Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today called the stand-off over Tehran’s nuclear activities an unwarranted “Western outcry” and vowed not to surrender his country’s nuclear programme.

OPPOSITION leaders called for Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s election victory to be declared invalid, while Western-led observers said the vote that gave him 91% support was flawed.

Nearly 9,000 Russian and Chinese troops began a mock assault on the beaches of northern China today for the final stage of unprecedented joint war games between the two former Cold War rivals.

Kadyr Toktogulov Bishkek

Making his first trip abroad since a bloody crackdown on protesters, Uzbek President Islam Karimov has left on a visit to China, which has provided a rare note of support for the authoritarian Central Asian leader.