WEEKS of celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence come to a head in Astana, the new capital full of surreal bombast, on December 16th. The 16m-odd citizens of the oil-rich country have plenty to be proud of.

A London-based PR firm claimed it was planning to orchestrate a campaign by Kazakh children against the pop singer Sting after he withdrew from a performance in the country.

With violence and government crackdowns making headlines from so many familiar parts of the world, there's hardly been a peep in the media about the biggest and ugliest massacre of all: Last Friday in Kazakhstan, riot police slaughtered up 70 striking oil workers, wounding somewhere between 500 and 800, and arresting scores.

Violence between striking workers and the authorities in western Kazakhstan spread over the weekend, bringing the death toll to 14, the country's general prosecutor announced on Sunday.

The former Prime Minister of Kazakhstan would like the case of the "former son-in-law of Kazakhstan" to set a precedent and be a lesson for the country as a whole

The Kazakhstan tycoon who bought Prince Andrew's house is being tipped as his country's next president – with glamorous London socialite Goga Ashkenazi as his possible first lady.