A workshop titled "Priorities of the OSCE in Afghanistan within Kazakhstan's presidency in the Organization" was held in the European Parliament Tuesday. Deputies of the European Parliament, representatives of the European Commission, diplomatic corpse and world experts took part in the workshop. The organizer of the event is "Total Politics" analytical magazine with the support of Deputy of the European Parliament form Great Britain Ni

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Russian authorities have transferred to Poland a number of procedural documents related to the investigation of the Polish presidential plane crash near Smolensk in early April; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.

Investigation Committee under the Prosecutor General's Office (SKP) chief Alexander Bastrykin confirmed on Monday that "there was no explosion aboard" the plane and that "the investigation at this point is proceeding just as actively as when it began".

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Spain, the presiding country in the EU condemned Israel's attack on the 'Freedom Flotilla' ships heading to Gaza with humanitarian aid on Monday, May 31.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero described the accident as serious and worrying.

Secretary of State of Spain for European Affairs Diego Lopez Garrido condemned Israel and noted that the actions which led to casualties were absolutely unacceptable. 'We are going to monitor the process of investigation of the i

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Leaders of China, Japan and South Korea met Saturday in South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju for their third trilateral summit with the aim of mapping out future cooperation in East Asia, Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama attended the talks.

China expects the meeting to nail down key areas of cooperation so as to support the economic recovery and the construction of East

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Russia will on Monday give Poland the flight data recorders of the Polish presidential plane that crashed in western Russia more than six weeks ago, a spokesman for Russia's Deputy Premier Sergei Ivanov said, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

The Polish government Tu-154 crashed near Smolensk on the morning on April 10. All 96 people on board died, including President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and a host of senior Polish officials. They had been due to attend a memorial ceremony for the

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China urges to ease the tension at the Korean Peninsula but refrains from criticising North Korea in relation to the sinking of the Cheonan corvette; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.

A two-day meeting of China's Premier Wen Jiabao, South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak and Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in the Jeju-do resort island was over on Sunday.

"The most vital task is to reduce the tension which emerged from the incident with the Cheonan corvette and not to allo

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Heads of the government of Kazakhstan and Russia Karim Massimov amd Vladimir Putin have signed the Agreement on the application of international treaties within the framework of the formation of the Customs Union.

K.Massimov takes part in the session of the Supreme Body of the Customs Union.



Source: KAZINFORM

U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged to triple the number of people involved in clean-up operations in areas along the Gulf of Mexico where oil from a massive spill has washed ashore or approached the coast, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

The U.S. president arrived in Louisiana on Friday to supervise clean-up efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, which currently involve some 20,000 people.

"This increase will allow us to further intensify this already historic response, contain ...

Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said on Wednesday that Russia and the European Union (EU) expressed their readiness to gradually wave a visa regime; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

"During the two-day session, we adopted a final document, where we have expressed our readiness to continue a constructive dialogue on freedom, security and justice," Konovalov said after the 12th session of the Russia-EU Permanent Partnership Council on F

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The question on Ukraine's membership of NATO has been shelved now, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishchenko on Thursday at the ninth interdepartmental meeting on coordination of activities of bodies of executive power in foreign affairs; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.

"The idea of Ukraine's membership of the alliance does not enjoy support of the majority of Ukrainians and is destructive for efficiency of the state's foreign policy,&

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The question on Ukraine's membership of NATO has been shelved now, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishchenko on Thursday at the ninth interdepartmental meeting on coordination of activities of bodies of executive power in foreign affairs; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.

"The idea of Ukraine's membership of the alliance does not enjoy support of the majority of Ukrainians and is destructive for efficiency of the state's foreign policy," the minister explained.

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Iran's president urged the United States and Russia Wednesday to back a nuclear fuel deal, warning it would be the last "opportunity" to resolve the atomic standoff; Kazinform refers to The Arab News.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the US leader will miss a historic opportunity for improved cooperation from Tehran if the offer is rejected.

The remarks came just a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tehran's offer - submitted Monday to the UN nuclear watc...

The annual Qurultay (congress) of the Kazakhs of Europe is the largest event in life of our compatriots living in European countries. This year the Qurultay is held on May 21-23 in Vienna under the support of Kazakhstan Embassy in Austria.



Prominent figures of the Kazakh diaspora living in Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Norway, the Netherlands and Turkey as well as officials of Austria have gathered for the event. An exposition of Abai Kazakh-Aus

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Revisions to the legal framework regulating foreign investments in strategic branches of the Russian economy will be implemented by the end of 2010, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

Russia saw a 16% decline in foreign investment in 2009, Putin said at the EurAsEC intergovernmental council meeting. "This year we want to break this tendency, and to do this we are acting in several directions at once," he said.



"The issue is about improving the i

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The Customs Union establishment will benefit economies of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus. Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov has said at a session of the Supreme body of the Customs Union at the level of heads of government.

"I am convinced, and President Nursultan Nazarbayev told us that, as the final result, the Customs Union will benefit economies, honest entrepreneurs of all countries - Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan", K.Massim...

The Belarusian Prosecutor-General's Office has received the package of documents from the Kyrgyz Prosecutor-General's Office on the demand for extradition of ex-president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, a Belarusian official said.

All the documents about Bakiyev have been received by mail, the head of the information department of the Belarusian Prosecutor-General's Office, Pyotr Kiselyov, told Itar-Tass.

It is the original of the extradition demand and the 18-paper addition to it.

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The Customs Union of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus has started functioning quite successfully, Chairman of the Russian Government Vladimir Putin said it at the session of the CU supreme body in Saint Petersburg today.

"The Customs Union of three countries has started quite successfully. All its mechanisms are functioning well", the Russian PM noted.

"The Commission of the Customs Union plays a significant role in this process. Delegation of supranational functi...

The 20

^th

jubilee Global Summit of Women has started its work in Beijing today. More than one thousand women from 80 countries take part in the event

Greeting the participants Summit President Irene Natividad called the Beijing Summit a chance for all foreign delegates to learn more about the tendencies of Chinese and Asian markets. "The summit provides an invaluable opportunity to widen contacts among the representati...

"The Customs Union will open new perspectives for mutual cooperation of Kazakhstan and Belarus", Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov said at the enlarged negotiations with his Belarusian colleague Sergey Sidorsky

The Head of the Kazakh Government noted that all agreements achieved within the visit of the Kazakh President to Belarus are implemented and expressed satisfaction with participation of the Belarusian companies in the indus...

 President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon has fully supported the need to hold the OSCE Summit in Astana in 2010

OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Kazakh Secretary of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kanat Saudabayev held talks with the Tajik President in Dushanbe on Wednesday.

A wide array of topics regarding the bilateral relations and cooperation of Tajikistan with the OSCE was discussed.

"Emomali Rahmon absolutely suppo...

"The OSCE intensifies the work on promotion of integration processes in the region during the period of Kazakhstan's chairmanship", OSCE Chairman-in-office, Kazakh Secretary of State - Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev has said today upon the talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.

 

He also noted that the Organization lays special emphasis on solution of interstate problems. "Kazakhstan will increase efforts on ...

OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Kazakh Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev will take part in the 37^th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Dushanbe today.

Besides, he will hold a number of meetings with the foreign ministers of the OIC member states.

Together with other foreign guests K. Saudabayev was invited to the ceremony of proclaiming the city of Dushanbe as

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An Agreement on cooperation between the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Kazakhstan and Afghanistan was signed in Kabul within the official visit of OSCE Chairman-in-office, Kazakhs Secretary of State - Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev on Monday.

The agenda of the negotiations of K.Saudabayev with Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasul included the issues of trade and economic cooperation between two states.

The signing of the Cooperation Ag

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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has approved a government plan to issue Eurobonds worth $2 billion; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

"The council of ministers is authorized to implement in 2010-2011 bond issues amounting to $2 billion with maturity of at least five years," stated the decree posted on the national legal Internet portal on Saturday.

The organizers of the Belarusian Eurobond placements will be Sberbank, Deutsche Bank, RBS and BNP Paribas.

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Kazakh President's Special Representative for Cooperation with Kyrgyzstan Bulat Utemuratov met with Head of the Interim Government of Kyrgyzstan Roza Otunbayeva and Deputy Head of the Interim Government Omurbek Tekebayev on Saturday.

The sides discussed extension of the bilateral cooperation and joint solution of topical problems.

In particular, the parties discussed the opportunities of creation of mechanisms regulating the situa...

Russia beat Germany 3-2 in the qualification round at the 2010 world ice hockey championship late on Saturday; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.

The first game of group E was played in Germany's Gologne.

Russian team's captain Ilya Kovalchuk opened the score in the first period (14:20 min). The second goal was scored by Nikolai Kulemin in the second period (26:10 min). But Germany's Christian Ehrhoff scored in exchange on the last second ...

Former Ukrainian prime minister and current opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko warned on Saturday that Ukraine may lose the Tuzla island in the Kerch Strait at the border with Russia as a result of forthcoming talks between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych will discuss the issue of border demarcation between Russia and Ukraine among other issue...

It's been a month now, and Iceland's volcano shows no sign it will stop belching ash across Europe anytime soon. The rolling eruptions threaten more havoc for summer vacation plans and higher costs for struggling airlines.

Although the global disruption of last month's massive eruption has faded, smaller ash plumes snarled air services intermittently over the last week all the way to Turkey - more than 4,100 kilometers from the Eyjafjallajokul (pronounced ay-yah...

Wall Street ended lower after a choppy session on Thursday, with all three major indexes falling more than 1 percent, as investigation against more banks and slow improvement in labor market weighed on equities; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

Markets have been struggling to find their footing by focusing on interior signs of recovery following news of the European Union financial rescue package, as investors question whether the plan will be enough to keep sovereign debt issues at bay.

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Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said he was not concerned about the South Stream pipeline project, designed to pump Russian gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine, Russian media has said; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

The South Stream pipeline will pump 63 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas annually to Bulgaria, Italy and Austria and is part of Russia's efforts to cut dependence on transit nations, particularly Ukraine and Turkey.

"If it is a means of putting p...