The tycoons' case will be weakened by the surprise arrest on March 29th, for alleged graft, of two major property developers, reported to be Raymond and Thomas Kwok of Sun Hung Kai Properties, as well as a former high government official, reported to be Rafael Hui.

ECONOMIST: Hong Kong��s next leader

"As a former high-ranking military official, people listen to him, " Shepperd said.

CNN: Former Joint Chiefs chairman: Time to include gay troops

In fact, however, a former high-ranking Pakistani intelligence official has given The Economist a much more plausible explanation for the Lahore attack: that it was the handiwork of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

ECONOMIST: The culprits behind the latest outrage

Samuel Gonzalez, a former high-level anti-organized crime official, says authorities need to go after the cartels' financial networks.

CNN: Mexican drug cartel trots out boy as warning to cops

The Obama Administration resisted that estimate, saying that the costs were too high to expect congressional support, the former official told me.

NEWYORKER: After America

One former high-ranking U.S. State Department official recalled a meeting with Chavez in the early 2000s where the two sides had a "fairly good" conversation.

CNN: Chavez leaves a revolutionary legacy

Nunca Mais contends that the former official executed orders from government superiors, which forced the stricken ship out to high seas, instead of letting it take refuge in a port to try to contain the damage, Sanchez said.

CNN: SHARE THIS

High-profile prosecutions of former local-government officials are a sign that there will no longer be official tolerance of the kind of corruption that was so blatant in Casablanca, where funds allocated for slum clearance and other projects in the 1990s were diverted into private pockets.

ECONOMIST: The king is seeking to embrace moderate Islamists