Manshuk Asautai is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Kazakh Service.
State workers complain that Kazakhstan's relative wealth isn't trickling down, prompting some to turn to the marketplace -- or simply turn their office into one.
It was one year ago that Kazakh authorities announced a mass murder at a distant outpost on the Kazakh-Chinese border. Since then, the sole surviving border guard has been convicted and jailed, but many questions remain unanswered.
