News

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...

The Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK) is exploring financing options for building and opening a Lotte hotel in Almaty.

The bank has reported that the tourism project is now in the document-collection phase ahead of its initial review.

Project ownership

The project’s borrower is Sensata Invest. The company is jointly owned by Sensata Almaty and the private company Sensata Almaty Ltd.

Through a chain of affiliated entities, Sensata Almaty Ltd. is ultimately controlled by the private company Sensata Ltd., which is owned by Tasbolat Abdullin and Askar Duisenbayev.

About Lotte Hotels & Resorts

Lotte...

Almaty’s Mayor’s Office expects American rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to have a noticeable impact on the city’s economy. The city’s tourism department noted that during Jennifer Lopez‘s concert, the volume of international bank card transactions rose by around 11% and said it expects a similar effect from Ye’s concert.

In response to Kursiv.media’s inquiry, the mayor’s office said that the exact amount foreign visitors will spend in Almaty can only be assessed after the event. However, the administration expects an increase in spending on accommodation, dining, transport, shopping and other services.

“Experience in...

Volkswagen has shipped its first batch of vehicles to Kazakhstan for official distribution. The importer’s press service told Kursiv Cars that the batch includes Volkswagen and Jetta models from different segments.

The vehicles were shipped from the FAW-Volkswagen production facility in China. This marks the first delivery following an agreement signed between Orbis Auto and Volkswagen China.

Confirmed models include the Volkswagen Passat sedan and the Tayron SUV. The full model lineup has not yet been revealed.

According to the company, the vehicles were adapted for Kazakhstan’s road and climate conditions. The modifications include electronic systems, the powertrain, suspension, body...

On April 22, 2027, Astana will host the 51st UEFA Ordinary Congress, where a new UEFA president and members of the UEFA Executive Committee will be elected.

According to the press service of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the congress will bring together representatives of all 55 UEFA member national football associations, as well as the organization’s leadership, delegates from FIFA, European leagues, clubs and other sports organizations.

“Granting Kazakhstan the right to host such a large-scale event confirms UEFA’s high level of trust and recognition of the country’s ability to...

Dimash Qudaibergen has unveiled his new DiMENSIONS world tour.

According to the artist’s official website, the project aims to show fans a different side of the singer — not only as an artist with a unique voice, but also as a person.

According to the project organizers, the title “DiMENSIONS” reflects Qudaibergen’s multifaceted identity as a singer, composer and producer while also revealing...