Sting to sing for Kazakh President's Birthday

    By Richard Orange
    The former Police frontman will hold a concert in Astana, Kazakhstan's showpiece capital, on July 4, kicking off three days of cultural events to mark the president's 71^st birthday.
    "The famous singer Sting will give to the people of Astana a luxury birthday gift," the organizers announced, citing the British singer's "staggering list of hits" and the tour's "huge success worldwide".
    This is the Sting's first musical excursion to Central Asia since 2009, when he received a drubbing at the hands of human rights activists for performing in Uzbekistan, at the invitation of the daughter of President Islam Karimov, who is accused of being one of the world's most brutal dictators.
    President Nazarbayev's rule is comparatively benign, but he too has kept a tight grip on the oil-rich republic since the last days of the Soviet Union, and has never held an election judged free and fair by international observers.
    The three days running up to the President's Birthday on July 6 were made a national holiday by Kazakhstan's parliament three years ago, although officially it is known as "Astana Day", a celebration of the country's capital shifting to Astana.
    Last year the blind Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli sung Nessun Dorma as the President looked on fr om a raised dais, sitting alongside Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president.
    Sting's show is being angled squarely at the country's oil-enriched elite. Tickets for Sting's show are going on sale for between