Gulnara Karimova's antics have long been an embarrassment, now the Twitter-loving businesswoman faces corruption charges A vicious feud playing out within Uzbekistan's ruling family took a new twist on Monday , when prosecutors announced that the clan's most flamboyant member faces charges of involvement in mafia-style corruption. The news cements the precipitous downfall of Gulnara Karimova, the eldest...
Prosecutors say they have widened investigation into members of Gulnara Karimova's entourage to include her Swiss prosecutors say they have been investigating the eldest daughter of the Uzbek president, Islam Karimov, on suspicion of money laundering since late last year. "The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland is investigating Gulnara Karimova … on suspicion of money laundering," the office...
s takeover of the Crimean peninsula Russia's takeover of the Crimean peninsula has drawn condemnation from the west, but reaction has been more varied in the 14 former Soviet republics in Russia's "near abroad". Many have played a balancing act between Russia and the west, and almost all have significant Russian-speaking populations – like the one that served as a justification for Moscow's intervention...
Do you know your Kazakhstan from your Kyrgyzstan? Read on to avoid singing happy birthday to a despotic ruler in this region It isn't just David Cameron who has been criticised this week for cosying up to a repressive dictator in a former Soviet state Jennifer Lopez performed at an event in Turkmenistan on Saturday night. In a statement to Associated Press, Lopez's publicist said: "Had there been...
s a rather flippant introduction to a weighty subject. Vladimir Putin's dream of a Eurasian Union, a vast trade and political bloc stretching from China to the edge of the EU, began taking shape in 2010 with the ECU, a free-trade customs union binding Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. A carelessly worded ECU regulation on the absorbency of non-natural materials has sparked colourful protests from wearers...
t want to get into conflicts and didn't see many of the things that were disturbing many people, as I was busy working on real people's projects, grants and supporting professional societies. Some people were speaking loudly about it, but it took time to realise the reality we live in. You are absolutely right with your term "leading the terror", as so many hardworking young people and their families...
s words, provided as written answers to questions sent by email, are often allusive or allegorical but nevertheless shed light on the infighting in one of the world's most closed countries. She accuses unspecified enemies of trying to poison her with mercury, and castigates her father's feared SNB security service, which she says has created a climate of terror. She also makes allegations of corruption...
s vast Le Sporting banquet hall, where 800 guests have responded to an invitation from one of central Asia's most powerful, and secretive, oligarchs. The host has packed the venue's gardens with white roses and arranged for entertainment from the singer Jennifer Lopez and French DJ David Guetta. Several guests execute an impromptu lezginka, a traditional dance from the Caucasus, and a crowd forms to...
s daughter lashes out at mother and sister on Twitter before account is deleted, sparking flurry of speculation Politics in the central Asian dictatorship of Uzbekistan has always contained the essential ingredients of Shakespearean drama: lust for power, backstabbing and familial rivalry – with the odd dash of witchcraft thrown in. In this drama, Gulnara Karimova, the glamorous eldest daughter of...
s immovable president Islam Karimov, a woman with a suspiciously vast business empire and a flamboyant celebrity lifestyle to boot. Gulnara Karimova has been fashion designer, pop starlet, diplomat and oligarch - she could be described as Donatella Versace, Cheryl Cole and Ivanka Trump all rolled into one. But not any more. In recent weeks, signs that Karimova's star is on the wane have multiplied,...
s warrantless surveillance programmes against an accused terrorist, setting the stage for a probable supreme court test of the Obama administration's approach to national security. The court has so far turned aside challenges to the law on government surveillance, saying people who bring such lawsuits have no evidence they are being targeted. A Justice Department spokesman, Brian Fallon, declined comment...
At the British Council, we make no apology for working to build greater understanding – and ultimately trust – between young people in the UK and other countries, wherever they are in the world ( Uzbekistan: forced labour, fear and a fine British education , 10 October). The partnerships we supported between UK and Uzbek universities through our Inspire programme, which also operates in Afghanistan,...
links with institutions in Uzbekistan Diplomatic cable written by the former US ambassador to Tashkent, Jon Purnell , sent to Washington in March 2006. C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TASHKENT 000881 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/03/2016 TAGS: SOCI, SCUL, PGOV, PREL, PHUM, UZ SUBJECT: BRITISH STUDY PROGRAMS MOVING FORWARD REF: A. A) DAO TASHKENT 290405Z MAR 06...
s supply lines to Afghanistan. During that period, Uzbekistan's human rights record remained abysmal, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), and is said in some respects to have deteriorated. Several hundred demonstrators were shot dead in 2005; Muslims who practise their religion outside state controls continue to face imprisonment and torture , as do the country's small...
An investigative journalist who has reported on child exploitation in the Uzbekistan cotton industry has been arrested and is being held incommunicado. Sergei Naumov was detained 10 days ago (21 September) ahead of this year's cotton harvest. Friends have not been able to establish his whereabouts despite extensive inquiries. They know he was arrested because he was able to make one short mobile phone...
s ruthless dictator Islam Karimov: they hate each other. Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva , Karimov's 35-year-old younger daughter, told the BBC's Uzbek service that she was completely estranged from her sister, Gulnara Karimova , and that the pair have not spoken for 12 years. Both avoid the media, and Lola has tended to keep quiet since she attempted to sue a French publication that called her a "dictator's...
s hierarchy One of the most remarkable Russian Orthodox priests of his generation, Father Pavel Adelheim, who has been killed aged 75, was never a "dissident" in the conventional sense of the word. He was a dearly loved parish priest who fell foul of his diocesan bishop because of his unrelenting criticism of the way the Russian church hierarchy comported themselves in the post-Soviet era, acting like...
t respond to requests for information. Only 7% of the brands reported that they know where their cotton comes from, according to the report. Baptist World Aid said that cultivating cotton has a known problem with child labour, especially if sourced from Uzbekistan. Companies such as Cotton On, Puma and Target have boycotted cotton from the central Asian country. "Cotton is an important one to look...
t get many visitors, so when the doorbell of my apartment rang at 7.30 one Friday morning my first thought was, "Ovir!" Ovir is the acronym of the Office of Visas and Registration, responsible for registering foreigners in Uzbekistan and other former Soviet republics. I had heard of early morning visits to check that foreigners are really staying at their registered addresses. But when I opened the...
s fatal without treatment and extremely difficult to cure. I'm volunteering as a doctor for Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan, an area where drug-resistant TB is endemic. Here, I have witnessed treatment side effects ranging from rashes to liver failure – but one of the most unexpected and dangerous is depression. It's not underlying mental illness...