(November 6, 2006) Hailed by some as a diplomatic triumph, China’s meeting with the representatives of 48 African states in Beijing at the weekend has also been described as another shift in the geopolitical center of gravity and a sign that China’s economic growth over the last two and a half decades has increasingly global implications.

(November 3, 2006) Pressure is mounting for Taiwan President Chen Shun-bian to resign: his wife, Wu Shu-chen, and three former presidential aides, face charges of graft and embezzlement; prosecutors say there is evidence to charge the president as well − once he loses the immunity he has while in office.

(October 29, 2006) A recent Vatican document summarizing some of the lessons learned in the fight against corruption recommends increased public exposure of wrongdoers and punishment for the guilty, as well as more cooperation between governments in extraditing criminals.

(October 9, 2006) Norway’s decision earlier this month to cancel some of its Third World debt claims after implicitly acknowledging them as illegitimate has inspired debt activists around the world: campaigners in the Philippines have since called on the Arroyo administration to stop paying back suspect loans incurred under former president Ferdinand Marcos, reports Alecks Pabico for Inside PCIJ (Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism).

(October 6, 2006) In a stunning move, the Norwegian government has become the first creditor country to implicitly acknowledge that some of its Third World debt claims are illegitimate and says it will cancel such debts outright and unilaterally. The Norwegian Parliament must now approve the government’s debt cancellation plan, details of which are contained in the government’s budget being submitted to Parliament today. If the plan is accepted, five countries – Ecuador, Egypt, Jamaica, Peru and Sierra Leone – will be relieved of some $80 million they owe Norway.

(September 25, 2006) By not paying bribes in graft-prone countries, companies would
be interfering in national sovereignty, say defenders of illicit
corporate payments to poor nations.

(September 12, 2006) The annual meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, being held in Singapore, are facing controversy over the participation of civil society.