News

Kazakhstani tennis players Anna Danilina and Zhibek Kulambayeva lost 2-6, 5-7 to Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo in the quarterfinal of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. Kazakhstan’s national team, without Elena Rybakina, lost the tie 2-1.

In the opening match, Sonja Zhiyenbayeva was unable to beat Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, losing 2-6, 2-6. Yulia Putintseva defeated Spain’s Cristina Bucsa 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to level the tie at 1-1.

The Kazakhstani pair struggled in the first set of the doubles match, losing 2-6. They raised their...

London Fashion Week saw yet another unconventional runway performance. Kursiv LifeStyle reports on how pregnancy and breast milk became part of an unusual fashion show.

The show took place Sept. 21. The collection was created by Greek designer Dimitra Petsa, who dedicated the event to motherhood, pregnancy and the changes the female body undergoes.

Pregnant singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock was among the participants. She appeared on the runway...

Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva defeated Spain’s Cristina Bucsa 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals to level the tie at 1-1.

In the opening match, Sonja Zhiyenbayeva lost to Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 2-6, 2-6. Had Putintseva lost, Kazakhstan’s World Cup campaign in China would have been over.

However, Putintseva won her match against Spain’s No. 1 player in the tie. She secured the first set 6-2, dropped the second 3-6, but dominated her opponent in the deciding set, winning 6-1 in 1 hour and 51 minutes.

The deciding doubles match...

Kazakhstani tennis player Sonja Zhiyenbayeva lost to Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 2-6, 2-6 in the quarterfinals of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in China. Kazakhstan now trails Spain 0-1.

Elena Rybakina’s withdrawal from the women’s World Cup of Tennis seemingly shaped Kazakhstan’s game plan. Victories by Yulia Putintseva and the doubles pair of Anna Danilina and Zhibek Kulambayeva would be enough to win the tie. Zhiyenbayeva’s task, as the second singles player, was likely to keep the match competitive.

However, she lost to Bouzas Maneiro 2-6, 2-6 in 1 hour and 2 minutes, leaving Kazakhstan...

Mikheil Lomtadze explained how the company makes decisions on product development and internal organizational changes based on customer needs

Customer needs determine which products Kaspi.kz develops and which decisions it re-evaluates. Kaspi.kz CEO and Co-Founder Mikheil Lomtadze discussed how the company makes decisions during a panel discussion at the Kazakhstan Growth Forum.

He cited the company’s branch network expansion as an example. After launching its new brand in 2008, the company opened a new branch every three days.

However, as more customers started using Kaspi.kz’s online services, the company began closing branches at the same pace. The need for physical...

International Chess Federation (FIDE) recognized Kazakhstan for its support of women’s chess. Kursiv LifeStyle looks at what the country did to attract the federation’s attention.

Executive Director of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation Gulmira Dauletova received a certificate of appreciation on Sept. 22 at the annual meeting of the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess (WOM), held alongside the 46th Chess Olympiad and FIDE Congress. Dauletova was recognized for her efforts to advance and support women’s chess worldwide.

Dauletova has been working with the Kazakhstan Chess Federation since 2015 and was appointed executive director in November 2022. She is a Woman Grandmaster...

Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA, will visit Kazakhstan for the first time, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev announced.

«NVIDIA Founder and CEO Jensen Huang will visit Kazakhstan for the first time at our invitation and be a special guest at AI Month in Astana,» Madiyev wrote on Instagram.

He said AI Month, supported by Astana Hub, will bring together AI specialists, developers, startups, researchers and representatives of the technology industry. The month kicks off on Sept. 23 with HackAlem AI...

The Russian Health Ministry has approved clinical guidelines for disorders of sexual preference. Treatment measures may range from outpatient care to hospitalization in psychiatric facilities, according to the Russian Telegram channel Mash.

When treatment may be prescribed

The outlet reports that treatment may be prescribed when sexual fantasies and behaviors become compulsive, interfere with daily life or pose a risk to the individual or others.

Read also: Viral ‘Quittr’ app leaks masturbation habits of 600,000 users.

The clinical guidelines cover fetishism, fetishistic transvestism, exhibitionism, voyeurism, pedophilia and sadomasochism. However, treatment...

Astana has been named among the 15 finalists for the 2026 WIPO City of Innovation award, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Justice reported, citing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The award, which recognizes cities developing innovative and creative ecosystems, is being presented for the first time. An independent international jury assessed the cities’ proposed initiatives and plans for implementation over the next year.

Astana’s submission included developing an AI- and data-enabled Smart City platform, creating a single digital portal that provides personalized government services, strengthening the city’s innovation ecosystem, and using technology to improve the sustainability and...

Marine Health, a Kazakhstani company that sells dietary supplements in 11 countries, saw sales slump after entering the Uzbek market because its standard marketing strategy failed to resonate with local consumers. Arman Toskanbayev, a serial entrepreneur and the company’s president, discussed the experience on the “Business Ninja” YouTube channel.

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

He said that in Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan, the company had successfully marketed its products primarily to women, based on the assumption that women in these countries typically make purchasing...

Adding tomatoes to the daily diet may be linked to lower levels of liver fat, according to Italian researchers who conducted a small study as part of the POMOSANO project. The findings were published in the Nutrients journal.

The study involved 79 adults with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).

Participants were randomly assigned to two groups. The first continued their usual diet without tomatoes, while the second consumed 200 grams of fresh tomatoes and 50 grams of tomato sauce daily for six weeks — about 250 grams of tomato products per day.

After six weeks...

Hybrid vehicles remain the “golden mean” between gasoline-powered cars and electric vehicles. The Jalopnik portal compiled a ranking of five models with the best fuel economy, based on EPA data, that also sold well in the U.S. during the first half of 2026. Toyota claimed four of the five spots.

Toyota Camry – 4.6 L/100 km

The Toyota Camry took first place. In the front-wheel-drive LE trim, the sedan gets 4.6 L/100 km combined. In the first six months of 2026, 179,000 hybrid Camrys were sold in the U.S.

The powertrain is built around a...

Cash accounts for 12% of consumer payment volume in Kazakhstan. By this measure, the country has nearly caught up with leading global economies and surpassed several emerging markets, according to the annual national study «Fintech in Kazakhstan 2026.»

Kazakhstan’s figure is close to those of the U.S., where cash accounts for 11% of consumer payments, and the U.K., at 10%.

Norway recorded the lowest level of cash use, at just 4%. China and Sweden also rank among the countries with the lowest cash usage, with banknotes and coins accounting for 5% of payments in each country. In South...

Kazakhstani MMA fighter Kadyrbek Shynbayev won gold at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan. In the final, Shynbayev defeated Tajikistan’s Behruz Khurshedzoda.

Shynbayev competed in Modern MMA in the up-to-71kg weight class. The bout ended 3-0 in the Kazakhstani’s favor.

To reach the final, the athlete defeated competitors from Bahrain and Uzbekistan.

Previously, Kazakhstani MMA fighters secured two medals in Traditional MMA. Yerkingali Burkutalin (77kg) won gold, while Sanzhar Adilov (65kg) won bronze.

MMA is making its Asian Games debut in 2026. Both styles feature striking, grappling, throwing and submission techniques. The main difference lies in...

The probability of Timur Turlov and Viswanathan Anand winning the upcoming International Chess Federation (FIDE) presidential election has reached 82% as of Sept. 22, according to the forecasting platform Manifold Markets.

Candidate probability assessment

According to aggregated estimates from prediction market participants, the Freedom Holding Corp. CEO and his running mate have a much higher chance of success than other contenders. The second-most-favored candidate, Jan Henric Buettner — running alongside Malcolm Pein — has a 7% probability of winning on the platform.

Market participants put the chances of victory for Wadim Rosenstein and Gordon Tang at just 4% each...

Driverless taxis are planned for launch in Kazakhstan in 2027, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev said at a government session.

According to him, the ministry is also working on regulating the sector, while robotaxi testing in Almaty is helping to draft the necessary legal framework.

Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov inquired about the timeline for the robotaxi launch.

«The first driverless car is currently operating in Almaty in test mode, gaining experience and mapping the roads. We need to cover several thousand kilometers in this mode, after which...

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to pay a state visit to the U.S. from Sept. 23 to Sept. 25 and hold talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Although the Chinese president has not published a signed article or op-ed ahead of the trip — something he has frequently done before state visits to other countries — three issues are likely to feature prominently in the talks: trade, artificial intelligence (AI) and global security.

The state visit will be Xi’s first to Washington, D.C., in more than a decade, following his trip to the U.S. in 2015. Trump, meanwhile...

Kazakhstani MMA fighter Yerkingali Burkutalin secured gold at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan. Burkutalin took on Mukhammad Nabiev of Bahrain in the final.

Burkutalin competed in the Traditional style in the up-to-77kg weight category. The decisive bout ended 3-0 in the Kazakhstani’s favor.

To reach the final, Burkutalin defeated competitors from Chinese Taipei, South Korea and the Philippines.

The Kazakhstani athlete secured the national team’s fifth gold at the 2026 Asiad. On the first day of competition, Kazakhstani cyclists Rinata Sultanova and Alexey Lutsenko became champions. Karatekas Zholaman Bigabyl and Sofya Berultseva also secured gold medals.

Yesterday, Sanzhar Adilov

Kazakhstani road carriers will be allowed to load cargo at Turkish seaports and deliver it to Kazakhstan, the Committee of Road Transport and Transport Control said. The parties reached agreements on the further development of international road transport and transit between the two countries at a meeting of the Joint Kazakh-Turkish Commission on Road Transport in Antalya.

Starting in 2026, Kazakhstan and Turkey are set to exchange 3,000 permits each year for transporting such transit cargo.

The parties also agreed not to impose limits on the number of electronic permits. The committee believes the move will allow road carriers to...

Football fans are discussing the in-game appearance of Kazakh player Dastan Satpayev in the latest installment of EA Sports FC. One fan took to social media to complain about Satpayev’s appearance in the game, tagging both EA Sports and the footballer and asking whether the developers had actually modeled Satpayev.

«Is this supposed to be Dastan Satpayev? You just took a model of a random Asian guy and thought you could get away with it? I am extremely disappointed,» the user wrote.

The post has garnered nearly 119,000 views. Users in the comments...

Kazakhstan is set to allocate part of its National Fund to finance major infrastructure projects, including schools, hospitals, roads and energy facilities. EU Reporter examines how the move could shape the country’s future.

How the National Fund works

Kazakhstan’s National Fund accumulates a portion of state revenues from the sale of natural resources and serves two main purposes: a savings function, aimed at preserving national wealth for future generations, and a stabilization function, designed to reduce the budget’s vulnerability to fluctuations in global commodity markets.

As of mid-2026, the fund’s foreign-currency assets stood at...

While some countries have regulations requiring funerals to be modest, environmentally conscious people elsewhere are looking for more sustainable ways to be buried. In New South Wales, Australia, a 70-year-old woman named Carolyn was buried in an unusual biodegradable capsule made from mushrooms and hemp. Kursiv LifeStyle looks at the origins of the concept and why it could point to a possible future for sustainable burials.

How the capsule is made

The burial capsule was created by Dutch company Loop Biotech. It is made from mycelium, the threadlike network that forms the main body of...

Artificial intelligence has quietly transitioned from an experimental concept into an everyday workplace collaborator across major global economies. A recent ranking by World Population Review highlights how the integration of automated tools is reshaping daily professional routines and altering traditional career hierarchies. Rather than replacing human workers, these technologies are transforming roles by enhancing speed, precision and strategic decision-making in modern organizations.

Enterprise leadership and regulatory models

In the U.S., enterprise adoption leads the world, with more than 60 percent of knowledge workers utilizing automated platforms weekly to streamline finance, marketing and software development.

Timur Turlov, a candidate for president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), has invited Ukrainian representatives to join his future team. Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, accepted the offer and said he was prepared to personally join Turlov’s FIDE leadership team as a vice president if Turlov wins the election.

Invitation to Ukraine

Freedom Holding Corp. CEO Timur Turlov published an open letter to Mykhailo Podolyak on X. He emphasized the importance of direct Ukrainian representation in the leadership of the global sports organization and proposed that Ukraine nominate a candidate for vice...