News

Uzbekistan is close to completing its negotiations with Russia over joining the World Trade Organization, presidential representative Azizbek Urunov said. Talks with Moscow took place last week.

«Negotiations are practically finished: all major elements have been agreed and only a few technical points require final verification and confirmation,» Urunov wrote on LinkedIn.

It is expected that Russia will finalise the discussions by the end of the year at a WTO council meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. Urunov noted that Uzbekistan still needs to address Taiwan’s position before finalising its membership.

Russia officially joined the WTO...

To tackle air pollution, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed a decree introducing accelerated gasification of all greenhouses in Tashkent.

The Ministry of Energy has been instructed to secure gas supply agreements for all greenhouse enterprises within a week and to ensure uninterrupted delivery.

In addition, a special commission will temporarily halt operations at greenhouses and other facilities that release pollutants into the air.

Kursiv also reports that enterprises in Tashkent that are polluting the air will be relocated to industrial zones.

By decree of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, enterprises in Tashkent that are polluting the air will be relocated to industrial zones.

Requirements for industrial facilities, especially those operating at night, will also be tightened. Other initiatives include reviewing the issuance of environmental permits and business licenses.

Authorities plan to ban vehicles that fail to meet environmental standards and increase monitoring of chemicals and fuels.

A special commission will inspect all objects affecting the city’s environment, including factories, construction sites and transport, over three days. Polluting enterprises will then be identified and given clear environmental obligations.

Plans also include stricter controls...

Uzbekistan has joined UNESCO’s Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications, an agreement that requires member states to mutually recognise diplomas obtained in other participating countries.

In early November, Uzbekistan ratified the convention for higher education, becoming the first Central Asian country to join the initiative.

The Agency for Assessment of Knowledge and Qualifications explained that diplomas from higher education institutions in Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries may now be directly recognised in Uzbekistan without undergoing the nostrification process. Under national law, foreign diplomas can be recognised without exams or additional verification if international agreements...

New York mayor Eric Adams has led a delegation to the Centre of Islamic Civilisation in Tashkent which was established on the initiative of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The visitors were briefed on the centre’s main areas of work, its educational mission and its deep historical collection which includes ancient manuscripts, rare artefacts and modern interactive displays.

«While touring the Islamic Civilization Center, I gained a deeper understanding that the true essence of Islam is a great civilization based on peace, humanism and rich historical heritage. Every person who comes here has the...

Kazakhstan’s SCAT Airlines is introducing new direct connections from Turkestan’s Hazret Sultan International Airport to three cities in Uzbekistan: Urgench, Bukhara and Samarkand. Tickets are already on sale.

The Turkestan to Urgench service begins on December 1 with flights scheduled for Monday, Friday and Sunday. The Turkestan to Bukhara route opens on December 2 and will operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Regular flights linking Turkestan and Samarkand start on December 3 with services planned for Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Kursiv also reports that Uzbek airline Qanot Sharq has announced the launch of regular flights on the Tashkent–London–Tashkent route.

Uzbekistan’s Presidential Administration chief Saida Mirziyoyeva has called for stronger environmental oversight during a meeting on Tashkent’s worsening air quality, the presidential press service reports.

The government will introduce tougher requirements for construction and tree planting, alongside plans to create a national air monitoring system. These proposals will form the basis of a draft decree to be reviewed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

At the meeting, officials outlined the key factors driving the current pollution levels in the capital and discussed potential steps to reduce risks to public health and the environment.

Based on this data, Mirziyoyeva proposed a set...

Nvidia has taken a stake in London-based fintech giant Revolut as part of a major secondary share sale that values the company at $75 bn (£57 bn).

The investment was made through Nvidia’s venture arm, NVentures, joining leading global funds including Andreessen Horowitz, Franklin Templeton and T. Rowe Price. The deal was led by Coatue, Greenoaks, Dragoneer and Fidelity.

Revolut employees were offered the chance to sell shares in the transaction — the fifth such opportunity for staff since the company’s launch.

Revolut CFO Victor Stinga said the strong investor demand and upgraded valuation demonstrate the company’s «rapid growth...

Senior officials from across Central Asia gathered in Samarkand for a high-level ministerial meeting focused on strengthening regional cooperation for snow leopard conservation and climate-resilient mountain landscapes, ahead of the 20th Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP20).

Hosted by Uzbekistan’s National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change with support from UNDP, the meeting brought together representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as international partners. The discussions underscored the region’s growing leadership in biodiversity protection, sustainable wildlife management and climate-resilient development.

Aziz Abdukhakimov, Advisor to the President of Uzbekistan on Environmental Issues, highlighted the urgency...

UFC welterweight contender Ian Machado Garry’s biggest career victory was quickly overshadowed by a tense backstage confrontation with middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev on Saturday night in Qatar.

Garry, 28, had just earned a unanimous-decision win over former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad when he encountered Chimaev behind the scenes. Footage circulating online shows Garry congratulating Chimaev on helping corner Arman Tsarukyan in his successful return bout.

The exchange turned sour when Chimaev suddenly shoved Garry and shouted, «I’m gonna f*** you up,» prompting security to intervene.

Garry appeared taken aback...

The aviation sector has become a key part of Uzbekistan’s economy, contributing $795.5 mln, or about 0.9% of the nation’s GDP, according to a new analysis by Oxford Economics and reports from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The report details that the sector is responsible for supporting 128,300 jobs across the country. These employment figures encompass not only those working directly for airlines and airports but also jobs generated through the wider supply chain and employee spending.

The aviation sector itself directly employs 12,400 people, including those working for airlines, airports, on-site businesses, air navigation services, and aerospace manufacturers...

Skye Gyngell, the Australian chef who became a leading figure in the UK culinary scene, has died aged 62. Her family described her as a “culinary visionary who influenced generations of chefs and growers globally to think about food and its connection to the land”.

Gyngell rose to prominence after transforming Petersham Nurseries cafe in south-west London and earning a Michelin star. She later led Spring at Somerset House and Marle and Hearth at Heckfield Place in Hampshire.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver paid tribute, thanking her for inspiring young cooks, while Nigella Lawson wrote on Instagram that her death was...

S&P Global Ratings has upgraded Uzbekistan’s long-term sovereign credit rating from “BB-” to “BB” with a stable outlook, pointing to stronger economic reforms, steady growth and much higher foreign currency reserves.

The upgrade covers both foreign and local currency debt. Short-term ratings stay at ‘B’ and the transfer and convertibility assessment has been raised to ‘BB+’.

S&P says Uzbekistan’s economic policy has improved since 2017, when the country began liberalising its exchange rate and opening markets. The government has been cutting energy subsidies by raising electricity and gas tariffs towards cost-recovery levels and is moving, though slowly, to privatise...

Bollywood icon Dharmendra has died in Mumbai at the age of 89. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led tributes, saying his death marks the end of an era in Indian cinema, BBC reports.

Known for his warmth and modesty, Dharmendra earned huge devotion from fans and became a household name through more than 300 films. His role as Veeru in the 1975 classic Sholay made him a legend and remains one of the most celebrated performances in Hindi cinema.

Born Dharam Singh Deol in Punjab in 1935, he won a national talent contest that brought him to Bombay and launched...

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created under former US President Donald Trump to reduce the size of the federal government, has been disbanded with eight months remaining on its mandate. Critics say the initiative, launched with fanfare, produced few measurable savings, Reuters reports.

Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told Reuters that DOGE no longer exists as a centralised entity, marking the first public confirmation of its closure. The OPM has since absorbed many of DOGE’s functions.

Original Mission and Public Profile

Established in January, DOGE initially sought to rapidly shrink federal agencies, cut budgets and...

Shinhan Bank announced on Monday that it has added Uzbek and Nepali to its foreign-language consulting services, responding to the rising number of migrant workers from the two countries, Korea Herald reports.

With the new languages, the bank now provides consultations in 12 languages, including English, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Thai, Russian, Cambodian, Filipino, Indonesian, Uzbek and Nepali, giving it the most extensive foreign-language support in South Korea’s domestic banking sector.

Demand for native-language financial assistance has grown recently as more workers from Uzbekistan and Nepal arrive in the country. Shinhan’s Foreign Language Consultation Center, a dedicated phone service...

Uzbekistan’s gas production continues to decline, reaching 35.5 bn cubic metres in the first ten months of 2025, according to data from the State Statistics Committee. This represents a 5.3% fall compared with the same period last year.

Oil output also fell from 602K tonnes to 547.3K tonnes over the year, while gas condensate production dropped from 1 mln tonnes to 930.9K tonnes.

Amid the drop in gas production, Kazakhstan has offered to increase the transit of Russian gas to Uzbekistan. The Kazakh authorities are also seeking closer cooperation with Tashkent in the oil sector and nuclear energy.

Three suicide bombers attacked the headquarters of a Pakistani paramilitary force on Monday, killing three personnel and injuring at least five, authorities said.

Police reported that the assailants fired on security staff as they forced their way into the frontier constabulary complex in Peshawar before detonating explosives inside.

A senior official, speaking anonymously to Reuters, said the first bomber struck the main entrance while the others entered the compound. He added that army and police units had sealed off the area and were handling the situation carefully, fearing some attackers might still be inside.

The paramilitary headquarters is...

In Samarkand, the High-Level Dialogue of the 20th CITES Conference saw the signing of the Samarkand Declaration and a regional cooperation plan extending to 2032, the Committee for Ecology reports.

The agreements were signed by Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The declaration, prepared in partnership with Traffic International, underlines the countries’ commitment to strengthen joint measures against escalating threats to biodiversity including habitat loss, climate change and poaching.

The plan focuses on enhancing coordination between environmental, customs, law enforcement and judicial agencies.

It highlights the creation of national task forces to combat wildlife crime, the use of advanced monitoring technologies...

Streams of molten lava spilled from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano from Saturday night into Sunday as scientists warned that another eruption was likely to form in the coming days, the US Geological Survey said.

Kilauea sits within Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii’s Big Island and is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet. It has erupted on and off for nearly a year with the next episode expected to be its thirty seventh since last December.

These bursts are typically marked by jets of lava shooting from the ground and rising high into the air. Visitors are still...

Gunmen launched an attack on a paramilitary force headquarters in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Monday, police said. The compound, which houses the frontier constabulary, was also struck by two suicide bombers according to Reuters sources who reported that three people had died.

A senior official speaking to the agency on condition of anonymity said the first bomber detonated at the main entrance while the second made it inside the grounds. He added that army units and police had sealed off the area and were proceeding with caution as they believed some attackers might still be inside...

Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov has secured a place in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament after winning World Cup semi-final tie-break against Nodirbek Yakubboyev. Chessdom reported the result following two classical draws that pushed the match into rapid play.

Sindarov created sustained pressure with the black pieces in the decisive game which forced Yakubboyev into severe time trouble. He then steered a demanding rook endgame to victory to claim his spot in the elite event.

The 2026 Candidates will be held in Cyprus at the Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort from March 25 to May 1 and will decide...

Turkey has removed the term Central Asia from its school curriculum, replacing it with Turkestan as part of a broader effort to reinforce Ankara’s vision of the Turkic world. The change has been gradually introduced over the past year, Minister of Education Yusuf Tekin said, according to Turkish Minute.

Officials argue that the new terminology supports a more unified historical narrative centred on Turkic identity. The concept aligns with Ankara’s long-standing cultural and geopolitical framing of the region as part of a shared Turkic heritage.

However, Tekin did not explain how this approach applies to Persian-speaking Tajikistan — a country that is geographically in...

Iran, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Türkiye have signed an agreement in Istanbul to boost freight traffic along the southern route of the Eurasian transit corridor, according to Mehr News Agency.

Under the deal, the six countries will introduce unified tariffs for container trains, shorten transit times and reduce customs-related costs.

The agreement also calls for major infrastructure upgrades aimed at increasing the corridor’s capacity and strengthening the role of the southern route in trade between China and Europe.

Mehr reports that Iran is emerging as a central transit hub, with the main segment of the revamped route running...