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For Kazakhstan’s Olympic athletes, winning gold at this summer’s Games in London will not be enough to satisfy the authorities back home. They also have to ensure the correct national anthem is played when they receive their medals. Kazakhstan has had a series of embarrassing hiccups with its national anthem over the past year, culminating at a shooting tournament in Kuwait when a fake version of the anthem created by the comic character Borat was accidently played instead of the real one. ... The main trigger for the warning was the error at the shooting competition in March in Kuwait....

A new study has suggested that recently unearthed cities in Southern Siberia could rewrite Aryan history-as they are believed to be the original home of the Aryans. Twenty of the spiral-shaped settlements, believed to be the original home of the Aryan people, have been identified, and there are about 50 more suspected sites. They all lie buried in a region more than 640km long near Russia's border with Kazakhstan. The cities are apparently 3500-4000 years ago and are about the same size as several of the city-states of ancient Greece. If archaeologists confirm the cities as Aryan, they could be...

A gold-medal winning athlete from Kazakhstan was forced to stand through a national anthem that insulted other countries and boasted of her nation's "clean prostitutes" when organizers at a shooting competition accidentally played a fake anthem from the comedy film "Borat." Gold medalist Maria Dmitrienko never lets on that there's a problem and graciously poses for photos with the other medalists following the ceremony.

Kazakhstan's shooting team has been left stunned after a comedy national anthem from the film Borat was played at a medal ceremony at championships in Kuwait instead of the real one. The song was produced by UK comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for the film, which shows Kazakhs as backward and bigoted. Footage of Thursday's original ceremony posted on YouTube shows gold medallist Maria Dmitrienko listening to the anthem without emotion and finally smiling as it ends. The spoof song praises Kazakhstan for its superior potassium exports and for having the cleanest prostitutes in the region.

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s current prime minister and future president, has shown a strong interest in Asian affairs. In his second term, Putin would undoubtedly like to maintain good ties with China, consolidate Moscow’s first-among-equals status in Central Asia, manage the regional repercussions of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, prevent a war or major crisis in the Koreas, and deepen Russia’s integration into East Asia’s more dynamic and prosperous economic networks. At the same time, Putin is eager to strengthen Russia’s position in Europe. It’s a big to-do list, but Russia has already succeeded in raising its profile in Asia...

Ancient Greeks had a word for the people who lived on the wild, arid Eurasian steppes stretching from the Black Sea to the border of China. They were nomads, which meant “roaming about for pasture.” They were wanderers and, not infrequently, fierce mounted warriors. Essentially, they were “the other” to the agricultural and increasingly urban civilizations that emerged in the first millennium B.C. As the nomads left no writing, no one knows what they called themselves. To their literate neighbors, they were the ubiquitous and mysterious Scythians or the Saka, perhaps one and the same people. In any case, these...

For anyone wondering how the abandonment of the dollar reserve status would look like we have a Hollow Men reference: not with a bang, but a whimper... Or in this case a whole series of bilateral agreements that quietly seeks to remove the US currency as an intermediate. Such as these: "World's Second (China) And Third Largest (Japan) Economies To Bypass Dollar, Engage In Direct Currency Trade", "China, Russia Drop Dollar In Bilateral Trade", "China And Iran To Bypass Dollar, Plan Oil Barter System", "India and Japan sign new $15bn currency swap agreement", and now this: "Iran, Russia Replace Dollar...

MOSCOW — A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying three astronauts returning from the International Space Station touched down safely in the snow-covered steppes of Kazakhstan early Tuesday morning. NASA astronaut Michael Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa of Japan’s JAXA space agency landed at the break of dawn some 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of the town of Arkalyk at 8:26 a.m. (0226 GMT) after spending 165 days in space. The landing at steppe was close to its target point. NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said in the NASA television broadcast that the recovery operation was swift despite the freezing...

SURRENDER COMPLETELY AND RECEIVE MY LOVE FOR YOU ! My surrender to you is eternal , for as My Sacrifice was a promise and a statement of My Love coming down through the Father ! It is Now time for You to SURRENDER wholeheartedly to Me . I need to see a heart opened forth right and true ; to discern My Presence ! That you make " ALL " Known to Me ~ free for release and in this surrender as you raise your hands and lower your defenses and pride I WILL COME ! And My SPIRIT ,...

Ordinary measures are not warranted anymore for I have overcome for you and in Me you reside in the heavenlies. So cast off your flesh when it distracts you from My Will of virtue and Righteousness and "Remain" in "MY" Loyalty for I AM all you need to KNOW! John 15:9 (AMP) 9I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [[a]continue in His love with Me]. Acts 17:28 28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his...

Kazakhstan’s international energy image is now that of one of the world’s rising oil exporters, an extraordinary feat given that, two decades ago its hydrocarbon output was beyond insignificant when the USSR collapsed. The vast Central Asian nation, larger than Western Europe, has now quietly passed another energy milestone. Kazakhstan produces 33 percent of world’s mined uranium, followed by Canada at 18 percent and Australia, with 11 percent of global output. Kazakhstan contains the world's second-largest uranium reserves, estimated at 1.5 million tons. Until two years ago Kazakhstan was the world's No. 3 uranium miner, following Australia and Canada. Together...

Following shootings and explosions in the city of Taraz in South Kazakhstan, a criminal case was opened on two counts - murder and the commission of terrorist acts. According to ‘Interfax’, Deputy Attorney General of the Republic Nurmuhanbet Isayev made this statement on November 12th. The official stressed that the city had only suffered a single explosion, and not four as reported by some media sources. He also denied reports that there is a curfew in Taraz. According to prosecutors, on Saturday morning, 34-year-old M.K. Kariyev (previously identified as Kaliyev), a follower of jihadist ideas, robbed a Taraz resident and...

Original Title: "Word of mouth" On Friday, November 4th, it seemed as if the city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan was paralyzed. Life had come to a halt: cafes and restaurants were deserted, and almost no one ventured out into the streets. Parents came and took their children home from schools and kindergartens. People were afraid to ride the buses, and it was impossible to catch a taxi. But the main thing – there was information, by word of mouth, regarding alleged acts of terrorism, murders, and hostage taking... It was the first time ever that the coal-mining capital of Kazakhstan had...

Kazakhstan flies in US cows to boost beef industryAssociated Press Updated Monday, Oct 10 at 12:01 PM BISMARCK, North Dakota (AP) — Hundreds of North Dakota cows bred to withstand brutal cold are being shipped in jumbo jets to Kazakhstan to help build the nation's beef industry. **SNIP** North Dakota is known for its harsh winters and hardy livestock, Price said. North Dakota cows typically have thicker coats and more marbling and fatty tissue, state agriculture officials say. More than 2,600 pregnant cows and heifers were shipped last year on Boeing 747 freighters from North Dakota to Astana, the capital...

Tuekta is in the Altai Mountains where Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia come together. Researchers there have discovered burial mounds 2,300 to 2,800 years old and up to 250 feet (76 meters) wide. These burial mounds, called "kurgans," probably belonged to chiefs or princes among the Scythians, a nomadic people known for their horsemanship, who once had a rich, powerful empire. Excavations of some of these have revealed extraordinary treasures of gold and other artifacts well-preserved by permafrost. Nearly 200 burial mounds were discovered in Tuekta, situated along the River Ursul. The site's heart appears to once have been a...

For the past year, the debt crisis has monopolized Europe’s attention to the extent that many forgot the EU did anything besides argue about debt levels. Apparently many in Europe feel the same way, as efforts to bolster its relationships along its Eastern periphery — once a central focus of EU policy — have been all but ignored by policymakers and the media. But where Europe sees a distraction, Russia sees an opportunity. The FT reports that Putin is setting his sights on the big time in anticipation of his return to the presidency: Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, this...

New laws in Kazakhstan to restrict religious groups Kazakhstan's upper house of parliament has passed a draft law that imposes greater restrictions on religious groups, part of a raft of measures designed to crack down on growing Islamic militancy By James Kilner, Astana 5:16PM BST 29 Sep 2011 At its core, the draft law increases surveillance of religious groups by forcing them to re-register with the local authorities. Those considered too small with be refused registration. Opponents of the law say it is an infringement on religious freedom but supporters, including Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, have said it is vital...

Archaeologists from the Gumilyov Eurasian National University have found a mound, presumably dating back to the Iron age. The tomb of Sarmatian warrior is located near the village of Aidarly in the Akmola region. In the mound, archeologists also found arrowheads, knives, an iron belt badge, ceramic vessels and the bones of sacrificial animals. Sergazy Saken, Archeological Expedition Leader: The body of the middle-class warrior is place with its head towards the south which is peculiar for Sarmatians and dates back to 3rd or 4th centuries BC. The artifacts found in the tomb were placed near the body with two...

Threats: The leader of nuke-bound Iran joins Russian and Chinese counterparts at a meeting of a group formed to rival NATO. No wonder Moscow resists U.S. missile defense. Few people have heard of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). But they should be aware of it, especially when it includes Iran, which has observer status, as one of its members. Remember, Iran is a state that has pledged to wipe Israel off the map while developing nukes and the missiles to carry them. The SCO was created in 2001 ostensibly to address the threat of Islamic terror and extremism in Muslim...

A trio of initiatives aimed at modernizing the infrastructure of oil-rich Kazakhstan—while simultaneously benefiting U.S. consulting firms—was unveiled, albeit without without fanfare, by the federal government. The U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) late last week began its search for Kazakh project vendors at a time when the U.S. increasingly is becoming embroiled in a tempestuous controversy between the Kazakh President and his exiled son-in-law. According to The New York Times, Rakhat Aliyev, son-in-law to President Nursultan Nazarbayev, has taken his case to Washington in search of safe passage to the United States. Aliyev, whom Kazakh authorities had accused of...