Tory donor accused of using bullying legal threats to suppress a report

David Davis said Mohamed Amersi ‘silenced’ Margaret Hodge, chair of parliamentary anti-corruption group

A major Conservative donor has been accused of using bullying legal threats to suppress a report by the veteran Labour MP Margaret Hodge, which alleged he was “mired in an international corruption scandal”.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday, the former Tory cabinet minister David Davis accused Mohamed Amersi of having “effectively silenced” Hodge, chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on anti-corruption and responsible tax.

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Chile rejects $2.5bn iron and copper mine planned near penguin reserve

Dominga project included insufficient efforts to mitigate impact on reserves for dolphins, whales and penguins, committee says

Chile’s government has rejected a controversial $2.5bn iron and copper mining project proposed in an important area for biodiversity and marine life.

The Dominga project, 70km north of the city of La Serena, would have seen an open-pit mine, processing and desalination plants, as well as a large port, installed just 30km from a famed Humboldt penguin reserve.

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How to expose corruption, vice and incompetence – by those who have

Unmasking tax dodgers, sexual predators and corrupt officials can be lonely, daunting, unnerving work. But it can change the world

Investigative journalism is costly, time-consuming, risky and difficult, and sometimes results in legal threats, personal abuse to our journalists – or no publishable story at all. So why do we do it? Six of our investigative journalists answer questions from editor Mark Rice-Oxley.

Why does the Guardian feel it has to do this work – isn’t investigation for the police, or parliament?

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Chile president Piñera faces impeachment after Pandora papers leak

Opposition politicians launch proceedings against Sebastián Piñera over possible irregularities in mining company sale

Opposition politicians have launched impeachment proceedings against Chile’s president, Sebastián Piñera, over possible irregularities in the sale of a mining company, after new details about the deal were revealed in the Pandora papers.

Lawmakers cited an “ethical duty” to hold the president accountable for the alleged irregularities in his involvement in the controversial Dominga project.

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Obsessive, illuminating, high-stakes: why investigative journalism matters – video

An ensemble cast of Guardian reporters and editors reflect on why investigative journalism is so important for a healthy democracy and what it feels like, on a more personal level, to be going up against powerful governments, tax-dodging billionaires, institutional racism, human rights abuses and more

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Czech president still in hospital as analysts ponder PM’s election defeat

Doubts persist over whether Miloš Zeman, Andrej Babiš’s political ally, will be able to carry out duties

The populist Czech president remained in hospital on Monday as news sank in that Andrej Babiš, the billionaire prime minister, had suffered a shattering general election defeat days after the release of the Pandora papers and that Miloš Zeman, his main political champion, may be too ill to save him.

Zeman, 77 – whose constitutional powers invest him with a kingmaker’s role potentially allowing him to keep Babiš in office – remained in Prague’s central military hospital a day after being rushed there for emergency treatment for an unspecified chronic illness. Doctors said on Monday that they had stabilised his condition, although doubts persist about his future ability to carry out his duties.

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Boris Johnson laughs off the Pandora papers as the super-rich’s cash rolls in

Western politicians seem complacent about or complicit in the iniquity of hidden wealth

It was a classic TV doorstep. After doing the morning media round, Boris Johnson emerged from a booth and set off with his minders across the main hall of the Conservative party conference in Manchester. What was his reaction to the Pandora papers?

And would the Tories be giving back the money they had taken from certain donors?

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