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The Star
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
European Parliament names five lawmakers targeted in Huawei bribery scandal
The European Parliament has named five of its lawmakers whom Belgian prosecutors have targeted in a bribery scandal investigation involving Chinese technology giant Huawei Technologies. Authorities have asked the parliament to waive the lawmakers' immunity so that they can be investigated under the probe, which has been running for two months. They are accused of accepting gifts from Huawei in exchange for lobbying for the firm's interests in the parliament. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola on Wednesday named the lawmakers as Maltese Socialist MEP Daniel Attard, Bulgarian centrist lawmaker Nikola Minchev and three Italian members from the centre-right European People's Party – Salvatore De Meo, Fulvio Martusciello and Giusi Princi. The parliament's committee on legal affairs will now consider the request from Belgium's federal prosecutor and draft a report. The committee will vote on waiving immunity, after which a final decision will be taken in a vote of all the parliament's 720 members. Huawei has denied any wrongdoing, saying it 'has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing, and we are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations at all times'. The development comes after Belgian authorities asked the body to remove immunity for the lawmakers so that their involvement in the gifts-for-influence affair could be investigated. The scandal erupted in March when 100 Belgian police raided several premises in a case focused on 'active corruption' in the parliament as well as for 'forgery and use of false documents'. 'The corruption is said to have been practised regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to the present day,' the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said in a statement at the time. It transpired 'under the guise of commercial lobbying and taking various forms, such as remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches', the office added. Following police raids on premises in Belgium, France and Portugal, eight people have been charged with active corruption, money laundering and criminal organisation. Among those charged is one of Huawei's top executives in Europe, Politico reported. Two of those named had already publicly confirmed that they were part of the investigation. In a statement posted on social media, Attard said he watched a football match in Huawei's corporate box at the stadium of the Brussels-based team Anderlecht. 'I was not made aware that the invitation originated from any company or that it involved a corporate box,' Attard said. 'It has since emerged that the invitation came from a person who is currently under investigation by the Belgian authorities and who intended to speak to me about Huawei during the match.' Minchev, the Bulgarian MEP, told local media that he also attended a match in the Huawei box last October. 'I will cooperate 100 per cent and I will ask the EP to lift the immunity as quickly as possible,' Minchev said, adding that his assistant at the time had said 'his friend and neighbour invited us to watch Anderlecht [play] Ludogorets at the stadium'. 'The organiser later turned out to be the main actor in an investigation that began in 2021, and my then-assistant was also involved in this case,' the Bulgarian politician added. 'My presence at that event is now the reason why the authorities want to investigate whether there was anything wrong with this.' Martusciello was among the lawmakers who signed MEP letters to the commission four years ago criticising policies closing the European market to Chinese firms. Princi, meanwhile, is accused of meeting with Huawei last summer but not declaring the engagement. According to Euractiv, a media outlet, Princi denied having attended, claiming she was in Italy at her daughter's school party that day and saying she could prove it with 'numerous supporting documents'. The scandal has upset the chances of a potential EU-China detente that has seen Beijing lift sanctions on sitting lawmakers to try to soothe ties that have deteriorated rapidly over the last few years. More from South China Morning Post: For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2025.
Euronews
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
European Parliament weighs immunity for 5 MEPs over Huawei probe
Belgian authorities have asked the European Parliament to waive the immunity of five of its members, Parliament's president Roberta Metsola announced at the beginning of a plenary session in Brussels on Wednesday. The request relates to the ongoing investigation into alleged corruption and illicit lobbying practices involving Chinese company Huawei and some EU lawmakers and assistants. Three of the five MEPs involved belong to the center-right European People's Party: the Italians Salvatore De Meo, Giusi Princi and Fulvio Martusciello. The others are the Maltese Socialist MEP Daniel Attard and the Bulgarian Renew Europe's MEP Nikola Minchev. In a previous statement to Euronews, Martusciello denied corruption, stating that he had only fleetingly met Huawei lobbyists, and that he and his staff never attended the firm's offices. De Meo anticipated his inclusion in the list telling Italian news agency Ansa: 'In my case, [the request] is linked to my participation in a convivial meeting, not organised by Huawei, which took place outside the European Parliament and which was also attended by representatives of the Huawei group." He claimed he has never taken a position in favour of Huawei, either by signing letters, presenting amendments or any legislative activity attributable to the company's interests. Attard said on his Facebook page that the request related to his presence at a football match between Belgian team Anderlecht and Hungarian team Ferencváros last September. 'I was not made aware that the invitation originated from any company, or that it involved a corporate box. I was simply informed by my assistant that a friend of his had tickets to the match [...] It has since emerged that the invitation came from a person who is currently under investigation by the Belgian authorities and who intended to speak to me about Huawei during the match,' wrote the Maltese MEP. The topic was briefly raised during the game, reads the post, and a meeting was subsequently requested, which took place two weeks later in Strasbourg. Attard stated he has not communicated with the company since, and took 'no action' in relation to it or matters related to the company, and he wrote to President Metsola to formally ask for his immunity to be waived. Attendance at an Anderlecht football match (Anderlecht-Ludogorets last October) was behind the request for Bulgarian MEP Minchev, he said in a statement to the Bulgarian press agency BTA. 'I will cooperate one hundred percent and I will ask the EP to lift the immunity as quickly as possible, because I have no connection to any illegal activity of these people, nor anything to worry about,' he said. Each request for waiver will be now be assigned to a rapporteur on the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI), whose next meeting is foreseen for 4-5 June. The JURI Committee will prepare a report approving or rejecting the request by the Belgian prosecutor, while each MEP concerned will be given an opportunity to be heard, and may present any documents or other written evidence. The Parliament's plenary will have the final say, deciding whether to lift or not the MEP's immunity with a vote by simple majority. None of the five MEPs replied to requests for comment from Euronews.
New York Post
11-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Ethics fine for ex-Suffolk aide tied to county's troubled $105M opioid fund
A former top aide to ex-Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has been slapped with an ethics fine for applying for a high-ranking job at a nonprofit seeking big bucks from a county fund she helped oversee. Ryan Attard — who served as Bellone's chief of staff and represented his office on the county's Opioid Funding Selection Committee — was still on the county's payroll when she applied for a post with the Family & Children's Association. Ex-Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone's chief of staff and representative to the Opioid Funding Selection Committee has been slapped with an ethics fine. Dennis A. Clark FCA of Garden City had previously garnered $1.8 million in Opioid Funding grants before Attard was on the panel. It applied for more money by the time she landed her position on the committee, although that application was denied. She had turned in her resignation to the county in the waning days of Bellone's administration, then submitted a job application to FCA — although she still had three three weeks left in her county job at the time. She ended up landing a post as both FCA's COO and VP. She no longer works there. The county Ethics Board made it clear in issuing its $2,000 fine against Attard that she crossed the line by not stepping back from her panel's funding process after applying to FCA. 'In hindsight, Ms. Attard acknowledged a technical violation of the ethics code,' said Attard's lawyer, Mark Lesko. FCA spokeswoman Kim Como stressed that Attard was not involved in securing the grants the nonprofit received. The ethics violation is just the latest black eye for Suffolk's $105 million opioid fund, which was created from fines against Big Pharma — and has been under fire for months. Ryan Attard was still on the county's payroll when she applied for a post with the Family & Children's Association. Linkedin Current County Executive Ed Romaine has already ordered a top-to-bottom review, and Comptroller John Kennedy's blistering audit ripped the committee for operating behind closed doors, using a flawed scoring system, and leaving behind a paper trail so thin it 'calls the entire process into question.' 'This was never supposed to be a political slush fund — this money was meant to save lives,' said Paul Sabatino II, former counsel to the county legislature.
The Guardian
16-04-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Cheap, reliable egg alternatives: what to use for whipping, baking and high-protein snacking
Australians gobbled down nearly 270 eggs per capita in the last financial year. But with more than 10% of the country's laying flock culled in the last 12 months, an industry-wide move away from battery farming and rising consumer demand, prices are surging and supplies are tight – with some reports suggesting the shortfall could continue to 2028. Supermarkets Coles and Woolworths still have purchase limits on eggs, so for the egg-reliant times might feel tough – but vegans and those with allergies have long since developed a host of no-fuss alternatives. Here, they share their advice. Since the experiments of a French musician and an American software engineer gave the world aquafaba a decade ago, the unlikely substitute for the humble goog has become ubiquitous in vegan cuisine. A viscous byproduct of cooking legumes (usually chickpeas), aquafaba is most famous for its ability to be whipped up into convincing meringues, but as hospitality consultant and former sous chef of the acclaimed Sydney vegan restaurant Yellow, Elijah Attard, points out: 'You can also use it to make sauces, emulsions and mayonnaises.' Attard, who's been vegan for nine years, says you can get two small eggs' worth of aquafaba out of one can of chickpeas, making it very cost-effective – and it's even cheaper if you're soaking and boiling the beans yourself. Whether from the can or homemade, the solution can be stored in the fridge for up to a week. If you're going to DIY it, remember that it's the cooled cooking water that makes aquafaba, not the soaking water. With a cult following, recipes for its multifarious uses abound online – from macaroons to veggie snags. Attard says that while there's never going to be a true substitute for the 'eggy egginess of an egg' there's certainly a few reliable sub-ins when baking. One of the most economical and effective, Attard says, is made by mixing ground flaxseeds with boiling water. For one egg, 'you're going to want to do around one tablespoon of flaxseed [meal] to three tablespoons of boiling hot water'. Then it's a matter of mixing it together and letting it sit for five to 10 minutes. The end result is a gel-like substance that costs about 25 cents per egg equivalent, or around half the price of a free range egg from the major supermarkets. Veet Karen, a vegan cooking school facilitator and podcaster who's enjoyed a plant based diet for close to four decades, recommends a similar concoction made of chia seeds. When used in recipes for things like fritters, she says it has the added benefit of 'fluffing up' as an egg would. Karen's ratios and method are the same as Attard's, as are the savings. Attard says that while bananas make a great binding substitute, 'there's good and bad times to use them' when it comes to 'reimagining the structure and texture of an egg'. Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email 'When they're green or pale yellow, that's when most of the starches are there; that's when you'd use it as a [more neutral] binding agent, whereas when they're spoiling and brown those starches have converted to sugars which will impart more of that rambunctious, funky banana flavour. 'Whenever you're replacing something, you've always got to be a little bit intuitive. But I would say roughly half a large banana will do the work of one egg.' Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion Apple puree is another popular fruit based egg simulator, but Karen warns too much can make baked goods crumble. 'I'd only ever add a half a cup.' Karen isn't a big fan of aquafaba, so for a super quick mayo she swears by 'half a cup of soy milk, a cup of sunflower oil, dijon mustard and salt' whizzed in the blender for no more than a minute. Jemma O'Hanlon, a board certified dietician, nutritionist and spokesperson for the Heart Foundation says that despite eggs' unique nutritional profile it is easy to find similarly convenient high protein snacks. She reckons nuts and nut spreads are some of the best. 'Like eggs, they're high in protein, nutrient-rich and offer a range of health benefits.' O'Hanlon also endorses the millennial classic, smashed avo and feta on toast. While probably not cheaper, it offers a 'beautiful balance of healthy fats and protein'. 'All legumes are great. Even low-sodium store-bought baked beans I recommend for an easy breakfast, lunch or dinner – you're getting all the benefits of the plant protein, fibre and lots of vitamins and minerals.' While these options won't provide exact nutritional matches, O'Hanlon reassures us that while we've become accustomed to having 'all sorts of food on tap', we don't need to eat any one ingredient daily to stay healthy. 'It's not what you have in today's meal or yesterday's meal. It's what you have over the course of weeks, months and years that's most important. 'And it's good to have a little bit of scarcity and to get creative with other options now and again.'
