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Version 7.1, A Rekviem for the Underworld, delivers some of the biggest revelations in Genshin Impact since the introduction of the Descenders, the Heavenly Principles and Khaenri’ah.

Here’s what happened in Acts III and IV, followed by the lore implications and theories gaining attention in the community:

The UK has sanctioned three companies in Kyrgyzstan, including a payment firm linked to the country’s Finance Ministry, over business transactions it said support or benefit the Russian government.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has updated the UK Sanctions List on 8 October, adding Bishkek-based Processing KG, TokenSpot and Tsunami Payments. The sanctions included imposing asset freezes and barring UK financial institutions from processing payments to, from or through them. Processing KG director Ulan Bukabaev was also sanctioned.

The official notice lists Kyrgyzstan’s Finance Ministry as Processing KG’s parent. Britain said it...

South Korea has become Ukraine’s first like-minded nation to recall its ambassador since 2022. A broader rupture could jeopardise the aid and reconstruction funding that Kyiv has been receiving from Seoul, and here is exactly how much. 

South Korean foreign minister Cho Hyun said Tuesday he had received a message from his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha that included an apology but that it fell short of Seoul’s expectations. Cho said the government intended to take “firm measures.”

“The government has decided to recall its ambassador to Ukraine to Seoul,” the foreign ministry said in a statement

Anne Carson, the Canadian poet, whose books combine ancient Greek myths with modern stories of love, grief and desire, has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Swedish Academy announced on Thursday.

The announcement in Stockholm on 8 October honoured Carson «for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.»

BREAKING NEWS The 2026 #NobelPrize in Literature is awarded to the Canadian author Anne Carson, «for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for...

Abdukodir Khusanov leads the Premier League’s players from former Soviet republics by estimated market value, with Transfermarkt valuing him at €50 million in its October update.

The Man City centre-back’s valuation rose by €15 million from €35 million — an increase of almost 43%. The figure puts the 22-year-old €18 million ahead of his nearest challenger in the regional ranking. Transfermarkt’s profile dated the previous assessment to June 3, 2026.

Digital creators in Uzbekistan currently generate an estimated $15mn annually through Google‘s advertising network, yet virtually none of that income comes from their domestic audience due to the platform’s lack of local monetisation tools.

Speaking to Kursiv Uzbekistan, Igor Shevchenko, chief operating officer and head of YouTube relations at the international creator network Yoola, explained that this structural gap leaves views in Uzbekistan entirely unmonetised.

Because local traffic yields no advertising revenue, domestic video producers are forced to cultivate overseas audiences or depend heavily on direct brand integrations to sustain their channels.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s message to Lionel Messi after the Argentine ended his international career has triggered another round of debate between supporters of football’s two defining stars.

Ronaldo was among the biggest names to comment on Messi’s Instagram farewell post, writing in Spanish:

«Leo, so many years defending your country and a story that will be remembered forever. All my respect for what you have achieved with Argentina. A hug.»

The comment quickly became a discussion of its own, attracting millions of likes and thousands of replies. Many fans focused less...

Kanye West received about $20 million in advance payments for two St Petersburg concerts that will not take place as scheduled, according to business daily Kommersant. It emerged as ticket holders struggle to claim their refunds.

The $20-million payment was not entirely Kanye West’s fee: it also covered expenses such as staff costs, one industry source told the paper. Another said the contract probably allowed him to retain the money. Those contractual terms have not been independently verified.

Say Agency, a Moscow-based concert organiser, claimed it sold more than 100,000 tickets in two days, with prices ranging from...

Samsung’s One UI 9 update is giving Galaxy S26 owners a new set of AI features, customisation tools and productivity upgrades as the company expands its Android 17-based software.

Samsung began rolling out the stable version of One UI 9 to the Galaxy S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra on September 16. The software had previously debuted on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Fold 8 and Flip 8.

For S26 users, however, the update is less of a complete redesign than an expansion of features introduced with One UI 8.5. Some camera and interface tools were...

Nana Patekar, whose career stretched from fierce dramatic performances to the much-loved gangster Uday Shetty in Welcome, has died aged 75 in Goa. The actor won three National Film Awards and became one of the most recognisable faces of Hindi and Marathi cinema.

His son, Malhar, confirmed the death to The Indian Express. NDTV reported that Patekar suffered a cardiac arrest at his Goa residence and was declared dead early on Thursday, 8 October, after doctors attempted to revive him.

Born Vishwanath Patekar in the state of Maharashtra in 1951, he made his film debut in Gaman in...

Uzbekistan was the world’s third-largest reported central bank gold buyer from January to August 2026, adding nearly 50 tonnes. Gold now accounts for 90% of its international reserves.

The country’s Central Bank bought eight tonnes in August, taking its holdings to about 439 tonnes, according to the World Gold Council’s October 6 update.

Only Poland and China reported larger net purchases over the eight months, with 98 and 80 tonnes, respectively. Kazakhstan followed Uzbekistan with about 36 tonnes. The ranking considers reported purchases rather than the size of a country’s gold holdings.

Central banks were net...

The World Bank has lifted its forecast for Uzbekistan’s economic growth to 7.9% in 2026, up from 6.4%, due to stronger household demand, rising incomes and investment. The upgrade puts the country among the fastest-growing economies in the Bank’s Europe and Central Asia region, where growth is broadly weakening.

The new projection, published in its October economic update, is 1.5 percentage points above the previous forecast. It would also mark a modest acceleration from Uzbekistan’s 7.7% expansion in 2025.

The Bank attributes the improvement to wage growth outpacing inflation, employment gains, robust remittances and investment in...

Valtteri Bottas has arrived in Singapore after cycling more than 400 kilometres from Malaysia over four days, completing an unconventional journey between two Formula 1 race weekends.

The Cadillac driver crossed the Causeway from Johor into Singapore on Wednesday, October 7, after setting off from Sepang International Circuit on Sunday night. Malaysian cyclist Shaiful Nizam Yahya, known as Epul, accompanied him on the journey.

Early reports described the trip as a 350-kilometre ride, referring to the approximate distance between Sepang and Singapore. Bottas’ actual route was considerably longer.

His first Strava activity covered 56.6 kilometres...

Russia says no plague cases have been confirmed in the Irkutsk region, but the death of a laboratory worker and mounting reports of a second patient remain unexplained publicly. Here are the biggest unknowns that make it difficult to understand what really happened. 

Daria Shipilova, 28, worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute and died in hospital in nearby Shelekhov on 2 October, according to local independent media outlet Lyudi Baikala. Around 200 contacts were placed under observation. Russia’s health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, described her illness as pneumonia of...

Kazakhstan plans to raise the level of the North Aral Sea to 44 metres above the Baltic height-system reference point as part of a new phase of efforts to restore the shrinking lake.

The existing Kokaral Dam maintains the North Aral at roughly the 42-metre mark, with the new project effectively targeting an increase of about two metres.

The government said on October 7 that it had developed the next restoration phase with the World Bank. The project involves rebuilding the Kokaral Dam, which separates the North Aral Sea in Kazakhstan from the largely dried southern...

Residents report struggling to find certain antibiotics. A healthcare source says local doctors are openly discussing plague. Deep in Siberia, a laboratory worker’s death has triggered fears that official reassurances have yet to dispel. What is really happening in the Irkutsk region?  

The story started to unfold on 2 October, when Siberia-based independent media outlet Lyudi Baikala reported that Daria Shipilova, a 28-year-old employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute, has broken a vial containing plague strains and felt unwell. 

She was rushed to a hospital ward in the town of...

The Thai government and private enterprise representatives backed a proposed fee for tourists, citing an 80-country precedent and mounting unpaid hospital bills.

Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul chaired discussions in Bangkok on October 6 to advance the measure. The 450 baht ($13) fee is designed to address a 7 billion baht ($207.8 million) financial burden shouldered by the local healthcare system after treating uninsured visitors.

It will also establish a tourism fund, which is expected to generate more than 8bn baht ($237.4mn) annually for the maintenance of national sites.

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France’s Henri B. Kagan and Japan’s Kenso Soai have won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discoveries that explain how chemical reactions can favour one of two mirror-image molecules. Their work connects the practical business of making chemicals with a more profound question: why does life favour one molecular ‘hand’ over the other?

In simple terms, they showed how a small preference for one molecular version can become much stronger — and how the molecules produced can help make more of their own kind.

For Kagan, the award comes 25 years after his exclusion from another chemistry Nobel provoked...

More than 521,000 people joined virtual queues in a fierce scramble to secure tickets for the debut BTS concerts in Peru, underscoring the massive anticipation ahead of the group’s arrival in Lima.

The South Korean musical act will take the stage at Estadio San Marcos on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. These dates represent the second stop on the South American leg of their Arirang world tour.

While the exact capacity for each night remains undisclosed, local authorities expect the three shows to draw a combined crowd of between 96,000 and 156,000 attendees.

The BTS...

Microsoft has dismissed reports claiming it secured exclusive rights to stream Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6) on PC through its cloud platform.

The denial arrived following a report by tech publication The Verge, which asserted that Xbox had negotiated an arrangement to distribute the blockbuster title via Xbox Cloud Gaming at launch.

Because publisher Rockstar Games has not yet confirmed a native PC release, cloud streaming would have provided desktop players with their sole avenue to run the game on day one without purchasing an Xbox Series X/S or PlayStation 5 console.

Almost two in five surveyed workers in Uzbekistan say they need help copying or moving a file on a phone or computer, despite near-universal internet access. A World Bank report suggests that basic digital skills could determine who benefits from artificial intelligence — and who struggles to adapt.

The difference is especially noticeable among clerical support workers. Almost 60% reported being unable to copy a file without assistance, while roughly 80% work in jobs that involve medium or high levels of AI. Only 27% stated that they used AI at work, according to the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia...

Scientists have solved a 600-year-old historical mystery by tracing the origin of the Black Death to Central Asia, according to information on Nature journal.

The bubonic plague decimated Europe and western Asia during the 14th century, ultimately killing up to 60% of the human population at the time. Despite the devastation, historians, archaeologists, and evolutionary biologists debated the pandemic’s geographical origin.

For decades, experts proposed various theories without definitive proof. The major breakthrough finally occurred when an international research team decided to extract ancient genetic material from human remains buried near Lake Issyk-Kul in modern-day Kyrgyzstan.

Ciara Miller was eliminated from Dancing with the Stars on Mariah Carey night, leaving the competition despite earning her strongest judges’ score of the season. The Summer House star and professional partner Brandon Armstrong went home after the October 6 episode, which celebrated Carey’s music. 

Miller delivered her highest-scoring dance of the season before going home. The jazz routine to Emotions earned 21 out of 30, with all three judges awarding sevens. 

Carrie Ann Inaba called it Miller’s «best dance of the season so far,» according to a recap from TV Insider. But that improvement...

After stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway last month, 96-year-old Warren Buffett has officially entered retirement. Instead of travelling the globe, the billionaire is spending his evenings in front of a screen streaming Uzbekistan’s version of America’s Got Talent on YouTube.

With a net worth of $143bn, the famed investor handed the CEO position to Greg Abel in January and the chairmanship to his son, Howard, in September. Now his schedule is completely his own.

Sharon Osberg, a close friend who often visits the retired financier, told the Wall Street...