Excluding hereditary monarchies, there are close to 40 countries around the world in which the national leader has been in power for 10 or more years, writes Freedom House analyst Elen Aghekyan. A small number of rulers stay in office by simply ignoring the letter or spirit of the law.

Activist jailed for inciting social hatred on Facebook, then released after apology, as dropping oil prices hit hard. Something surprising just happened in Kazakhstan.

Feb 10 Kazakhstan's state pension fund will invest 500 billion tenge ($1.4 billion) abroad this year and buy bonds from local banks and state companies worth 600 billion tenge, the president's office said on Wednesday.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev ordered his government on Wednesday to allocate 360 billion tenge (689 million pounds) to build affordable housing to support the economy, which has been hit by the long slide in oil prices.

‘And if you look to your left you will see a house once linked to Rakhat Aliyev, Kazakhstan’s former intelligence chief, who died in police custody in Austria while awaiting charges of corruption, torture and murder.’ These apartments form the final stop in London’s new unmissable attraction, the London Kleptocracy Tour. The tour is a Beverley Hills-type guide around the houses of the colourful oligarchs of the Former Soviet Union who have bought up London’s super super prime properties with the help of the capital’s lawyers, estate agents and PR firms.

The president of Tajikistan was granted the title “Leader of the Nation” in December 2015 by special law. However, he does not want to stop there. On January 22, Tajikistan’s parliament adopted new amendments to the Constitution, which allow President Emomali Rahmon to run for an unlimited number of terms and also reduces the minimum age for presidential candidates to 30 from 35. This means that Rahmon’s elder son Rustam Emomali, now 28, will be able to run for the presidency when his father’s current term ends in 2020.