Residents of the area, who told Haiti Grassroots Watch they are concerned the mining will poison their…
Read MoreWal-Mart de Mexico caught up in bribery case
“Wal-Mart de Mexico was an aggressive and creative corrupter, offering large payoffs to get what the law otherwise prohibited, an examination, starting back in April 2012, by The New York Times found.” “The Times has now picked up where Wal-Mart’s internal investigation was cut off, traveling to dozens of towns and cities in Mexico and…
Read MoreLittle being done to protect garment workers in poorer countries
In the first of two articles by The New York Times is has been revealed that there have been “failures to protect garment workers in poor countries“, such as Bangladesh, “who make much of the world’s clothing” including brands for Walmart.
Read MoreAmazon creates billion-dollar tax shield
An examination of accounts filed by 25 Amazon units in six countries show how the company has avoided paying more tax in the United States, where it’s based, according to a report from Reuters. Reuters writes that Amazon, in effect, used inter-company payments to form a tax shield behind which it has accumulated $2 billion. Last…
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