Fifa corruption: Swiss banks 'reported account suspicions'
- 17 June 2015
- Europe
Swiss banks reported suspicious activity around accounts of football's world governing body Fifa, says the Swiss attorney general.
Michael Lauber said his office was analysing a "huge amount" of seized Fifa data in its corruption inquiry.
He said he did not rule out interviews with Fifa president Sepp Blatter as part of his investigation.
The investigation could lead to the reopening of the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Fifa is facing claims of widespread corruption after Swiss police raided a hotel in Zurich - where Fifa is based - and arrested seven of its top executives last month.
The seven were held at the request of the US department of justice, which has charged 14 current and former Fifa officials and associates on charges of "rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted" corruption.
The charges follow a major inquiry by the FBI.
Did Australia pay people-smugglers to turn back asylum seekers?
The key questions: Indonesia claims Australian officials handed cash to traffickers, but is the ‘stop the boats, whatever it takes’ policy working?Has Australia paid people smugglers to return asylum seekers?
Explosive claims have been lobbed in the last week that the Australian government has taken a further step in its “stop the boats” policy and begun paying people smugglers to turn those boats around.
A boat ferrying around 65 asylum seekers from Indonesia, aiming for New Zealand, was reportedly intercepted by Australian authorities in May and forced to turn back.
Nazmul Hassan from Bangladesh – who said he was on board the boat – told Radio New Zealand that officials made payments to the captain and crew to take the passengers back to Indonesia.
Now Indonesian police authorities have backed the allegations, showing off money seized from people smugglers that they say was paid by Australian officials.
North Korea hit by worst drought in 100 years
Almost a third of children under five in the reclusive state are stunted because of poor nutrition
North Korea has been hit by what it describes as its worst drought in a century, which could worsen chronic food shortages in a country where the United Nations says almost a third of children under five are stunted because of poor nutrition.
The country suffered a devastating famine in the 1990s and has relied on international food aid, but support has fallen sharply in recent years, because of its curbs on humanitarian workers and reluctance to allow monitoring of food distribution.
The North’s KCNA news agency said late on Tuesday that paddies around the country, including the main rice farming regions of Hwanghae and Phyongan provinces, were drying up for lack of rain. Rice must be partly submerged in order to grow.
Dominican Republic ready to resume deportations
For decades, the Dominican Republic has deported non-citizens, the vast majority of whom come from neighboring Haiti. However, it put the practice on hold for a year.
SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC — Authorities are prepared to resume deporting non-citizens without legal residency in the Dominican Republic after largely putting the practice on hold for a year, the head of the country's immigration agency said Tuesday.
Army Gen. Ruben Paulino said his agency, with help from the military, will begin patrolling neighborhoods with large numbers of migrants Thursday, following the expiration of a deadline for non-citizens without legal residency to register to adjust their status under an initiative begun last year.
"If they aren't registered, they will be repatriated," Gen. Paulino said.
Hong Kong begins debate on electoral reform plan
Government's proposal would give all residents right to vote for their leaders but only as long as China approves them.
Hong Kong politicians have begun debate in advance of a vote on a controversial reform package amid protests and tensions over an alleged explosives plot.
Wednesday's vote highlights the gulf between democracy campaigners against the government after protests which saw tens of thousands of protesters take to the streets last year over the controversial electoral road map.
Although the government's reform proposal would for the first time give all residents the right to vote for the chief executive in 2017, it adheres to a Chinese government ruling that candidates must be vetted by a loyalist committee.
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