Central Asia has lots to attract tourists but it’s difficult getting around. Efforts to make it easier for tourists to cross borders have been proposed -- but there are substantial obstacles.
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A party formed just four months ago has swept Kazakhstan’s parliamentary election, tightening President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev’s grip on power amid international criticism over a lack of political competition, media pressure, and questions about the vote count.
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Voting is under way in elections for Kazakhstan's new, unicameral parliament, but opposition groups have been excluded from the group in a tightly controlled process that follows contentious changes to the country's constitution.
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Independent journalists and government critics in Kazakhstan face mounting pressure ahead of the country’s first parliamentary elections following a controversial constitutional overhaul that critics say has strengthened the president’s power.
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As the war in Ukraine drags on, the Kremlin is looking beyond its borders for help sustaining its military machine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently ordered negotiations to revise military cooperation agreements with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
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A former patient has leaked multiple videos about conditions at a high-security psychiatric hospital in Kazakhstan, sparking widespread discussion about what happens behind its guarded walls.
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Patients at a high-security psychiatric hospital in Aktas, Kazakhstan, described abuse in secretly recorded videos obtained by RFE/RL: forced injections, days tied to beds, and manual labor. The hospital denied the allegations as authorities launched several investigations.
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Russia is proposing an overhaul of its foreign-worker recruitment system in 2027, tying migrants to specific employers, jobs, and regions. Experts warn that tighter rules could worsen labor shortages and push more migrants into informal employment.
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Prominent ethnic Kazakh writer Zhengis Reskhan faces a closed-door trial in China on an allegation of “undermining ethnic unity,” his family says, weeks after a controversial new law governing minority affairs took effect.
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Months of Ukrainian attacks on targets ranging from energy infrastructure to online retailers deep inside Russia have prompted moves to seek relief by relocating some facilities to Kazakhstan, which has tried to balance its ties to Moscow with a desire to remain neutral on the Ukraine war.
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