The Council of Europe’s anti-graft body said it was concerned about allegations of widespread corruption among public officials in recent years, and that many member countries have mostly failed to properly address lobbying, conflicts of interest and “revolving doors” in central governments.

A day after her trial over an unpaid loan started in Moscow, the French far-right party of Marine Le Pen reached an agreement with its Russian creditor, the Moscow arbitration tribunal confirmed on Wednesday.

Sources told the Miami Herald on Thursday that the US$50 million lobbying contract paid to former Congressman David Rivera from a US subsidiary of PDVSA, Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, was part of a larger effort by President Nicolas Maduro’s administration to get the US to reduce sanctions on oil exports.

Financial authorities in Mexico have frozen nearly 2,000 bank accounts with ties to the country’s second most powerful drug trafficking organisation just days after one of its leaders was shot dead during a concert live-streamed on social media.

Journalists covering the days-long countrywide protests against police violence and racism have reported at least 125 press freedom violations in the US since May 29.

A week after the alleged leader of a Montenegrin drug trafficking clan was badly injured in an assassination attempt in Ukraine, investigative journalists reported that the victim’s wife saved his life when she shot at the assassins. Another report said five were arrested, among them a local policeman - a claim authorities deny.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) allegedly busted a “mafia-style” gang which operated within their own ranks and was made of senior officials of the Protective Service who defrauded the police and the army of thousands of dollars.

A report released on Monday by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration shows that hundreds of thousands of the country’s highest earners have not been paying taxes.

Pope Francis introduced new procurement rules that are supposed to prevent corruption by introducing more transparency in tender procedures at the Vatican which saw a series of graft  scandals in the past.

A distinguished US university professor and leading expert on organised crime and drug trafficking has admitted to laundering millions of dollars in proceeds from a bribery and corruption scheme in Venezuela.