A Kazakh court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by a human rights activist who was jailed last month over a road accident in a trial criticised by rights campaigners as politically motivated.
The former head of Kazakhstan's state nuclear corporation, KazAtomProm, who has been in jail since May, was hospitalized on October 19, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.
Kazakhmys, the Kazakh mining giant, yesterday announced major funding plans, including borrowing $2bn (£1.3bn) in loans, which it hopes will help get some major unfunded copper projects off the ground.
The former Soviet bloc economy will contract by a sharper-than-expected 6.3 percent in 2009 before returning to growth next year, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development forecast Thursday.
Kazakhstan positioned itself as a potential supplier to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline ahead of a meeting in Ankara with Turkish officials.
So far, the former Soviet state has cooperated with the US on nuclear issues. But a new report suggests that Kazakhstan might be looking to do business with other, less responsible regimes, too.
Aim is to secure access to the Central Asian energy resources
