corruption

(Newser) - US officials are quietly developing a plan to stabilize Iraq by neutralizing subversive and corrupt elements within the government, the Washington Post reports. The classified plan, still being finalized by Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker, shifts the focus of America's strategy in Iraq from military to political objectives.

(Newser) - A new breed of journalist is evolving out of China’s censored media: the web-based hired gun. The Washington Post reports on freelance muckrakers who investigate corruption the mainstream press can't touch and post the results on their sites. They're paid—if meagerly—by the aggrieved parties.