Last Friday the Atlantic Council, the Washington think tank chaired by Chuck Hagel, President Obama's nominee for defense secretary, released a list of its foreign donors. The move came in response to a demand by 25 Republican senators ahead of a Senate vote on Hagel's confirmation. In a letter addressed to Hagel, the Council's president and CEO, Frederick Kempe, a former columnist at the Wall Street Journal, included the donor names as well as some details on the think tank's ethics policies.

Kazakhstan Army may be used against swinging the situation inside the country. President Nursultan Nazarbayev instructed to study the existing capacities of the country's Armed Forces and set several tasks to the law-enforcement authorities, Tengrinews.kz reports citing the President's official website.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Bergei Rysqaliev, the former governor of Kazakhstan's western Atyrau Province.

Aliyev subject of interest to German federal intelligence Former Kazakh diplomat Rakhat Aliyev subject of interest by the German federal intelligence service.

German intelligence service is interested in the former ambassador of Kazakhstan to Austria Rakhat Aliyev, Malta Today writes. Such information emerged in the parliamentary requests of the German Green Party's MP Viola von Cramon to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. According to the source, the deputy gained access to secret documents under condition of confidentiality.

Kazakh authorities must do their utmost to determine the whereabouts and ensure the safety of journalist Tokbergen Abiyev, who has been missing since December 20, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.