Baikonur - Russian investigators have launched a probe into why a Soyuz rocket failed shortly after blast-off, in a major setback for Russia's beleaguered space industry.

Baikonur - Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin retained an enviable sang-froid Thursday as he realised while travelling at thousands of miles an hour that his spacecraft would have to make an emergency landing. "An accident with the booster, 2 minutes, 45 seconds....

Astana - Two American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut returned to Earth on Thursday wrapping up a six-month mission at the International Space Station as tensions between Washington and Moscow threaten a rare area of cooperation.

Astana - Two American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut returned to Earth Thursday wrapping up a six-month mission at the International Space Station as tensions between Washington and Moscow threaten a rare area of cooperation.

Almaty - When he looks back on his youth in China's far-west Xinjiang region, Akikat Kaliolla, an ethnic Kazakh, recalls the place's natural beauty and the big, colourful weddings typical of his majority-Muslim community.

Astana - Kazakhstan on Thursday sentenced a man to three years in prison for inciting hatred on social media after he took a swipe at the country's septuagenarian leader and his kinsmen.

Astana - Long-ruling Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed a new chief of staff Monday, sending a loyalist into retirement in what could be interpreted as a move towards a managed succession.

Aktau - The leaders of the five states bordering the resource-rich Caspian Sea signed a landmark deal on its legal status on Sunday in the Kazakh city of Aktau, easing regional tensions and potentially facilitating lucrative oil and gas projects.

Aktau - The leaders of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan are meeting in the Kazakh port city of Aktau on Sunday to sign a landmark deal on the Caspian Sea.

Aktau - The leaders of the five states bordering the resource-rich Caspian Sea signed a landmark deal Sunday on the legal status of the inland sea which boasts a wealth of oil and gas reserves and sturgeon.

Zharkent - A Kazakh court on Wednesday freed a Chinese citizen who gave testimony on a secretive network of Chinese "re-education camps" during her explosive immigration trial.

Astana - Kazakh figure skater Denis Ten, who won bronze at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, died on Thursday aged 25 after being stabbed, Kazakhstan's culture and sports ministry told AFP.

- Secretive "re-education camps" allegedly holding hundreds of thousands of people in a Muslim-majority region in western China are the focus of an explosive court case in Kazakhstan, testing the country's ties with Beijing.

Astana - Kazakhstan on Friday marked 20 years since steppe city Astana became the country's capital with pomp and ceremony, as calls for protests by an exiled critic of the country's authoritarian leader fell flat.

Almaty - Police detained dozens of opposition protesters in Kazakhstan's largest city on Saturday after the exiled nemesis of long-time leader Nursultan Nazarbayev called for rallies across the country.

Baikonur - A relatively inexperienced crew of two astronauts and a cosmonaut blasted off Wednesday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a five-month mission on the International Space Station.

Astana - Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov made it back to Earth Sunday along with an official match football that could be used later this month in the opening game of the World Cup in Moscow.

Astana - Kazakhstan's parliament on Wednesday passed a bill that would cement its veteran ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev's status as the country's top power broker even if he decides to retire as president.

Astana - Talks on Syria spearheaded by Russia in Astana failed to edge the seven-year conflict closer to a political settlement Tuesday and cast the future of diplomatic efforts to end the crisis into uncertainty.

Astana - Russian chief negotiator Alexander Lavrentyev on Monday upbraided the United States for not sending a delegation to observe the latest round of Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan.