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EU Nations Have Frozen More Than $32 Billion in Russian Assets

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  • Bloc’s new Freeze and Seize task force reports latest numbers
  • EU urges nations to report back about sanctions enforcement

Not just Russian oligarchs: Britain must block Kazakhstan’s kleptocrats from securing a safe haven

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Long synonymous with Sherlock Holmes, the building at 221B Baker Street in London now represents a tragic irony: The fictional crime-fighter’s address has been linked to the kleptocratic regime of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the de facto authoritarian ruler of Kazakhstan from 1990 until recently. His first daughter, Dariga, has been reported as owning this property and a significant number of other London residences. (Dariga Nazarbayeva, through an attorney, declined to comment when asked about this.)

Central Asian Economies: Thirty Years After Dissolution of the Soviet Union

Central Asia

The political systems have more similarities, with super-presidential regimes in all except the Kyrgyz Republic

Jailed Kazakh Activist's Parole Request Rejected

Almat Zhumaghulov

 A court in Kazakhstan has rejected a request for early release filed by jailed activist Almat Zhumaghulov, whom rights organizations in the Central Asian country have recognized as a political prisoner.

Practicing Repression Abroad, Says Rights Watchdog

A handout picture released by British police showing what are believed to be two Russian security agents involved in the attempted poisoning in Salisbury of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in 2018.

Russia and Iran are among the top authoritarian states extending their tentacles of repression abroad to target exiles, a new report by Freedom House says.

Equatorial Guinea's Oil Minister Allegedly Siphoned Off Millions from Public Construction Project

Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima (fourth from right) at the wedding of Centurion law firm CEO NJ Ayuk (fourth from left) in 2016. Going Dutch

For years, Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel was known as an outspoken critic of Equatorial Guinea’s government, despite decades of brutal repression and staggering corruption.

Kazakhstan: With elections chore out of the way, it is time for politics

Nurturing his party: Nursultan visits Nur Otan in Nur-Sultan. (press handout)

No real opposition parties were permitted to run.