On January 26, 2009, Tony Blair arrived in the Gulf state of Kuwait in his capacity as representative of the "Quartet", for talks with the Emir, Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, on the Palestine question.

The trial of two Kazakh men charged in connection with the abductions and deaths of two bankers in Kazakhstan has begun in a Vienna court. The main suspect died of apparent suicide in a Vienna prison several weeks ago.

Central Asia's leaders are excited by the progress in negotiations between Iran and the P5+1. Hemmed in by sanctions-hit Russia to the north, an energy-hungry but distant China to the east, war-torn Afghanistan to the south, the region looks forward to the economic opportunities presented by an opening of Iran.

Two Kazakhs are due to appear in court in Austria in one of the country's most unusual murder trials. The men, who include a former intelligence chief, are accused of aiding the abduction and murder of two bankers in Kazakhstan in 2007.

The United States is often – and often fairly – maligned for a distinct lack of strategy in its relations with Central Asia. Tacked on to Chinese or Afghanistan policy, bogged in securitization or stilted democratization efforts, Washington has seemed unable to formulate a distinct, coherent policy for the region for years. Unlike Beijing's economic expansion or Moscow's military ties, Washington's Central Asian policy, if one appears, often comes across as an afterthought.

 A cold drizzle fell on Istanbul on the morning of Dec. 10, 2014, as Abdullah Bukhari made his way to teach his students at a madrasa nestled amid apartment blocks and hardware stores in the Zeytinburnu neighborhood. A white prayer cap on his head, Bukhari made two crucial departures from his daily routine, according to one of his students: He told his bodyguard to stay at home and he didn't wear a bulletproof vest beneath his white ankle-length thobe.