, May 14 (Reuters) – The Canadian
astronaut who became a music sensation when his zero-gravity
version of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” went viral on the web
returned to Earth along with two crewmates on Tuesday after a
five-month stint on the International Space Station.

Chris Hadfield landed safely in central Kazakhstan with his
American and Russian colleagues. Their Soyuz space capsule
descended under an orange parachute and raised clouds of dust as
it ignited an engine to cushion its landing about 150 km (90
miles) southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan.

, May 14 (Reuters) – The first
Canadian astronaut to command the International Space Station
landed safely in Kazakhstan with two crewmates on Tuesday,
wrapping up a five-month mission aboard the International Space
Station.

A Soyuz capsule under an orange parachute raised clouds of
dust as it ignited an engine to cushion its landing some 150 km
(90 miles) southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan in central
Kazakhstan at 8:31 a.m. (0231 GMT), Russian television showed in
a live broadcast.

ALMATY (Reuters) – NATO member Turkey signed up on Friday to became a “dialogue partner” of a security bloc dominated by China and Russia, and declared that its destiny is in Asia.

“This is really a historic day for us,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in Kazakhstan’s commercial capital Almaty after signing a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Secretary General Dmitry Mezentsev.

ALMATY (Reuters) – Iran and six global powers took a step forward at talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme on Saturday but failed to reach a compromise and remained at odds over basic questions about the path to a solution, the Russian negotiator said.

“Certainly, these talks were a step forward,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. But he added: “We could not reach a compromise this time,” and said it was premature to name a date and venue for further talks.

ALMATY/BISHKEK, April 4 (Reuters) – Kazakh company Visor
Holding said it had filed for arbitration of a $400 million
claim against the government of Kyrgyzstan, alleging illegal
expropriation of a licence to develop Jerooy, the second-largest
Kyrgyz gold deposit.

The claim comes as the new coalition government prepares to
put Jerooy up for sale, and it may dampen the new coalition
government’s hopes for the auction to kick off interest by wary
foreign investors in the country, in which violent revolts have
deposed two presidents since 2005.

KUMTOR, Kyrgyzstan (Reuters) – In an impoverished young nation with a habit of overthrowing its rulers, the future now balances on a mountain of gold at the top of the world, where the air is so thin collapsing visitors may be rushed to a pressure chamber for oxygen.

After two revolutions in eight years, nationalists in Kyrgyzstan are threatening to return to the streets to topple another government unless it expropriates the Kumtor goldmine, a treasure they say was sold off too cheaply to foreigners.

KUMTOR, Kyrgyzstan, April 3 (Reuters) – In an impoverished
young nation with a habit of overthrowing its rulers, the future
now balances on a mountain of gold at the top of the world,
where the air is so thin collapsing visitors may be rushed to a
pressure chamber for oxygen.

After two revolutions in eight years, nationalists in
Kyrgyzstan are threatening to return to the streets to topple
another government unless it expropriates the Kumtor goldmine, a
treasure they say was sold off too cheaply to foreigners.

ALMATY, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Kazakhstan, seeking a greater
role in large oil projects, has bought a 24.5-percent stake held
by ConocoPhillips in the promising offshore oil block
Nursultan in the Caspian, as the U.S. firm sheds overseas
assets.

Kazakh state oil company KazMunaiGas (KMG) will now
own a 75.5-percent stake in the exploration and development
project, and Abu Dhabi state investment company Mubadala
the remaining 24.5 percent, KMG said in a statement.

ALMATY (Reuters) – Rescue teams have recovered a flight recorder from a plane which crashed in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, killing all 27 people on board in the country’s worst military air disaster since independence.

The twin-engine Antonov An-72 transport jet disappeared from radar screens at about 1900 local time (1300 GMT) as it was circling in a raging blizzard, trying to land at the city of Shymkent, the capital of the South Kazakhstan Region.

ALMATY (Reuters) – Kcell (KCELq.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shares traded above their issue price on their market debut after Kazakhstan’s largest mobile phone operator raised $525 million for Nordic parent TeliaSonera (TLSN.ST: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

The flotation of a 25 percent stake in Kcell in London and Kazakhstan was priced at the bottom end of its offered range at$10.50 per global depositary receipt (GDR) and 1,578.68 tenge per ordinary share, the company said on Wednesday.