| ASTANA | Remote city of Kazakhstan that (ostensibly for security reasons) was made the capital in 1998. |
| SAMARIA | Ancient town, made the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel by Omri in the ninth century BC (7) |
| INDEPENDENCEDAY | Will Smith thriller that, for obvious reasons, was released the week of July 4 (in 1996) |
| NAIROBI | A truck bomb destroyed the US Embassy in this African capital in 1998 |
| REYNOLDS | Which 18th-century aesthetician was made the first president of the Royal Academy? |
| RICHELIEU | French cardinal and statesman who was made the villain in The Three Musketeers, written 200 years after his death (9) |
| URALSK | Town in NW Kazakhstan that is a grain-trading and cattle centre (6) |
| ATHOS | Part of path ostensibly for Greek mountain (5) |
| GHOST | Briefly sigh, ostensibly for a spectre |
| OWL | The bird of Athena, the Greek goddess of practical reason, was this kind of bird. |
| ANTIGUA | The capital in Guiana designed by one of those in the West Indies (7) |
| DUMBDOWN | Make it less of a challenge for male taken in by woman from the capital in Northern Ireland (4,4) |
| ASTRODOME | A way to perform in the capital in the sports centre (9) |
| GUARDROOMS | Don't let anyone into the kitchen and scullery for security reasons (10) |
| CLASSIFIED | Put things in order, kept under wraps for security reasons (10) |
| TANK | Originally described as a "water carrier" for security reasons, what was it known as from 1916? (4) |
| REDACT | Censor or obscure part of a text for security reasons (6) |
| AKMOLA | Name from 1992-98 of Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan (6) |
| TIMBUKTU | Tim Burton's first film for kids introduces this country to initially remote city |
| PLEDGE | Put a shelf on the piano for security reasons (6) |
