But, whether with truth or even falsehood truth, most Mexicans reckon the cosy kinship of former years is being sliced apart.
Last month, a court in Milan sentenced Italy's former intelligence chief Nicolo Pollari to 10 years in prison, and his former deputy, Marco Mancini, to nine years, over the Abu Omar case.
BBC: Italy Abu Omar rendition: Col Romano pardoned in CIA case
But for the past few years former Alwaleed executives have been telling me that the prince, while indeed one of the richest men in the world, systematically exaggerates his net worth by several billion dollars.
FORBES: Prince Alwaleed And The Curious Case Of Kingdom Holding Stock
Chances are, even if your boss has some skeletons in her closet as well, this will eventually come back to bite you which is exactly what happened to one of my former employees several years ago.
Reviewing the judicial system in January, Ms Severino mentioned backlogs of 5.5m civil and 3.4m criminal cases, with an average of over seven years needed for final judgments to be reached for the former and almost five years for the latter.
Given the close relationship between Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and Saddam Hussein (the former served for years as the latter's KGB case officer), the apparent compromise of that operation may have occurred when sensitive intelligence collected by the Lourdes sigint facilities was turned over to Baghdad.
And as a former member of Congress of 14 years, I urge my former colleagues to address this issue when they get back next Monday, and to work on a long-term, balanced solution to our deficit challenges.
Like Samoa, both Fiji and Tonga have lost former heads of state in recent years: Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, a former president of Fiji, died in 2004 and King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga died in 2006.
Two former ball boys, Bobby Davis, now 39 years old, and Mike Lang, now 45 years old, have accused former coach Bernie Fine of sexually abusing them in the 1980s when they were children.
The polling comes two years after former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forced from power.
In recent years, former Soviet republics have had some of the world's worst air traffic safety records.
In recent years, former U.S. presidents have traveled to North Korea to secure the release of detained American citizens.
WSJ: North Korea Sentences U.S. Citizen to 15 Years Hard Labor
In recent years, former U.S. presidents have traveled to North Korea to secure the release of detained U.S. citizens.
WSJ: North Korea Sentences U.S. Citizen to 15 Years Hard Labor
Yes, says Klaus Wowereit, who has been mayor of Berlin in alliance with the former communists for several years.
In recent years, former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have made trips to Pyongyang to retrieve U.S. citizens detained in North Korea.
It has also led to an allegation of assault by a former assistant, 10 years in therapy, treatment for behavioural problems and drug abuse.
One small error, such as listing the name of a former employer after the years worked there, instead of before, can ruin a great candidate's chances.
The following August, his divorce from his Swedish wife of six years, former model Elin Nordegren, who is the mother of his two children, was finalized.
Two years ago former Goodies star and wildlife enthusiast Bill Oddie turned away the This is Your Life production crew who had come to surprise him.
Obviously the story line about drug use grew in recent years as former teammates hurled allegations, and U.S. anti-doping officials mounted an investigation that would wind up stripping Armstrong of his titles.
And he added that the five inspectors were all "extremely moved" by Nelson Mandela welcoming them onto Robben Island, the island off Cape Town where the former president spent 18 years in prison under apartheid, on Wednesday.
BBC: SPORT | Football | African | Fifa team wraps up SA visit
Through his cronies and his latest (third) wife, a former air hostess 36 years his junior and regarded by some as ridiculously vulgar, he had begun to make mischief even for the current, more modern-minded, prime minister, Costas Simitis.
For Israeli ears, after years of former prime minister Ehud Olmert's and former foreign minister Tzipi Livni's continuous assaults on Israeli rights, and their strident defenses of capitulation to the Palestinians and the Syrians, Netanyahu's address was a breath of fresh air.
The organisers invited him to make a symbolic apology to the Nine, and to open the front doors of Central High School in front of a large crowd which, more than likely, contained a few of their former tormentors from 40 years ago.
Nevertheless, remarkable progress has been made in the 100 years since Theodor Herzl assembled the first Zionist congress, in the half century since David Ben Gurion inaugurated modern Israel, in the two decades since Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat achieved their breakthrough at Camp David, and even in the four years since former Prime Minister Rabin, Chairman Arafat, and President Clinton met on the White House lawn.
There was even greater surprise when, 14 years later, the former party functionary with no current party post, no elected national office and little government experience (just four years as education minister, between 1988 and 1992), not only imposed himself as the Socialists' presidential candidate, but went on to take the lead in the first ballot, before winning a thoroughly creditable 47% in the run-off.
Former Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni was banned from soccer for three and a half years last summer, and former Lazio captain Giuseppe Signori was also arrested.
Ellis spent two years coaching the former European champions before joining the Exiles in the summer.
The Two Tunnels Greenway route opens up two former railway tunnels nearly 50 years after they closed.
It's been almost two years since the former president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, was forced into exile.
NPR: Charles Taylor Still a Controversial Figure in Western Africa
应用推荐