Move over George Soros, Kazakhstan is claiming the title as the most prescient speculator in the pound.

As Blair's liar-in-chief Alastair Campbell claims the moral high ground after Chilcot, the chilling memos that reveal how he touted for work to 'rebrand' one of the world's most repressive tyrannies

Aron Bornstein arrived in Kazakhstan in February 2009 with $84m and a daunting assignment. His job was to hand out millions of dollars to impoverished families, non-governmental agencies and students who wanted to pursue secondary education. The catch was that he could not have any dealings with the Kazakh government, which was not exactly happy to see him coming.

Christians are condemning a provision in Russia’s soon-to-be-signed anti-terrorism law that prevents people from holding religious services in their homes.

Mega-projects are an endangered species in today’s oil and gas industry. As companies struggle to keep up their dividend payments with sharply reduced revenues, multiyear, multibillion-dollar commitments are increasingly seen as foolhardy excesses.

Most of the routes from China to Europe pass via Kazakhstan’s vast landmass, located strategically on the crossroads between Europe and Asia. As China is expanding its economic outreach to Europe, the government in Astana wants to benefit beyond transit fees as it is trying to break away from oil dependence. However, benefits might come at high cost, as Kazakhstan risks becoming too dependent on China economically and politically.