Kazakh banks may have to write off 10 percent to 15 percent of loans after four of the former Soviet republic's lenders defaulted last year, Standard & Poor's said.

Cardin-McGovern bills would freeze assets, ban visas for individuals with hand in death of anti-corruption lawyer

Militants in Tajikistan's Rasht Valley ambushed a military convoy of 75 Tajik troops Sept. 19, killing 25 military personnel according to official reports and 40 according to the militants, who attacked from higher ground with small arms, automatic weapons and grenades.

Britain's new Bribery Act risks diverting a second wave of Kazakh companies seeking to raise money from the London Stock Exchange, according to bankers and businesses considering listing.

Kazakhstan's commercial bust-ups with Western majors such as Eni, BG and Chevron have grabbed the headlines in recent years, reflecting the rise of "resource nationalism" in the republic. But for sheer drama, these disputes cannot match the saga involving a Moldovan oil company, Ascom, which is preparing to challenge the Kazakh government in the international arbitration courts for "expropriating" its oil production assets and transferring them to state oil company Kazmunaigas (KMG).

A long-time confidant of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Vladimir Ni, died on Thursday after a long illness, leaving a gap in the inner circle that surrounds the veteran leader of Central Asia's largest economy. Ni, who was 77, was a board member of copper miner Kazakhmys . The group announced his death in a statement on Friday.

The Duke of York's former home was bought for £15million using laundered money, it was claimed yesterday.

Kazakhstan's most prominent human rights activist, Yevgeniy Zhovtis, has marked his first year behind bars. Zhovtis, a tireless campaigner who has stood up to the Kazakh authorities for years, was given a four-year prison sentence on September 3, 2009 on charges of vehicular manslaughter he denied, after a trial widely criticized for procedural violations.