Foreigners are keenly aware of the violent daily battles fueled by organized crime in Mexico -- the drug gangs that rule entire cities, the murders along the border, the kidnappings that lead wealthy Mexicans to send their children abroad. But underpinning these violent extremes are the quieter, myriad daily forms of dishonesty that corrode the lives of average citizens, and that somehow come to be accepted as normal. How does a country surrender to corruption? A 100Reporters exclusive by Maria Pallais. -. [FULL ARTICLE]
In an effort to stanch the devastation that alcoholism has wreaked on the Olglala Sioux, tribal leaders banned alcohol on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. But they won't succeed if their neighbors in Whiteclay, NE have anything to say about it. Whiteclay (Population 14) exists solely to sell liquor to the tribe. Total sales of beer last year: 4.9 million cans. Now the tribe is suing. Free enterprise v. free fall. A 100Reporters exclusive by Stephanie Woodard. -. [FULL ARTICLE]
Kathmandu, Nepal — When Nepal sent peacekeepers into the conflict-torn region of Darfur in 2007, it was walking into trouble in a way that it did not anticipate. Millions of dollars that Nepal had earmarked to purchase military equipment were instead embezzled, while the armored personal carriers it ordered to protect its soldiers in Sudan turned out to be substandard and obsolete. In a courtroom in Kathmandu, the “Sudan Scam,’’ a saga of greed and corruption that has gripped the nation, is having its first encounter with accountability. A special court has convicted three former chiefs of the Nepal police and two arms suppliers – including a Briton – in the case and slapped them with tall fines and potential jail … [FULL ARTICLE]
Organic farmers are leading a movement to challenge the aerial use of pesticides on nearby land, saying that the chemicals are carried on the air over great distances. Frustrated by years of government inaction, they are turning to independent analysis to produce startling findings about the chemicals that millions of Americans unwittingly ingest, inhale and absorb every day. Growing evidence suggests that exposures today cause damage at least four generations into the future. A 100Reporters exclusive by Clare Howard. [FULL ARTICLE]
