Kazakhstan

Cars queuing to cross the border into Kazakhstan at the Mariinsky border crossing, about (250 miles south of Chelyabinsk, Russia, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022.

Anti-war Russians who fled for safety now face deportation

More than a year after thousands of Russians who opposed the war fled abroad for safety, they now face deportation and other challenges in the countries that initially received them, such as Kazakhstan, Estonia and Georgia.

Anti-war Russians who fled for safety now face deportation
Album covers of some of the allbums from artists included in the end-of-year music playlist with recommendations from The World staff. Clockwise, startiing from the top left corner: Adrian Quesada's "Boleros Psicodélicos," Sillvana Estrada's "Marchita," V

A musical journey around the globe 2022, a playlist

A musical journey around the globe 2022, a playlist
A view of Almaty from Kok Tobe Park, a popular hilltop tourist attraction accessible by cable car.

Stuck without passports in Kazakhstan, Russians who avoided the draft face a ticking clock

Stuck without passports in Kazakhstan, Russians who avoided the draft face a ticking clock
Multicolored displays of Korean marinated salads are a mainstay at Almaty’s Green Bazaar.

In Kazakhstan, timeless Korean recipes are loved and maintained

In Kazakhstan, timeless Korean recipes are loved and maintained
Smoke rises from the city hall building during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan

What's behind unrest rocking oil-rich Kazakhstan

What's behind unrest rocking oil-rich Kazakhstan
A woman and two men are sitting next to each other wearing blue Russian cosmonaut uniforms with the middle person holding a microphone.

Russian film crew in orbit to make first movie in space

A Russian actor and a film director rocketed to space Tuesday on a mission to make the world's first movie in orbit.

Russian film crew in orbit to make first movie in space
Joe Biden is shown with his hand outstretched shaking the hand of Vladimir Putin.

Biden and Putin hold first call as counterparts; Sanofi to support rival vaccine production; Linda Thomas-Greenfield faces confirmation hearing

US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their first conversation as counterparts on Tuesday. And, Sanofi announced plans help manufacture more than 100 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech. Also, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, President Joe Biden's nominee to US ambassador to the United Nations, faces lawmakers for her Senate confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill .

Biden and Putin hold first call as counterparts; Sanofi to support rival vaccine production; Linda Thomas-Greenfield faces confirmation hearing
Members of Ninety One, a Q-pop boy band.

Kazakhstan's 'Qazaq-pop' boy band Ninety One challenges gender norms

The group makes headlines for their catchy tracks and their appearance — which often sparks discussion about identity.

Kazakhstan's 'Qazaq-pop' boy band Ninety One challenges gender norms
Kazakhs protest what they see as excessive expansion of Chinese influence in Kazakhstan, including new Silk Road investments, in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Dec. 2019.

China's new Silk Road traverses Kazakhstan. But some Kazakhs are skeptical of Chinese influence.

The tradeoffs of China's investment in Kazakhstan require Kazakhs — most of whom are Muslim — to reckon with the persecution of Muslim minorities just across their border.

China's new Silk Road traverses Kazakhstan. But some Kazakhs are skeptical of Chinese influence.
Satellite image of San Francisco.

Cold War 'CORONA' satellite images find second life in ecology research

Some of the more than 800,000 satellite images taken during the Cold War are being used by researchers to track biodiversity and species decline.

Cold War 'CORONA' satellite images find second life in ecology research
Flags of many countries carried by protesters fill the frame.

Power outage: How did global leadership change in 2019?

US President Donald Trump faces a Senate trial over whether to remove him from office in January. But impeachment is not the only way to remove a leader. Here's a look at political shake-ups around the world, where both legal and extralegal means to bring about regime change have made headlines.

Power outage: How did global leadership change in 2019?
Two hands hold a beige booklet.

Has Kazakhstan forgotten about its Polygon test survivors?

In the nuclear arms race against the US, the former Soviet Union performed more than 450 nuclear tests in an area known as the Semipalatinsk Test Site — also known as the Polygon — from 1949 to 1989. Winds blew the nuclear fallout and radioactive dust into neighboring villages, affecting anywhere between 500,000 to 1 million people.

Has Kazakhstan forgotten about its Polygon test survivors?
The Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft is shown streaking across the sky with a long white cloud of smoke trailing behind it.

Russian space rocket fails in mid-air, two-man US-Russian crew lands safely

The two-man US-Russian crew of a Soyuz spacecraft taking them to the orbiting International Space Station had to make an emergency landing in Kazakhstan on Thursday when a rocket failed in mid-air.

Russian space rocket fails in mid-air, two-man US-Russian crew lands safely
An illustration image shows the new Latin-based Kazakh alphabet published in a newspaper in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Oct. 27, 2017.

Kazakhstan's switch from Cyrillic to Latin is about more than just alphabets

Kazakhstan's president is betting that transforming the alphabet will help his country bolster its national identity, ditch its Russian and Soviet colonial past and better integrate itself in the modern world.

Kazakhstan's switch from Cyrillic to Latin is about more than just alphabets
Soviet nuclear test site model

Soviet-era nuclear testing is still making people sick in Kazakhstan

People living near the Polygon, the old Soviet Union's biggest nuclear testing ground, are still suffering from diseases tied to high radiation levels.

Soviet-era nuclear testing is still making people sick in Kazakhstan