Fatal Liver Transplants in Georgia Were Rush Jobs

Dr. Mirjalal Kazimi, a liver transplant specialist, is famous in Azerbaijan.

Patients start gathering outside his office at the Central Hospital of Oilmen in the country’s capital, Baku, before 10 am.

Dr. Mirjalal Kazimi, an Azerbaijani doctor who specializes in transplant operations. Both of his patients in Georgia died one week after surgery. (Photo credit is anonymous for Azerbaijani reporters’ security)

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Dubai’s Golden Sands

Dubai has transformed itself into an extravagant metropolis where the police drive Lamborghinis and edible gold ice cream costs US $800 a scoop. But this success story is inextricably linked with the globalization of organized crime and corruption.

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Putin’s Ex-Wife Likely Paid Millions for Land Near Moscow

It’s known as “Venice outside Moscow.”

Located in the Odintsovo district about 20 kilometers from the busy rush of Russia’s capital, Millennium Park is a peaceful resort of luxurious dachas and opulent mansions, all interconnected by a network of man-made waterways and pedestrian paths. Many of Russia’s elite have made this village, advertised as resembling Europe, their home.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila arrive at Rostock-Laage for the 2007 G8 summit. Credit: Reuters / Stephen Hird

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US Lobbying Firm Launders Azerbaijan’s Reputation — And Gets “Laundromat” Cash

A purportedly private Azerbaijani organization paid over a million and a half dollars to a US firm to lobby for the country in Washington. That organization was secretly funded by the Azerbaijani Laundromat.

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Baku’s Man in America

A quarter-million dollars from the Azerbaijani Laundromat went to a US energy consultant of Azerbaijani origin who, for years, has lobbied in the interests of his native country in the halls of Congress.

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The Strange Evolution of Hungary’s Golden Visa Program

Rich people moving to Hungary had to buy a €300,000 government bond from mysterious offshore companies that made a good profit on the deal. The politicians who set those companies up broke all kinds of rules.

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Slovak Police Must Return Reporter’s Seized Phone Immediately

Yesterday, Slovakia’s National Crime Agency seized a mobile phone belonging to our partner, investigative reporter Pavla Holcova from the Czech Center for Investigative Reporting.

Czech investigative journalist Pavla Holcova. Credit: Aktuality.sk

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Birth and Death in Venezuela's Time of Hunger

Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis is threatening those who carry the future in their bellies. Pregnant women are going without adequate food or medical attention in the midst of a  national economic emergency. The government insists on attributing the crisis to an external plot to overthrow it, while the opposition blames the administration for inefficiency and corruption.

Photo by: Adriana Fernandez Loureiro / Efecto Cocuyo

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How Maltese Online Gambling Became an ATM for the Italian Mafia

Online gambling is huge in Malta — but it's not all fun and games. Here's how the island's internet casinos have become cash machines for the Italian mafia.

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Right-Wing Hungarian Media Moves Into the Balkans

Hungarians with links to the country’s pro-government media have embarked on a mass buy-up of Macedonian news outlets, part of a concerted push into the Balkans by media companies loyal to Viktor Orban.

Camera crews wait before a press conference in Skopje, Macedonia, 2017.

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