Did Ukraine President Zelensky Just Buy Two Mega-Yachts Through His Friends?

💥🇺🇦💰 "Lucky Me" and "My Legacy": Zelensky bought two yachts worth $ 75 million dollars and registered them on false persons - writes DC Weekly

Documents released by the Mediterranean Yacht Brokers Association (MYBA) revealed the acquisition of two superyachts - the 46-meter… pic.twitter.com/tLeIBN1Qfp

— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) November 27, 2023

Strategic Culture: It Pays to Be Friends With Zelensky: How $75m Yachts Reveal the Huge and Sudden Wealth of the Ukrainian Leader’s Inner Circle 

In the heart of Eastern Europe, where the tumult of war clashes with the allure of Western support, a seismic scandal unfolds, casting a long shadow over Ukraine’s leadership. President Volodymyr Zelensky, once seen as a beacon of hope against corruption, is now ensnared in a scandal involving the alleged purchase of two luxury yachts, “Lucky Me” and “My Legacy,” worth a combined $75 million. This lavish expenditure, facilitated in the opulent settings of Abu Dhabi and Antibes, starkly contrasts with Ukraine’s dire war reality and raises damning questions about the integrity and criminal liability of its leadership amidst heavy reliance on Western aid.  

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Update: Photos: Ukrainian President Zelensky Accused of Using Proxies to Hide Ownership of $75M Yachts – The Yachts’ Names Are an Insult to All American Taxpayers (Defiant America)  

WNU Editor: My friends in Ukraine tell me this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Leaked U.S. State Department Report Reveals Biden Administrations Ukraine Corruption Worries

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Joe Biden meet in the Oval Office on Sept. 21. Graft in Ukraine has long been a concern of U.S. officials all the way up to Biden. But the topic was deemphasized in the wake of Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion. | Evan Vucci/AP  

Politico: Leaked U.S. strategy on Ukraine sees corruption as the real threat  

A report obtained by POLITICO details specific plans to reform Ukrainian institutions and warns Western support may hinge on cutting corruption. 

Biden administration officials are far more worried about corruption in Ukraine than they publicly admit, a confidential U.S. strategy document obtained by POLITICO suggests. 

The “sensitive but unclassified” version of the long-term U.S. plan lays out numerous steps Washington is taking to help Kyiv root out malfeasance and otherwise reform an array of Ukrainian sectors. It stresses that corruption could cause Western allies to abandon Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion, and that Kyiv cannot put off the anti-graft effort.  

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WNU Editor: I know the problem of corruption is getting worse in Ukraine. It looks like the Biden administration is also aware, and their concerns are being leaked to the media. 

Update: Too little and too late ..... US issues corruption ultimatum to Ukraine – MP (RT).

 Leaked U.S. State Department Report Reveals Biden Administrations Ukraine Corruption Worries  

Taking the measure of corruption in Ukraine -- Politico  

US increases pressure on Ukraine to do more to counter corruption -- CNN  

Biden administration concerned over corruption in Ukraine but still supports aid to combat Russia, memo states -- FOX News 

Biden Administration Fears ‘Perception of High-Level Corruption’ Could Undermine Ukrainian War Effort -- National Review  

Politico: White House more worried about corruption in Ukraine than it publicly admits -- Kyiv Independent

US President Biden Snaps At Reporter When Asked If He Was Involved In Hunter’s “Chinese Shake-Down Text Message”

Reporter: “How involved were you in your son’s Chinese shake-down text message? Were you sitting there? Were you involved?”

Joe Biden: “No, I wasn’t.”

pic.twitter.com/DL1cgVcUMI

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 28, 2023

Daily Wire: Biden Denies Taking Part In Son’s Alleged Shakedown Of Chinese Businessman 

 President Joe Biden denied taking part in his son’s alleged shakedown of a Chinese businessman recently revealed in a 2017 WhatsApp message. Reporters questioned Biden over the WhatsApp message, revealed last week by IRS whistleblowers who investigated the president’s son’s tax affairs, at the White House on Wednesday. 

The president has so far refused to comment at length about the message that allegedly ties him with his son’s dealings with foreign agents. “How involved were you in your son’s Chinese shake-down text message? Were you sitting there? Were you involved?” a reporter asked the president.  

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WNU Editor: I want to see the evidence, but my gut is teling me that this is just the "tip of the iceberg" .... Overseas payments to Biden family could exceed $40M, Comer says: ‘This was organized crime’ (NYPost).

Only In Ukraine Does A Corruption Scandal Mean More Western Support And Aid

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the opening ceremony of the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, Iceland via videolink on Tuesday. Photo: dpa  

Newsweek: Ukraine Corruption Scandal Could Boost Zelensky's F-16 Dream 

A corruption scandal in Ukraine revealed this week may have fueled concerns about supplying the country with military aid, but the authorities' reaction to it may yet help secure greater Western assistance, a number of experts have told Newsweek. 

Earlier this week, the head of Ukraine's Supreme Court was detained as part of a bribery investigation by anti-corruption authorities.An "undue benefit" of $2.7 million "intended for the Head of the Supreme Court and a lawyer may be part of a broader scheme of corrupt pressure on the courts," the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office said in a statement on Tuesday. 

The agencies did not mention any names, but Chief Justice Vsevolod Kniaziev was dismissed from his post this week, multiple outlets reported.  

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WNU Editor: Over the years of this blog, even before the 2014 Maidan revolution, I did numerous posts explaining how endemic the problem of corruption is in Ukraine. And now the war has made it worse .... much worse. 

But in the West the altitude is different. They see a few firings, a few arrests, and claim this is progress that will justify even more aid. 

Sighhh .... and it is working .... The Case for Increasing Aid to Ukraine (The Atlantic).

OECD Ready To Help Ukraine Eliminate Corruption When The War Is Over

Ukrinform: OECD ready to help Ukraine eliminate corruption risks in post-war reconstruction process 

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is ready to help Ukraine so that corruption risks do not stand in the way of the post-war reconstruction process. 

OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann said this during an event dedicated to cooperation between Ukraine and the OECD, Ukrinform reports, citing the Ukrainian President's Office. 

Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak, in turn, said that the OECD should be one of the key international players during the reconstruction of Ukraine and the country's membership in the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions will play an important role in strengthening anti-corruption policy.  

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WNU Editor: Corruption is killing Ukraine's war effort .... Ukraine war veterans on how Kiev plundered US aid, wasted soldiers, endangered civilians, and lost the war (The Gray Zone), and not surprising, Russian media is playing this all up .... Afghanistan all over again: Ukraine’s rampant corruption means the Western supply of weapons is likely to eventually backfire (RT). 

On a personal note. When the war started I helped organize the shipment of pharmaceutical supplies from Canada to Ukraine. I am still doing this, but it is sometimes frustrating. We estimate that a third of our shipments are not being delivered, and our shipping problems are getting worse.

Why Is The U.S. Avoiding The Problem Of Corruption In Ukraine?

President of Ukraine / Flickr  

The Federalist: As Questions Mount About Corruption In Ukraine, The Neocon Narrative Is Unraveling  

The Washington establishment would rather cast aspersions on those asking questions about corruption in Ukraine than recognize the problem. 

Americans who even casually followed the news in the fall of 2020 probably know that Ukraine was infamously corrupt long before the United States sent the country $54 billion in aid after the Russian invasion in February. They might not know much else about Ukraine, but they know it’s the kind of place where just being the son of the vice president of the United States can get you an $83,000 monthly paycheck for sitting on the board of an energy company. 

No one knows this better than Ukrainians themselves, who have to put up with a level of official corruption on par with countries like Mexico and Gabon. Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Ukraine 122 out of 180 countries worldwide, and the second most corrupt country in Europe — right after Russia.  

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WNU Editor: Being someone whose nationality is partly Ukrainian and who has many family members and friends who are still in Ukraine, I know too well that the culture of corruption is unfortunately endemic in Ukrainian society. Many in Ukraine are going to prosper in this war, even if the country gets completely destroyed in the process. And as for all of this aid being shipped to Ukraine. I would not be surprised if a third of it is being skimmed off for bribes and pay-offs. And as for the tens of billions that are being loaned to Kyiv and even more promised for the future. Here is an easy prediction. That money is never going to be paid back.

US Sold Oil From Emergency Reserves To A Chinese Energy Company With Ties To Hunter Biden

Biden's Energy Department in April announced the sale of 950,000 Strategic Petroleum Reserve barrels to Sinopec, the trading arm of the China Petrochemical Corporation.

In 2015, a private equity firm Hunter Biden cofounded bought a $1.7 billion stake in Sinopec Marketing.

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) July 7, 2022

The Federalist: Biden Sold Oil From Emergency Reserves To Chinese Gas Giant Tied To His Scandal-Plagued Son 

 On Wednesday, Reuters revealed that more than 5 million barrels of oil from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves were sent overseas as part of President Joe Biden’s latest release initiated in March. 

Some of that oil went to India, some to the Netherlands, and some was sent to China where the president’s son has engaged in years of potentially criminal business activity embroiling the Biden White House in scandal since the 2020 campaign.  

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Update #1: Biden 'crime family' profits from oil while Americans suffer from gas prices: Energy expert (FOX News)  

Update #2: Biden administration sold a million barrels of oil from US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Chinese state-owned firm where Hunter Biden is an investor: Report (pIndia) 

Update #3: Biden Sold 1 Million Barrels From Strategic Petroleum Reserve To Chinese Firm Hunter Invested In (Zero Hedge)  

WNU Editor: What can one say. The US first family is as crooked as they come.

Shocking Russian Military Corruption Exposed (Video)

 

WNU Editor: Name me one major country where its military industrial complex was not corrupt. 

In the case of Russia, I still remember posting this story years ago .... Russian Defense Chief Shoigu Accused Of Owning $18 Million Mansion (RFE).

World Corruption Is Rampant

Statista: Where Corruption Is Rampant 

Transparency International has released its 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index which gauges levels of perceived public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories around the world. The index scores them on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (clean) with the average score just 43 out of 100. Two thirds of countries scored less than 50. The research found that corruption was rampant across the world in 2020 and that it undermined the response to Covid-19, threatened the global recovery and contributed to democratic backsliding.  

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WNU Editor: Belarusian President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, Europe’s last dictator, has been named 2021’s Person of the Year by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) .... Name of world’s most corrupt person in 2021 revealed (Pakistan Observer).

Transparency International Has Released Its 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index

Zero Hedge: US Corruption Hits Highest Since 2012 Amid COVID Bailouts & Democracy Doubts Transparency International has released its 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index which gauges levels of perceived public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories around the world. The index scores them on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (clean) with the average score just 43 out of 100. As Statista's Niall McCarthy notes, two thirds of countries scored less than 50. The research found that corruption was rampant across the world in 2020 and that it undermined the response to Covid-19, threatened the global recovery and contributed to democratic backsliding. Transparency International states that 2020 has shown that Covid-19 is not just a health and economic crisis but also a corruption crisis. When it comes to healthcare in particular, corruption takes many forms such as bribery, embezzlement, overpricing and favoritism. Reports of corruption have grown since the pandemic broke out and countless lives were lost due to the issue undermining a fair and equitable global response. Read more .... 

WNU Editor: No surprises on who are the most corrupt countries.

Africa Is Losing $89 Billion Per Year Through Tax Evasion And Theft

Reuters: Illegal money flows from Africa near $90 billion, U.N. study says

GENEVA (Reuters) - Africa is losing nearly $89 billion a year in illicit financial flows such as tax evasion and theft, amounting to more than it receives in development aid, a U.N. study showed on Monday.

The estimate, in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) 248-page report, is its most comprehensive to date for Africa. It shows an increasing trend over time and is higher than most previous estimates.

The report calls Africa a “net creditor to the world,” echoing economists’ observations that the aid-reliant continent is actually a net exporter of capital because of these trends.

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WNU Editor: Only $89 billion. For one year that is a small amount. But over 15 years we are talking big money .... Africa’s ‘lost $836bn through illegal transfers’.

More News On Africa Losing $89 Billion Per Year Through Tax Evasion And Theft

Africa could gain $89 billion annually by curbing illicit financial flows -- UN Trade and Development
Illicit capital robbing Africa and its people of their future: UN trade and development chief -- UN News
Illicit money flows from Africa near $89bn, UN study says -- Al Jazeera

One Of the Biggest Threats To The Chinese Navy Is Corruption

The Type 075 amphibious assault ship has a water displacement of 40,000 tons and is the largest of its kind across Asian navies. Photo: Xinhua

The Diplomat: The Invisible Threat to China’s Navy: Corruption

The arrest of CSIC’s chairman speaks to endemic corruption among China’s military shipbuilders. That spells trouble for the PLAN.

In the past two decades, China has invested heavily in its naval modernization program with the objective of building a blue-water navy. Crucial to that goal was the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), China’s leading military shipbuilding state-owned enterprise from 1999 to 2019. Yet the recent arrest of former CSIC Chairman Hu Wenming highlights the fact that serious corruption exists among China’s military shipbuilders, in spite of sustained graft fighting efforts.

In the past few years, important individuals of CSIC have been nabbed under corruption charges. Now, the man who once stood at the pinnacle of Chinese military shipbuilding has fallen to the same allegation. This development shows that China’s naval modernization is much more complex than simple growth. Likewise, corruption among China’s military shipbuilders is sure to have consequences for the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

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WNU Editor: It is not only the Chinese navy that is having a corruption problem .... China's former military chief of staff jailed for life for corruption (The Guardian).

FBI Raid Home Of Senator Richard Burr Amid Probe Into Stock Sales

Across 33 different transactions on February 13, Burr sold off between $628,000 and $1.72 million of his holdings, according to ProPublica who first reported on the senator’s sell off in March

Daily Mail: FBI raid home of Senator Richard Burr and seize his cellphone amid probe into stock sales he made after classified coronavirus briefings before economy tanked

* FBI officers seized a cellphone belonging to Senator Richard Burr on Wednesday night as part of the Justice Department’s insider trading probe
* Sen. Burr, of North Carolina, surrendered his phone to federal agents after they served a search warrant on the lawmaker at his Washington home
* Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sold a large percentage of his stock portfolio in February shortly before the market slumped
* Justice Department are investigating whether Burr violated a law that prevents members of Congress from trading on insider information
* Across 33 different transactions on February 13, Burr sold off between $628,000 and $1.72 million of his holdings, following coronavirus briefings

FBI officers seized a cellphone belonging to Senator Richard Burr on Wednesday night as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into controversial stock trades he made at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sen. Burr, of North Carolina, surrendered his phone to federal agents after they served a search warrant on the lawmaker at his home in Washington, an anonymous law enforcement source told the LA Times.

Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the health committee, sold a large percentage of his stock portfolio in February shortly before the market slumped and after he began receiving daily briefings on the coronavirus.

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WNU Editor: He is not the only US senator who did stock sales after receiving a classified coronavirus briefing. We shall see if the others will also be raided.

More News On The FBI Raiding The Home Of Senator Richard Burr Amid Probe Into Stock Sales

FBI serves warrant on senator in investigation of stock sales linked to coronavirus -- L.A. Times
FBI serves search warrant on Sen. Richard Burr amid stock trading controversy: report -- The Hill
The FBI seized Republican Sen. Richard Burr's cell phone as part of an investigation into potential insider trading related to coronavirus -- Business Insider
FBI serves warrant on Sen. Richard Burr over coronavirus-related stock sales -- NY Post

Why Is the Pentagon Paying $10 A Gallon For Gas In Iraq?

Lance Cpl. Justin Bowles/U.S. Marine Corps

The New Republic: Why Is the Pentagon Still Paying $10 a Gallon for Gas?

Amid a global oil collapse, the military is overpaying politically connected contractors to keep its jets fueled in Iraq.

As any American who’s passed a gas station in the past two months knows, global oil markets are melting down. Even before coronavirus lockdowns led billions of people to halt their daily commutes, cratering demand for gasoline, Saudi Arabia and Russia had increased production of crude oil, the main component in refined fuels, in an attempt to drive each other out of business. Oil prices plummeted. For a brief period last month, the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate Crude dropped 300 percent, to negative $37.63. Its price now hovers around $20 a barrel—less than 50 cents per gallon—and some experts warn that “the coronavirus oil shock is just getting started.” It’s a terrible time to be in the fuel business.

Unless, that is, you have the right Iraqi connections, and you’re selling to the United States military and its contractors.

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WNU Editor: Corruption in the Middle East. Some things never change.

Russia's Space Program Rocked By Major Theft And Corruption

Vladimir Putin inspects the construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome in 2015. © Sputnik / Aleksey Nikolskyi

BBC: Russia corruption: Putin's pet space project Vostochny tainted by massive theft

Russia's new Vostochny space centre has lost at least 11bn roubles (£133m; $172m) through theft and top officials have been jailed.

So what went wrong with President Vladimir Putin's pet project?

Russia's Federal Investigative Committee (SK) says it is handling 12 more criminal cases linked to theft in this mega-project, which Mr Putin sees as a strategic priority for Russia, because of its huge commercial potential.

The longest jail term handed down so far was 11-and-a-half years for Yuri Khrizman, former head of state construction firm Dalspetsstroy.

Prof Mark Galeotti, a Russia expert at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), told the BBC the Vostochny scandal highlighted the scale of corruption in Mr Putin's huge state bureaucracy.

"How can you deal with it without declaring war on your own elite? He's not prepared to do that. This dependency on mega-projects almost invariably creates massive opportunities for embezzlement," Mr Galeotti said.

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WNU Editor: With the exception of Russia's massive oil projects, every other major Russian mega project is a recipe for massive theft and corruption. I still remember the Sochi Olympics and the insane costs involved in that project .... Russia Is Spending A Ludicrous Amount Of Money On The Winter Olympics (Business Insider). At least Russian media is reporting this theft. In the past they would have ignore it.

More News On Russia's Space Program Rocked By Major Theft And Corruption

‘They keep stealing in hundreds of millions’: Putin outraged by ongoing fraud at Vostochny Cosmodrome construction -- RT
Kremlin: $169 mln stolen out of $1.4 bln allocated for Vostochny spaceport construction -- TASS
Putin bemoans continued corruption at space base -- ABC News/AP
Putin: hundreds of millions being stolen in construction of Vostochny cosmodrome -- Crime Russia
Corrupt officials removed from Vostochny spaceport construction -- TASS

Corrupt Chinese Official Found With Thirteen And A Half Tonnes Of Gold And £30Billion In His Bank Account

Daily Mail: Thirteen and a half tonnes of gold worth up to £520million is found in a corrupt Chinese official's home and £30BILLION in suspected bribe money in his bank account

* Thousands of golden bars and bricks were discovered in a room during a raid
* Inspectors also discovered £30 billion in suspected bribes on his account
* The 58-year-old official in Haikou has been sacked and is under investigation
* He would have been richer than China's richest man if charges turn out to be true

A powerful Communist official in China is suspected to have received 13.5 tonnes of gold and £30 billion cash in bribes.

Thousands of golden bars and bricks were discovered at the leader's home during a raid by corruption inspectors earlier this month.

Their value could be worth up to £520 million, according to international trading prices.

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WNU Editor: I see a lot of gold, but I do not see 13.5 tons of gold. As to the £30Billion In His Bank Account .... I have to see it to believe.

China's Military Still Has A Corruption Problem

President Xi Jinping and former PLA chief of joint staff Fang Fenghui ahead of a meeting in Beijing in 2017. Fang was jailed for life in February for taking bribes. Photo: Reuters

SCMP: China’s military demotes over 70 senior officers ‘for bribing Fang Fenghui’

* At least one general and two lieutenant generals on the list of those punished for links to jailed former chief of joint staff, according to sources
* They were ‘found guilty of offering bribes in exchange for promotions’

More than 70 serving and retired senior officers with the People’s Liberation Army have been demoted for their involvement in a corruption scandal that has rocked the PLA leadership, military sources said.

The officers – who included at least one general and two lieutenant generals – were punished for their connections to Fang Fenghui, the former chief of joint staff.

Their demotions were based on confessions given by Fang, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in February for taking bribes, according to three separate military sources, who requested anonymity.

“Among the officers, 44 of them belonged to the Beijing Military Command where Fang was the commander from 2007 to 2012,” one military source said.

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Update: Want to Be A Chinese Army General? Pay in Cash. (Michael Peck, National Interest).

WNU Editor: Chinese President Xi consolidated his power by pursuing an anti-corruption campaign. No one was immune, and over the years scores were punished. But the culture of corruption is still very strong in China, and it is not going to disappear anytime soon.

This Is How To Dismantle A Nuclear Missile

Popular Mechanics: How to Dismantle a Nuclear Missile

It’s a long and complex process, but it is doable.

A new video shows the intricate process involved in deactivating a nuclear-tipped missile. The video by the Outrider Foundation explains step-by-step how to break down a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, from disassembling and disposing of the rocket side to the nuclear weapon payload itself.

Introduced in the early 1970s, the Minuteman III forms the land-based component of the United States nuclear triad (nukes launches from the air and the sea for the other two legs). Four hundred Minuteman IIIs are based in hardened concrete silos across the Western states, manned by Air Force launch crews. The Minuteman III’s exact payload is a secret but believed to be a single Mk. 21 reentry vehicles with a single 300- to 475-kiloton thermonuclear warhead.

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WNU Editor: This is information that I hope that I will never have to use.

Somalia Is The World's Most Corrupt Country

A map showing the most corrupt countries in red and the 'cleanest' countries in yellow, Europe is the best continental region, while Africa is mired in corruption at the top levels of government

Daily Mail: The world’s most corrupt countries revealed: Somalia is named as the worst, with Denmark considered the fairest… while experts warn the US is ‘one to watch’

* Experts believe Trump is a symptom of broader problems with democracy in US
* Somalia topped the list for corruption, followed by Syria and South Sudan
* Denmark was the 'cleanest' nation, while Britain came eleventh with Germany
* Hungary received its worst post-Soviet rating with populism blamed for a shift

Somalia is the most corrupt country in the world, Denmark the least, while America's falling score is a 'red flag', according to a global corruption watchdog.

Transparency International highlighted Hungary and the United States in their Corruption Perceptions Index for 2018, with America being knocked from the top 20 'cleanest' list.

Trump's America lost four points and dropped out of the top 20 least corrupt nations for the first time since 2011, while Hungary's politics has taken on more autocratic overtones, according to the researchers.

'A four point drop in the CPI score is a red flag and comes at a time when the US is experiencing threats to its system of checks and balance, as well as an erosion of ethical norms at the highest levels of power,' the Berlin-based organization said.

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WNU Editor: The link to the report is here .... Corruption Perceptions Index 2018.

More News On The World's Corruption Index

The World's Least Corrupt Countries: The U.S. Drops Out of the Top 20 -- Newsweek
The world's 20 most corrupt countries -- Yahoo Finance
Eastern Europe, Central Asia Failing To Make Progress In Corruption, Says Watchdog -- RFE
China, Vietnam seen as more corrupt while Indonesia, Philippines clean up their act: Transparency International report -- SCMP
U.S. Slips In Annual Global Corruption Rankings -- NPR
Transparency International: 'Crisis of democracy' and corruption go hand in hand -- DW

China's Ex-Deputy Intelligence Chief Has Been Jailed For Life Over Corruption

Image broadcast on Chinese TV of Ma Jian during the verdict

BBC: Ma Jian: China's ex-intelligence chief jailed for life

China's ex-intelligence chief Ma Jian has been sentenced to life in prison for crimes including taking bribes and insider trading, a court says.

Ma had been put under investigation in 2015 and expelled from the Communist Party one year later.

He pleaded guilty and would not appeal, a court in the north-eastern Liaoning province said.

Many high-ranking officials have been toppled as part of President Xi Jinping's vast anti-corruption drive.

Read more ....

More News On China's Ex-Deputy Intelligence Chief Being Jailed For Life Over Corruption

One of China’s former top spy chiefs gets life sentence for taking US$15.8 million in bribes, insider trading -- SCMP
China's ex-deputy spy chief Ma Jian sentenced to life for corruption -- DW
China Ex-Deputy Intelligence Chief Given Life Sentence For Corruption -- Time/AP
Chinese Official Tied to Billionaire Fugitive Is Sentenced to Life in Prison -- The New York Times
Former Chinese Official Linked to Exiled Tycoon Gets Life in Prison -- The Wall Street Journal
High-Ranking Chinese Intelligence Officer Jailed For Life in Corruption Case -- Sputnik
China's ex deputy intelligence chief jailed for life over graft -- Al Jazeera