Georgiy Voloshin
Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev opened the third ministerial meeting of the so-called Istanbul process, an international initiative for reconstructing and stabilizing Afghanistan in view of the International Security Assistance Force's (ISAF) forthcoming departure from this country. Speaking before the delegates of the 14 founding members of the "Heart of Eurasia" group as well as representatives of observer parties, including the United States and the European Union, Nazarbayev reminded them about Kazakhstan's continued efforts to help neighboring Afghanistan revive its economy and better integrate into the region.
Three homes worth more than £41 million formerly owned by a billionaire fraudster are on the market after a High Court ruling. They include the £20 million Carlton House on Hampstead's "Billionaire's Row" and the 100-acre Oaklands Park estate near Egham in Surrey. Among the features are swimming pools, a helipad, a Turkish bath for 12 and a Thunderbirds-style car lift.
Washington institutions esteemed for their independent scholarship don't disclose donations from corporations and foreign governments. The Center for American Progress, Washington's leading liberal think tank, has been a big backer of the Energy Department's $25 billion loan guarantee program for renewable energy projects. CAP has specifically praised First Solar, a firm that received $3.73 billion under the program, and its Antelope Valley project in California.
Creditors in a Kazakh bank are poised to see the first proceeds from a four-year court battle against its former chairman, a fugitive oligarch accused of embezzling $6.0 billion.
Maltese court says police has jurisdiction to investigate torture allegations against Kazakh exile living in Malta. A United States congressman has asked the European Commission to investigate "serious allegations" of human rights abuses made against Rakhat Aliyev, a former Kazakh diplomat who now resides in Malta.
A United Nations report has implicated Azerbaijan and a Kazakhstan airline executive in violations of arms embargos against North Korea. The Associated Press acquired the report, to the U.N. Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against North Korea.
By drawing attention to Iraq and the obvious role oil plays in US policy today, the Bush-Cheney administration has done just that: They have drawn the world's energy-deficit powers' attention firmly to the strategic battle over energy and especially oil. This is already having consequences for the global economy in terms of $75 a barrel crude oil price levels. Now it is taking on the dimension of what one former US Defense Secretary rightly calls a 'geopolitical nightmare' for the United States.
