THE game seemed to be set. Kazakhstan's political machine was running in overdrive, and since late December viewers of state television had been bombarded with sound bites from well-known and obscure citizens gushing about the wisdom of holding a national referendum to extend until 2020 the term of the long-serving and deserving president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Over 5m enthusiastic signatures in favour of the referendum, representing more than half the electorate, were collected in just a few weeks.

Mukhtar Ablyazov, ex-chairman of the bailed-out Kazakh lender BTA Bank JSC, can't use allegations of a presidential conspiracy to avoid bank claims he embezzled as much as $4 billion, a U.K. judge ruled.

Kazakhstan's presidential hopefuls will have to pass a gruelling 90 minute spelling and grammar test, in a move that may dissuade challengers from running against the country's long-serving ruler.

Passed to the Telegraph by WikiLeaks

A line of 150 trucks waits to enter Kazakhstan. It takes so long to clear customs here that each rig usually only makes two round trips a month. And yet, contrary to appearances, documentary discrepancies suggest the checkpoint is a smuggler's paradise.

Central Asia's authoritarian leaders, having crushed dissent during decades in power, are likely to use a mixture of oil and gas revenues, repression and cosmetic reforms to meet any threat of Egyptian-style protests.