Italy remains without a formal government (AFP story) since Prime Minister Prodi’s ruling coalition collapsed — triggered by a corruption investigation — earlier this week. Much of this week’s drama can be pinned on a new election law which tends to create radically unstable coalitions. Talks are underway to replace the law prior to new…
Writing for The Nation (Nigeria), Global Integrity contributor Thompson Ayodele calls to focus on shared institutions, not individual failings, when understanding corruption: Rather than personifying the war of corruption, it is imperative to build effective institutions that would expose corrupt individuals and ensure that they do not escape justice. The difference between a country where…
Extortion: it’s not just for oppressive governments. According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, several power utilities outside the U.S. have received extortion demands, in which online attackers (perhaps with inside help) threaten to shut down power grids via internet-based attacks. Some attacks have been carried out, the CIA says, darkening entire regions. Information Week…
Global Integrity co-founder Charles Lewis is not one to let untold stories slip from sight. At the moment, the popular mood has turned against the Bush administration’s rush to war in Iraq. But history is slippery and subject to revision, where truth becomes a game of that’s-your-opinion, and ‘balance’ means giving the truth equal time…
Italian Justice Minister Clemente Mastella has resigned after police placed his wife under house arrest following an investigation into corruption in the local health care system. Mastella, who is also under investigation, still controls seats in the Senate. Prime Minister Romano Prodi, who had a razor-thin one-vote majority prior to Mastella’s resignation, now faces an…
Here in the U.S. we’ve seen 7 years of radical expansion of executive branch power. The most frustrating aspect of this power-grab has been the near unanimous lack of opposition from Congress. With a few exceptions, the legislative branch has been unwilling to really push back against the Bush White House. Until today, when both…