Minutes after being saved by the crew of the  rescue vessel Topaz Responder in late November, Mohamed , an asylum seeker from Cote d’Ivoire collapsed on the deck as he recounted the journey that brought him through Africa, into the Mediterranean, and to the edge of a watery death.

Asylum seekers, mostly from Eritrea, disembark in Palermo, Sicily (Photo: Valentino Bellini)

On the night of Oct. 13, 2016, Aleksandar Stankovic’s car pulled toward an intersection in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, sliding to a halt beside a darkened BMW where two men sat inside unseen, cradling automatic weapons.

FK Partizan supporters light flares in the stands during a match in Belgrade (Photo: Aubrey Belford)

 Accused of involvement in stealing billions from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, Prime Minister Najib Razak did what autocratic leaders around the world do when scandal is in the air. He cleared house.

It’s a grave matter. About 2.8 million Moldovans are listed on the official electoral roll for the country’s Oct. 30 presidential election. But Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) partner RISE Moldova has found that many approved voters have already departed this earth.

On Sept. 2, Uzbek authorities confirmed the death of President Islam Karimov, the strongman who ruled the country for 25 years. The announcement came after nearly a week of official denials of media reports of his passing, reflecting the secretive nature of the Central Asian country.