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Tashkent, Astana, and Abu Dhabi have agreed to launch a feasibility study for a railway running from Uzbekistan and Afghanistan to Pakistan‘s seaports, potentially providing Central Asia with another route to the Indian Ocean.

The Kazakh government said earlier this week that transport and infrastructure officials from the UAE, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have signed a relevant memorandum. The three countries will assess the technical and economic feasibility of the Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan railway (CASA) as well as infrastructure requirements and possible financing options.

A joint working group may also be set up to coordinate technical, financial and economic issues.

Turkish actress Afra Saraçoğlu has denied using illegal drugs after a forensic examination reportedly detected cocaine in a hair sample taken as part of an investigation involving several public figures.

Saraçoğlu issued a social media statement after the Forensic Medicine Institute added its report to the case file. She claimed her blood and urine tests were negative and that the finding in her hair could have been caused by environmental exposure or contact.

The actress stated that specialists had informed her that external sources could expose her hair to substances. Because her job frequently requires her...

Mariam Tillyaeva, a social media influencer and the granddaughter of Uzbekistan’s first president, Islam Karimov, has revealed the harsh realities behind her privileged upbringing, detailing severe physical bullying at a Swiss boarding school and a deeply strained relationship with her mother, Lola Karimova.

Speaking to Russian journalist Nadezhda Strelets, Tillyaeva described a childhood overshadowed by constant security threats, a fear of kidnapping and a profound lack of emotional warmth at home. Despite her high-profile family background, she insisted she would rather not be viewed as a victim but...

Seven men accused of sexually assaulting a former Cornell University student have been embroiled in several scandals, including campus confrontations, social media investigations, and new records that cast doubt on how Cornell and local authorities handled the complaint.

Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar are named as defendants in a civil lawsuit filed by a former student identified as Jane Doe. She alleges that members of Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity sexually assaulted her after she became heavily intoxicated at the fraternity house in October 2024.

The court...

Wounded on the cockpit floor, Captain Smit Machchhar could feel the aircraft falling. Still fighting back against his first officer, he told himself he had to make one more ultimate effort to open the reinforced cockpit door and call for help.

Speaking from a hospital bed at an Abu Dhabi hospital on 2 October, the Flydubai captain recalled the moment that allowed others to reach him — and help save the flight.

«I had so many wounds. I had fallen down,» he told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a...

Formula 1’s return to Sepang could turn into a wet-weather test, with rain threatening the second practice session on Friday and remaining a possibility throughout the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend in Malaysia.

FP1 was completed on a dry but dusty circuit, with Max Verstappen setting the pace in a 1:37.520, 0.383 seconds ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell. Isack Hadjar was third for Red Bull, followed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Conditions could change quickly before FP2, which starts at 4pm local time.

Secondary students across Uzbekistan will soon learn maths, computer science and natural sciences entirely in English as part of a sweeping national education reform.

Starting next academic year, the government is piloting this bilingual initiative by dedicating one class in each of 100 selected schools to English-medium STEM instruction. The president announced the transition during a Wednesday event, framing it as a crucial step to integrate the national workforce with the global economy.

To incentivise participation and attract top talent, educators teaching these English STEM courses will receive a 100% salary bonus. This doubled pay also...

Gipsy Rose Blanchard’s boyfriend Ken Urker died of an overdose after being found dead at his Louisiana home on his 34th birthday.

Blanchard told People that she does not know what substance Urker took or whether the overdose was intentional. «I don’t know if it was intentional or not,» she said, adding that he had not been in a good state of mind recently.

Urker was found dead in his home in Raceland, La., on Thursday, 1 October. Deputies responded to the home about 6:15pm, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office said, and he was found dead on arrival.

Samsung Electronics has raised the retail cost of its Galaxy S26 smartphone series by up to $200 six months after the devices initially hit the market.

Rather than implementing traditional mid-cycle discounts on hardware as it ages, the technology giant is inflating costs across its primary markets, including the US, mainland Europe, India and Canada. Only the budget-focused Galaxy S26 FE remains exempt from this international financial adjustment.

Just 100 days ago, Cristiano Ronaldo proclaimed, “I’m back,” as he stared into a television camera after scoring twice against Uzbekistan at the 2026 World Cup. Portugal appeared to be fully capable of advancing on Thursday, scoring four goals in Denmark without him.

You wouldn’t believe how sharp the contrast is. Ronaldo scored twice in Portugal’s 5-0 thrashing of Uzbekistan on 23 June in Houston, making him the first player in World Cup history to score in six tournaments. 

The 41-year-old had already departed the national team camp on 1 October, reportedly due to a disagreement...

Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Buds On, marking the technology giant’s first venture into the clip-on wireless earbud market.

The new audio device features an open-ear design that leaves the ear canal completely unobstructed, prioritising long-term comfort and safety for runners, cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts.

The C-bridge style earbuds are equipped with smart motion tracking to recognise specific head gestures. Wearers can simply nod to answer incoming phone calls or use alternative head movements to turn off alarms without needing to tap the physical device.

Read more: Why Samsung’s One UI...

Pakistan has conducted a new wave of airstrikes across the border into Afghanistan. Conflicting reports have emerged regarding the casualties, with the Afghan Taliban stating the attacks killed nine civilians while Islamabad claims it eliminated 22 militants.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, said the strikes hit homes in the Kunar and Helmand provinces. He reported that women and children were among the nine dead and 11 injured. Mujahid condemned the military action on X, describing it as an aggression and a crime that violates accepted international principles.

Pakistan’s information ministry offered a...

Supermodel Naomi Campbell won her legal appeal on Thursday against a five-year ban preventing her from serving as a charity trustee in England and Wales.

A three-person London tribunal ruled that Campbell, 56, was deceived by Bianka Hellmich, a fellow trustee and lawyer at Fashion For Relief. The First Tier Tribunal confirmed that while serious misconduct and financial mismanagement occurred at the poverty charity, the misuse of funds directly resulted from Hellmich’s actions and was concealed from the supermodel.

The ruling stems from a long-running controversy surrounding the philanthropic organisation Campbell established in 2005. Fashion For...

Apple is experiencing severe manufacturing difficulties with its inaugural foldable smartphone, as the production defect rate for the iPhone Duo has reached 40%.

The high failure rate stems directly from the complex engineering required to perfect the device’s folding screen mechanism and minimise the visible crease.

To reduce the handset’s overall footprint, the tech giant relies on a densely packed internal architecture featuring ultra-thin steel battery casings and a compressed vapour chamber. Chinese suppliers provide the bulk of these specialised components.

Lens Technology developed the custom ultra-thin glass, Lingyi produces the intricate hinge mechanisms, display support...

A chlorine gas leak at a luxury hotel on Jeju Island hospitalised 59 guests and employees on Thursday after toxic fumes spread through the property.

Emergency responders transported victims from the five-star Grand Josun Jeju hotel to nearby medical facilities, including Seogwipo Medical Center. Those affected experienced severe nausea, dizziness, headaches and vomiting. Guests using the hotel sauna at the time of the leak, including several infants and toddlers, reported persistent coughing, tearing and runny noses from the pungent smell.

Read more: Prosecutors search Jeju police over forged missing case files

Huawei Mate 90 flagship smartphone series launched in China, introducing five versions ranging from the standard Mate 90 to the premium Mate 90 RS Ultimate Design.

The new line runs HarmonyOS 7 and marks another step in Huawei’s push towards domestically developed smartphone technology. The range uses three Kirin processors, topped by the Kirin 9050 Pro, which uses Huawei’s new LogicFolding chip architecture.

Max Verstappen will return to GT racing later this month, confirming that he will drive for his own Verstappen Racing team in the GT World Challenge Europe season finale at Portimão.

The four-time Formula One world champion will compete in the three-hour Endurance Cup race at the Algarve International Circuit on October 17, filling one of the vacancies created by a clash with the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Regular Verstappen Racing drivers Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon will be unavailable because they are due to compete in the WEC round at Barcelona on the same weekend. Juncadella races for...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likened a violent cockpit struggle aboard a Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai flight to the September 11 attacks after a rogue co-pilot allegedly attempted to crash the aircraft.

On September 30, an Omani co-pilot reportedly stabbed Indian captain Smit Machchhar aboard Flight FZ1073. The Boeing 737 MAX 8, carrying 174 people from Dubai, plummeted from 33,000 feet to roughly 17,000 feet. The jet lost nearly 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds, a rapid descent that aviation safety experts warned was severe enough to potentially damage the plane’s rudder.

A desperate cockpit...

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar has drawn international praise for averting a mid-air disaster after sustaining serious injuries during a violent cockpit struggle on a Flydubai flight.

Machchhar was commanding Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30 when his co-pilot allegedly attacked him and attempted to crash the Boeing 737. Israeli officials reported the aircraft plummeted nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds as the men fought over the controls.

Despite his severe injuries, Machchhar managed to activate the cockpit door release mechanism. This allowed passengers and cabin crew to breach the flight...

The management agency for BTS released a trailer Wednesday for the band’s upcoming reality programme episodes, branded “Run BTS 2.0.”

Filmed in Toronto, the promotional video features the seven members enjoying a picnic and participating in childhood games. Footage highlights the group playing pickleball alongside the Korean variation of Red Light, Green Light, a playground activity globally popularised by the television drama “Squid Game.”

Read more: BTS star becomes Nothing’s new global ambassador

Where to watch “Run BTS”

The new episodes will broadcast on October 6 and 11. Audiences can...

Esteban Ocon will leave TGR Haas F1 Team at the end of the 2026 season, bringing his two-year spell with the American team to a close and leaving the Frenchman without a confirmed Formula 1 seat for next year.

Haas and Ocon confirmed the decision on Wednesday after weeks of speculation surrounding his future. The 30-year-old joined the team from Alpine at the start of 2025 and is currently 16th in the drivers’ championship, 13 points behind team-mate Oliver Bearman.

A violent cockpit altercation forced a FlyDubai flight to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after passengers intervened to stop an alleged hijacking. Chaos erupted mid-air when a crew member attacked the captain with a knife, prompting a group of Israeli travellers to rush to the front of the aircraft and subdue the attacker.

Footage from the cabin reveals the immediate aftermath. The captain bleeds heavily on the floor outside the cockpit as passengers tend to his wounds, while a second man lies tied up nearby.

...

Uzbekistan has one of the world’s highest proportions of science and engineering graduates, but it ranks near the bottom of the global research spending chart. What went wrong with the nation’s innovation profile?

According to the 2026 Global Innovation Index compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Uzbekistan ranks second in the world for science and engineering graduates, with STEM fields accounting for 36.8% of total graduates. However, the country spends only 0.1% of GDP on research and development, ranking 99th out of 139 economies.

The WIPO is a UN agency responsible for intellectual property, and its annual Global...

A civil complaint filed on 14 September 2026 has revived a criminal investigation into an alleged group sexual assault at Cornell University. A former student, identified as Jane Doe, alleges she was drugged and assaulted by multiple members of the Chi Phi fraternity between 19 and 20 October 2024.

The lawsuit names seven specific defendants: Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar. Doe, who was 20 at the time, alleges that after being illegally served alcohol at Moonies Bar & Nightclub, she went to...