Russia's former defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov is facing criminal charges for corruption, reports the Russian Legal Information Agency. Investigators filed charges against Serdyukov on Thursday in relation to a corruption scandal that forced him out of office in 2012.

Geneva-based Weatherford International Ltd., the world’s fourth-largest oil and natural gas services provider, will pay the United States government almost US$253 million as part of a bribery and corruption investigation settlement.

A new US$6 billion private “co-investment” fund to stimulate investment in Georgia is not providing enough information about its oversight, its investors, or how it plans to spend its money, says Transparency International-Georgia (TI).

An Azerbaijani court has sentenced three men to life in prison for planned acts of terrorism, while 26 others were sentenced to jail times ranging from nine to 15 years, reports APA and Republica.

The air intelligence unit of Cochin International Airport dismantled a gold smuggling ring on Sunday, the Times of India reports. Two groups of Sri Lankans were apprehended at the airport in the southwestern border city of Kochi trafficking nearly US$500,000 worth of gold ornaments.

Because air flights from Armenia are much more expensive compared with neighboring Georgia, many travelers in Armenia prefer to travel an extra 290 km from Yerevan to Tbilisi to catch a flight. That was the case when Armavia dominated the skies over Armenia as the sole national carrier.

Former Serbian state security chief Rade Marković has threatened to reveal 15 sensitive files that "could endanger the state," if an investigation against him is not dropped, Balkan Insight reports.

More than two tons of cocaine have been confiscated in Ecuador this week, reports Standart News.

Authorities in Orange County, Florida have busted a heroin trafficking ring that ran from New York to Florida.

Crowd-sourcing is typically used to finance start-ups, political campaigns, and creative ventures. A new website, however, claims to be pooling digital funds for the targeted killings of world leaders and public figures.