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.

A Kazakh presidential hopeful has been disqualified from running in the April election because he made too many spelling mistakes in a language test, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

The date for Kazakhstan's snap presidential election has been set for April 3 after amendments to the constitution and electoral law were rushed through parliament.

Only a concerted effort from national governments, donors and the international community to modernise Central Asia's infrastructure can avert the region's decline into chaos.

Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) said last week it had requested the extradition of fugitive banker Mukhtar Ablyazov from the UK.