Three parties have won seats in Kazakhstan’s parliament, ending the total control once held by the president’s party, election officials said.

Voters go to the polls today in the oil-rich Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan in elections that are expected to slightly broaden democratic representation in parliament’s rubber-stamp lower house.

THE publicity-hungry Central Asian state of Kazakhstan yesterday hosted the first summit of the OSCE in over a decade, seeking to revamp the organisation’s ability to react to security crises.

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

British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has been barred from the White House after failing in his bid to invite US President George W Bush to a screening of his upcoming movie, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

Foreign ministers from the six powers pushing Iran to accept a package of incentives to suspend its nuclear programme met behind closed doors in Paris on Wednesday – the latest deadline in the stand-off, and one that Tehran looked set to ignore.

UKRAINE president Viktor Yushchenko warned that the sacking of his pro-Western government by lawmakers over a controversial gas deal with Russia would destabilise the country less than three months before a key parliamentary election.

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.

President Vladimir Putin today met leaders of Russia’s parliament to discuss the country’s stance on fighting terrorism following the devastating attacks in the United States.

The leaders of six nations led by China and Russia signed an agreement today on promoting trade and combating Islamic militancy.