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The Weeknd will not hold a concert in Almaty, organizers announced, relocating the event to another country amid frequent cancellations of artists in Kazakhstan.

Alexey Puchkov, producer and head of the ticket operator Topbilet.kz, confirmed that the performer will not be coming.

«Kazakhstan, I have not very good news for you. Not long ago, with much ado, we reached an agreement with The Weeknd about holding a concert in Almaty,» Puchkov wrote on Threads.

According to him, the artist had allegedly confirmed a concert in Kazakhstan for 2026.

«We have been...

Australia is set to ban teenagers from social media to protect mental health. Meanwhile, the Taliban in Afghanistan has cut off fiber-optic internet in a province to “prevent immorality,” according to the Associated Press.

The ban, the first of its kind since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, leaves government agencies, businesses, public organizations and households in the northern province of Balkh without Wi-Fi access.

A provincial government spokesperson said the measure aims to curb immorality, adding that authorities plan to develop a domestic alternative for essential needs. He did not specify why Balkh was targeted or...

Tyler Robinson, accused of killing right-wing activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, appeared in court on Sept. 16 via video link from jail. The office of Utah County District Attorney Jeffrey Gray charged Robinson with seven offenses, including aggravated murder, obstruction of justice for disposing of evidence and witness tampering for asking his roommate to delete incriminating texts. Prosecutors have pledged to pursue the death penalty, Reuters reported.

According to court filings, Robinson sent a message to his roommate, who is not identified in the documents, instructing them to look under the keyboard. There, the roommate reportedly found a...

Technology professional Akhmad Hanan is asking a critical question: Can China with its DeepSeek model bypass restrictions by innovating in software while building its own chip ecosystem?

The country’s pioneering company in AI systems appears determined to prove it can. In late August, DeepSeek released version 3.1 of its large language model, featuring a new FP8 precision format optimized for China’s next-generation domestically produced chips.

Pushing forward under sanctions

Earlier this year, DeepSeek stunned the tech world with its R1 reasoning model, which demonstrated capabilities approaching those of Western leaders, such as OpenAI’s GPT series — a...

Robert Redford, the Oscar-winning director, actor and founder of the Sundance Institute, has died at 89, according to Reuters.

Redford became one of the most popular film stars of the late 20th century. He starred in romantic films like «Out of Africa,» political dramas such as «The Candidate» and classics including «Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid» and «The Sting.» His work helped define an era of American cinema.

While he never won an Academy Award for acting, his directorial debut, «Ordinary People» (1980), earned him Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture. Beyond the screen, Redford reshaped...

Ford is set to slash up to 1,000 jobs at the company’s Electric Vehicle Center in Cologne, Germany. The move comes as a retaliatory measure to Europe’s demand for EVs being lower than anticipated, according to Investing.com.

Ford established the Cologne facility in 2023, when the company expected EVs to account for around 35% of the region’s new car registrations. However, by the end of this year, only 20% of new car registrations are expected to be electric. The single-shift operation at the facility is scheduled for January 2026.

The challenges at the facility reflect broader concerns in the...

Gwyneth Paltrow has introduced a new fashion label called Gwyn, which was unveiled during New York Fashion Week. The actress and Goop founder said the line reflects her personal style and focus on minimalism and elegance.

Vogue reports that Gwyn builds on Paltrow’s earlier venture, G. Label. She began it nine years ago with just four pieces before evolving it into a standalone brand. For the debut capsule, she partnered with designer Sofia Menasse, who previously worked at The Row and Maison Margiela. Menasse now holds the title of creative director at G. Label.

The inaugural fall...

Arnold Schwarzenegger urged Californians to reject Proposition 50, denouncing it as a plan that would let state lawmakers reclaim control over redrawing congressional districts — a power voters gave to an independent commission to keep politics out of the process, according to Associated Press.

Supporters, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, say the proposal is a response to Republican-led redistricting in Texas and could potentially result in more Democratic seats in California. Opponents argue it would undo previous reforms and give politicians greater influence over the process.

Calling the plan «insane,» the former Hollywood star and political...

China has debuted in the top 10 of the latest survey of innovative economies, the Global Innovation Index (GII), conducted by the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), against the backdrop of heavy investment in research and development. This advancement shifted Germany to 11th position, Reuters reported.

The recent GII covered 139 countries, assessing them on 78 indicators. Switzerland topped the ranking, maintaining this position since 2011, followed by Sweden, the U.S., South Korea, Singapore, the U.K., Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark and China.

According to the data, China is getting closer to becoming the biggest spender on...

The AYA Project art space recently opened in Tashkent, quickly becoming a popular spot among residents and guests of the Uzbek capital. According to the project developers, this is the only such art space in Central Asia created as an analogue of the famous Aya Universe in Dubai.

The concept of the immersive space, located within the Magic City entertainment park, is based on the combination of technology, light, and sound, which transform the space into unique installations.

Each of the seven halls is decorated in a certain way to reflect a specific theme. For example, Resonant Hall creates the...

A viral social media video is shining a spotlight on Gulsum (Ummi-Gulsum) Asfendiyarova, the first Kazakh woman to earn a medical degree. Some viewers might even call her «Central Asia’s Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.»

Building on this recognition, the video, created with the help of artificial intelligence, tells the story of how Asfendiyarova provided women in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan with their first opportunity for safe, supervised childbirth.

During Asfendiyarova’s lifetime, Muslim women were barred from seeing male doctors, while no female physicians were available. As a result, most births took place at home, and roughly one in...

Washington and Beijing have agreed on a «framework» that could transfer TikTok’s U.S. operations to American ownership, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. If finalized, the deal could bring U.S. oversight and avert a nationwide ban, with Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping expected to sign off later this week, according to the BBC.

The move comes ahead of a looming deadline requiring TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban due to security concerns. If the deal is finalized, TikTok could avoid the ban by transferring ownership and control to U.S. interests...

A 24-year-old man in Mongolia has died of the plague after eating marmot meat, the country’s Health Ministry confirmed.

The man, from Khovsgol province, fell gravely ill shortly after consuming the animal. Despite emergency treatment, doctors were unable to save him. Lab tests later confirmed the infection was plague-related.

Hunting marmots is banned in Mongolia due to the grave risk they pose, as these animals carry deadly bacteria. Authorities urgently warn that eating marmot meat can have life-threatening consequences, yet these warnings are still frequently ignored.

According to the World Health Organization, plague is typically transmitted to humans...

Hilda Baci, a Nigeria-based chef, has set a new Guinness World Record, confirmed on social media, for cooking the largest ever serving of Jollof rice — a popular and symbolic West African dish made of rice boiled in a tomato-based sauce with meat — in a batch weighing 8,780 kilograms last week, the BBC reported.

The event took place in Lagos. The dish took nine hours to cook, involving 10 other professionals, with the effort briefly put at risk when the pot broke while being hoisted onto a crane for weighing. Fortunately, the dish did not spill.

According...

A new study from OpenAI and the National Bureau of Economic Research reveals how people use ChatGPT, Ars Technica reported, citing the «How People Use ChatGPT» report by the think tank.

The paper shows ChatGPT now serves 700 million users and handles 2.6 billion daily messages — up from 451 million a year ago. Despite surging adoption, long-term user activity has recently plateaued.

The data shows that ChatGPT’s audience is young and increasingly female: nearly half of users are between 18 and 25, and women now slightly outnumber men. Most activity is personal rather than professional, with 72% of...

Cathay Pacific of Hong Kong plans direct flights to Kazakhstan as it receives new aircraft.

Kazakhstan and Hong Kong will double weekly flights between their markets from seven to 14, Kazakhstan’s Civil Aviation Committee said.

Seven of those flights will operate under fifth freedom rights, allowing Kazakh carriers and Hong Kong airlines to use each other’s airports as stopovers.

Cathay Pacific serves over 100 destinations with a fleet of more than 170 aircraft and is expanding its network as it grows its fleet.

Researchers have solved the mystery behind the bright turquoise in Jackson Pollock’s «Number 1A, 1948.» With new chemical tests, they identified the pigment as manganese blue, a synthetic color used in paints and swimming pool cement until its discontinuation in the 1990s, according to Associated Press.

The nearly nine-foot-wide canvas, housed at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), is famous for Pollock’s signature drips, splatters and handprints pressed into the surface. While earlier studies had pinpointed the reds and yellows, the origin of the blue remained unclear — until now.

In their study, published in «Proceedings...

Meta, the company behind Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and the Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, has potentially leaked one of its biggest product announcements ahead of the Meta Connect presentation scheduled for Sept. 17-18 — a new Ray-Ban smart glasses model featuring a display and a wristband controller, The Verge reported, citing UploadVR.

Meta had uploaded an unlisted video on YouTube — since removed — showcasing the product, along with new wraparound Oakley Sphaera smart glasses featuring a camera mounted on the nose bridge. According to descriptions of the deleted clip, the Ray-Ban device integrates the display into the right...

Australia may become the first country to ban social media for those under 16 starting December 2025, drawing global attention, the Telegraphindia.com reported.

On Tuesday, the country’s eSafety commissioner called on social media companies to adopt «minimally invasive» tools to verify users’ ages. Platforms won’t be required to apply universal age checks; instead, they may rely on existing data to make accurate assessments, Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.

The watchdog reported that, in Australia, 95% of teens aged 13 to 15 used at least one social media platform since January 2024, though the actual figure is likely higher.

Tyler Robinson, the suspect arrested in the Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s murder, sent a text message expressing his intent to kill Kirk and wrote a physical note stating that he had the «opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk,» Reuters reported, citing FBI Director Kash Patel.

Patel also told Fox News’s «Fox & Friends» that the written note had been destroyed; however, investigators managed to collect forensic evidence through interviews confirming its existence and content.

In the same interview, the FBI chief said that DNA matching Robinson was discovered on a towel wrapped around the firearm that...

Kodak, once synonymous with the golden age of film, has returned to prominence as nostalgia drives renewed interest in its retro Charmera cameras.

In Western markets, these pocket-sized cameras sold out quickly. The surprise packaging means buyers discover the design only after opening the box, similar to collectible cards. The rarest, a transparent version showing the internals, appears only once in 48 purchases, making each buy a lottery.

The Charmera shoots photos and videos, adds vintage-style frames and filters, and charges via USB-C. At $30, it’s a fashion statement more than a serious tech buy.

For Kodak...

Kazakhstan dominated the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, finishing at the top of the unofficial medal table as the event concluded Sunday.

Medal haul

Kazakh fighters claimed seven golds, one silver and two bronzes. World titles were awarded to Sanzhar Tashkenbay, Makhmud Sabyrkhan, Torekhan Sabyrkhan, Aibek Oralbay, Alua Balkibekova, Aida Abikeyeva and Natalya Bogdanova.

Uzbekistan finished second in the unofficial standings with six golds, two silvers and three bronzes, while India placed third with two golds, one silver and one bronze.

Top five nations

American military officials visited Belarus on Monday to observe joint military exercises with Russia, the Belarussian Ministry of Defense said. The drills, called Zapad-2025, began last week at training sites in both countries, while tensions between NATO and Russia remain, Reuters reported.

According to Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin, U.S. officers were allowed to watch any part of the exercises they wanted. Although none of the Americans spoke to reporters, the ministry issued a video showing them thanking their host. In addition, the drills were attended by observers from 23 other countries, including Turkey and Hungary.

The military...

Kairat Almaty Football Club has announced how the tickets will be sold for the home matches of the UEFA Champions League main stage.

Ticket sales for the Kairat-Real Madrid match will begin on Sept. 23 at 5 p.m. They will be available at the football club’s official website and Ticketon.kz starting at 30,000 tenge (around $55).

«No more than two tickets may be purchased per IIN (individual identification number). The data will be strictly checked both at the time of purchase and at the stadium entrance,» Kairat said in a statement.

The ticket fare...