News

Uzbekistan will make its long-awaited debut at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, becoming one of several so-called «footballing minnows» set to give the expanded tournament a fresh look — and new storylines.

For the first time, the World Cup will feature 48 teams instead of 32, opening the door for debutants such as Uzbekistan, Jordan and Cape Verde, as well as returning outsiders like Qatar, who have qualified on sporting merit rather than as hosts. The new format, with 12 groups and an enlarged knockout stage, has sparked debate over quality and competitiveness, but it has also widened access...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $300 mln policy-based loan, including $100 mln on concessional terms, to help Uzbekistan expand access to finance for underserved micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), especially those led by women, and to strengthen the country’s microfinance sector.

The funding supports Subprogram 2 of the Inclusive Finance Sector Development Program, which builds on earlier reforms to create a stronger legal and institutional framework for inclusive finance. Measures include raising the maximum microloan size, updating microfinance regulations, joining the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Code, and drafting rules for Islamic microfinance.

The new subprogram will...

Uzbekistan and India have agreed to deepen regional trade connectivity through the joint development of new multimodal transport routes linking South Asia, Central Asia, and Europe.

The partnership was formalised with a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Uztemiryulkonteyner, Uzbekistan’s national rail container operator, and India’s ABS Logistics during an international transport and logistics exhibition.

Under the deal, both sides will work to expand container traffic, open new transit routes, and modernize logistics infrastructure across Uzbekistan’s strategic transport network. The initiative also aims to diversify cargo flows and introduce digital technologies to improve efficiency along key multimodal corridors.

Officials said...

French renewable energy developer Voltalia has begun supplying power to Uzbekistan’s grid from its new 126MW solar PV plant in the western Khorezm region.

The Sarimay Solar project, which broke ground in May 2024, is now in its final phase of construction and is expected to be fully commissioned soon. The site will later be expanded with a 50MW/100MWh battery energy storage system and a 100MW wind power facility, creating one of the country’s first large-scale co-located renewable energy hubs.

The project marks another step in Uzbekistan’s push to rapidly scale up clean electricity generation and diversify its energy...

At the 6th Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan’s weightlifters continue to add to the national medal tally.

In the over-86 kg category, Tursunoy Jabborova claimed three bronze medals. She lifted 116 kg in the snatch and 138 kg in the clean and jerk. Her combined total of 254 kg earned her bronze in all three events.

Another medal came from Sharofiddin Amriddinov, competing in the over-110 kg category. He took third place in the snatch with a lift of 188 kg.

By the end of the day, Team Uzbekistan had secured four bronze medals in weightlifting events.

Uzbek weightlifter Akbar Juraev delivered an outstanding performance at the 6th Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Representing Uzbekistan, Juraev dominated the competition in the under-110 kg weight class, winning three gold medals and becoming the absolute champion.

Competing in the –110 kg category, Juraev showcased exceptional form. He lifted 193 kg in the snatch and 227 kg in the clean and jerk. His combined total of 420 kg was the best of the tournament, reaffirming his status as one of the world’s strongest weightlifters.

With this victory, Juraev secured the sixth gold medal of his career at...

At the 6th Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan’s swimming team continues its strong performance, adding two more gold medals to the country’s tally.

In the 400m freestyle event, Ilya Sibircev secured a decisive victory, earning the gold medal — his second medal of the tournament.

Shortly after, Eldor Usmonov reinforced the team’s success by taking first place in the 100m butterfly. Usmonov outpaced his closest competitors, bringing home another gold for Uzbekistan.

The Uzbek swimming team added two gold medals in a single day, further strengthening its position in the overall medal standings of the Islamic...

At the 6th Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan’s swimmers capped off their performance with a bronze medal in the men’s 4×100m freestyle relay.

The national team, Eldor Usmonov, Ilya Sibircev, Ablulazizbek Abdumajidov and Mikhail Kleshko, delivered a strong result, finishing behind Iran and Turkey to take third place and add another medal to Uzbekistan’s tally.

The achievement marks an important conclusion to the swimming program for the Uzbek delegation, which reached the podium multiple times throughout the tournament.

Result:

Kursiv...

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in his article «Central Asia on the Threshold of a New Era,» emphasised that regional cooperation must remain voluntary, pragmatic and focused on tangible results.

He noted that Central Asian countries must address issues that determine the region’s stability and reiterated his support for continued regional collaboration.

Mirziyoyev called for deeper coordination in security, including regular meetings between national security secretaries, intelligence agencies, and defense and law enforcement structures.

In the economic sphere, the Uzbek leader highlighted the need to accelerate intra-regional trade, simplify border crossings and improve conditions for investment.

Newly released emails from Jeffrey Epstein are reviving scrutiny of Donald Trump’s past ties to the disgraced financier, even as the White House dismisses the disclosures as a partisan attack.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday published three emails referencing Trump, including a 2011 message in which Epstein told Ghislaine Maxwell that Trump had «spent hours» at his house with Virginia Giuffre, a central accuser in the Epstein scandal. In a separate 2019 email to journalist Michael Wolff, Epstein wrote that Trump «knew about the girls,» though the context and meaning of that claim remain unclear.

The...

Global carbon pollution from burning coal, oil and gas rose again in 2025, dashing hopes that emissions had finally peaked and would start to fall, scientists reported Wednesday at U.N. climate talks in Brazil.

For the second year in a row, fossil fuel emissions increased by 1.1%. It is a relatively small rise by historical standards, but still the opposite of what negotiators at the COP30 climate summit in Belem say is needed to keep global warming in check.

«It’s disappointing that we haven’t brought down carbon dioxide emissions,» said University of Exeter scientist Stephen...

Women riding motorbikes through the streets of Tehran have become a striking new symbol of Iran’s slow but visible social transformation, challenging decades of conservative restrictions.

For Merat Behnam, 38, commuting to her café on a yellow scooter once seemed unthinkable. Riding without a motorcycle license, which Iranian law grants only to men, she expected harassment or arrest. Instead, she says, public reactions have largely been supportive.

«Gradually, the way people treated me encouraged me a lot,» she told the Associated Press.

Police still warn that women riding motorcycles is illegal, and hard-line...

A Turkish C-130 military cargo plane crashed in eastern Georgia near the Azerbaijani border, killing all 20 personnel on board, Turkey’s Defense Minister Yasar Guler confirmed on Wednesday.

The aircraft was en route from Ganja, Azerbaijan, to Turkey when it went down in Sighnaghi municipality on Tuesday. Officials said contact was lost shortly after the plane entered Georgian airspace and that no distress signal was issued.

The victims were returning from Azerbaijan’s Victory Day celebrations, marking its 2020 victory over Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said investigators have recovered the flight data recorder, and a 46-member...

Top diplomats from the G7 met in southern Ontario as tensions with Washington flared over tariffs, NATO spending, and uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan for Gaza and efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Host Anita Anand, Canada’s foreign minister, said ties with the U.S. must «continue across a range of issues» as she welcomed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and counterparts from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Australia, Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, South Korea, South Africa and Ukraine were also invited.

Agenda items include shoring up a Gaza ceasefire, Ukraine support, maritime security, Haiti...

The Kremlin has confirmed that Britain’s National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell held contact with Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, but said the talks failed to develop due to a lack of interest from the UK side in hearing Russia’s position on the war in Ukraine.

«There were indeed contacts. A dialogue took place, but it did not continue,» Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. «There was an acute desire of the interlocutor to talk about the position of the Europeans and a lack of any intention to listen to our position.»

The Financial Times...

Israel’s Knesset has advanced a bill that would make execution mandatory for those convicted of killing Israelis for political or nationalist motives, marking a major shift in the country’s approach to capital punishment.

The proposal, introduced by ultranationalist lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech, passed its first reading 39–16. It defines eligible offences as murders committed «due to racism» and «with the aim of harming the State of Israel and the revival of the Jewish people,» and would allow military courts in the West Bank to impose death sentences by majority rather than unanimous verdict.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed the...

Mercedes Formula One team boss Toto Wolff is reportedly in advanced discussions to sell a small portion of his 33% ownership in the team at a valuation of around $6 bn. Sources close to the matter say the potential deal would set a record for an F1 team’s value, surpassing the $4.7 bn price tag attached to a recent McLaren stake sale.

Despite the planned sale, Wolff is expected to continue in his dual role as CEO and team principal. The transaction involves a mid-single-digit percentage of the team through an investment in Wolff’s holding company. The identity of...

Apple has removed the gay social network Blued and dating app Finka from its China App Store after an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China, extending a fresh wave of online censorship.

«We follow the laws in the countries where we operate,»

Apple said, confirming the removals apply to the China storefront only. Both services, used by tens of millions, were launched in China (Blued in 2012; Finka is Beijing-based).

The move follows earlier actions in China, where Threads and WhatsApp were delisted in 2024 on national security grounds, Apple News remains...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has threatened to confiscate more than 1,000 Lithuanian trucks stranded in Belarus following Lithuania’s recent border closures, said The Independent.

Vilnius shut two crossings with Belarus on 29 October, citing repeated airspace violations by weather balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes, which disrupted civilian flights. Lithuanian authorities say the incidents are part of broader hybrid operations by Belarus, a close ally of Russia, aimed at destabilising the region.

Lukashenko condemned the closures as a «mad scam» and a form of «hybrid war,» demanding the border be fully reopened to avoid the seizure of the vehicles. The escalation...

Filming has officially wrapped on Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three, marking the end of a four-month shoot that began in July. The film will conclude Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s epic saga.

While early reports suggested the title would be Dune: Messiah, after Herbert’s 1969 novel, Warner Bros. has confirmed that the third instalment will instead follow a numbered title. This shift implies that Villeneuve could blend elements from both Messiah and its sequel Children of Dune.

Recent casting news supports that theory. Nakoa-Wolf Momoa and Ida Brooke have joined the ensemble as Leto II and Ghanima, the children...

Uzbekistan has refocused its bank privatisation agenda around Uzbek Industrial and Construction Bank (SQB, BB/Stable), a more selective approach that could become a template for other state lenders but is unlikely to produce large-scale sales soon, Fitch Ratings said.

Fitch notes authorities are prioritising SQB’s pre-sale preparation under the Uzbekistan National Investment Fund (UzNIF), with a September presidential decree ordering the transfer of a 30% SQB stake from the Uzbekistan Fund for Reconstruction and Development to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and then to UzNIF. Amendments also remove the previous year-end 2025 deadline to sell control in SQB...

Newly elected New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has encouraged a young journalist to visit the Uzbek restaurant Tashkent in Brooklyn and try its signature manti dumplings. The interview was shared by the press service of Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry.

In the video, the boy asked Mamdani to name three dishes he believes everyone should try.

«Have you been to Hyderabadi Zaiqa? It’s on 28th Street and Lex — very good food. I recommend the Halim. Very very good. Where else? I recently had some Manti at a place I think was called ‘Tashkent’ in southern Brooklyn...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $300 mln loan, including $100 mln on concessional terms, to support the Uzbek government’s efforts to improve access to finance for underserved micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), with a particular focus on women-led businesses, and to strengthen the country’s microfinance sector. The policy-based loan aims to foster inclusive economic growth and entrepreneurship.

Expanding Inclusive Finance

The second phase of the programme will build on reforms initiated under Subprogramme 1 of the Inclusive Financial Sector Development Programme. Planned measures include raising the maximum microloan size, refining microfinance regulations, joining the...

Uzbekistan plans to open new consulates in the United States, according to a presidential decree by Shavkat Mirziyoyev establishing the American-Uzbek Business Council. The consulates will include specialists focusing on key US sectors and take into account the size of the Uzbek diaspora in each region.

The planned locations include Chicago, Orlando, and Seattle. A major goal of these consulates will be to foster effective engagement with Uzbek communities across all US states.

Preliminary data indicates that around 75,000 Uzbeks were living in the United States in 2023.

According to the State Committee on Statistics, more...