Kazakh leader grips power ever more tightly
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President Nursultan Nazarbayev has styled himself a firm but modern Khan in his 17 years in power in Kazakhstan, but critics say his authoritarian rule brooks no opposition and borders on a personality cult.
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A photograph of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in tight swimming trunks triggered outrage in the parliament of the former Soviet state on Wednesday.
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President Vladimir V. Putin said he intended to wield substantial power after leaving office next month.
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Sport: Tour de France: Leader Michael Rasmussen holds off Alberto Contador's attacks, while Kazakh takes victory on stage 15.
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US President George W Bush  holds talks with the Kazakh president, boosting ties with the oil-producing nation.
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The Kazakh state could seize oil fields and mineral deposits from private investors, Prime Minister Karim Masimov said Thursday, following a series of high-profile business disputes involving top foreign energy majors.
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Few people would envy Hamid Karzai. The Afghan president finds himself grappling with maintaining stability in the capital while fighting grows ever bloodier in the south. He must also satisfy the conflicting demands of his countrymen and his foreign allies.
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MOSCOW -- Facing a wave of deadly terrorism, President Vladimir Putin moved yesterday to reshape Russia's political system and give the central government dramatically increased powers, but his critics said the changes would threaten the country's young democracy and put it on a path toward dictatorship.
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For 30 years coups, assassinations and invasions were the usual means of power transfer in Kabul. But yesterday Hamid Karzai broke with bloody tradition and assumed office with a simple formula of words.
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MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking steps to further strengthen the central government&#39;s control over the nation&#39;s political life.
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The reins of power have once again been handed over in Pakistan. And once again, it&#39;s a man hand-picked by the country&#39;s military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf.
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Kazakhstan took a step towards early parliamentary elections on Tuesday to enforce a set of reforms criticized by the opposition as undemocratic.
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GROZNY, Russia -- Chechnya's new Kremlin-backed president was sworn in yesterday, taking the helm of this wartorn Russian region under heavy guard nearly five months after his predecessor was assassinated and nearly a month after a wave of terrorist attacks blamed on Chechen rebels.
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MOSCOW - Responding to a series of deadly terror attacks, President Vladimir Putin on Monday moved to significantly strengthen the Kremlin's grip on power, with new measures that include the naming of regional governors and an overhaul of the electoral system.    Putin told Cabinet members and security officials convened in special session that the future of Russia was at stake and urged the creation of a central, powerful anti-terror agency...
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THE BACKGROUND: Street protests in Kazakhstan 20 years ago this weekend foreshadowed the demise of the Soviet Union four years later, but an ex-communist still rules the country and many Kazakhs still harbor grievances.
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He may be experienced at fielding questions on geopolitics but when the Kazakh president logs on next week for his first Internet news conference he will have to tackle some more bizarre matters.
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The son-in-law of Kazakhstan's autocratic president &#151; wanted in his homeland on kidnapping charges &#151; has been released on bail, an official said Sunday.