The European Union’s internal watchdog has launched an investigation of European Central Bank president Mario Draghi following a complaint of conflict of interest, the institution’s spokeswoman said.

FACING high unemployment and lukewarm public approval, President Barack Obama can take heart from history: At the same point in his presidency 28 years ago, Ronald Reagan was saddled with an approval rating much lower than Obama’s is now. And the unemployment rate then was a full percentage point higher.

An accomplished former US prosecutor is taking United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon to a tribunal, accusing him of blocking his appointment to the world body’s top investigative post.

IRISH voters could be forced to go to the polls in yet another EU referendum on a strengthening of eurozone rules in the wake of the Greek crisis.

THE head of Germany’s Central Bank has expressed serious doubt over the potential effectiveness of the proposed European Stabilisation Fund, which is aimed at reducing future failings in the international banking sector.

President Barack Obama stepped up his campaign against Wall Street today with a far-reaching proposal for tougher regulation of the biggest US banks.

US president Barack Obama will announce a plan today to give the government new powers to limit the size and complexity of large financial institutions and their ability to engage in high-risk trades.

Kofi Annan lost his voice, looked vacant at meetings and even sought medical help after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, according to a new biography by his former spokesman.

President Barack Obama’s closest economic advisors are signalling that the financial crisis will require more money and more US government intervention to correct.

PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama has denied he is bringing too many Washington insiders of the Clinton era into his administration.

US President-elect Barack Obama denied today he was bringing too many Washington insiders of the Clinton era into his administration.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama today turned to some of the most respected names in the business world for fresh ideas to end the US financial upheaval and win the confidence of voters.

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama turned his attention to the troubled US economy today after he surged to his largest ever lead over his Republican rival John McCain following his high-profile overseas tour.

An Australian inquiry into alleged multimillion dollar bribes paid to export wheat to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is expected to recommend criminal charges against several senior executives.

Australia’s monopoly wheat exporter has apologised for paying bribes to Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime, in a statement written by its boss and released for the first time by an inquiry into alleged corruption.

The UN’s report on the oil-for-food programme for Saddam Hussein’s Iraq drew widespread denials, terse dismissals and protestations of innocence yesterday, but also pledges to investigate from some of the 2,200 companies cited and countries with citizens named.

In a scathing final report documenting massive corruption in the UN oil-for-food programme, investigators accused more than 2,200 companies and prominent politicians of colluding with Saddam Hussein’s regime.

HALF of the 4,500 companies in the UN oil-for-food programme, including Volvo and Daimler Chrysler, paid €1.5 billion in kickbacks and illicit surcharges to Saddam Hussein’s government, a UN report has concluded.

George Galloway has been accused once again of receiving kickbacks from Saddam Hussein’s oil-for-food programme.

Switzerland has launched criminal proceedings against four people in connection with the UN oil-for-food programme, the Economics Ministry said today.

IN A devastating assessment of the United Nations oil-for-food programme in Iraq, investigators yesterday strongly criticised Secretary General Kofi Annan, his deputy and the Security Council for allowing Saddam Hussein to bilk €10 billion as a result of the giant humanitarian operation.

In a devastating assessment of the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq, investigators today strongly criticised Secretary General Kofi Annan, his deputy and the Security Council for allowing Saddam Hussein to gain €8.1bn as a result of the giant humanitarian operation.

A sweeping year-long probe of the Iraq oil-for-food program has concluded that the United Nations allowed “illicit, unethical, and corrupt behaviour” to overwhelm the $64bn (€51.2bn) operation, and must adopt sweeping reforms to reclaim its credibility before taking on such tasks again.

THE former head of the United Nations oil-for-food programme in Iraq could face charges after a committee investigating the tainted programme said it had found enough evidence of a kickback scheme to support prosecution.

The former chief of the Iraq oil-for-food programme has resigned – just a day before investigators release a report that is expected to accuse him of taking kickbacks under the $64bn (€51.8bn) humanitarian operation.

Investigators probing the United Nations oil-for-food programme have found evidence of “gross mismanagement” and possible corruption by the agency that oversaw compensation for victims of Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Iraq’s deputy UN ambassador said early today.

The committee probing the UN oil-for-food programme has announced it will again investigate Secretary-General Kofi Annan after two previously unknown emails suggested he may have known more than he claimed about a multi-million-dollar UN contract awarded to the company that employed his son.

INVESTIGATORS of the UN oil-for-food programme said yesterday they are “urgently reviewing” new information that suggests UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan may have known more than he revealed about a contract that was awarded to the company that employed his son.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan fired staff member Joseph Stephanides for wrongdoing in the oil-for-food scandal, a UN spokesman said today – the first dismissal stemming from alleged corruption in the multibillion-dollar programme.

Former top officials from Saddam Hussein’s government told US congressional investigators they provided millions of dollars worth of oil allocations as a form of pay-off to Russian leaders in hopes of ending UN sanctions against Iraq, a congressional panel said.

QUESTIONS raised by a probe of the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq may have given critics more ammunition against the world body, even though Secretary-General Kofi Annan was cleared of corrupt practices.

INVESTIGATORS probing the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq said in a report yesterday that there is not enough evidence to show that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan knew of a contract bid by his son’s employer.

Investigators probing the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq will criticise UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, his son and the Swiss company that employed him, but will not accuse the UN chief of corruption, officials said.

THE son of the UN Secretary-General was yesterday reported to have received at least €230,000 from a Swiss company that was awarded a contract from the UN’s oil-for-food programme in Iraq — almost double the amount previously disclosed.

SECRETARY-GENERAL Kofi Annan urged world leaders yesterday to implement the boldest changes to the United Nations in its 60 year history.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged world leaders today to implement the boldest changes to the United Nations in its 60 year history by expanding the size of the Security Council, writing a new definition of terrorism and strengthening protections for human rights.

KOFI ANNAN yesterday suspended the head of the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq and a senior official who dealt with contracts following an independent investigation that accused them of misconduct.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has suspended the head of the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq and a senior official who dealt with contracts following an independent investigation that accused them of misconduct.

The UN has vowed to discipline two officials implicated in a report that detailed conflicts of interest and flawed management in the UN oil-for-food programme, while the man leading the investigation warned that more revelations were forthcoming.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has ordered disciplinary action against the head of the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq, who was sharply criticised in an investigation that accused him of a “grave conflict of interest” and “undermining the integrity” of the UN.

The man leading an independent investigation into alleged corruption in the United Nations’ oil-for-food programme said most of the money illegally obtained by Saddam Hussein came from smuggling, much of which the UN Security Council knew about but did not stop.

UN diplomats say they are concerned that calls for Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s resignation and allegations of widespread corruption in the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq could derail plans for a sweeping reform.

Andersen is poised to cut up to 6,000 US jobs, according to reports.

Arthur Andersen chief executive Joseph Berardino has resigned.