Kazakhstan - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Latest Kazakhstan News

Kazakh Ex-Mayor Goes On Trial

The former mayor of Kazakhstan’s southwestern town of Zhanaozen, Oraq Sarbopeev, has gone on trial in the regional capital, Aqtau. More

Antigovernment protesters wave their shoes outside the state television building in Cairo in February 2011 during protests that led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

In Annual Rights Report, U.S. Warns Of 'Instability' Following Arab Spring

In a new report, the U.S. State Department calls last year’s uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa “inspirational," with citizens in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, and Syria standing up and demanding their universal rights, greater economic opportunity, and participation in their countries’ political future. More

Kazakh Parliament Debates Controversial 'Personal Data' Bill

Kazakhstan's parliament has begun discussing a controversial draft law that enables law enforcement agencies to collect detailed and confidential information about citizens. More

Saiga antelope drink from a lake outside Almaty. (undated)

More Endangered Kazakh Antelope Found Dead

The Kazakh Agriculture Ministry says at least 400 more rare saiga antelopes have been found dead in the northern Qostanai region, bringing to nearly 1,000 the number found dead in the area in the past week. More

Kazakh Hospital Probed In Baby Deaths

Prosectors in Kazakhstan say a preliminary investigation has been launched into the deaths of some 60 newborns and toddlers since the beginning of the year at a maternity hospital in Almaty. More

More Kazakhstan News

Blogging Central Asia

A poster for the film "The Dictator" on a street in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent

Islam Karimov Lightens Up

There are few places in Central Asia where moviegoers can watch "The Dictator," Sacha Baron Cohen's new comedy about a fictional autocratic ruler. But surprisingly, in authoritarian Uzbekistan, the movie is being shown -- albeit in heavily censored form. More

The Birthrate Of A Nation: Karimov Comments Censored Back Home

They were comments apparently too hot even for his own country's state-controlled media to handle. During a visit to Moscow last week, Uzbek President Islam Karimov met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which the topic of population growth and family planning came up. More

Latest From Azattyq.org

Сомали содырлары күресті күшейтетінін айтты

Тегеран МАГАТЭ-нің жаңа баяндамасына пікір білдірді

Египеттегі "Мұсылман бауырлар" үкімет туралы келіссөз бастады

Дмитрий Медведев «Единая Россияның» төрағасы болды

Алжир университетіндегі жарылыстан 7 адам мерт болды

Radio Azattyq (in Kazakh)

Features & Commentary

Men load a trailer with the carcasses of dead saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan on May 22, 2010.

Spacecraft Or Forage: What's Killing The Saiga Antelope?

Hundreds of carcasses of the critically endangered saiga antelope were found this week in northern Kazakhstan, prompting suggestions that the animals may have been poisoned by chemicals left behind by Russian spacecraft. Authorities and scientists, however, remain cautious.

Protesters lie on camping mats in front of the statue of Abai in Moscow.

Kazakh Poet Becomes Russian Protest's Unlikely Figurehead

A 19th-century Kazakh poet who was previously all but unknown in Russia has become an unlikely figurehead of opposition protests already marring Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin.

Bolat Nazarbaev claims his ex-wife and her son swindled him out of his plush apartment in New York

Kazakh President's Brother Claims Family Cheated Him Out Of Luxury Apartment

The brother of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has filed papers in a New York City court alleging that his ex-wife and her son conspired to steal his $20 million apartment in the city's swanky Plaza Hotel.

There are more than 250 ancient artifacts on display at the exhibition.

New York Discovers Complexities Of Kazakhstan's Ancient Nomadic Culture

An New York exhibition of ancient objects from eastern Kazakhstan is opening eyes to the complexity of the country's traditional nomadic lifestyle.

The first Soviet nuclear test was carried out in Semipalatinsk in 1949.

Giving Up Nukes -- Is The Post-Soviet Experience A Model For Others?

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine gave up their Soviet-legacy nuclear weapons. But what did they get in return and how do they feel about that decision now?

Does This Language Make Me Look Fat?

A new study by a Yale University economist suggests that the language you speak can have an impact on your long-term well-being by affecting how you think about saving money, smoking, exercise, and even obesity.

Withdrawing troops and equipment from Afghanistan will be a costly business.

Neighboring Countries Scramble To Be NATO's Exit Route From Afghanistan

Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus could reap a bonanza in transit fees as NATO brings home materiel from Afghanistan.

Social Network Aims To Attract World's Muslims

A newly planned social network -- conceived during the early days of last year's Arab Spring uprisings -- seeks to link the world's Muslims on a platform where they won't be exposed to pornography, insults to Islam or a political agenda. But some Muslims have their doubts.

Robert Blake, U.S. assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs

U.S. Official Cites "Deterioration" in Rights Situation

U.S. Assistant Secretary Robert Blake spoke with RFE/RL about security cooperation and the human rights agenda in Central Asia.

Kyrgyz women and their children are detained during a police raid on migrant workers in downtown Moscow last year.

Central Asian Women's Shattered 'Russian Dreams'

Even as financial necessity amid an extended economic crisis is breaking Central Asian cultural and religious taboos that traditionally deterred women from going to Russia for work on their own, they have been exposed to worrying consequences, such as intimidation, abuse, inhumane working conditions, and sex trafficking.

RFE/RL's Radio Azattyq has been an important source of information for people in Kazakhstan for decades. In 2009, Azattyq won the prestigious 2009 Online Journalism Award for "standing in defense of citizen’s rights to seek and receive information."