Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov

(Newser) - After it came out that Jennifer Lopez scored a big payday to sing happy birthday to Turkmenistan dictator Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov , her rep insisted that had J.Lo known of any "human rights issues," she of course would not have attended the soiree. But the Human Rights Foundation implies...

(Newser) - Jennifer Lopez got at least $1.5 million to sing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" Saturday night at a 56th birthday party for Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, leader of the former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan—a man whose regime is described as "among the most repressive in the world" by Human...

(Newser) - US presidents like to throw out the first pitch at baseball games, but Turkmenistan President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov takes sport to a whole new level, coming in first in a Turkmenistan car race today. Driving a Turkish-made Volkicar. In a race he wasn't even scheduled to enter. Well, that's...

(Newser) - In a step away from the legacy of its late dictator, who renamed each month after heroes, poets, and himself, Turkmenistan’s president urged a return to traditional month names, the Guardian reports. April had been named after Saparmurat Niyazov’s mother, while September was a reference to Niyazov’s...