Stranded boy flies back from Dubai under hypnosis. CSTO Peacekeepers Drill In Russia, Preparing For What? If Kazakhstan breaks up energy ring with Uzbekistan, south of Kyrgyzstan will be powered from Datka substation.

BBC - Stranded boy flies back from Dubai under hypnosis - Joe Thompson's family spent £40,000 on cancelled flights, phobia therapy and accommodation during their unexpected stay.

Eurasianet - CSTO Peacekeepers Drill In Russia, Preparing For What? - The scenario of the drill involved a conflict in the fictional CSTO member state of Uralia, and the peacekeepers were tasked with protecting a convoy of humanitarian aid from "extremists" trying to attack it. The peacekeeping forces provided air cover for the convoy using Mi-24 helicopters, set up checkpoints in the conflict zone and successfully apprehended some extremists who were trying to smuggle weapons.

24.kg - If Kazakhstan breaks up energy ring with Uzbekistan, south of Kyrgyzstan will be powered from Datka substation - ... Recall, unbalanced operation of the Uzbek power system and unplanned power take-offs activate the automatic emergency response system that leads to cutoffs in the southern zone of Kazakhstan. In connection with this, the automatic emergency response system was activated more than 1,300 times for the last autumn-winter period. KEGOC Company proposed the government of Kazakhstan to switch to separate, independent of the energy system of Uzbekistan, work, maintaining the parallel operation with the Unified Energy System of Russia and Kyrgyzstan.

RFE - Kazakh Military Draft To End By 2016 - Currently, 65 percent of Kazakhstan's 109,500 military personnel are conscripts on mandatory service.

Clickpress - Kazakhstan and Central Asia Defence & Security Report Q4 2013 - New Report Available - ...despite the security challenges faced by these countries, notably in the form of 'blowback' from the civil war in nearby Afghanistan, local border disputes and domestic insurgencies, there are no major reequipment programmes being undertaken to address materiel shortcomings in any of the five countries surveyed in the report.

The Atlantic - America's New $100 Bill Is Awesome (but Still Nowhere Near as Awesome as Kazakhstan's Currency) - Perhaps nothing that rolls out of our ATMs will ever compete with the patriotic phantasmagoria of Kazakhstan's currency, which looks like what would happen if you gave Robert Rauschenberg the keys to the Office of Printing and Engraving

London Student - UCL makes £1.7m a year from Kazakh university partnership - University College London has made £7m in profit from its partnership with a university in Kazakhstan, a country with a “dreadful human rights record”.