Press freedom has reached a critical low in a record number of countries as repressive governments continue to clamp down on critical voices and the fake content industry continues to expand, according to the World’s Press Freedom Index published on Wednesday on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day.

A U.S. corporation that operated an online trading and settlement platform has agreed to pay more than US$7 million to resolve potential legal liability for alleged breaches of sanctions against Crimea, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria.

The U.S. indicted a Russian national for his alleged role in a US$150 million money laundering case, $65 million of which was used to illicitly purchase overseas gold bullion.

A prominent and outspoken Russian human rights activist has been arrested, with prosecutors indicting him on charges of discrediting the country’s armed forces, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Monday.

Four miners of a gold mine in Yanomami Indigenous land in Brazil died in a clash with officials from the country's environmental agency, Ibama, and the Federal Highway Police (PRF), who came to inspect the illegal mine.

Auditors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have uncovered a massive public payroll fraud, involving tens of thousands of ghost workers across government ministries, costing the public purse over US$800 million annually, according to a statement from the General Inspectorate of Finance.

 The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a global press freedom watchdog, urged Turkey to halt the persecution of journalists and media workers and to release those detained for carrying out their work.

U.K. water treatment company, Anglian Water, pleaded guilty on Friday to allowing untreated sewage to overflow into the North Sea and was fined 2.65 million pounds (US$3.31 million).

Iranian officials and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei enriched themselves through international aid intended to support Iran's COVID-19 response, according to a report by anti-corruption research service UNISHKA.

A former Colombian military intelligence official has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his involvement in a transnational drug trafficking ring that managed shipments as large as 10,000 kilograms.