This just in: Nazarbayev will run the first leg of the torch relay. Hopefully that won’t mean that they shut down the route to people who want to watch, which they sometimes do when cool people are involved in things.

EDIT: The official route and who is carrying the torch is up. The President doesn’t appear to be on the list. And to answer the question in the comments, I think that occasionally Presidents or high government officials might be there to greet the torch at the airport–as I believe the akim was at Almaty airport last night–but they don’t usually carry it.

EDIT THE SECOND: Nazarbayev did carry the torch. As did the Chinese Ambassador and Rosa Rizimbayeva. Cool.

Afganisu-tan is really impressive: 38 comic pages covering the history of Afghanistan and its neighbors as a manga-style comic, created by a Danish artist. Kazakhstan is not featured as a character but America is:
Birthday; July 4.
She’s the richest girl her neighborhood.
She is a superhero fanatic.
Her fighting skills are top-class.
She has a tendency to think her version of justice is right for everyone.

Thanks to Registan for finding this.