US orders new visa checks for arriving students following Boston Marathon bombings. Palast reports from Kazakhstan FBI Spiked Chechen Jihadi Investigation.

The Independent - US orders new visa checks for arriving students following Boston Marathon bombings - The US Homeland Security Department ordered border agents to verify that every international student who arrives in the country has a valid student visa. The new procedure is the government's first security change directly related to the Boston Marathon bombings last month.

Greg Palast - Palast reports from Kazakhstan: FBI Spiked Chechen Jihadi Investigation - After we landed, word came that two Kazakh teens, friends of the bombers, had been arrested by Boston police and, yesterday, charged with hiding evidence of the bombers' guilt.

Energy Tribune - Kazakh Oil Heads to Asia Away From Saturated Europe - Kazakhstan’s oil exports to Asia are on the rise as it seeks to cultivate new buyers for its light crudes outside the saturated European market before steep output increases in the next few years.

Eurasianet - Kazakhstan: Sanctuary Toils to Save Falcons, Eagles - In the foothills of the Tien Shan mountains in southeastern Kazakhstan, a falcon perches in a tree. Its eyes dart to and fro, all senses on alert. Suddenly it swoops, snapping up some prey and soars off.

The Economist - On the playing fields of Shanghai - CRICKET, boarding-house names reminiscent of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts and ancient and peculiar customs are among the hallmarks of Britain’s leading private schools. Now they can be found in Singapore and Kazakhstan. As the domestic market softens, some of the most famous names in British education are building far-flung outposts.

Yahoo News - American dream goes sour for Kazakhs charged over bombings - Going to study in America was a dream come true for Kazakh students Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, an escape from a regimented life under authoritarian rule in their Central Asian homeland.

UPI - Kazakhstan gives OK to more oil work - The Kazakh government extended the terms of an oil exploration campaign in which production has increased 19 percent, Max Petroleum said.