Uzbekistan Prez Islam Karimov passes away
Uzbekistan's state media on Friday announced that the country's President Islam Karimov has passed away, hours after the Uzbek government stated that he was critically ill. Karimov had ruled Uzbekistan since 1989 as an autocrat and has reportedly named no successor. Karimov's elder daughter Gulnara was seen as a potential heir before Karimov placed her under house arrest in 2014.