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OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL Specially Designated Nationals List Update more >

On 17th March 2014 the European Union and United States imposed travel bans and asset freezes on past and present Russian and Ukrainian officials and politicians. The imposition was a response to the events surrounding the referendum vote held the day before in Crimea. Included on Washington’s list, though not named by Brussels, is Viktor Medvedchuk, the politically active oligarch who bitterly opposed the protests that culminated in President Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster. more >

In May this year a sense of outrage and urgency spread throughout Venezuela. People took to the streets in their thousands, not to protest but to find a supermarket that sold toilet paper. Toilet paper was not the new symbol of revolution. It was however the latest product to join the country’s list of unobtainable goods, contributing to a growing sense of crisis. more >

When discussing politics in the post-Soviet space, Western editorials often opt for one of two lines: either the country in question is becoming part of Russia’s sphere of influence; or it is joining the long line of EU candidate nations. more >

On consecutive days at the end of August, Chelsea FC announced two big-name signings, first the Brazilian midfielder Willian and then Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o. Both were acquired from top-flight Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, and were just two of a number of top players caught in a sudden and frenzied fire sale by Anzhi that raised eyebrows in the world of football journalism. more >

Despite promises of police reinforcements in the region by the end of the year, Corsica, France’s Ile de beaute, retains the highest murder rate per capita in Europe. more >

Two years and two months after it came into power the UK’s leading anti-corruption body has brought its first charges under the Bribery Act.more >

Located 4,000 metres above sea level in the Tien Shan mountain range in Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul region, Kumtor, Kyrgyzstan’s largest gold mine, poses a political problem for the Kyrgyz government. Caught between growing demands for the mine to be nationalised and Kumtor’s crucial importance to the Kyrgyz economy, Bishkek has been forced to navigate a precarious course. more >

The US National Security Agency has been operating a mass electronic surveillance data mining program, PRISM, as we now know courtesy of whistleblower Edward Snowden. For the media the focus has been on what national intelligence agencies should be permitted to do with personal digital information, and where the divide between national security and civil liberties should be drawn. But perhaps the more important question to ask is who is watching us in the first place? Corporations are allowed to build up extensive personal profiles on individuals, but this is not given a second thought.more >