Kazakhstan's oil reserves may be too valuable for an export-tax increase to deter companies from drilling for crude in the former Soviet republic.

Turkey sees its influence rising in construction projects as well as diplomatic affairs

 Oil consultant Jim Giffen, whose arrest 7 1/2 years ago in an international bribery case threatened U.S. relations with a key Central Asia ally, is set to return to court today for at least the 20th time, still without a deadline for prosecutors to bring him to trial.

 Kazakh foreign minister Kanat Saudabayev, who is acting chair of the OSCE, said the summit would be a "new and very important milestone in the life of our organisation".

Der weltweit größte Zigarettenhersteller Philip Morris kauft in Kasachstan Tabak von Zulieferern, die Kinder und Wanderarbeiter ausbeuten. Der SPIEGEL fand bei Recherchen vor Ort verheerende Verhältnisse vor.

As legislators from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) member states gathered in Oslo on July 6 for the annual session of the organization's Parliamentary Assembly, led by Kazakhstan, the organization's chair this year, the irony of a corrupt government presiding over the meeting, whose theme this year is "Rule of Law: Combating Transnational Crime and Corruption," was palpable.