Thai authorities have seized tonnes of weapons from an eastern European plane travelling from North Korea.

The Adil Soz freedom of speech foundation has said it hopes the situation with freedom of speech in Kazakhstan will improve after the country takes over the OSCE chairmanship next year.

A criminal case against Mukhtar Dzhakishev, the former head of Kazakhstan's state uranium firm Kazatomprom, will proceed to court.

An American task force funded by the government of Kazakhstan to prepare a series of reports about the Central Asian country's upcoming OSCE chairmanship has completed its final report, which puts forth a generally positive interpretation of the country's controversial human rights record.

Companies from Kazakhstan plan to move some of their fundraising away from London, according to the country's central bank governor, because UK investors failed to stand by the central Asian state during the financial crisis.

In recessions past, the Western economies exported their problems to countries elsewhere in the world. As the US and European economies tripped up, so their demand for raw materials would drop. Commodity prices would plunge. Raw materials producers, mostly to be found in the emerging world, would suddenly find themselves in trouble. Their export earnings would spiral downward, leaving them unable to repay past debts. Currency collapse and debt default typically followed shortly afterwards.

Kazakhstan's uranium output growth is set to moderate in 2010 after a leap in recent years that has made it the world's largest producer, analysts said, citing technological and economic considerations.

Kazakh uranium output growth is likely to moderate due to technological and economic considerations as it is set to become the world's largest producer this year.