For the region's impoverished countries with gold deposits, the commodity's all-time highs should bring welcome economic benefits. But, for the moment, they are not rushing to cash in.
Two weeks after a methane explosion at the Abai mine in Kazakhstan's central Karagana region killed 30 miners, it is still unclear why such deadly accidents continue to occur so often in the country's mines.
German journalist Marcus Bensmann was found unconscious in the snow on the outskirts of Astana on Sunday (January 20) morning, having been severely beaten and robbed. Bensmann had made a name for himself as an independent and outspoken journalist, often criticizing the authoritarian practices of some Central Asian governments.
2007 was a bad year for freedom, according to a prominent rights-advocacy organization that has registered a global decline in political rights and civil liberties for the second consecutive year.
Rakhat Aliev was once one of the most powerful and influential people in oil-rich Kazakhstan. But after an Almaty court ruling late on January 15, he's now a fugitive from the law.
Kyrgyz officials are looking for answers, but their behavior since discovering radioactive material aboard a train bound for Iran has raised questions. Why, for example, did it take them nine days to announce the discovery of the material?
While other former Soviet states, notably Ukraine, have marked the great Soviet famine of the 1930s, the Kazakh government has sought to bury this bitter memory along with the victims.
Some critics of a Russian group's high-profile entry onto the Kazakh and Uzbek television markets are less concerned with viewer loyalty than national allegiance. But not everyone sees overt political motives behind the deals.
Central Asia is rich in history, oil, and gas -- and troubled by security risks, organized crime, narcotics trafficking, and extremism. In response to those threats, the United Nations this week launched a center for diplomacy in Ashgabat intended to help the region tackle its challenges before they spiral out of control.
Iranian officials have gone to lengths recently to portray Tehran as being in desperate need to develop nuclear energy. But to some independent energy analysts, that's a curious claim. After all, Iran sits atop the some of the world's largest proven reserves of natural gas and oil.
MADRID, December 1, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Kazakhstan will become the first ex-Soviet state to assume the chairmanship of the OSCE, it was announced here at the close of the organization's annual ministerial meeting.
Russia and the United States are set for a showdown at the OSCE's annual gathering of foreign ministers in Spain, with Moscow seeking to diminish the OSCE's role as a flagship for human rights and democracy across Eastern Europe and Central Asia
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