Astana, Jan 29 (IANS/RIA Novosti) All 21 people on board a Kazakh plane were killed Tuesday when the aircraft crashed near Kazakhstan's largest city of Almaty, the prosecutor general's office said.

Almaty, Dec 13 (IANS/RIA Novosti) China's state-owned China Development Bank (CDB) will provide a $1.8 billion loan to finance a gas pipeline project in Kazakhstan, the KazTransGas company said Thursday.

Astana, Dec 13 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A Kazakh court has closed the opposition TV channel K-Plus and blocked its online resources, the International Foundation for the Protection of Freedom of Speech Adil Soz said.

Astana, Aug 9 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Kazakhstan will introduce universal military training for all adult citizens, according to a government decree published Thursday.

Astana, June 8 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia and Kazakhstan have agreed to extend their bilateral Friendship Treaty, originally signed in 1992, for an additional 10 years.

Astana, May 31 (IANS) With religious tensions running high in Europe and other parts of the world, a dialogue between Islam and Christianity is the highlight of a global congress of faiths and civilisations this Kazakhstan capital that began here Wednesday and which is being attended, among others, by the head of the Global Islamic League, the metropolitan of Minsk and the chief rabbi of Israel.

Astana, May 29 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Five police officers have been sent to jail for their heavy-handed response to a protest by striking oil workers in Kazakhstan last year.

Astana, May 30 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia and Kazakhstan have failed to reach an agreement on a new drop zone for the debris of Russian carrier rockets being launched from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan.

Astana, May 24 (IANS) A massive wave of deaths has been reported among the endangered saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan. Around 540 carcasses of the animal has been found in the country, RIA Novosti reported Thursday.

Astana, May 17 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Kazakhstan has announced a contest to create a national superhero who will be named after the Central Asian country's capital.

Baikonur (Kazakhstan), May 15 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut, launched aboard the Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan Tuesday, have begun a two-day flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

Almaty (Kazakhstan), May 7 (IANS) India's Olympic-bound boxer L Devendro Singh (49kg) lost the title clash to Cuban boxer Yosvany Veitia and settled for the silver medal in the President's Cup.

Almaty (Kazakhstan), May 6 (IANS) India's L. Devendro Singh entered the finals of 49 kg at the President's Cup boxing event here Sunday.

Almaty (Kazakhstan), May 4 (IANS) Indian boxer Vikas Krishan (69kg) made a surprise exit from the President's Cup in Kazakhstan here Friday while his compatriot Kanwar Preet Singh (+91kg) entered the semifinals in his category.

Bikshkek, April 27 (IANS) Kyrgyzstan Thursday paid tributes to the victims of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, 26 years after the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Astana (Kazakhstan), April 12 (IANS) Teenage boxers Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) won gold in their respective categories at the Asian Olympic qualifying event here Thursday, a day after they made the cut for the London Games.

Astana (Kazakhstan), April 11 (IANS) Teenage boxer Shiva Thapa and Sumit Sangwan qualified for the 2012 Olympics by entering the finals of the 56 kg and 81 kg category at the Asian Olympic qualifying event here Wednesday, taking to seven the overall Olympic spots tally from the sport.

Astana (Kazakhstan), April 11 (IANS) Teenage boxer Shiva Thapa qualified for the 2012 Olympics by entering the final of the 56 kg category at the Asian Olympic qualifying event here Wednesday, becoming the youngest Indian to do so.

Astana (Kazakhstan), April 11 (IANS) Teenage boxer Shiva Thapa qualified for the 2012 Olympics by entering the final of the 56 kg category at the Asian Olympic qualifying event here Wednesday, becoming the youngest Indian to do so. Vijender Singh, who has also qualified for the London event, lost his semifinal bout in the 76 kg.

Astana (Kazakhstan), April 9 (IANS) Teenage boxer Shiva Thapa humbled Athens Olympics silver medallist Worapoj Petchkoon of Thailand to enter the semifinals of the 56 kg category at the Asian Olympic qualifying event here Monday. The Indian is now one step away from making the London Games.

Astana (Kazakhstan), April 8 (IANS) Indian boxer Vijender Singh qualified for the 2012 London Olympics by advancing to the semi-finals of 75 kgs weight category at the Asian Olympic qualifying event here Sunday.

Astana (Kazakhstan), April 7 (IANS) Indian boxers suffered a major set-back after the vastly talented Suranjoy Singh (52kg) lost his pre-quarterfinal bout to old nemesis Nyambayar Tugstsogt of Mongolia in the Asian Olympic Qualifying event here Saturday.

Astana (Kazakhstan), April 7 (IANS) Indian boxers continued their good run at the Asian Olympic Qualifying event here Saturday with 2010 Youth Olympic Games silver medallist Shiva Thapa (56kg) advancing to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Astana (Kazakhstan), April 6 (IANS) Indian boxer Vijender Singh eased into the 75 kg quarterfinals of the Asian Olympic qualifying event here Friday.

Astana (Kazakhstan), April 6 (IANS) Asian Games silver medallist Manpreet Singh (91kg) Friday entered the quarterfinals of the Asian Olympic Qualifying Boxing Event here with a resounding victory over Mongolia's Tulyek Yerbolat. The tournament is the last qualifying event for Indian boxers to book their tickets to London for the 2012 Olympic.

Astana (Kazakhstan), April 6 (IANS) Commonwealth Games gold medallist Suranjoy Singh (52 kg) and promising teenager Sumit Sangwan (81 kg) won their opening round bouts in the Asian Olympic Qualifying boxing event here Thursday.

Astana, March 27 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Kazakhstan has lodged an official complaint with the Olympic Council of Asia over Kuwait's usage of music from the spoof "Borat" movie instead of its national anthem at a medal ceremony last week, a sports official told RIA Novosti Tuesday.

Astana, March 8 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A dating website -- based on Islamic Sharia law -- for Muslims in Kazakhstan with "sincere intentions" to create a family has now been launched in the country.

Astana, Feb 4 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Monkeys in a Kazakhstan zoo are enjoying a "very human" remedy against cold weather, with wine added to their daily ration.

Astana, Jan 27 (IANS) Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev Friday said the energy-rich Central Asian nation would prioritise diversification of the economy away from resource extraction toward industrial-innovation projects.

Astana, Jan 15 (IANS/RIA Novosti) About 9,000 polling stations opened in Kazakhstan Sunday for parliamentary elections that are expected to end the ruling party's monopolistic control of the legislature.

Astana, Dec 24 (IANS) When Kazakhstan became independent after the collapse of Soviet Union in December 1991, many experts had predicted the collapse of the Central Asian nation under the burden of economic and social problems.

Astana, Dec 23 (IANS) Kazakhstan has said it would welcome international observers to monitor landmark parliament elections in mid January that would pave the way for a multi-party legislature in the largest economy among Central Asian nations.

Astana, Dec 23 (IANS) Normalcy is returning to the restive western Kazakh town of Zhanaozen as authorities invited UN experts to participate in the probe into riots that left more than a dozen dead last week.

Astana, Dec 17 (IANS) At least 10 people were killed Friday in Zhanaozen city of Kazakhstan after clashes erupted between oil workers and police during independence day celebrations, an official said.