“16 additional Kazakhstan – Turkey flights to be launched”, "You can't choose your neighbors: Nazarbayev", "Putin told Snowden that Russia doesn’t use mass surveillance. Here’s a reality check", “British filmmaker opens Moscow show under Ukraine shadow”

washingtonpost.com. "Putin told Edward Snowden that Russia doesn’t use mass surveillance on its citizens. Here’s a reality check" - One of the more surreal moments of today's installment in Vladimir Putin's series of reliably surreal call-ins with the Russian nation was when NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden appeared, and asked the former KGB spy about surveillance.

tengrinews.com. "You can't choose your neighbors: Nazarbayev about Russia and China" - President Nursultan Nazarbayev once again spoke about Kazakhstan's friendly and allied relations with its big neighbors Russia and China, reports. 

afp.com. “British filmmaker opens Moscow show under Ukraine shadow” - It was meant to be a highlight of a year-long British-Russian cultural exchange, but a huge multi-media exhibition by British filmmaker Peter Greenaway has failed to escape tensions over the Ukraine crisis, AFP reports.

cbssport.com. “Bernard Hopkins, 49, earns split decision win over Beibut Shumenov” - Three months beyond his 49th birthday, Philadelphian Bernard Hopkins became the oldest man to unify light heavyweight titles with a split-decision victory over Beibut Shumenov to wrap up a three title-bout card at the DC Armory.

agi.it. “Alma Shalabayeva granted political asylum in Italy” - Italy has granted political asylum to Alma Shalabayeva, the wife of Kazakh dissident Mukhtar Ablyazov. The news was reported by Shalabayeva's lawyers and has been confirmed by sources at the Ministry of the Interior.

touropia.com. “10 Island Cities around the World“-A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the ultimate Robinson Crusoe feel on several uninhabited islands around the world. The islands listed in this post were also once uninhabited but after being settled became so heavily urbanized that the built-up areas eventually took over the entire island, forming island cities.

akipress.com. “16 additional Kazakhstan – Turkey flights to be launched” - Kazakhstan and Turkey opened 16 additional scheduled flights, the press service of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Kazakhstan reported.