YANN PHILIPPIN – Sale of French Rafale jet fighters to India: how a state scandal was buried

In 2016 France and India signed a 7.8-billion-euro deal for the purchase of 36 Rafale jet fighters made by French defence group Dassault. Mediapart can reveal that, alongside this controversial deal, Dassault also agreed to pay one million euros to a middleman who is now under investigation in India in connection with another defence deal.… Read More YANN PHILIPPIN – Sale of French Rafale jet fighters to India: how a state scandal was buried

Boris Johnson government in ‘scandalous’ breach of Ministerial Code. By Seth Thévoz

Exclusive: Large payments to Johnson and ministers have been kept secret for months – fuelling controversy over lavish Downing Street refurbishment, and much more..   Boris Johnson’s government is breaking its own transparency rules by allowing large payments to the prime minister and other ministers to be kept secret for up to eight months, openDemocracy has… Read More Boris Johnson government in ‘scandalous’ breach of Ministerial Code. By Seth Thévoz

Bharat Bhushan – Scania Scandal: Need to step up to the challenge

The Scania bribery expose threatens to knock the bottom out of the Indian claim of having improved the ease of doing business in the country. Henrik Henriksson, chief executive officer of Scania, has claimed: “We invested heavily, went in with a bang and really wanted to succeed in India, but we underestimated the risks” – suggesting that… Read More Bharat Bhushan – Scania Scandal: Need to step up to the challenge

Bangladesh: All the Prime Minister’s Men | Al Jazeera Investigations

NB: The veracity of this report is contested, because this may be part of a campaign promoted by opponents of Sheikh Hasina. There are indeed well-respected persons who seem to have assisted this expose. Readers can make their own assessment. DS An explosive investigation reveals how a criminal gang is colluding with the security forces… Read More Bangladesh: All the Prime Minister’s Men | Al Jazeera Investigations

Navalny urges Russians from jail to overcome their fear / Putin Resorts to Jailing Journalists for Retweeting Jokes

Navalny, who was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison earlier this week, said in a statement posted on his Instagram account that “iron doors slammed behind my back with a deafening sound, but I feel like a free man. Because I feel confident I’m right. Thanks to your support. Thanks to my… Read More Navalny urges Russians from jail to overcome their fear / Putin Resorts to Jailing Journalists for Retweeting Jokes

Alexei Navalny: 1,000 arrested after protests over jailing of Russian opposition leader

A Moscow court has sentenced Alexei Navalny to two years and eight months in a prison colony in a landmark decision for Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on the country’s leading opposition figure. The move triggered marches in Moscow and the arrest of more than 1,000 protesters. Navalny, who has accused the Russian president and his allies… Read More Alexei Navalny: 1,000 arrested after protests over jailing of Russian opposition leader

Thomas Rowley: How Alexey Navalny changed Russian politics forever

Nine days ago, Alexey Navalny returned to Russia – and changed the country’s politics forever. The opposition leader had been in Germany since August 2020, recovering from what is now internationally recognised as an assassination attempt by the Kremlin (which President Vladimir Putin denies). But while there, he was far from idle. In December, he… Read More Thomas Rowley: How Alexey Navalny changed Russian politics forever

Andrew Roth – The problem is Putin: protesters throng Russia's streets to support jailed Navalny / Russia’s courageous and historic protests against Putinism / Video sensations

NB: The Russian people have fought for freedom and democracy for over a century, in 1915-21; in the deadly struggle against Nazi invasion; and again in the aftermath of glasnost. Putin is the inheritor of the Russian autocratic tradition, he moved easily from the KGB and membership of the Communist Party to becoming a Russian… Read More Andrew Roth – The problem is Putin: protesters throng Russia's streets to support jailed Navalny / Russia’s courageous and historic protests against Putinism / Video sensations

Ramachandra Guha criticises BCCI officials for conflict of interest

Historian and columnist Ramachandra Guha is a man who minces no words. And so, when the 62-year-old historian, in his memoir ‘Commonwealth of Cricket: A Lifelong Love Affair with the Most Subtle and Sophisticated Game Known to Humankind’, points to what’s ailing the game today in India, you know that he is talking about the… Read More Ramachandra Guha criticises BCCI officials for conflict of interest

France's Sarkozy goes on trial for corruption. By Richard Lough

PARIS, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy goes on trial on Monday accused of trying to bribe a judge and of influence-peddling, one of several criminal investigations that threaten to cast an ignominious pall over his decades-long political career. Prosecutors allege Sarkozy offered to secure a plum job in Monaco for judge… Read More France's Sarkozy goes on trial for corruption. By Richard Lough