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The European Parliament has, once again, found itself at the heart of a corruption scandal, this time involving the Chinese tech giant Huawei. Police raids have been carried out across Belgium and Portugal amid suspicions of bribery, forgery, money laundering, and organized criminal activity. The European Parliament’s latest corruption scandal unfolds even as the previous one—the so-called ‘Qatargate’ affair—remains under investigation and litigation, further deepening preexisting concerns about foreign influence in EU institutions. The Qatargate scandal, which surfaced more than two years ago, involves allegations that Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), lobbyists, and their families accepted substantial sums of...

We have been following the “Fearless Fund” case out of Atlanta since a Georgia federal district (trial-level) court judge ruled, bizarrely, that racial discrimination can be “protected speech” under the First Amendment and, therefore, constitutional.The case concerned a hedge fund that provided small business grants in the form of a contest, as long as you were a Black woman; others need not apply. The Plaintiffs argued that a federal statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, which has prohibited racial discrimination in contracting since 1866, was violated by Defendants’ racially discriminatory grant contest: Georgia Federal Judge Rules Racially Discriminatory Contracting Is “Speech...

Cables Portray Expanded Reach of Drug Agency By GINGER THOMPSON and SCOTT SHANE WASHINGTON — The Drug Enforcement Administration has been transformed into a global intelligence organization with a reach that extends far beyond narcotics, and an eavesdropping operation so expansive it has to fend off foreign politicians who want to use it against their political enemies, according to secret diplomatic cables. In far greater detail than previously seen, the cables, from the cache obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to some news organizations, offer glimpses of drug agents balancing diplomacy and law enforcement in places where it can be...

Do you have people – as in, more than one – working for you? If so, you’re probably knee deep in preparing Forms W-2 for your employees before the January 31st deadline. Well, what if I told you that when you send in those forms, unless you’re aware of an under-publicized change to the insurance and tax laws that took place on January 1, 2014, you might be exposing yourself to tens or even hundreds, of thousands of dollars in penalties? And what if I told you that even if reading this column makes you aware of the required change,...

School students should be given a “European Union education” in the classroom to tackle “ignorance” and growing public Euro-skepticism, according to an election manifesto signed by Angela Merkel and eight other of Europe's leaders. The European People’s Party (EPP), the EU’s biggest political grouping, is convinced such a program would improve the public image of Brussels, which has never been lower. Its manifesto for May’s European elections calls for the introduction of “EU education in schools across Europe in order to prepare the next generation for future challenges and to nurture a European approach”. […] Rather than scaling back the...

The fight for Ukraine has now become a contest between the Russian president and the German chancellor. Putin won the first round. But Merkel and her fellow Europeans are grooming professional heavyweight boxer Vitali Klitschko to be their new strongman. [...] While "regime change" is too strong a term for what Germany is seeking, it's not entirely off base. Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the European People's Party (EPP), a family of European conservative parties, have chosen Klitschko as their de facto representative in Ukraine. His job is to unite and lead the opposition -- on the street,...

SNIPPET - quote: YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: Concepcion (Paraguay) Security Incidents CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS Americas - Paraguay 23 Apr 2010 U.S. Embassy Asuncion released the following Warden Message on April 23: This Warden Message alerts U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Paraguay to recent security incidents in the Department of Concepcion. On April 21, 2010, four people were murdered in rural Concepcion. The Government of Paraguay suspects the involvement of the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP), a nascent insurgent group responsible for a number of high profile kidnappings, bombings and other...

The centre-right European People's Party (EPP) is likely to keep its majority in the European Parliament in the June elections, as Europeans pick a safe pair of hands in the economic crisis over socialist "agit-prop," EPP secretary-general Antonio Lopez-Isturiz told the EUobserver. "The general feeling is that we can maintain a good score ahead of the Socialists. Not an absolute majority, but a majority like we have now, more or less," Mr Lopez-Isturiz said. He admitted the EPP would lose some of its seats "because in many countries we are in government, and that will have a negative impact." But...