Ever since it was pumped by commercial rigs from beneath the shores of Lake Maracaibo over a century ago, oil has been both a blessing and a curse for Venezuela. It has fueled boom times and bust times. It gave rise to an urban middle class — and then an echelon of elites who plundered the nation’s oil wealth, amassing billions as the rest of the country collapsed...
When patients put themselves in the hands of a doctor, they trust they'll be treated with care. But what happens when that trust is abused?
Under the banner of legal aid for fellow Russians in trouble abroad, a state-backed foundation in the center of Moscow has for years advanced the Kremlin’s agenda across the world.
Scam call centers have been a scourge for years, conning ordinary people around the world out of hundreds of billions of dollars.
At its height, Steward Health Care ran more than 30 private hospitals across the U.S. helmed by an ambitious CEO who touted a vision of high-quality cost-effective medical services. But as Steward expanded across America and sought to enter international markets, it was secretly lurching towards bankruptcy. The Steward Files reveal how private equity, real estate...
This year’s ‘COP29’ — the world’s premier climate change conference — is about to begin in Azerbaijan.
What do criminals say to each other when they think nobody can hear?
Mining magnate Beny Steinmetz earned a reputation as a titan in the diamond world, and then cemented his fortune with a multibillion-dollar deal over coveted iron ore deposits.
From its humble days as desert tradepost to its current status as a global financial hub, Dubai has long served as a crossroads for commerce.
Kyrgyzstan was once the most democratic of Central Asia’s former Soviet republics, with genuine elections, a vigorous civil society, and a vibrant media scene.
Poet Leonidas Malenis likened his native Cyprus to a “golden-green leaf thrown in the sea,” but in recent years the east Mediterranean island nation has earned a darker reputation.
Drug trafficking is a globe-spanning business. Cocaine might start life at a plantation in Colombia before being repackaged in Mexico, processed in the Netherlands, and sold on to users as far away as Bulgaria. Markets are booming in Asia, Africa, and Australia, generating billions in illicit revenues that flow back across the world through bank wires, cash...