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A plainclothes policeman catches a woman during a police crackdown on prostitution in Quanzhou, Fujian province, October 29, 2011. China should remove criminal and administrative penalties against sex workers which often lead to serious police abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on May 14, 2013. The abuses include torture, beatings, physical assaults, fines and arbitrary detentions of up to two years, as well as a failure to investigate crimes against sex workers by clients, bosses and state agents, according to the report. Prostitution is not permitted under Chinese law, although the industry has boomed since the country launched economic reforms in 1978. REUTERS/Stringer

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World Bank pulls out of Bangladesh project amid corruption

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WASHINGTON | Fri Jun 29, 2012 5:39pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Bank on Friday canceled a $1.2 billion credit for a Bangladesh bridge project with immediate effect, saying it had "credible evidence" of a high-level corruption conspiracy among Bangladeshi government officials.

"In light of the inadequate response by the government of Bangladesh, the World Bank has decided to cancel its $1.2 billion ... credit in support of the Padma multipurpose bridge project, effective immediately," the World Bank said in a statement.

(Reporting By Lesley Wroughton; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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