French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed Monday that the 78-year-old French hostage Michel Germaneau, who was kidnapped in April, has been killed by a North African wing of al-Qaida, according to a declaration by the Elysee Palace, Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

After a defence and security meeting on the issue, which was attended by Prime Minister Francois Fillon, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux and other concerned high profile officials in the morn

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The United Nations Human Rights Council today announced the names of the three experts who will serve on a fact-finding mission to investigative violations of international law resulting from Israel's interception of a flotilla of aid ships bound for the Gaza Strip, which led to the deaths of nine civilians.

Judge Karl T. Hudson-Phillips of Trinidad and Tobago, Sir Desmond de Silva of the United Kingdom and Mary Shanthi Dairiam of Malaysia will comprise the panel, the Council's Preside

...

On July 15-17, a high-ranking delegation from Kazakhstan led by the Minister of Economic Development and Trade Ms. Zhanar Aitzhanova visited Brussels, Belgium, to hold bilateral consultations with the European Union on Kazakhstan's accession to the World Trade Organization. At her meeting with European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht Minister Aitzhanova informed her counterpart of the completion of Kazakhstan's bilateral negotiations with the European Union on goods market access in rel

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Seven of the 91 European banks that underwent stress tests have failed the healthchecks, the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) has said; Kazinform refers to BBC.



They include five Spanish banks - Diada, Espiga, Banca Civica, Unnim and Cajasur. The other two were Germany's Hypo Real Estate and Greece's ATEbank.



The tests assessed banks' ability to survive future economic shocks.



The seven banks would need a total of 3.5bn euros of new ca...

The joint military drill by the U.S. and South Korean army "is against the sovereignty of the DPRK ( Democratic People's Republic of Korea)", a DPRK spokesman told reporters Friday at a regional security forum here.



"It is a threat to the Korean peninsula and the region of Asia as a whole, and the DPRK's position is there will be physical response to the threat imposed by the United States militarily," Ri Tong Il, spokesman for the DPRK delegation at the ASEAN ...

It looks like an iPad, only it's 1/14th the cost: India has unveiled the prototype of a $35 basic touchscreen tablet aimed at students, which it hopes to bring into production by 2011; Kazinform refers to China Daily.



If the government can find a manufacturer, the Linux operating system-based computer would be the latest in a string of "world's cheapest" innovations to hit the market out of India, which is home to the 100,000 rupee ($2,127) compact Nano car, the 749 r

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The International Energy Agency announced that China surpassed the United States as the world's biggest energy consumer. Implications are multiple: Vast amounts of pollution; Beijing's increased influence in energy markets; effect on just about everything from car design to construction, to public transportation, to power plant design.

In 2009 China consumed 2,252 metric tons of oil equivalent of energy from coal, nuclear power, hydropower, oil and natural gas; about 4 percent more th...

The number of subscribers of pay TV topped 1 mln in the Central Asian part of the CIS.



Kazakhstan leads in the amount of subscribers which 67 percent of the citizens and only 3 percent in Kyrgyzstan according to research company J'son & Partners Consulting.



Excluding Russia the total number of pay TV subscribers in the CIS reached 6 bln.



Countries of European part of the CIS take considerable part of the market which is 63 percent or 3.7 mln su

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Four people were injured during an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale that hit southern Iran's Fars Province near the Persian Gulf coast at 1938 GMT on Tuesday. Kazinform refers to Xinhua.



The earthquake, at a depth of 9 kilometers, is 27 degrees North Latitude and 53.9 degrees East Longitude, according to the Iranian Seismological Center's website.



Within 21 minutes after the magnitude-5.8 quake, another two earthquakes measuring 5.2 and 4.1 respectively...

Finland has granted 250,000 euros to support the organization of Afghanistan's upcoming parliamentary election in September, said the Finnish Foreign Ministry on Monday, Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

According to a statement released by the ministry, the purpose of the support is to contribute to a successful electoral process in Afghanistan through the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) Electoral Fund.

The ministry said that supporting democratic development in ...

NATO said on Sunday it had intercepted a letter from fugitive Taleban leader Mulla Omar in which he called for any Afghan supporting their country's government to be captured or killed, Kazinform refers to Arab News.

Omar had issued the directive in June, NATO spokesman Brig. Josef Blotz said, adding that the Taleban chief was believed to be in hiding in neighboring Pakistan.

"The message was from Mulla Omar, who is hiding i...

The parliament of Bashkortostan on Monday named Rustem Khamitov as new president of the southwestern Russian republic.

All 105 deputies from the 120-seat parliament who were present at the meeting voted unanimously for Khamitov, an ex-top manager at Russia's largest hydro energy company, RusHydro,

Khamitov, 55, replaces Murtasza Rakhimov, who had headed the country since 1993 and has taken early retirement.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accepted Rakhmiov's resig...

Government officials and policymakers from Asia and the Pacific have concluded a United Nations-organized meeting by adopting a course of action for environmentally sustainable economic growth, ahead of a key ministerial conference to be held in September in Kazakhstan.



At the two-day regional preparatory meeting in Muju, Republic of Korea, participants underlined that a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region had responded to the global food, financial and fuel crises with...

France striker Thierry Henry announced his retirement from international soccer on Thursday; Kazinform refers to China Daily.



The 32-year-old former Arsenal and Barcelona striker, who signed for Major League Soccer (MLS) side New York Redbulls on Wednesday, played only a bit-part in France's World Cup campaign in South Africa, which ended at the group stage.



"I made up my mind before the World Cup. South Africa did not play a part in my decision. I could have a...

Typhoon Conson landed at Yalong Bay of Sanya City, in south China's island province of Hainan, late Friday, causing casualties.



Conson made landfall at 7:50 p.m., packing winds of up to 126 km per hour at the center, according to the disaster prevention office of Sanya, a tourist resort.



It brought heavy rains and strong winds to Sanya, uprooting trees, pulling down billboards and light poles and partly cutting power supply.



A security guard was burie...

Within the framework of the informal meeting of the OSCE foreign ministers in Almaty OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Kazakh Secretary of State-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kanat Saudabayev has held a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania Ilir Meta on Friday, July 16.

"Today we have discussed further bilateral relations between Kazakhstan and Albania, and Kazakhsatn's chairmanship in the OSCE. Besides, we considered an important issue on economic coo

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Within the framework of the informal meeting of the OSCE foreign ministers in Almaty OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Kazakh Secretary of State-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kanat Saudabayev has held a meeting with Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Samuel Žbogar on Friday.

Slovenia supports Kazakhstan as the OSCE Chairman and highly appraises the measures taken by the country in regulation of the crisis in Kyrgyzstan. "We are ready to support Kazakhstan in crisis management an

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OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Secretary of State - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Kanat Saudabayev has met today with Foreign Minster of Belarus Sergei Martynov within the informal meeting of the OSCE Foreign Ministers in Almaty

'We support the initiative of Kazakhstan to hold the OSCE Summit in Astana, we also support the Chairmanship of Kazakhstan in the OSCE. Regarding bilateral cooperation I would like to emphasize that the relations between our countries are strong and

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Argentina has become the first Latin American country to legalise gay marriage after the Senate approved a bill before parliament.



The legislation, passed by the lower house in May, also gives homosexual couples the right to adopt children.



After a marathon debate the Senate voted 34 to 27 in favour of the proposals.



Outside parliament there were demonstrations from people both sides. Police kept them apart but couldn’t prevent eggs and orang

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First Vice Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Amangeldy Muraliev expressed gratitude to Kazakhstan for help it had provided in the period his country needed it the most.

'There is a decline in the GDP. The budget deficit exceeded USD 212 mln. Reconstruction of the houses, energy facilities, communications in the south of the country and preparation for winter amounts around one billion. We are currently in search of financing sources realizing that we need our own funds for these pur...

"The Russian side calls European partners to support the OSCE Summit in Kazakhstan", Olga Senina, Counselor of the Russian Mission to the European Communities said at the workshop on Kazakhstan's OSCE chairmanship held in Brussels Wednesday.

According to her, the Summit will allow to establish closer cooperation of states in resolving security problems in Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian spaces and help in joint efforts of international and regional organizations on countering new th...

A prefeasibility study (PFS) has confirmed the economic viability of the Kyzyl gold project in Kazakhstan, where operations could start in 2013; Kazinform refers to

MiningWeekly.com

The Kyzyl project is wholly-owned by Altynalmas, in which TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines owns a 50% stake.

The study was based on an underground mining operation producing an average of 368 000 oz/y of gold during an initial mine life of up to ten years.

The company said that the current ...

Russia's citizen who was mentioned by American security services in connection with the recent "spy scandal" between Washington and Moscow, on Tuesday was deported from the United States by decision of the immigration court, spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Matt Chandler told Itar-Tass.

According to him, the deported man's name is Alexei Karetnikov. The decision on his deportation to his motherland was made by the court earlier on the same day. Chand

...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will sign a memorandum of understanding on Russia's Skolkovo innovation hub, Russian Mayak radio station said Wednesday; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

Medvedev and Merkel will meet on July 14-15 in Yekaterinburg as part of Russian-German interstate consultations.

The sides are due to sign a memorandum of understanding between the Skolkovo foundation and Germany's Siemens AG. Medvedev and Merkel are also exp

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About 60 people, mostly students, were taken ill after suspected chlorine gas leaked from a scrapyard in the Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) premises close to a college early on Wednesday. The condition of seven people is critical, officials said, adding that 500 people were evacuated from the area. Kazinform refers to Indiatimes.



TV reports earlier said that three people have died in the leak. However, there has not been any confirmation of the deaths.



"Seven are

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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will sign a memorandum of understanding on Russia's Skolkovo innovation hub, Russian Mayak radio station said Wednesday.



Medvedev and Merkel will meet on July 14-15 in Yekaterinburg as part of Russian-German interstate consultations.



The sides are due to sign a memorandum of understanding between the Skolkovo foundation and Germany's Siemens AG.



Medvedev and Merkel are also expec

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Greece successfully auctioned on Tuesday its six-month treasury bills, raising 1.625 billion euros ($2.04 billion) from the market, the Greek Public Debt Management Organization announced; Kazinform refers to China Daily.



The interest rate was set at 4.65 percent, slightly higher than the 4.55 percent Athens secured in the previous auction of similar six-months treasury bills in April 13 and lower than the 5-percent threshold local and foreign analysts had expected. In January

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The U.S. government on Monday issued a new moratorium on deepwater drilling until Nov. 30, seeking to make the oil industry safer following the huge Gulf of Mexico disaster, Kazinform refers to Trend News.



"More than 80 days into the BP oil spill, a pause on deepwater drilling is essential and appropriate to protect communities, coasts, and wildlife from the risks that deepwater drilling currently poses," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement, Kazinform cite...

Pyongyang has delayed indefinitely talks with the U.S military to discuss South Korea's Cheonan warship sinking blamed on the North, Yonhap said on Tuesday.



On Friday it was announced that the talks with the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC), a command structure for the multinational military forces supporting South Korea, will be held on Tuesday morning.



A few hours before the talks were to take place, the North's military "requested a delay in the planned...

Russia and Kazakhstan are considering sending an additional $10 million in aid to Kyrgyzstan, the Russian finance minister said Monday; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.



"We, together with Kazakhstan and the Eurasian Development Bank, are assessing the needs of Kyrgyzstan in connection with the difficulties that arose from the unsanctioned events," Alexei Kudrin told a cabinet meeting, adding that the list of urgent needs was yet to be clarified.



He said it...