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Organized crime has been an issue for many years in . However, ever since the country became a part of the European Union, there has been a lot more pressure on the politicians to root out the organized crime. Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev’s party was accused of taking $170,000 from people being accused of being a part of a criminal network. The European Union has been investigating this group and because of their suspicions has decided to cut off $670 million to Bulgaria which will hurt the country since it is the poorest nation in the bloc.

Amidst fears of a global slump, and the assumption that the Middle East will not be immune to it, the property developers of Dubai, located in the , continue to build, build, and build some more. As businessmen in the world’s hottest real estate market, who can blame them? Dubai’s annual growth rate has been a steady-near 18% since 2001, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

Forget the change of socks; business travelers may need to pack a change of laptop. 

In mid-July 2008, passed the “” concerning the search of information contained in documents and electronic devices.  The Policy sets forth the legal and policy guidelines within which officers may search, review, retain and share certain information possessed by individuals crossing the border.  The policy applies to anyone entering the country – citizens and noncitizens alike.

What does this mean for international business people?

Over the past few weeks, the has been revising the Country Insights pages to provide you with the most current information available. We’re happy to announce that the Country Insights section is 100% up to date! This includes all statistical data provided by the CIA World Factbook and the background notes from the State Department.

Companies are starting a new trend of offering to their employees custom designed classes right inside their four walls. There is no need for employees to relocate to a university far from their home and work to take classes. This makes higher education convenient for employees who have families and other limitations. Many companies want their executives to gain skills and acquire experience in real world environments, as well as get up to date on corporate standards. At the same time, companies don’t want to disturb executives’ work schedules by sending them to colleges in distant countries.

Football, or soccer as the Americans call it, especially in England is the second most important thing after family in life; it is like a religion. Europeans follow it closely because it is part of their lifestyle. But what happens when t-shirt sponsors go bankrupt? When team sponsors suffer huge financial setbacks because they hold stakes in Icelandic banks?

An attempt by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad to change the through the implementation of a new sales tax was met with heavy opposition by Iran’s merchant class, the primary bearers of the new tax.

According to the , angry shopkeepers refused for the second straight day to open their stores in the central bazaar city of Esfahan. Shopkeepers in other Iranian cities such as Tehran, Mashad and Tabriz also refused to sell goods.

While the United States has been experiencing financial crisis for the past few weeks, Zimbabwe has been experiencing economic crisis for the past several years.

Zimbabwe boasts the highest inflation rate in the world. At 11.2 million percent inflation rate, the country is scrambling to find a solution. Since 2006, Zimbabwe has issued new currency, printed higher denominations of currency and removed 10 zeros (10 billion ZWD becoming 1 ZWD), all to no avail.

You may be shocked to learn that the liabilities of Iceland’s colossal banks are several times larger than the country’s GNP. Prime Minister Geir Haarde and warned that in the worst case scenario, “could be sucked with the banks into the whirlpool and the result could be national bankruptcy”. You certainly weren’t beating around the bush with this statement, were you Mr. Haarde? The very fact that the country’s leader made a comment with this strong language points to the gravity of the present situation.

Unfortunately things did take a turn for the worse this morning, with major credit lines to Icelandic banks being closed. Trading at the Iceland Stock Exchange was suspended due to the crisis. Citizens around the world are justifiably worried about their financial security, but it seems that Icelanders may have the most to worry about.

I had almost given up on news that isn’t somehow related to “credit crunch” or “bailout,” until I stumbled upon a thought provoking topic in a recent issue of : "The world has a water shortage, not a food shortage."

My immediate reaction was: "WHAT?" But the numbers seem to make sense – while people only drink about 2 liters of water a day, almost 3,000 liters of water goes into the food people eat every day (add a few more liters for the meat that takes far more water to produce). The focuses particularly on the inefficient use of water by farmers based on today’s methods of agriculture. In fact, the International Water Management Institute () predicts that as population grows and incomes rise, 2,000 cubic kilometers of additional water will be needed each year to keep everyone fed!