Right-wing politicians and operatives with ties to Italy’s Lega Nord party said they will ask a commission regulating the work of public broadcaster RAI to ban it from collaborating with international colleagues whose data helped it expose the party for corrupt COVID-related procurement dealings.

A British non-profit filed a lawsuit against the UK government for awarding a 108 million pounds (US$136 million) contract for purchasing COVID-19 protective equipment to a small pest-control company from Sussex that has 16 employees - a move they see as dubious.

Internal documents detail investigations into inflated contracts and IT systems delays that hurt the country’s exporters.

The Prague Municipal Court has sentenced Marek Dalik, a lobbyist and an ex-aide to former Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, to five years in prison and a 5 million crown fine (US$ 204,829) for corruption, reported Reuters.