News

President Donald Trump’s increased self-promotion during his second term has renewed debate among historians and political observers over whether the U.S. is seeing the emergence of a modern cult of personality, according to The New York Times.

Over the past year, Trump has been depicted — and at times has promoted depictions of himself — as a heroic or larger-than-life figure. These portrayals have included images of him as a monarch, a religious leader, a superhero and a Jedi knight. His image has appeared on large banners on federal buildings, on annual national park passes and in proposals to...

A little monkey named Punch at a zoo in Japan became a real social media star over the weekend. Users were touched by photos and videos showing a six-month-old macaque clutching its favorite plush orangutan toy.

Punch was born in July 2025 at Ichikawa City Zoo. The zoo caretakers raised the infant after it was abandoned by its mother. To help it feel calmer, Punch was given blankets and plush toys. The stuffed orangutan quickly became its closest companion.

In the shared videos and photos, Punch can be seen hugging the toy while sleeping, carrying it...

People’s Artist of Kazakhstan and globally recognized singer Dimash Qudaibergen is among the nominees for «Most Handsome Man Alive 2026,» a title presented by Netizens Choice Magazine.

Global stars in contention

Other nominees include internationally known figures from sports and entertainment, such as football star Cristiano Ronaldo, actors Brad Pitt, Jason Momoa and Timothée Chalamet, as well as singer Justin Bieber.

Read also: The world’s sexiest politicians of 2025.

The winner will be determined by fan voting, with details of the voting process published on...

China is set to lift visa requirements for citizens of Canada and the U.K. starting Feb. 17, Xinhua reported.

According to a statement by the country’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, the policy will last until Dec. 31, 2026. It will allow ordinary passport holders to stay in China for up to 30 days for purposes including tourism, business, visiting family and friends, exchange and transit.

The CBC reported that the initiative to grant visa waivers to Canadians was first mentioned in January, following a meeting between Canada’s Prime Minister...

A camera trap has captured footage of three Indian crested porcupines in Ile-Alatau National Park in southeastern Kazakhstan.

According to the park’s press service, the rare animals were recorded during daylight hours. The Indian crested porcupine is considered a rare species and is included in Category IV of Kazakhstan’s Red Book, the country’s official list of endangered species.

Porcupines primarily live in the western part of the...

Kazakhstani figure skater Mikhail Shaidorov humorously showed how he brought Olympic gold to his country.

In the video, captioned «That beep? Just Olympic gold,» the athlete can be seen passing through the metal detector before revealing the gold medal hidden beneath the national Olympic team jacket.

The post immediately went viral, garnering hundreds of thousands of views, with users in the comments section congratulating Shaidorov and expressing pride in Kazakhstan.

Knowledge of Chinese helped firefighters in Astana quickly assess the situation while extinguishing a fire at a bus stop, according to the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan.

Read also: Retired fire trucks get a ‘second life’ as bus stops in Kazakhstan.

The incident occurred at a public transport stop in the Saraishyk district on Nurmagambetov Street. Officials said the absence of a language barrier played a crucial role in the response, allowing rescuers to communicate rapidly with foreign nationals and obtain key...

A controversy involving the fast-food chain Burger King in Kazakhstan has drawn widespread attention on social media, where users have posted criticism and negative reviews. What began as a private labor dispute has expanded into a broader discussion about inclusion, corporate culture and employee treatment.

Social media post triggers public reaction

The discussion was sparked by a post on the platform Threads by social entrepreneur and autism specialist Zhanat Karatay, who described her son’s experience working at one of the chain’s restaurants.

According to Karatay, her son Alibek Karatay — a cook with...

In Kazakhstan, one in six families faces infertility. Many married couples seeking to preserve their families turn to in vitro fertilization, but in some cases surrogacy becomes the only path to parenthood.

Read also: Kazakhstan’s birth rate falls to 11-year low.

Legal requirements for surrogate mothers

Under Kazakh law, a surrogate mother must be between ages 20 and 35 and have at least one child of her own. She also must be in good physical, mental and reproductive health, confirmed by an official medical report.

Kazakh singer Dimash Qudaibergen congratulated Olympic champion Mikhail Shaidorov on his gold medal at the Winter Games, recording a special video message that he later posted on Instagram.

Emotional message of pride and remembrance

«Mishabai [a respectful Kazakh diminutive], my brother! Congratulations on the Olympic gold. Dear brother, what a celebration. You have become a great person who inspired the whole world with your performance and artistry on the ice,» the singer said in his message.

He also recalled the late Kazakh figure skater Denis Ten...

When an audience laughs at a taboo joke, they aren’t just sharing a moment — they’re finding solidarity in their dissent. In that instant, George Orwell’s words ring true:

“Every joke is a tiny revolution.”

For many entertainers, the stage is a place of freedom. For those living under — or near — the shadow of authoritarianism, however, a microphone can be a dangerous liability. Nurlan Saburov, once among the most successful comedians in the Russian-speaking world, recently learned this the hard way.

A native of Kazakhstan who built his...

Kazakh figure skater Mikhail Shaidorov captured the gold medal at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Italy, earning Kazakhstan’s first medal of the four-year Olympic cycle.

Climbing from fifth to first

After the short program, Shaidorov stood in fifth place with 92.94 points. In the free skate, he landed five quadruple jumps and received 198.64 points from the judges, bringing his total to 291.58 points and securing the Olympic title.

His main rivals included American Ilia Malinin, Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, and France’s Adam Siao Him Fa. All three struggled in the free skate...

Kyrgyz model Shadia Isaeva attracted attention at Seoul Fashion Week after appearing on the runway in outfits assembled from her grandparents’ clothing.

Look rooted in national tradition

Seoul Fashion Week took place Feb. 3-8. On the fourth day of shows, Isaeva appeared in traditional attire that included her grandfather’s chapan and her grandmother’s scarf.

The look was later featured in the pages of international Vogue.

Emotional reaction and inspiration

In posts on social media, the model said she still could not believe what had happened and felt so...

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with the U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan Julie Stufft. During the meeting, they discussed development of the bilateral cooperation, investment and upcoming constitutional referendum, the Akorda reported.

Tokayev highlighted accelerating cooperation between Kazakhstan and the U.S. across a wide array of issues on the bilateral agenda.

The president emphasized the importance of consolidation of investment, trade and economic cooperation, along with the need for high-quality implementation of agreements reached at the highest level.

In turn, Stufft offered gratitude and best wishes from President Donald Trump, reaffirming the U.S...

Machines for buying and selling gold bars, designed to operate like ATMs, are set to appear in Tajikistan.

The country’s central bank plans to launch the project this year. The idea is simple: customers pay for the selected bar by card and receive it directly from the machine. Some of these machines will also offer a buyback option. Gold ATMs already operate in the UAE and South Korea and are in airports and shopping malls.

Gold bars have been available for sale in Tajikistan since 2017 at the National Bank’s main office in Dushanbe, the capital...

KazMunayGas (KMG), Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company, plans to invest more than $900 million in geological exploration and well drilling by 2029, according to KMG CEO Askhat Khasenov. He made the statement during a meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

«Askhat Khasenov reported that KazMunayGas is currently focused on the exploration of deep and underexplored areas. Eight exploratory wells were completed in 2025 and 24 more are planned for drilling by 2029. The total investment will exceed $900 million,» the president’s press service said in a statement.

The KMG CEO also said that last...

India is shifting to clean energy more quickly than China did at a similar stage of economic growth, according to an analysis by the climate think tank Ember, CNN reported.

China is often viewed as the world’s top clean energy leader, but the report suggests India’s shift toward a broader use of clean energy could be faster and produce less carbon. When China’s income levels were similar to India’s today, it had very little solar power and few electric vehicles.

In contrast, solar power now accounts for about 9% of India’s electricity mix, making it the world’s third-largest...

A new weather forecasting system powered by Kazakhstan’s supercomputer has been launched in the country. Central Asia’s most powerful machine, located in the Supercomputer Center at al-Farabi Kazakh National University, is now performing calculations, Kazhydromet, the state enterprise responsible for monitoring and forecasting weather and climate in the country, reported.

The enterprise has started using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model to predict weather across the entire country. The model operates at a spatial resolution of two kilometers.

The project became implementable after the supercomputer was commissioned

Kazakh company Severny Katpar, a subsidiary of Tau-Ken Samruk (TKS), presented a mining project at a public hearing on Feb. 10 for development of the North Katpar deposit in the Shet district of the Karaganda region.

According to the presentation, total revenue from the sale of tungsten trioxide, molybdenum, copper and bismuth is expected to exceed 1 trillion tenge (approximately $2 billion) between 2030 and 2048.

Joint development with a U.S. partner

In early November 2025, Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund and Tau-Ken Samruk’s parent company, announced that its subsidiary and U.S.-based Cove Capital would jointly...

The future megacity of Alatau, which is being built between Almaty and Konayev, aims to become the main entertainment center in Central Asia. According to the Almaty region administration, one of the city’s four districts — the Green District — will be dedicated entirely to tourism.

Under the design project, the district will accommodate an international resort with hotels, an oceanarium, an all-weather water park and its own pier on the shore of the Kapchagay Reservoir. Gambling will also be a key focus of the district.

To implement this and other ambitious plans, the city has already been...

BTS, the globally recognized K-pop band, has announced global cinema screenings of two concerts from their Arirang World Tour. The concerts — set to take place in South Korea’s Goyang on April 11 and Tokyo on April 18 — will be screened live in cinemas worldwide.

BTS WORLD TOUR 'ARIRANG' LIVE VIEWING
IN GOYANG & TOKYO

Don’t miss your chance to experience two full-length concerts, broadcast live to cinemas worldwide!

? LIVE VIEWING from GOYANG: Apr.11
? LIVE VIEWING from TOKYO: Apr.18
? More Info: https://t.co/4fsmRtT9KW#BTS… pic.twitter.com/0HwIaIBqtS

— BTS_official (@bts_bighit) February 12, 2026

According to...

Currently, one person in Kazakhstan is named Constitution, and three people are named Quryltai (Kurultai). Against the backdrop of new constitutional reforms, Kursiv.media set out to determine whether any citizens bear unusual names now associated with the adoption of the new constitution.

According to data from the Bureau of National Statistics, the following entries were recorded for the requested names:

Constitution

Only one person in the country has this name. The individual is in the 65-and-older age group and lives in Astana. Media reports from 2021 indicated that Constitution is a woman living in the...

A short video of stray dogs crossing a street in Almaty went viral in Kazakhstan. In the footage, which has already garnered thousands of views, two strays carefully approach a crosswalk, wait for cars to pass, and then calmly cross the road. Drivers, in turn, stopped and let them cross.

Kaznet users have begun sharing similar...

Saber Interactive, a Florida-based video game developer and publisher, has announced the development of a new big-budget video game based on the “John Wick” franchise by Lionsgate.

According to the company, the game will be a mature-rated, third-person action title for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. The developers say the project aims to capture the franchise’s signature action style and Baba Yaga’s legendary combat choreography.

«The style of fighting will feel like an authentic ‘John Wick’ action scene taken straight from the films. Everything is designed to faithfully mimic the movie experience in...