Arcadia Foundation

The following was originally published in the Moscow Times, penned by prosecutor general of Kazakhstan Askhat Daulbayev.

Thirty-seven individuals are now on trial in Kazakhstan’s western city of Aktau charged with organizing and participating in violent disturbances that left 14 people dead and scores injured in the oil town of Zhanaozen in December. These tragic events were sparked by a long-standing dispute between oil company Ozenmunaigaz in Zhanaozen and some of its former workers.

Six Kazakh officials from the Interior Ministry are also facing criminal charges for exceeding their authority, and two former mayors of Zhanaozen and a first deputy regional head have been arrested and charged with misappropriating state money intended for the social welfare of the town’s population.

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The following was originally published in Zambia Reports, penned by Nse Udoh is a Contributing Journalist at the online magazine:

Wherever top Nigerian actor Nkem Owoh maybe at the moment, he should not be shocked when he hears that he has a replica that is giving him serious competition in Zambia.

Owoh’s stage name of Ukwa is perhaps the most trending in Zambian bars and Internet blogs. Why, you may ask? In most Nigerian films that he has starred in, Ukwa is this no-nonsense and highly unpredictable character who rants and moans at everything and anything. He possesses a character that combines humour, a clear lack of understanding of what’s going on around him, and regularly displays of volatility, sarcasm and illiteracy to get his way around things.

Watching him when he is at his best—which he usually is—is simply hilarious. But Ukwa can also be excruciating to watch, as he fails to draw a line between serious issues and all the joking around to make the audience laugh. Zambians have their own version of Ukwa—President Michael Sata, a nickname which was originally bestowed upon him by now his best friends in the media at The Post, Zambia’s highest selling newspaper.

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Historically, development was a promise all too often given in the nation with the fourth largest oil reserves in the world. From the federal level on down to the state to state, electricity was and in many cases is lacking throughout Nigeria and infrastructural progression is often subtly put on the political backburner.

Then there is the case of Akwa Ibom State.

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The following, penned in Arab News by Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov, is an intriguing recommendation that Muslims should address misperceptions in the world about the nature of their religion, in light of the nation taking on the role of chairing the 57-country Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

“…We did so because we saw an important opportunity to give a fresh impetus to the OIC’s long-standing objectives of promoting modernization in the Muslim world in line with the values of Islam based on peace, tolerance and human dignity. As a country both in Europe and Asia, we do not believe in the Samuel Huntington theory of the “Clash of Civilizations.” Over the past 20 years the advance of globalization, the expansion of free markets and the rise of “emerging” economies from Asia to Latin America have created new linkages rather than the re-emergence of old divisions predicted by Prof. Huntington. Kazakhstan’s own experience as a predominantly Muslim nation with more than 100 ethnic groups and 40 religions and with no history of either inter-religious or inter-ethnic enmity or bloodshed is also a case in point.

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Sir Richard Branson last night denied a report in a leaked US embassy cable that he bankrolled a diplomatic effort to sweeten the exit of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, writes Alex Duval Smith in the Independent.

A confidential memo released by Wikileaks says that in July 2007, Branson was due to hold a secret meeting with South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela and other senior African statesmen to discuss persuading President Mugabe, now 87, to step down.

The initiative is said in the cable to have been brokered by Zimbabwean politician Jonathan Moyo, but never came to fruition. Last night Sir Richard Branson’s office acknowledged that he had been approached by Mr Moyo to discuss ”ways to broker a peaceful reconciliation in Zimbabwe” but no further action was taken.

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20 years ago, reeling from decades of Soviet nuclear testing, the nation of Kazakhstan took a monumental stand.

As its first order of business, Kazakhstan made nuclear responsibility a national mandate, renouncing all nuclear weapons and shutting down the test site in Semipalatinsk, where over 400 detonations once took place.

To mark the closure of the test site and the ongoing efforts to raise awareness to the devastating impact nuclear radiation can have on innocent lives, Kazakhstan will be holding an International Forum for a Nuclear Weapon Free World in Astana, October 12-13.

CNN reports that Zambia’s incumbent president has bowed out with “grace and honor” today after election results showed his main challenger had won, his party said in a statement.

“The people of Zambia have spoken and we must listen,” outgoing President Rupiah Banda said on the website of his Movement for Multiparty Democracy. “The time now is for maturity, for composure and for compassion.”

Zambians voted Tuesday in the presidential election.

The incoming president, Michael Sata, will be sworn in Friday, party officials said.

Sata is the leader of the opposition Patriotic Front and a major critic of China’s investment in the nation.

Ten candidates took part in the presidential race .

On the Kazakh side of the Aral Sea, water levels are rising, and fishing communities are being rebuilt. The future of the South Aral Sea, bordering on Uzbekistan, is still in doubt. Matilda Lee (Ecologist, Guardian Environment Network) reports from Aral City.

Aral City’s vice-mayor Kolbai Danabaev can’t wait to have a beer by the sea shore. He is optimistic: he thinks he’ll be able to do so in two years time.

Aral City, in western Kazakhstan, on the northern tip of the Aral Sea, has the trappings of a beach spot: sun, sand, and locally-brewed Aral Beer. But, while Kolbai Danabaev and other city officials are happy to pose for PR photos with the local brew in hand, in the background, something crucial is missing.

There is no sea.

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On June 24, 2011, Niko Resources Ltd., a Calgary-based oil and gas exploration and production company, entered a guilty plea under Canada’s Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act (“CFPOA”) with respect to charges of bribing a public official in Bangladesh. Niko, which operates in a number of countries around the world, had been notified by Canadian authorities in January 2009 that it was being investigated over allegations that it had provided the Energy Minister of Bangladesh with a $190,000 vehicle for personal use as well as with trips to Calgary and New York. These gifts had been made at the time when the Minister was assessing how much compensation was owed to Bangladeshi villagers for water contamination and other environmental concerns caused by explosions at a Niko operation.

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Georgian President’s personal photographer Irakli Gedenidze and his wife Natia Gedenidze have been detained, apparently accused of participating in a spying ring, mother of Irakli Gedenidze Marina Andghuladze confirmed to InterPressNews.

“I don’t know the reason of their detention. I only know that Irakli and Natia are detained”, Marina Andghuladze said.

Photo reporter of Georgian MFA Giorgi Abdaladze is also detained.

InterPressNews has been informed a while ago about the detention of the photo reporter Zurab Kurtsikidze, who is in the so-called “Moduli” building. Details and reasons behind the detention are not known yet but the Arcadia Foundation will keep our readers up to speed on any new information that is divulged.