Iron-fisted rulers are undermining state institutions and freedom of expression in the Western Balkans claims a report published on Wednesday by human rights watchdog Freedom House. 

Russian police arrested investigative journalist Ivan Golunov on Thursday, accusing him of possessing club drugs, which Golunov claims were planted on him. He also claims the officers beat him during his arrest and detainment.

Officers found sound evidence of meth in stereos that arrived on a boat from Thailand, the Australian Border Force said Friday.

The Catholic Church in the United States spent US$10.6 million lobbying against state legislation designed to help victims of clerical sex abuse, according to a report released on Tuesday.

Albanians soon may no longer be free to travel around Europe without a visa because of illicit activities involving the Albanian mafia in the Netherlands.

Concerns about the influence of organized crime have reached such fever pitch in a Croatian soccer club, that the management turned to the country’s president and prime minister for help. 

Peru’s congress green-lighted President Martin Vizcarra’s anti-corruption reforms with a vote of confidence on Wednesday, relieving tensions after he threatened to dissolve the legislative body if it were to fail.

Bosnia’s top judicial authority dropped on Monday a disciplinary complaint against its boss, who became embroiled in a corruption scandal after a secretly-filmed video was released showing him allegedly taking bribes through a middleman.

Suspiciously large amounts of gas sold in low-populated areas of Colombia that don’t even have very many roads made the country’s Attorney General launch an investigation into the possibility that the excess gas is being used for cocaine production.

Canadian engineering company SNC-Lavalin was informed last week that the bribery charges against it would reach trial, thwarting the company’s hopes that it would be able to settle the politically-loaded case out of court.