Bishkek

Authorities in Kyrgyzstan have launched a contest to track down Father Christmas somewhere inside the mountainous Central Asian state — a week after Swedish experts reported that he must be there. The contest runs until December 20, but the hunt could prove tough because of the former Soviet republic’s imposing mountain ranges.

Angry residents of a town in Kyrgyzstan pulled down a monument to the obscure father-in-law of the country’s ousted president and replaced it with a collection of empty bottles in sardonic tribute to his reputed affinity for the odd tipple, an official said on Thursday.

Kyrgyzstan’s new acting head of state, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, said on Friday that fresh presidential elections in the Central Asian nation will take place in June. The announcement came a day after the regime of president Askar Akayev collapsed after thousands of opposition protestors overran the country’s main seat of power in the capital.

Kyrgyzstan President Askar Akayev and his family have left the country, reported Russian news agency Interfax on Thursday amid conflicting reports on the whereabouts of the Central Asian nation’s veteran leader. Citing unnamed sources in the interior ministry, the news agency said that a helicopter with Akayev presumably on board has left for Russia, while another, carrying his family, left for neighbouring Kazakhstan.