Society

Suspects in China, Unwelcome in Kazakhstan: Who Are the Qandas?

Nazigul Maksutkan comes from a family that moved from China's Xinjiang to Kazakhstan after the fall of communism, part of the wave of Kazakh "returns" to their historical homeland. Today, she helps compatriots persecuted in China. Pictured: Nazigul with her husband and children in the kitchen of their home. Near Almaty, Kazakhstan, July 2026 // Photo: Agnieszka Pikulicka

They fled to Kazakhstan to escape Chinese repression. But today it's Kazakhstan that hunts them down when they speak up for relatives in China's Xinjiang. A story about people who are strangers everywhere.

By Agnieszka Pikulicka, reporting from Kazakhstan

Alimnur Turganbay crossed the Kazakh-Chinese border in July 2025 and then vanished without a trace. Turganbay, a truck driver, often drove this route. He clearly didn't think he was taking a risk — he had left China's Xinjiang province with his family back in 2017. That was when he renounced his Chinese citizenship in favour of Kazakh citizenship.

There was nothing unusual about that. Thousands of ethnic Kazakhs, citizens of the People's Republic of China, have for years been taking the opportunity to return to their ancestral homeland.

So Turganbay went back to his country of birth only for work. This time, though, something went wrong. His family knew he couldn't have just vanished. It wasn't like him.

A Ball at the Elevation: What to Do With a Child at Mass

I took the ball away from my daughter — she answered with a shriek. I gave it back — it flew off across the nave. A moment later, the two of us fled the church. By Zuzanna Radzik Mass fell between nap time and lunch. A playground would have suited that slot

Robots Can Outrun Humans. But at Home, They Need Our Help

A humanoid can lose to a dirty sock. Whether robots built in our own image find a place in the world will depend on how well AI copes with the mess of real life. By Agata Kaźmierska and Wojciech Brzeziński This August in Beijing, the robot Tiangong Ultra ran 100

Your Loneliness Is Their Best-Selling Product

Living alone has become easier and more convenient than ever. Large corporations have built an entire business model around it. By Jakub Dymek There is one thing that the internet — as it forced its way into our lives in the first decade of the 21st century — promised above all else.

What Are Birds Singing About? They Say More Than We Thought

Artificial intelligence has firmly established itself in many fields of science. It may help us uncover the rules governing birdsong — and even its meanings. By Wojciech Mamak For a long time, studying bird communication meant a lot of squinting. The human ear is too slow to catch the split-second

Read more

A Ball at the Elevation: What to Do With a Child at Mass

Robots Can Outrun Humans. But at Home, They Need Our Help

Your Loneliness Is Their Best-Selling Product

What Are Birds Singing About? They Say More Than We Thought