During the court proceeding, Mr. Mubarak and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, were acquitted of corruption charges related to the controversial purchase of seaside villas on Egypt's Red Sea Coast.

WSJ: Verdicts in Mubarak Case Spark Anger in Egypt

Corruption has reached such extremes that businesses involved in preparing the Black Sea resort of Sochi for the Winter Olympics of 2014 report having to pay kickbacks of more than fifty per cent.

NEWYORKER: Net Impact

Voters wanted a change, they blamed the socialists for Romania's corruption, and they saw the plain-spoken Mr Basescu, a former sea captain and mayor of Bucharest, as a rare honest man.

ECONOMIST: A promising start to a presidency