South Korea began on Thursday massive anti-submarine drills in waters off the west coast of the divided Korean peninsula despite a warning from its wartime rival against the exercises that heightened tensions near the western sea border.


The five-day naval exercises, aimed at deterring the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from further aggression after its suspected torpedo attack on a South Korean warship in March, will involve 4,500 troops from the country's army, navy and air...

A 7.0-magnitude quake was recorded early on Thursday in Papua New Guinea's New Britain region, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.


The quake struck at 02:01 Moscow time (22:01 Wednesday GMT). Its epicenter was located at the depth of 54 km (33.6 miles), some 565 km (350 miles) northeast of the country's capital Port Moresby.


There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. No tsunami alert was issued.

Source: KAZ...

United Nations humanitarian agencies warned today of the possibility of waterborne disease outbreaks emerging in north-western Pakistan, where an estimated 1,400 people have already died in the region's worst flooding in living memory and more heavy rains are forecast.


The agencies are stepping up their relief efforts as thousands of people remain trapped by flood waters, awaiting rescue and evacuation by boat or helicopter. Food, clean drinking water, tents and medical services are...

A seminar entitled "Development and assessment of infrastructure projects within public-private partnership" has been held in Tashkent for the Central Asian countries. The event was organized by the Commerce and Industry Chamber of Uzbekistan and State Committee for Demonopolization and Competition Development together with the UNDP project "Business Forum of Uzbekistan" and the UN Economic Commission for Europe.


Director of the Department for PPP Development of...

BP's incoming head Robert Dudley is due in Russia on Wednesday for a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.


He will be accompanied by the company's outgoing CEO Tony Hayward, whom BP have said they intend to put forward as a non-executive member of the board of the joint Russian-British TNK-BP venture.


Dudley is no stranger to Russia, having headed TNK-BP, owned by the AlfaAccessRenova consortium and BP on a parity basis, in...

Three children and one teacher have been killed in the latest attack on a kindergarten in China. Kazinform refers BBC.


An unidentified person wielding a knife slashed more than 20 children and staff in the school in the eastern city of Zibo, Shandong province, on Tuesday.


Fatal school attacks have become common across China; nine people died in a kindergarten knife attack on 12 May.


Also in May, a man was sentenced to death for stabbing 29 people at a kind...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has invited his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama for man-to-man talks ahead of the UN General Assembly session in September, Iranian Fars news agency said on Monday.


Ahmadinejad will be in the United States from September 20-22 to take part in the session.


"I propose that Obama and I meet for man-to-man talks in the presence of journalists to discuss the best solution to the world's problems," Ahmadinejad said.


W...

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev plans to visit Ukraine this September, the press-service of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich informs.



V. Yanukovich set a prior goal for newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Kazakhstan Oleg Demin which is the preparation of Kazakh President's visit to Ukraine next month.



'Kazakhstan is a strategically important country for us and we have great common goals ahead', the press-office ci

...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has promised to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.


Lukashenko made the promise in the presence of several CIS leaders, Medvedev said.


"Recognition [of the republics] is in our interests," Medvedev added.

Source: KAZINFORM

North Korea has threatened a "physical counter attack" to the South Korean naval drills due to be held this week in the Yellow Sea, North Korean media said; KAZINFORM refers to RIA Novosti.



South Korea is planning to hold anti-submarine drills near the disputed border with North Korea from August 5-9. The drills are designed to strengthen the defense capabilities of will the South Korean navy following the sinking of the Cheonan war ship.


The 1,200-ton South...

The U.S. Defense Department is close to reaching an agreement with a country in southern Europe on the deployment of a missile early-warning radar to counter potential missile strikes from Iran, The Washington Post reported. "The U.S. military is on the verge of activating a partial missile shield over southern Europe, part of an intensifying global effort to build defenses against Iranian missiles amid a deepening impasse over the country's nuclear ambitions," the newspaper said in

...

The participants of the informal meeting of the OSCE Ministers of Foreign Affairs held on June 16-17 in Astana agreed on the necessity of holding the Summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Astana this year.

This initiative of Kazakh President can significantly help establish common security space and give impetus for the development of cooperation within the OSCE which is important for all Eurasian states. Regarding this issue in the head-quarters of the N

...

The Helsinki Final Act remains as relevant today as it was when it was signed 35 years ago, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister and Secretary of State Kanat Saudabayev, said July,31 ahead of the 1 August anniversary.



"For the 35 years of its existence, the Helsinki Final Act has not lost its relevance and topicality. The innovative and comprehensive concept of security that was established by the leaders of 35 states in Helsinki remains today an

...

At least two spacewalks will be necessary to ensure proper replacement of a failed cooling pump on the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said. Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.



One of two cooling systems serving the ISS broke down late on Saturday, and the crew had shut down several pieces of equipment, including two of the station's four gyroscopes, to cut the heat generated on board.



According to emergency plan approved by NASA specialists on Sunday, U.S.

...

A Proton-M carrier rocket bearing three Glonass-M navigation satellites will be launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on September 2, Russia's space agency said on Friday. Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

"Preparation work on one of the three Glonass-M satellites is presently being completed at the Baikonur space center," Roskosmos said in a statement.



The two other satellites will be ready for launch by the end of August.



Glonass

...

The organizing committee of the 2010 European Athletics Championships said 35,890 spectators gathered at the Olympic stadium in Barcelona on Friday, the fourth day of the competitions, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.


"With a capacity of 32,000 set for the championships, media and VIPs boosted the number, with the line-up of finals exciting the crowd on a balmy summer evening in Barcelona," the official website of the championship reported.


Organizers say that the...

The death toll in an explosion at a coal mine in Linfen City of north China's Shanxi Province early Saturday has risen to 15, local authorities said.


At least 20 others were injured as of 9 a.m. in the blast at Liugou Coal Mine of Yicheng County, but the casualty number could further rise, said a senior official of Yangquan Coal Industry (Group) Co. Ltd, which owns the coal mine.


The official said the blast occurred at the dormitory area instead of the earlier reported ...

The White House on Friday implored the website WikiLeaks to stop posting secret Afghanistan war documents and the Pentagon pressed its investigation of the leaks, bringing a soldier charged with handing over classified video back to the US for trial, Kazinform refers to Arab News.


Obama administration officials said the investigation into the release of 76,911 documents could extend beyond members of the military. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said posting the war logs on the W...

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), USA, Inc., announced on Thursday that it intends to conduct a voluntary safety recall involving approximately 373,000 2000-2004 Model Year Toyota Avalons sold in the United States to address the possibility that the vehicle's steering lock bar could break under certain conditions; Kazinform refers to China Daily.



No other Toyota or Lexus vehicles are involved in this recall, according to Toyota USA.



This action follows an announcement made ...

Two Russian Tu-95MS Bear-H strategic bombers have carried out a record-breaking 40-hour patrol over three oceans, an Air Force spokesman said; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.



"The Tu-95MS bombers carried out patrols over the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans and set a new flight duration record of about 40 hours, exceeding the previous record by four hours," Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik said at a news briefing on Thursday.



The crews practiced instrume...

South African President Jacob Zuma plans to sign high-tech contracts during his visit to Russia on August 4-6; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.



"An important topic which I would like to discuss in Russia is cooperation in the spheres where our country possesses rich experience and advanced technologies. I hope contracts will be concluded during the visit in the sphere of science, energy, and mineral wealth mining," he said in an interview with Itar-Tass and Russia TV chann...

Wildfires burned 44 houses in the Moscow Region overnight, a source at the Russian Emergencies Ministry's information department informed, Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.



The blaze destroyed 44 houses in the Kolomna, Lukhovitsy and Krasnogorsk districts.



Twenty houses burned up in the village of Mokhovoye, the Lukhovitsy district. The source said 134 people were evacuated. Most of them stay in their relatives' homes at present.



Twelve houses burned up ...

Energy Minister of Kyrgyzstan Osmonbek Artykbaev said that Kazakhstan had allocated humanitarian aid in the form of fuel resources for Kyrgyzstan at the meeting on preparing sectors of the economy and population of the country to the autumn-winter period of 2010-2011.



According to the Minister Kazakhstan is to send to Kyrgyzstan 400 thousand tons of coal, 40 thousand tons of oil-fuel and 50 thousand tons of diesel oil.



In accordance with the materials of the Ministr...

Kazakhstan to take part in 17th ITS World Congress in Busan

ASTANA. July 28. KAZINFORM Vice Minister of Transport and Communications Dulat Kuterbekov has met with Vice Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Intelligent Transportation Systems World Congress Chang-se Kim today.



The sides discussed the organization issues of the 17 ITS World Congress scheduled for October 25-26, 2010 in Busan. About 2000 officials from European and Asian states are expected to take part i...

Ambassador of Thailand to Russia and Kazakhstan Chalermpol Thanchitt is confident in Kazakhstan's successful presidency in the Organization of Islamic Conference in 2011.



As the press service of the Kazakh Embassy in Russia informs, Head of the diplomatic mission Zautbek Turisbekov received Ambassadors of Thailand and Serbia Chalermpol Thanchitt and Elitsa Kuryak also representing their countries in Kazakhstan.



Z. Turisbekov informed the foreign diplomats of the cou...

The three fastest men in the world at present, including world 100m record holder Usain Bolt from Jamaica, will meet here next month, organizers said on Wednesday.



Bolt, his Jamaican compatriot Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay from the United States are set to race at the Stockholm meet on August 6, the meet director Rajne Soderberg said.



It will be the first time for them to compete together since the 100m final at last year's world championships in Berlin where Bolt set...

A military cargo plane with four people on board crashed at Elmendorf Air Force Base in the U.S. state of Alaska, local media reported Wednesday.



The conditions of the four on the C-17 cargo plane are still unknown, Anchorage Daily News quoting sources with the U.S. Air Force as saying.



The plane was on a "local training mission" when it crashed at 6:14 p.m. local time (0114 GMT), the newspaper said.



Initial reports showed that the plane had...

Canada has cancelled the passport of a suspected Russian spy who fled after being released on bail in Cyprus, the Toronto Star has reported, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.



Christopher Metsos was detained on June 29, two days after the U.S.-Russian spy scandal broke out following the announcement by the U.S. authorities that they had detained 10 people on charges of espionage on behalf of Russia.



Metsos was put on a wanted list as an 11th alleged spy. A day afte

...

The first round of talks on Iceland's accession to the European Union will take place in Brussels later on Tuesday; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.



The European Parliament supported on July 7 the proposal by the European Commission to begin negotiations on the issue. The foreign ministers of the 27 EU member states approved the European Commission's recommendation in June.



The negotiations are expected to last from 12 to 18 months.



Before the star

...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has sent a message of congratulation to President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on successful performance of Astana team in Tour de France, the world's most prestigious race, and victory of Alberto Contador in general classification. Diplomatic Adviser to the French  President  Jean-David Levitte made it public at a working meeting with Chairman SamrukKazyna National Welfare Fund, President of the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation Kairat Kelimbetov

...