by Jennifer Williams

Nastase is accused of receiving more than €1.3 million in bribes, “including merchandise illegally shipped from China, from an official in charge of civil and industrial construction”, the International Herald Tribune writes.

In addition, the International Herald Tribune reports that he is accused of “receiving illegal campaign contributions worth € 817 000 from a printing company and a construction company”.

According to the BBC, the case “relates to the building of an apartment in Bucharest”. BBC notes that Nastase was “forced to step down” from the leadership of the opposition Social Democrat Party last year, when the investigation opened, adding that “Correspondents say the Romanian authorities have been anxious to deal with allegations of corruption as the country prepares to join the EU”.

The Southeast Europe Times notes that Nastase is the most important Romanian politician to face such charges. The paper quotes Nastase’s belief that he is the victim of “big, dirty political manoeuvres”, and his claim that “an entire system of prosecutors, policemen and people from the secret services was deployed in order to make up the case”.

By Jennifer Williams

“The Iraq war hurt Republican candidates in the midterm elections, but corruption and scandal were bigger problems for them,” wrote Time magazine; “Three-fourths of voters said corruption and scandal were important to their votes.”

CNN exit-poll interviewers asked voters in close to 1 000 precincts to “describe themselves and their opinions on important issues.” CNN reported that “when asked which issue was extremely important to their vote, more voters said corruption and ethics in government than any other issue”.

The International Herald Tribune listed various scandals from the last two years as contributing to public fears of corruption, including the “influence-peddling scandal tied to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff”. These, wrote the International Herald Tribune, allowed the Democrats to claim that “the Republican-led house had lost its ethical bearings”.

by Jennifer Williams

The Guardian reported that a prosecutor confirmed the chief executive’s office was “among those searched”, but that “Mr Kleinfeld was a witness, not a suspect, in the case”.

Der Spiegel reported that Munich prosecutors are investigating “a total of ten Siemens employees, plus two acquaintances who were not Siemens workers”. They are alleged to have diverted company funds “to front companies and bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein”, wrote Der Spiegel.

According to Deutsche Welle, “Prosecutors are investigating whether the money was part of a slush fund used to bribe overseas contractors to place orders, including a contract for security systems at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens”.

Mr Kleinfeld has, according to The Times, “pledged to punish corrupt employees”, his company promising to set up “a special anti-corruption taskforce”.