Financial Transparency Coalition

SÃO PAULO -- The corruption scandal involving José Sarney, the head of Brazil's senate, moved closer to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after a former tax official said she was pressured to stop an audit of Mr. Sarney's family businesses.

The summit meeting which is taking place in L’Aquila, Italy, at which the Group of 8 (Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States) is joined by South Africa, Brazil, China, India, Mexico and Egypt, will be the first since we realized the extent of the financial and economic crisis we are facing.