European Parliament Criticizes Kazakhstan. A $30 Billion Hole in the Caspian Sea? Olmert to head high-tech venture with Kazakh businessman

Radio Free Europe - European Parliament Criticizes Kazakhstan - The European Parliament has adopted a resolution "strongly" criticizing Kazakhstan for failure to respect political, media, and religious freedoms.

Space.com - Russia Launches Animals Into Space on One-Month Journey - An intrepid critter crew of geckos, mice and gerbils and other animals launched into orbit Friday (April 19) to begin a month-long Russian experiment to study how space travel affects living creatures. The space mission, scientists assure, will return the animals to Earth alive.

The Wall Street Journal - A $30 Billion Hole in the Caspian Sea? - After 10 Years, Setbacks Continue to Plague Massive Project to Find, Pump Oil in Kazakhstan

Bloomberg Businessweek - In London, Reining in Foreign Tycoons May Hurt IPO Fees - One incident that sparked investor complaints occurred at ENRC, a mining company included in London’s FTSE index that’s controlled by a trio of Kazakh billionaires, Alexander Machkevitch, Patokh Chodiev, and Alijan Ibragimov. Two independent directors were voted off the board and two others resigned in 2011 after tensions arose between them and the founders over a mining project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Our chronic failure to meet the governance standards expected of a FTSE 100 company was eventually laid bare,” director Ken Olisa wrote in a farewell letter after he was voted off the ENRC board. A spokesman for ENRC declined to comment.

The Times of Israel - Olmert to head high-tech venture with Kazakh businessman - Olmert is teaming up with Kenges Rakishev, a Kazakh businessman with interests in infrastructure, petrochemicals, shipbuilding and technology, and Moshe Hogeg, chief executive of the Mobli photo-sharing service.