'corruption' - tagged features

Another European country that's had big difficulties maintaining a stable coalition government is Romania. With only a thin majority in Parliament the government has been unable to pass much needed anti-corruption laws. Alarmed by the high levels of corruption, the European Commission on Wednesday threatened to withhold a quarter of the farm aid Romania receives from the European Union. The EU agriculture commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel, gave Bucharest one month to root out "serious irregularities" in its agricultural payments system or risk losing more than one hundred million euros in farms subsidies. 

Paris, this week has been the focus of the world's aerospace industry gathers for the bi-annual air show. Headlines were dominated by the heady competition for sales between Europe's Airline manufacturer, Airbus and its American rival Boeing. But behind the high-tech displays and glittering mock ups - Allegations that a British arms manufacturer made secret payments amounting to billion of US dollars in connection with lucrative arms deals cast a shadow of the event. Radio France International's Hannah Godfrey has the details 

The Romanian political scene is very tense... With EU membership in its pocket and with pressure from Brussels subsiding, Romania is at a critical moment. The good steps taken so far in giving independence to the judiciary and combating corruption are no longer popular measures among the majority of Romania's politicians. Iulian Muresan reports. 

The world's biggest football event in the world is taking place in Germany at the moment. Inevitably, big business makes the most of an event of this kind. But the World Cup's commercialisation has reached epic proportions. Emirate airlines, McDonalds, Mastercard, and all the other brands crowd in to try and profit from the feel-good factor that surrounds the championships. Phenomena such as VIP areas, the World Cup lottery, and the privileges of sponsors have created a gap that leaves the 'poor' fan on the outside, looking in. German investigators are currently investigating one sponsor - the EnBW energy group - which stands accused of giving match tickets to politicians and government employees. Deutsche Welle reports.