Given the choice between love and money, Samal, a tall, curly-haired 23-year-old woman from a village in southern Kazakhstan, would take the cash. Struggling to pay rent and tuition on her salary as a waitress in Almaty, the Kazakh commercial capital, Samal says she'd drop her boyfriend in a heartbeat if a wealthy older man offered to make her his second wife.

The State visit by His Excellency President Nursultan Nazarbayev of the Republic of Kazakhstan which was scheduled to take place tomorrow, 03 December, has been postponed.

Kazakhstan is marking the week leading up to First President's Day on December 1 with public displays of affection for Nursultan Nazarbayev, the leader whom this public holiday – introduced last year – celebrates. Fueling criticism that a cult of personality surrounds the president who has ruled independent Kazakhstan for 22 years, one Astana university organized a mass display of student adoration for the man who goes by the title Leader of the Nation.

Due to the diplomatic deal reached in Geneva, the theocracy running Iran has half a year to decide if its potential nuclear-weapons program would make the regime more, or less, secure. Sure, if the country keeps its capability to weaponize, it may be harder for regional rivals or Western powers to push for regime change. But internal collapse as a result of strict sanctions and international isolation may be more dangerous.

Russian-Israeli millionaire businessman Arkady Gaydamak was arrested a number of days ago in Zurich, Switzerland, Channel 2 reported on Monday evening. Swiss police confirmed the arrest to Channel 2. According to the report Gaydamak was arrested under a Luxembourg arrest warrant.

The last symbol of Prince Andrew's marriage to Sarah Ferguson – the much derided 'Tesco-style' mansion he was given by the Queen as a wedding present – is set to be demolished and replaced with a house that looks strikingly similar.