News

One of the most anticipated WhatsApp features is finally becoming available to users. The messenger is gradually rolling out usernames that allow users to communicate with new people without revealing their phone numbers. Kursiv LifeStyle takes a look at what has changed.

Some users have already received notifications that their previously reserved usernames have become active. Once activated, it can be used instead of a phone number when communicating with new contacts. The feature is being rolled out gradually and is not yet available to everyone.

When the update becomes available on your account, simply go...

Freedom Holding Corp. reported an increase in revenue and its customer base for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, ended June 30, 2026.

The holding’s total revenue reached $732.9 million, compared with $524 million in the same period a year earlier. The growth was driven by higher interest and commission income, as well as higher income from transactions in trading securities.

Profit before tax reached $40.8 million, while net profit was more than $31.7 million. Earnings per ordinary share were $0.52.

As of June 30, 2026, the holding’s cash, restricted funds and investment securities totaled $7 billion. Total assets increased...

Kazakhstan-China Pipeline (KCP), which operates the Atasu-Alashankou and Kenkiyak-Kumkol oil pipelines, reported a 26% decline in net profit in 2025, according to its financial statements.

The company’s net profit fell to 27 billion tenge (approximately $52 million) from 36.5 billion tenge a year earlier. Revenue declined 13.3%, from 87.9 billion to 76.2 billion tenge.

KCP’s operating profit fell from 43.4 billion to 29.2 billion tenge. At the same time, financial income more than doubled to 6.4 billion tenge from 3.2 billion tenge a year earlier.

Dispute over oil transit tariffs

KCP is owned equally by...

A company that rents stand-up paddleboards (SUPs) is introducing an unusually romantic summer tradition in Aktau: concerts on the Caspian Sea.

The concerts take place at dawn, at 6 a.m. The performer sits on a special floating platform while the audience listens from SUP boards. Four concerts have already been held during the two-week experiment, featuring a violinist, guitarist and kobyz player performing for the Aktau community.

On social media...

What if Homer’s epic “Odyssey” — or, rather, Christopher Nolan’s latest screen adaptation of it — were reframed as a cautionary tale of disastrous leadership, toxic communication and extreme schedule slippage?

Kazakh project manager Aitzhan Iskakov used an AI agent to create a satirical take on the theme «How I brought the project to completion,» imagining what kind of project manager Odysseus might have been.

The satirical post-mortem chronicles the decade-long struggle of a project manager named Odysseus as he attempts to deliver a seemingly simple transit initiative. Originally planned as a brief, two-week coastal...

Winners of the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence in Astana could receive prizes from Telegram worth more than $106,500.

Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov, who is on Russia’s international wanted list, announced on social media that he is looking for a way to safely deliver the prizes to the winners.

«The Russian team took first place in the team competition, and Artem Gorokhov from my home city won the individual event. Well done! I’m equally happy for the host country, Kazakhstan, whose Dauzhan Beketov took the second-highest individual score. We’re in touch with...

The overpayment on a 3 million tenge (about $6,500) loan from Zaman Bank for five years is 3.62 million tenge, according to a Threads user named nur.kanatuly.kz.

«Islamic Bank Zaman-Bank JSC. Islamic finance. Just for fun, I calculated it in their mobile app: Loan amount: 3 million tenge. Interest on the loan for five years: 3 million 620 thousand tenge. Total payment: 6 million 620 thousand tenge. This is our Islamic finance! Is this halal?» he wrote.

According to the user, the resulting interest rate is 120% over five years, or...

Kazakhstani tennis player Elena Rybakina (World No. 2) commented on the possibility of closing the gap on World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA rankings. After advancing to the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto, Rybakina still has a chance to cut Sabalenka’s lead to just four points.

«I try not to think about it because I still have to win a lot of matches,» Punto de Break cited Rybakina as saying.

The Kazakhstani player highlighted that what matters more to her now is the quality of her...

According to forecasts by Kazakhstan’s Unified Accumulative Pension Fund (UAPF) and the UN, 18.8% of Kazakhstan’s population will be over 60 by 2050. By then, there will be 3.4 working-age Kazakhstanis for every person over 65, down from five today.

The UAPF has published demographic projections. According to the data, as of Jan. 1, 2026, Kazakhstan’s population stood at 20.5 million. Of that total, 47.5% were between the ages of 25 and 65 (9.73 million people), while 9.6% were over 65 (1.9 million). By 2050, the population is expected to reach 26.5 million.

Factors such as rising life expectancy and...

Baktybai Alpamysov, the father of Kazakh UFC fighter Shavkat Rakhmonov, has died at the age of 65. According to Vesti.kz, he died on Aug. 2. A source close to the athlete’s team confirmed the information to the outlet.

The news initially emerged after a social media post announced a memorial meal. A Quran recitation and memorial meal are scheduled for Aug. 13 in Karaganda.

«In honor of our father, Alpamysov Baktybai Rakhmanuly, a Thursday memorial meal with a Quran recitation will be held,» the message to relatives and friends read.

Prominent Kazakh content creator Dastan Mukhamedrakhim posted a video of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s favorite horse, a mare named Akzhan. The footage of the majestic animal out for a walk garnered hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of comments within just a few hours.

President’s favorite horse

Akzhan is a rare Akhal-Teke mare known for her grace and unusual light-colored coat.

Today, Aug. 10, Kazakhstan celebrates Abai Day, honoring the great Kazakh poet, philosopher and thinker Abai Qunanbaiuly (1845-1904). His “Book of Words” remains widely read and influential in Kazakhstan.

“Book of Words” (Kazakh: Қара сөздер, or Qara sozder) is Abai’s most famous prose work. The title is also rendered in English as “Words of Wisdom.” The work, originally titled Gakliya (Arabic for «edification» or «reflection»), consists of 45 prose reflections written between 1890 and 1898 and played an important role in the development of Kazakh social thought and literature. Literary scholars have described Abai’s prose as a distinctive...

In the Chinoz district of Uzbekistan’s Tashkent region, local authorities and police are visiting residents’ homes to check whether their yards are properly maintained and their houses are clean.

The inspections began ahead of Uzbekistan’s Independence Day, celebrated on Sept. 1. In late July, the district administration posted a message on its official Telegram channel calling on residents to clean up their yards and mahallas, or neighborhoods.

Read also: Why an Uzbek official claims stopping home-baked bread causes cancer.

The district administration apparently took the campaign a step further by introducing «plaques of...

Kazakh company Esil-Mining plans to begin producing approximately 1 million tons of wolframite ore annually at the Aksoran deposit in the Aiyrtau district of North Kazakhstan region by 2028, Qazba.kz reports, citing the company’s Potential Impact Report (PIR) based on an updated mining plan.

The sole owner of Esil-Mining is British company Resources Enterprise Limited.

«The work will be carried out over a period of 16 years, including the mine’s commissioning and closure, of which 13 years will be dedicated to mining operations with a design annual ore production capacity of 1 million tons...

Hungary may have its most unusual presidential candidate yet. The Guardian reports that András Arató, the man known worldwide as the face of the «Hide the Pain Harold» meme, has unexpectedly emerged as the leader in an online poll.

Forty-six-year-old blogger Eszter Jambor asked her followers to name the person they would like to see as Hungary’s next president. The candidates included Victoria’s Secret model Barbara Palvin, Rubik’s Cube inventor Ernő Rubik, Nobel laureate Katalin Karikó, reality TV stars and other well-known Hungarians.

However, it was 79-year-old retired electrical engineer András Arató who received the most votes. He...

While Christopher Nolan’s «The Odyssey» continues to rake in box-office revenue, rapper Travis Scott has unveiled a limited-edition clothing collection inspired by the film. Meanwhile, Alesya Kalish of Tatler Kazakhstan explores why the costumes in Nolan’s new hit are simultaneously impressive, irritating and never quite cohesive.

First impressions

Warnings about the characters’ costumes began with the very first promotional photo. A gloomy Matt Damon, wearing a helmet clearly inspired by the classical period, complete with a crest, was awash in shades of black, gray and brown. The image hinted at the film’s limited...

The eighth-generation Hyundai Elantra has proved so popular that it set a record on the first day it became available to order in South Korea. Within 24 hours, buyers in the country placed more than 11,000 orders for the new sedan — the best result in the model’s history, according to The Korean Car Blog.

The news is also notable for Kazakhstan, where the Elantra remains one of Hyundai’s most popular models. The sedan is currently available through official dealerships starting at around $19,011.

Hyundai’s new record

The previous record was held by the seventh-generation...

The Kazakhstan Football Federation (KFF) has named Dutch manager John van ‘t Schip as the new head coach of Kazakhstan’s national team.

The federation said it had reached an agreement with the 62-year-old Dutch manager. His appointment will be reviewed by the KFF Executive Committee in the coming days, after which the two sides will sign a contract.

Kazakhstan’s national team coaching staff

KFF also revealed the national team’s coaching staff. Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev and Yeldos Akhmetov will serve as van ‘t Schip’s assistant coaches. Yuri Novikov will be the goalkeeping coach, Vadim Borovsky will be...

Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, best known for playing Jaime Lannister in “Game of Thrones,” spoke to reporters at Comic Con Astana 2026. Kursiv LifeStyle highlights the most interesting takeaways from his answers.

The actor arrived in Astana a day before the press conference and had time to explore the city. He joked that he had eaten more meat in the capital than in previous years. Coster-Waldau also shared his impressions of a steam bath, saying he was thoroughly steamed before being held in a pool “like a baby.”

Kazakhstan has recorded a new wave of deepfakes using the images and voices of well-known foreign actors, athletes, and other public figures, the Center for Combating Disinformation under the Central Communications Service of the President of Kazakhstan reported.

According to the center, the fake videos feature celebrities falsely claiming that Kazakhstan is allegedly tightening its migration policy. The creators of such posts use artificial intelligence technologies and information manipulation techniques.

The purpose behind these videos

The center says the primary goal of such posts is to create a negative image of Kazakhstan and neighboring countries...

KazMunayGas Karachaganak, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG), plans to reduce capital expenditures on the Karachaganak project by nearly threefold in 2027, to 10.9 billion tenge (about $23 million) from 29.96 billion tenge. The plans are outlined in the company’s financial statements.

The expenditures are related to KazMunayGas’ participation in development of the Karachaganak field under the Final Production Sharing Agreement (FPSA). The national oil and gas company holds a 10% stake in the field operator, Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. (KPO), and therefore funds a corresponding share of the...

Killing yourself in the gym just because you had pizza or missed a day is a bad idea — it’s counterproductive and can actually push your goals further out of reach, according to fitness trainer Lera Logunova.

In a post on her Telegram channel, Logunova urged people trying to lose weight not to treat exercise as punishment for dietary slipups.

She said she decided to address the issue after seeing a social media post from someone who wrote that they had missed a workout, eaten pizza that evening and planned to train twice as hard the next day.

The Munich Regional Court has set a significant precedent by siding with the German music licensing agency GEMA in its copyright dispute with AI music company Suno.

To date, AI developers have generally been able to use copyrighted materials — including music, poetry and other intellectual property — to train AI models without obtaining licenses or compensating rights holders. The Munich court’s ruling could challenge that practice.

GEMA filed the lawsuit, seeking compensation from Suno for allegedly training its AI models on copyrighted musical works without obtaining licenses or paying royalties to songwriters and composers.

A camera trap in the Almaty State Nature Reserve has captured rare footage of Tien Shan brown bears in their natural habitat. The video was released by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources.

“These unique moments provide a glimpse into the natural lives of brown bears, offering insight into their behavior and habits in the wild,” the ministry said.

A rare subspecies

The Tien Shan brown bear is a rare subspecies of the brown bear. It is listed in both Kazakhstan’s Red Book and the International Union for Conservation...