Rapper Kanye West has been attacked by a human rights group for performing at a wedding in Kazakhstan, accused of legitimising the human rights violations of the nation’s president.

IRISH actor Peter O’Toole has been nominated for a Golden Globe.

The real-life president of Kazakhstan insisted today that he saw the funny side of his nation’s portrayal in the Borat film.

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.

Policemen and camouflage-clad security agents took up position on the main streets of Kazakhstan’s capital Astana today, awaiting the arrival of Pope John Paul II on his first foreign trip since the devastating terrorist strikes in the United States last week.