Rights groups warn Ethiopia is tightening its grip on independent media as at least six journalists have been arrested since August, some held for weeks without charge under new laws ahead of the 2026 elections. www.occrp.org/en/news/ethi...

Tens of thousands rallied in Manila on Sunday against alleged corruption in billions of taxpayer funds lost to “ghost” flood-control projects now under investigation by the Senate and House of Representatives. www.occrp.org/en/news/one-...

Europol Flags 51 Child Victims, 213 Leads in Global Abuse Investigation www.occrp.org/en/news/euro...

Captagon Drug Networks Adapt and Survive in Middle East After Assad’s Fall www.occrp.org/en/feature/c...

🌎 Here's this week's round-the-world roundup of OCCRP's biggest stories and scoops 👇

NEW: Private equity is reshaping U.S. hospitals into financial assets, often at the expense of patients. Our new investigation reveals how a deal with a real-estate investment trust helped drive a major hospital chain further into financial ruin: www.occrp.org/en/investiga...

U.S. Sanctions Violent Faction of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel www.occrp.org/en/news/us-s...

France’s financial crimes office is probing ex-Lebanese premier Najib Mikati and his brother for alleged fraud. NGOs say they allegedly used offshore firms to launder millions and buy property across France. www.occrp.org/en/news/fran...

Georgian prosecutors accuse a currency exchange owner of running the country’s biggest laundering scheme, allegedly moving $660 million from Azerbaijan into legal circulation through banks and property deals.

🇱🇧 Lebanon will expedite an extradition request to Bulgaria after the arrest of Russian-Cypriot citizen Igor Grechushkin, Minister of Justice Adel Nassar told OCCRP’s Lebanese media partner, Daraj www.occrp.org/en/news/beir...

The Romanian subsidiary of Austria's HS Timber Group faces allegations that it under-reported the amount of lumber it processed, and avoided taxes on some sales. The company denies the accusations, and no charges have been filed. www.occrp.org/en/news/roma...

The arrest in Bulgaria of Igor Grechushkin — whose ship carried chemicals to Lebanon that exploded in 2020 — is viewed as a sign that a long stalled investigation might finally get results. www.occrp.org/en/news/beir...

Spain, Portugal Crack Down on Cocaine Networks www.occrp.org/en/news/spai...

⚡Exclusive: After falling into heavy debt under the management of a private equity firm, hospital operator Prospect Medical Holdings struck a “sale-leaseback” deal with real-estate investment trust MPT that ultimately plunged it deeper into financial ruin: www.occrp.org/en/investiga...

Deal With Real-Estate Investment Trust Helps Bring Down Another U.S. Hospital Operator www.occrp.org/en/investiga...

A Georgian court has remanded Israeli national Shimon Hayut, the focus of a 2022 Netflix documentary, in custody for three months pending a possible extradition request from Germany. www.occrp.org/en/news/tind...

Two journalists received prison terms and two accountants probation in a case critics say targets independent media and discourages government criticism. www.occrp.org/en/news/kloo...

A draft law under consideration since 2023, meant to update Lebanon’s outdated Publications Law, could instead upend free expression and muzzle journalistic work through proposed amendments such as reintroducing pretrial detention for defamation-related charges. www.occrp.org/en/news/righ...

Two San Fernando Valley Men Charged in $611 Million Electronics Export Scheme www.occrp.org/en/news/two-...

Son of Rostec Executive Questioned in Spain Over Possible Money Laundering www.occrp.org/en/news/son-...

The operation spanned 18 countries across Asia and North Africa, with authorities reportedly seizing fentanyl in quantities “enough to kill 151 million people.” www.occrp.org/en/news/inte...

Igor Grechushkin, who leased the ship that carried chemicals to Lebanon which then exploded, was arrested in Bulgaria after arriving on a flight from Cyprus. www.occrp.org/en/news/bulg...

Accused of helping officials sell public land for far less than its value, the woman appraiser has been handed over to Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau. www.occrp.org/en/news/germ...

Ecuador has become the world’s leading cocaine exporter — increasingly through a new port in Posorja. In the once-sleepy fishing town, two violent gangs now compete for control. www.occrp.org/en/feature/s...

New ministers took oaths of office outside the wreckage of the presidential building, torched during last week's protests. www.occrp.org/en/news/nepa...

For the second time in its long-running dispute with Equatorial Guinea, the ICJ has ruled in France’s favor, paving the way for the sale of former Vice President Teodorín Obiang’s multimillion-euro mansion seized in a corruption probe.

Security cameras. Biometric controls. Cargo scanners. Ecuador’s $1.2bn port in Posorja was designed to keep drug traffickers out. But cocaine gangs have already encroached — quickly and violently. www.occrp.org/en/feature/s...

In the five years before Posorja’s $1.2bn port opened, the Ecuadorian town reported 13 murders. Since 2020, there have been more than 200 killings — a trend that police link to the drug trade as two violent gangs vie for control of logistics. www.occrp.org/en/feature/s...

🌎🌍🌏WEEKLY UPDATE🌏🌍🌎 Here's this week's round-the-world roundup of OCCRP's biggest stories and scoops 👇

The sleepy Ecuadorian town of Posorja was once a “place of peace.” Then a new $1.2bn port was built. Here’s how drug traffickers moved in on the port town — and murders skyrocketed: www.occrp.org/en/feature/s...

Human Rights Watch warns that Yemen’s warring parties are detaining, torturing and assassinating journalists, seizing media outlets and strangling press freedom. www.occrp.org/en/news/righ...

Brazil Supreme Court Convicts Bolsonaro, Hands Down 27-Year Sentence www.occrp.org/en/news/braz...

Nigerian authorities have banned the import and sale of two herbicides that have been found to be toxic, but inconsistent enforcement allowed Chinese-owned firms to continue to bring millions of dollars’ worth of the chemicals into the country. www.occrp.org/en/scoop/tox...

Did you know that Ecuador has transformed from one of Latin America’s safest countries into the world’s leading cocaine exporter? Wedged between coca growers Colombia and Peru, the nation is also the top exporter of bananas — cargo ideal for smugglers. (Pic: IMAGO/César Muñoz)

U.K. authorities jails suspected ringleaders who plotted to sail 600 kilos of cocaine across the Atlantic before turning to container shipments and cannabis imports, as Europe faces record seizures and a booming drug trade. www.occrp.org/en/news/uk-j...

Juansher Burchuladze is alleged to have directed an embezzlement scheme, and used stolen funds to buy property in Spain. Through his lawyer, he denied the allegations. www.occrp.org/en/news/geor...

One of Turkey’s biggest media and education groups is placed under state trusteeship as authorities pursue sweeping financial crime charges. www.occrp.org/en/news/turk...

In the latest chapter of a decades-long human rights crisis, Egypt’s campaign to suppress dissent has escalated with the arrest of social media influencers, quashing the last spaces for free expression. www.occrp.org/en/news/soci...

🇳🇵What happens if a country bans 26 social media platforms in one day? #Nepal just showed us. We spoke with Rajneesh Bhandari, chief editor of the Nepal Investigative Multimedia Journalism Network, about the nuances and the corrosive corruption that enraged Gen Z: www.occrp.org/en/news/qa-c...

A new port in Ecuador has brought global commerce — but also cocaine and cartel violence — to the once placid shores of the fishing town of Posorja. www.occrp.org/en/feature/s...

As Nepal’s military negotiates with protestors, journalist Rajneesh Bhandari tells OCCRP about the corrosive corruption that enraged Gen Z. www.occrp.org/en/news/qa-c...

The U.S. Treasury Department holds records about financial transactions by Jeffrey Epstein, but has so far refused to hand them to Congressional investigators. www.occrp.org/en/news/us-s...

EU and U.S. authorities are hunting Ukrainian fugitive Volodymyr Tymoshchuk, accused of leading a ransomware network behind the LockerGoga attacks that crippled industries, disrupted supply chains and cost companies billions. www.occrp.org/en/news/eu-u...

Criminal networks based in Myanmar and Cambodia have used forced labor to scam Americans online, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

Violence outside a Tbilisi mayoral campaign office left journalists beaten and protesters injured, as reporters said police stood by while ruling party supporters attacked. www.occrp.org/en/news/viol...

US Court Hands 27-Year Sentence to Porn Site Founder for Sex Trafficking www.occrp.org/en/news/us-c...

Yi Huiman, who once headed the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the world’s largest bank, faces investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law.” www.occrp.org/en/news/chin...

Amid a soaring cost-of-living crisis, tighter EU import restrictions, and the spread of animal disease in Europe, the U.K. faces the risk of a major disease outbreak from a surge in illegal meat smuggling, all in the absence of direct oversight of the issue. www.occrp.org/en/news/uk-l...

Ramin Isayev, former SOCAR AQS director, was sentenced for embezzlement, fraud and money laundering, with investigators saying he laundered millions through Turkish real estate and used shell firms to win state tenders. www.occrp.org/en/news/azer...

In Kyrgyzstan, prosecutors have indicted former employees of the country’s top investigative outlet – Kloop – without citing a single piece of its reporting: www.occrp.org/en/project/u...