News

Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, will host a top-tier international Counter-Strike 2 tournament, PGL Astana 2026, from May 15 to 17. This will mark the second time Kazakhstan has hosted one of the world’s largest esports events, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports reported.

PGL Esports SRL is a tournament organizer; the total prize pool is $1.6 million.

World’s top teams in Astana

PGL Astana 2026 will feature 16 teams, including Team Spirit, G2 Esports, FURIA Esports, and Heroic.

Furthermore, renowned figures from the global esports scene are expected to attend the event, including CS:GO world champion...

SpaceX subsidiary Starlink, which already provides internet access in Kazakhstan through low-Earth-orbit satellites, will be required to register in the country and purchase internet traffic from local operators, according to Zhaslan Madiyev, Kazakhstan’s deputy prime minister and minister of AI and digital development.

«Satellite internet service is supplementary to internet provided via fiber-optic networks. The provision of satellite services by foreign operators must comply with the new standards we are introducing into law,» he said during a meeting in the parliament, where lawmakers considered in the first reading amendments related to the development of...

Kazakh inventor Galimzhan Gabdreshov has developed an echolocation device that allows people who are completely blind to navigate independently, ride bicycles and even shoot at targets. Despite successful trials and international recognition, the social-impact project has not received government support. Gabdreshov shared details about the situation on Threads.

A personal crisis inspired the invention

The idea for creating an alternative form of vision came to the 52-year-old Arkalyk native after a serious medical emergency. In 2019, Gabdreshov suffered a steam burn to his eyes that caused retinal detachment. Doctors warned that without laser surgery within five days...

Hollywood movies featuring giant robots piloted by humans are gradually becoming reality. Chinese robotics company Unitree Robotics has unveiled an unusual transforming robot called the GD01 that can carry a human operator. The company posted a presentation video on its official YouTube channel and says the project is ready for mass production.

A transforming robot with a human pilot

The GD01 resembles a massive humanoid robot that stands more than twice the height of an average person. With a pilot inside, the machine weighs about half a ton. During the presentation, Wang Xingxing, founder and...

A new era of «ghost parenting» is emerging as children are increasingly being conceived years after the deaths of one or both biological parents. Advances in reproductive technology are transforming what was once considered rare or culturally specific into a growing reality in Western societies, raising difficult legal, ethical and social questions.

In her recent article on posthumous reproduction, Sandra Carol Bamford examines how medical advances allowing the retrieval and preservation of genetic material after death are reshaping concepts of family, inheritance and legal parenthood.

Legal systems struggle to keep pace

Bamford argues that legal systems around...

Chinese East Hope Group — one of the world’s largest aluminum producers — could invest $12.6 billion in bauxite mining and aluminum production in Kazakhstan, according to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Construction.

«Minister of Industry and Construction Yersayin Nagaspayev held talks with East Hope Group Director for Strategic Investments Chen Lei…The company is conducting geological exploration at several blocks in the Aktobe and Kostanay regions. Total investment is estimated at $12.6 billion,» the statement read.

At the meeting, the parties discussed the implementation of the investment project to establish a full-cycle aluminum production chain...

A preventive road risk management concept has been unveiled in Almaty by the Sergek Group. The company is testing a new AI-powered platform that identifies dangerous drivers before accidents occur.

Neural networks and driver behavior

According to Sergek Group Chief Product Officer Nigmet Abdrakhmanov, the existing video recording model primarily addresses the consequences of violations. The company’s new AI platform uses city cameras as a unified sensor network to improve road safety.

Algorithms automatically generate driver behavior profiles: consistent speeding and dangerous lane changes immediately trigger alerts. On suburban highways, the system analyzes driving patterns and can recognize...

Metallica’s performance in Athens was so powerful that it was detected by seismographs in Greece.

The iconic band opened the European leg of its M72 World Tour with a concert at OAKA Stadium, which drew over 90,000 people. Given that Metallica hadn’t performed in Greece for almost 16 years, it was a big deal for fans.

When the band started performing one of its early songs, «Creeping Death,» specialists at the Institute of Geodynamics of the National Observatory of Athens recorded so-called «concert earthquakes.» These are microvibrations that occur when tens of thousands of people simultaneously jump, move, and...

Users on social media have once again remembered «The Simpsons» following the hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship. Several users noted that a 2012 episode featured a similar plot. Kursiv LifeStyle takes a closer look at that installment of the series.

Season 23, Episode 19, is the installment in question. Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie go on a cruise when their vacation abruptly takes a turn following an announcement of the Pandora virus outbreak, triggering panic among passengers.

The scenario surprisingly resembles the actual hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship. The...

The proposed «Golden Dome» missile defense system, introduced by President Donald Trump, is expected to cost about $1.2 trillion over two decades, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. This is significantly higher than earlier projections of $175 billion, the BBC reported.

The system is designed to protect the U.S. from ballistic and cruise missile threats using advanced technologies across land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors. However, the CBO warns that the program faces major technical and strategic challenges.

Moreover, the system may not provide complete protection. Analysts note it could be vulnerable...

The giant African harvester ant (Messor cephalotes), a species native to East Africa and mentioned in the Bible, has become part of a growing illegal international trade driven by collectors and hobbyists, The Guardian reported.

A single queen can establish a colony that grows to hundreds of thousands of individuals, producing workers and soldiers while continuing to lay eggs throughout her life. These colonies can survive for decades, building large circular nests and storing seeds underground.

As seed collectors, they help spread plant species across grasslands and savannahs. This supports the biodiversity that livestock, wildlife and entire ecosystems...

Scientists at the Kazakh National Agrarian Research University have begun the second phase of clinical trials for a drug to treat mugwort pollen allergy, the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan reported.

According to the ministry, the PollenVax immunotherapy drug, developed under the Ministry of Healthcare program, has successfully completed the first phase of trials assessing safety and tolerability. The next clinical trial will involve 138 volunteers and last 180 days.

«The drug is developed on the basis of a recombinant mugwort pollen allergen protein and is intended to provide a significantly shortened...

Kazakhstan’s government has responded to growing concerns over the condition of the country’s wildlife, addressing not only the recent saiga die-off in the steppes but also the deaths of swans and Caspian seals in western Kazakhstan.

Nurken Sharbiyev, Kazakhstan’s deputy minister of ecology, said the recorded deaths of 26,000 saigas — including 11,000 in the West Kazakhstan region — do not represent an abnormal event.

«The saiga mortality rate currently being observed is within the natural norm,» Sharbiyev said.

«The saiga population is fully renewed every three to four...

The photos of a strange snack spread on Reddit and social media, puzzling hundreds of netizens. Several users joked that it would be best for Italians not to see this.

The photos show pizza slices used as bread to form a sandwich with grilled meat and sauerkraut, ironically captioned «Fusion cuisine,» and uploaded to the r/Polska subreddit.

Users claim that this is a popular serving option in Poland.

Sauerkraut turned out to be one of the biggest surprises. Commenters noted that the combination felt extremely unusual, though the idea is not that strange in Polish cuisine...

Kazakhstan, together with Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, plans to move into the practical construction phase of the Kambarata-1 Hydropower Plant project, according to Jamshid Khodjaev, Uzbekistan’s deputy prime minister.

Read also: Kazakhstan to fund massive Kyrgyz dam for energy security.

Khodjaev said the 1,860-megawatt Kambarata-1 HPP is expected to become the largest power plant in Central Asia and help supply electricity across the region.

Regional energy and water cooperation

Construction is set to take place on the Naryn River in Kyrgyzstan.

Kazakhstan is rolling out a nationwide video surveillance system powered by artificial intelligence that will be used to detect aggressive behavior, fights and disorderly conduct.

The initiative was announced by Aida Balayeva, Kazakhstan’s minister of culture and information, in response to a request from Kudaibergen Beksultanov, a member of Parliament.

According to Balayeva, more than 43,000 cameras across the country are already equipped with AI capabilities. The system can identify not only traffic violations in real time, but also littering, crowd gatherings and conflicts.

Lawmakers push for stricter public behavior standards

The discussion followed a proposal by...

Kazakhstan’s banking statistics for March reflected a 3.8% strengthening of the tenge. The sector also benefited from increased liquidity driven by an inflow of corporate deposits, allowing banks to partially restore assets to levels seen at the beginning of 2026. The loan portfolio fully recovered, although growth continued to be driven primarily by retail lending. Meanwhile, sector profits continued to decline, as expected.

Read also: Why Kazakhstan’s top MFOs are on the brink of collapse.

Total banking sector assets, which had fallen in January and February, returned to growth in March...

While Russian politicians and commentators speak of the alleged «oppression of Russians» in Kazakhstan, some Russian speakers in the country are helping popularize the Kazakh language. Through music, Instagram and language clubs, Kazakh is becoming the new norm for many of them, Deutsche Welle reported in a recent article.

A shifting linguistic landscape

For many years, there was a clear hierarchy between Russian and Kazakh.

«In the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan was one of the most Russified republics,» Kamila Smagulova, a doctoral candidate specializing in history and language research at Leiden University, told Deutsche...

Kazakhstan may begin exporting meat to South Korea, Japan and Turkey later in 2026, Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Agriculture Amangaliy Berdalin said.

«We want to gain access to the markets of South Korea, Japan and Turkey as early as this year… Most of our meat exports go to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan,» Berdalin told reporters.

He noted that Kazakhstan exported 84,000 tons of meat in 2025, up 43% from 2024. Berdalin added that the number of importing countries is gradually increasing.

In particular, Kazakhstan exports mutton to 14 countries and beef to eight. Berdalin believes that...

Two Miami-Dade police officers are suing Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for defamation, saying their film «The Rip» uses real-life details that damage their reputations, according to the Associated Press.

Sgts. Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana filed the lawsuit in federal court in Miami against Artists Equity, the production company owned by Affleck and Damon, asking for compensatory and punitive damages, attorney’s fees, and a public retraction and correction.

The movie tells the story of two South Florida police officers who find millions of dollars in a house. It was partly inspired by a real 2016 case in which...

British-Albanian singer Dua Lipa has filed a $15 million claim against Samsung over the unauthorized use of her image on the company’s TV packaging boxes. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Euronews reported.

The singer’s legal team claims Samsung placed a large photo of Lipa on boxes for several TV models distributed nationwide. The lawyers say the box design was intended to promote the company’s products by linking them to the artist’s achievements.

According to the filing, the photo was...

A painting stolen from Jewish art collector Jacques Goudstikker during World War II has been found in the home of Hendrik Seyffardt’s descendants, according to the BBC.

The painting, «Portrait of a Young Girl,» by Dutch artist Toon Kelder, is believed to have remained with the Seyffardt family for decades. One descendant learned about his family’s history and contacted art detective Arthur Brand. He said he was «disgusted» to find out the painting had been kept by his relatives and felt it should be returned to Goudstikker’s heirs. Goudstikker owned over 1,000 artworks and died while escaping the...

A restaurant has opened at a resort in Shymkent, with dining tables set within a pool beneath a roof, creating the impression that the tables are floating. Guests reach each table by descending a staircase. The pool is stocked with fish that swim past diners throughout their meal.

However, experienced travelers may find the restaurant not particularly original, since many restaurants around the world are fully submerged, with large marine fish swimming above diners’ heads. In Shymkent, only the seating area is surrounded by water. Nevertheless, in the summer heat, the restaurant will likely become one of the city’s most...

Oil supply disruptions amid the Iran conflict are affecting a wider range of businesses, Japanese Calbee, the country’s largest potato chip producer, announced it would temporarily switch to a black-and-white palette for several of its products, Reuters reported.

Reportedly, new package versions for 14 products will hit shelves on May 25. The company’s move aims to preserve a reliable product supply flow despite disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East.

According to Reuters, Japan relies on imports of naphtha — required for ink production — from the Middle East for...