Kazakhstan starts 800km highway to Caspian ports SEOUL, August 06 (AJP) - Construction began Monday on an 800-kilometer highway across western Kazakhstan that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said will connect crossings on the Chinese border directly to the Caspian ports of Aktau and Kuryk, giving trucks a direct route onto the trade corridor Europe has been funding as an alternative to shipping through Russia. Tokayev launched the project by video link from Astana along with two other road schemes. He said the new highway would August 6, 2026

Kazakhstan opens AI olympiad as digital push accelerates SEOUL, August 05 (AJP) - More than 500 high school students from 106 countries began competing in Astana this week at the world's newest international science olympiad, hosted by a government that has spent the past year signing $10 billion in data center agreements and writing Central Asia's first artificial intelligence law. The third International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence runs through August 8. The second edition, held in Beijing last year, drew 300 students August 5, 2026