World’s Poor Hard Hit By Bribery

A global survey has revealed that the impact of the ongoing financial crisis has increased people’s fears of corruption among private companies and that most people believe private firms paid bribes to influence public policy, laws and regulations.

Transparency International (TI) said 53% of 73,000 respondents from 69 countries polled for 2009 Global Corruption Barometer now saw the private sector as being corrupt, up from 45% in 2004. However, respondents said political parties were the most corrupt bodies.

In roughly a fifth of the countries and territories surveyed, including countries home to some of the world’s major financial centers, such as Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Switzerland, respondents identified the private sector as the most corrupt institution.

Rihanna’s Nude Photos Cost Her Vogue Cover

According to reports, the R&B star was being lined up for the prestigious photoshoot, however, editor Anna Wintour changed her plans after shots of the singer posing naked leaked online, reports The Daily Express .

A source tells Star magazine, “Anna told her Vogue absolutely loves her and really wanted to work with her.

Man Chopped Off Penis After Marriage Refusal

A 25-year-old Egyptian man cut off his own penis to spite his family after he was refused permission to marry a girl from a lower class family, police reported on Sunday.

After unsuccessfully petitioning his father for two years to marry the girl, the man heated up a knife and sliced off his reproductive organ, said a police official. (Ouch!)

 The young man came from a prominent family in the southern Egyptian province of Qena, one of Egypt’s poorest and most conservative areas that is also home to the famed ancient Egyptian ruins of Luxor.

Red Bull High On Cocaine

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Hong Kong officials have found traces of cocaine in cans of Red Bull, a few days after Taiwanese authorities confiscated close to 18,000 cases of the popular energy drink.

Officials at the Centre for Food Safety said a laboratory analysis found tiny amounts of the illegal drug in samples of ‘Red Bull Cola’, ‘Red Bull Sugar-free’ and ‘Red Bull Energy Drink’, a spokesman said. He added the amount of cocaine found in the drinks posed little health danger.

The traces were between 0.1 and 0.3 micrograms of the illegal drug per litre, the statement said.