Because nothing has changed, Grancharova said she feared the EC would invoke the so-called “safeguard clauses.”
Meanwhile, in neighboring
Croatian Crewman Busted in SAfrica
A Croatian national was arrested last week in connection with what South African authorities called the largest-ever drug bust in the country’s history.
Police, acting on a tip, boarded a Liberian-registered ship at
Also last week, the South African government disbanded its Directorate of Special Operations, the elite crime-fighting unit better known as the Scorpions.
Polish Football Corruption Probe
Two men are being questioned in connection with a Polish football corruption investigation ongoing since 2005.
Police in the western city of
The 36-year-old Reiss has also played for Hertha
Polish prosecutors have charged more than 150 people with match-fixing in the past several years, including coaches, players, referees and members of the country’s football federation.
Profits turned by Italy’s mafia groups surged 40 percent last year, making the mob
Organized crime groups siphon 92 billion euros, about 6 percent of
“With people more desperate, loan sharks thrive,” Amedeo Vitagliano, an Italian crime expert at Eurispses, said in a telephone interview. “While the country is on its knees, the mob rejoices.”
Their capture comes after a series of arrests of suspected Camorra members in recent months in
"The Camorra and Colombian cartels work together in Spain" where the Naples mafia manages part of the cocaine trafficking, an Italian police official told the El Pais daily earlier this month -- three days after the arrest in Barcelona of another Camorra leader, Salvatore Zazo.
Twelve capos have been arrested in
Many come to
And back in Italy last week, the Carabinieri arrested some 100 people and sequestered €1.2 in fake euro bills in the country’s biggest-ever bust of a counterfeiting ring, this one allegedly run by the Calabrian mafia.
EU Tax Havens Losing Cover?
The European Commission is considering new rules that could mean that European Union governments can swap information on possible tax evaders, reported the Associated Press.
The new measures — if approved by all 27 EU nations — would affect EU residents trying to avoid taxes at home by opening accounts in Luxembourg, Belgium and Austria, which have laws allowing for a high level of banking confidentiality. Low taxes in tiny
The aim is to target tax evaders that take advantage of the limited powers of revenue collectors to check on foreign income and investments. Currently, fraudsters are able to "hide income obtained in other countries or to organize insolvencies in countries where they have less debt," (EC tax commissioner Laszlo) Kovacs said.
The BBC will air a documentary this week on just this topic, as Germany, the US, Britain and other countries seem to be moving toward zero tolerance of tax evasion – and other nefarious uses of the banking system.
Olmert Questioned Again
Israeli police questioned caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for the 13th time last week in connection with a corruption investigation that caused Olmert to step down last year.
Detectives are investigating suspicions that Olmert accepted cash-stuffed envelopes from Jewish-American businessman Morris Talansky and claimed false travel expenses before he became prime minister in 2006. Olmert denies any wrongdoing.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Thursday that Olmert would face questions for about two and a half hours on Jan.30 at his
Afghanistan’s production of opium poppies is likely to drop this year, according to UN officials, citing low opium prices, drought and pressure from the government as reasons for the potential decrease. It could be good news for allied forces trying to break what new