There were widespread protests against government land-reform plans in late April that culminated in countrywide rallies against government policies on May 21. Hundreds of people were arrested in the days leading up to and on the day of that protest.
Events and opinions
Iran, Russia, Venezuela and other authoritarian governments abuse the agency to target critics.
One of Kazakhstan’s last remaining independent newspapers has been ordered to pay heavy damages in a libel case that its editor believes was designed to drive it out of business.
In a disturbing development for Kazakhstan, another supposedly radicalized gunman singled out security forces for an attack — this time in the country’s largest city, Almaty.
Few of Tony Blair's cronies have defended the former prime minister more vociferously after the damning conclusions of Sir John Chilcot's Iraq report than his one-time 'director of political operations' John McTernan.
A Ukrainian postal stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of Stepan Bandera’s birth. Public Domain
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
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.