Wins for Japan and Kazakhstan secured fifth and seventh spots on the final day of volleyball action at Al-Rayyan Indoor Hall.

Dmitriy Torlopov and Dmitriy Kaltenberger became the first paddlers to win the same event at three consecutive Asian Games when the Kazakhstan pair crossed the line first in the men's K2 500m at West Bay Lagoon in a time of 1:36.390.

Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov today urged businesses to invest more in the national economy and less in foreign countries.

Even as doubts about Kazakhstan's commitment to democratic reform have left its bid to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in flux, President Nursultan Nazarbaev used a recent trip to Brussels to drive home his country's growing importance as an energy supplier. These two trends -- doubts about democracy and increasing hydrocarbon clout -- seem poised to determine Kazakhstan's position on the international arena in coming years. How comfortably can they coexist?

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev made some surprising comments on November 10. The leader of a country that has attracted major investment from the West, Nazarbaev said Kazakhstan does not need lecturing and advice from Western nations.