Iran taps Caspian Sea route to bolster grain stocks. Azerbaijan, Russia Draw Closer Over Energy Ties. Times’ owners reprint Kazakh exile’s memoirs

Reuters - Iran taps Caspian Sea route to bolster grain stocks - Iran is approaching Kazakhstan and other Caspian Sea suppliers for fresh wheat deals after buying over 1 million tonnes in recent weeks from global markets as Tehran seeks to bolster strategic stocks after recent elections.

Malta Today - Times’ owners reprint Kazakh exile’s memoirs - Multi-millionaire investigated on double murder charges and money laundering fears Kazakh secret service watching him in Malta

Trend - Over thousand people died in road accidents in Kazakhstan since early 2013 - Some 8,462 road accident, resulting in the death of 1,167 people and injuries of 10,837 people were recorded during the six months of 2013, Committee of Traffic Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan reported.

KAZINFORM - President of Kazakhstan sent his congratulations to Belgian King Philippe - President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev has sent congratulations to Belgian King Albert II and his son Philippe on the occasion of the official crowning ceremony, the press service of Akorda informs.

Oil Price - Azerbaijan, Russia Draw Closer Over Energy Ties - The implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991 produced three petro-states – the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

Of these, Azerbaijan has the longest history, having begun producing petroleum in the late 19th century. Since the USSR’s demise, Azerbaijan has adroitly developed its energy infrastructure output to the point where the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration notes simply, “Azerbaijan is an important current and future supplier of both oil and natural gas… Oil and gas development and export are central to Azerbaijan's economic growth and the country is one of the Caspian region's most important strategic export openings to the West.”

Strategy Page - Criminal Behavior - At the Soviet era Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan a Russian Proton-M rocket exploded ten seconds after launch on July 2nd, destroying three Glonass (Russian GPS) satellites it was carrying. The cause was quickly found and it appears to be criminal negligence by space program workers and managers. This disaster cost Russia over $200 million and further blemished the reliability of Russian satellite launch services. The satellites, being state property, were not insured so the total loss comes out of the government budget.

The Independent - Revealed: Silvio Berlusconi’s low friends in high places - It is the sort of incident that you might expect to happen in a brutal dictatorship: on 29 May about 40 heavily armed police stormed a house to snatch a mother and her young daughter. The woman was erroneously accused of possessing false documents, then whisked out of the country in a private jet – before her lawyers had a chance to intervene.