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A massive trove of newly released confidential records exposes lucrative tax havens for some of the world’s most rich and powerful figures, from Jordan’s king to spicy pop singer Sharika — and even an underground art dealer whose collections have been displayed at The Met.Dubbed the “Pandora Papers,” the records consist of nearly 12 million documents detailing systematic tax-dodging by 14 firms that use off-shore bank accounts that hide the fortunes and assets of hundreds of wealthy clients.The records, the largest ever leak of confidential documents, were compiled and released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a worldwide coalition...

The Czech Republic is expelling 18 employees of the Russian embassy in Prague, who were allegedly "identified as members of the Russian secret services", Foreign Minister Jan Hamacek said at news conference. According to local media reports, the move comes in response to evidence obtained by the country's security services which suggests Russia's involvement in two ammunition depot explosions in 2014 in the Czech Republic which killed two people. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said in the same news conference that "there is well-grounded suspicion about the involvement of officers of the Russian intelligence service GRU, unit 29155, in the...

Andrej Babiš has said there is ‘no way’ the Czech Republic will agree to Brussels’ demand that the nation accept a quota of migrants from the third world. Speaking in the country’s parliament on Thursday, the recently elected Czech Prime Minister slammed the European Union’s (EU) mandatory quota scheme as “ineffective” and divisive. “It is certain that we will not accept anyone, and we are fundamentally against anyone dictating to us who should live and work in our country,” local media reported him saying. “We consider it absurd that the European Commission sues us for something that is nonsense,” Babiš...

Czech billionaire businessman Andrej Babis was appointed prime minister on Wednesday …

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech billionaire Andrej Babis won a thumping victory in Saturday’s parliamentary election, giving the anti-establishment businessman facing fraud charges a strong mandate to cut taxes, lift public investment and fight immigration. Babis's ANO movement held an unbeatable 30.04 percent of the vote with 94.4 percent of voting stations having reported -- almost three times any other party and giving it a chance to rule with just one partner in a coalition. (Graphic tmsnrt.rs/2vO4hPW) ANO is the first party to break a quarter century of dominance by two mainstream center-right and center-left parties, highlighting a shifting political landscape...