News

In May 2026, Kazakhstan’s private sector reported growth in business activity for the second consecutive month. The services sector emerged as the main driver of the economy, with rising orders supporting overall expansion. However, mounting cost pressures prompted companies to make the largest workforce reductions in more than two years.

Service sector: Orders increase despite margin pressure

In May, the Freedom Holding Corp. Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for Kazakhstan’s service sector eased to 52.7 from 53.9 in April but remained above the 50-point mark, which indicates expansion in business activity.

Survey respondents attributed the growth to new client acquisitions...

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides held one-on-one talks. They discussed key matters of the bilateral cooperation and prospects for strengthening ties between Kazakhstan and the EU.

Tokayev noted that they first met in 2019, when Christodoulides served as Cyprus’s foreign minister. The Kazakh president also noted that the two countries have achieved significant results in diplomatic and economic ties since then.

“We have established embassies in our capitals. Direct flights between the two countries have been launched, along with a number of other important initiatives. At the same...

Freedom Holding Corp. has applied for a banking license in France. As part of its European expansion strategy, the company plans to invest €500 million to launch a digital bank and develop local infrastructure. Freedom Holding CEO Timur Turlov confirmed the plans in an interview with Reuters.

«We have submitted documents to the French banking regulator to obtain a banking license in France. We have also announced €500 million in investments that we are prepared to make over the next five years to develop a digital bank and build digital infrastructure,» Turlov said.

He...

NASA is testing an unusual system capable of turning astronauts’ wastewater into useful resources, such as water, fertilizers and 3D printing materials.

The technology is being developed for future missions to the Moon and Mars. The main idea is that it is costly to constantly deliver water, food and other necessities from Earth, so astronauts will need to learn to use their own resources in a literal closed loop.

The system is currently undergoing tests in a special complex that imitates space-base conditions. In this setup, waste is recycled into plant fertilizers...

American journalist and influencer Candace Owens said in an interview with TASS that she considers her investigation into Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, complete.

Owens has repeatedly promoted the theory that France’s first lady was born male. However, those claims have not been substantiated and have been repeatedly denied by the Macron family.

“The investigation is over: there is no doubt that Brigitte Macron is a man. It’s not going to look good for me if I’m just making a stupid conspiracy. I’ve looked into this...

A post by a BTS fan on Threads caused a stir — Kursiv LifeStyle explains how a woman managed to meet BTS member Jung Kook after he sparked a fan hunt for himself.

Fatima, a user from Kazakhstan, shared a photo with the singer on Threads. She can be seen with Jung Kook on an evening street in South Korea.

The post went viral. Before that, the artist had posted a series of stories from an evening jog. Jung Kook captioned one of the videos with «Catch me — get a selfie...

The childhood playground may hold the secret to your future spouse’s tax bracket, though it likely won’t predict their skin color. While sharing a neighborhood can bridge the gap between the rich and the poor at the altar, it does remarkably little to break down long-standing racial barriers in American marriage, according to a new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

Researchers analyzed a massive dataset of 31.1 million individuals, linking federal tax records to census data to understand why Americans rarely marry outside their social or racial circles. The numbers remain stark: only...

Central Asian countries continue to expand their international reserves, with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan increasingly relying on gold as a key reserve asset.

According to a recent review by Halyk Finance, Kazakhstan’s international reserves reached $67.8 billion in April, while Uzbekistan’s climbed to $70.9 billion. The main drivers of this growth were rising global gold prices and continued gold purchases by central banks.

Gold dominates reserve portfolios

Kazakhstan has become one of the countries with the highest share of gold in its international reserves. Gold currently accounts for approximately 78% of the country’s reserves. Uzbekistan...

Kazakh dancer Madina Beisekeyeva has announced her appearance in the third season of the HBO series “Euphoria,” marking her acting debut.

Beisekeyeva shared the news on Instagram, posting stills from a recent episode and writing: “Watch me on Euphoria S3. My acting debut.”

Based on the scenes she shared, Beisekeyeva appears to portray a character named Tiny Tigress. The role is also listed in the episode’s...

Kyrgyzstan’s GDP continues to grow at double-digit rates. Since 2022, growth has been driven by expanding trade flows, a steady inflow of capital and remittances, and a construction boom supported by government spending. However, this growth model is producing side effects that are beginning to emerge in the form of declining re-exports and rising inflation, which is approaching overheating levels.

Economic growth remains strong

In the first quarter of 2026, Kyrgyzstan’s GDP grew 10.1% year over year, reaching 429 billion soms ($4.9 billion at the current exchange rate). Although robust, the growth rate slowed from 12.6% in...

Prominent international influencers arrived in the Almaty region — Jordanian travel documentary creator Joe Hattab and American creator Joshua Platillero, known online as @megaamerican.

Prominent Kazakh travel content creator Dastan Mukhamedrakhim served as the host and guide at key tourist locations. Together, they embarked on a scenic tour of Almaty to showcase Kazakhstan’s beauty and flair to a global audience.

Foreign guests actively shared the first photos...

Legendary American actor and director Clint Eastwood has retired from the film industry at the age of 96, according to his son Kyle Eastwood, who said that his father no longer plans to direct films and has officially retired.

«Now he’s retired, he’s 95 years old. But I’ve been very lucky to be able to work with him on a lot of films,» Kyle said, adding that he has many fond memories of working with his father.

Clint Eastwood turned 96 on May 31. Despite his age, he had remained one of Hollywood’s most...

Renowned Kazakh singer Dimash Qudaibergen has published a list of concerts scheduled through the end of 2026. Kursiv LifeStyle reports on the artist’s upcoming shows.

According to the DimashAli creative center, the new tour has already begun. The organizers noted that these are only the first dates announced so far. The city hosting the opening concert has not yet been announced.

The tour will cover Europe and Latin America. European concerts are scheduled in Kraków (Oct. 18), Düsseldorf (Oct. 24) and Madrid (Oct. 30).

He will then perform in Mexico. Concerts are scheduled in Mérida (Nov...

The Greek island of Syros is looking for volunteers ready to take care of cats in exchange for free accommodation near the sea. Kursiv LifeStyle found out the details.

The program is organized by the animal welfare organization Syros Cats. Volunteers are offered free accommodation, breakfast and coverage of utility bills in exchange for about five hours a day, five days a week, caring for local cats.

The applications will be available starting in September. Organizers are looking for both individual volunteers and couples older than 25 years old, ready to spend...

More than a thousand people dressed as Marilyn Monroe gathered in Palm Springs, California, setting a new world record.

The unusual event, organized to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the actress’s birth, took place in Downtown Park near the famous eight-meter-tall statue of the Hollywood star.

According to organizers, 1,037 people dressed as Monroe gathered at the venue. This became the largest gathering of Marilyn Monroe lookalikes in history, surpassing the previous record of 254 participants. The figures have already been submitted for official registration in the Guinness World Records.

Read also: Greek getaway...

According to Freedom Holding Corp.’s Form 10-K filing for fiscal year 2026, which ended March 31, 2026, the company’s revenue has increased more than 26-fold since its Nasdaq listing, reaching $2.19 billion. Furthermore, the company has doubled its net profit from $76.2 million in 2025 to $153.3 million in 2026.

As Freedom Holding Corp. CEO Timur Turlov noted, the company has successfully completed another fiscal year despite significant investments in developing the Freedom ecosystem.

«Our client base is growing rapidly, once again confirming the effectiveness of our strategy. We’re building an institutional infrastructure with a...

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni returned to court in New York, a month after reaching an out-of-court settlement in their long-running legal dispute connected to the film «It Ends with Us,» in which they both starred, The Guardian reported.

This time, Lively’s attorneys are seeking legal fees and damages, arguing that a defamation lawsuit filed by Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, was a retaliatory action prohibited under California law. Baldoni’s legal team disputes that claim.

The legal conflict between the celebrities began in December 2024 when Lively accused Baldoni, who also directed the film, of making...

A documentary film about the renowned Kazakh singer Dimash Qudaibergen premiered in Spain. The project was created by the artist’s Spanish fan club in collaboration with the La Gran Voz Kazaja association and directed by filmmaker David Collantes Rodríguez.

The premiere screening took place at the Palacio de Hielo cinema, attracting over 130 viewers, including representatives of Kazakhstan’s Embassy in Spain, headed by Ambassador Danat Mussayev, members of the Kazakh diaspora, representatives of civic organizations, and the young Kazakhstani singer Zhanel Ali.

At Qudaibergen’s concert in Barcelona, the 15-year-old artist performed with him on the same...

Four wild Przewalski’s horses were released into the Altyn Dala State Nature Reserve on May 25 as part of an ongoing effort to restore the species to Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Ecology reported.

Read also: Are these the most beautiful horses on Earth? Meet the ethereal Akhal-Teke.

The group consists of a stallion named Galvan, brought from Prague, and four mares from Hungary’s Hortobágy National Park. The animals spent a year in spacious acclimatization enclosures under the constant supervision of specialists and veterinarians.

During that time, the horses adapted to local...

Robot dogs have begun serving with the Aktau police in western Kazakhstan and will patrol city streets to help maintain public order, according to Polisia.kz.

Read also: High-tech security: $300K robot dogs are the new face of AI data centers.

The robotic units are expected to help maintain security in public spaces, monitor situations in real time and assist in crime prevention efforts. Equipped with video surveillance cameras, they transmit live data directly to the command center.

The robots can also detect suspicious objects, identify smoke and fire hazards, and automatically...

Social media has been swept by an unprecedented wave of “mourning.” Fans of the hit HBO series “Euphoria” are organizing both real-life and virtual gatherings to honor the memory of one of the show’s most toxic, controversial and yet undeniably memorable characters.

Spoilers ahead. If you haven’t watched the penultimate episode of Season 3, stop reading now.

While much of the international internet celebrated with slogans such as “Evil has been defeated,” Russian-speaking users embraced the event with the enthusiasm of a traditional wake.

@taki7391 FINALLY...

Kazakhstan could become a storage site for Iran’s uranium stockpiles if Washington and Tehran reach an agreement on a nuclear deal, the FT reported, citing Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Existing uranium bank

Grossi noted that a facility for storing low-enriched uranium (LEU) already exists in Kazakhstan’s city of Oskemen (Ust-Kamenogorsk).

He said the material could be stored safely in that IAEA-operated LEU bank, adding that such an arrangement could be acceptable to both the U.S. and Iran.

Grossi added that any final decision would depend on...

Busan local authorities are continuing to address price gouging in accommodation ahead of BTS‘s Arirang World Tour concerts, scheduled for June 12 and 13.

Busan Metropolitan City announced a homestay program for foreign visitors in a press release. For this initiative, rather than relying on publicly run accommodation options such as temples and youth training centers, residents and civic organizations volunteering to provide temporary lodging will be brought on board.

The program will cover stays from June 12 to 14, with applications available at k-popstay.wehome.me and Visit Korea. Accommodation is free of...

A blogger from Kazakhstan shared a humorous reel on Instagram that quickly attracted thousands of likes and comments.

Last week, the blogger and her husband were staying at the same hotel in Istanbul as Kanye West, also known as Ye. Each time they left the hotel, they encountered crowds of fans gathered outside to catch a glimpse of the American rapper.

One day, the couple decided to have some fun. As they passed by, they began greeting the fans as though the crowd had gathered to see them instead.