News

The White House is monitoring a suspected pneumonic plague outbreak in Russia after a Siberian laboratory worker died amid conflicting reports about the cause.

A Trump administration official told Axios on October 4 that Washington was aware of the incident, tracking developments and assessing potential responses. US officials urged Moscow to promptly release accurate information about the researcher’s death.

Independent Russian media outlet Lyudi Baikala reported that Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old employee at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute, accidentally broke a test tube containing the bacterium responsible for pneumonic plague on September...

Max Verstappen broke his 2026 duck with a masterful victory at the Sepang International Circuit, claiming his first win of the season in a wildly unpredictable Bahrain Grand Prix hosted in Malaysia, since his last win at the last race of 2025 season in Abu Dhabi.

After a heavy pre-race downpour significantly delayed proceedings, the Red Bull driver executed a flawless race from pole position to beat championship leader Kimi Antonelli, while Lewis Hamilton carved his way through the field to seal a spectacular podium finish.

Max Verstappen has now extended his record of 10 consecutive...

A custom Epiphone guitar once owned by Noel Gallagher has sold for £12,000 at auction, headlining a memorabilia sale marked by a last-minute legal dispute over unreleased Oasis recordings.

The 1997 instrument, finished in Manchester City blue, is believed to be one of five identical guitars gifted to Gallagher by the manufacturer. The songwriter later gave it to Huw Richards, the band’s former front-of-house sound engineer. Richards’ son consigned the guitar alongside other tour memorabilia.

The auction was originally scheduled to feature “The Desk Tapes”, an extensive archive of unreleased material valued between £1.2mn and £1.6mn. The collection contains recordings...

Capcom announced on October 2 that it will transform its proprietary RE Engine into an AI-assisted development tool, launching a new initiative dubbed the REX project to streamline video game production.

Unveiled during the company’s Open Conference, the engine upgrade aims to integrate artificial intelligence to improve development efficiency, overall performance and quality assurance. According to reports from Japanese outlet GameBiz, Capcom executives stated the ultimate goal is to build a future where developers create games alongside AI.

The Japanese studio highlighted that modern video games have become so massive that routine coding and structural processes...

The United States, Russia and China dominate the population of artificial objects in near-Earth orbit, according to the latest figures released by NASA.

The September 2026 issue of the NASA Orbital Debris Quarterly News reports that tracking systems are currently monitoring 34,054 artificial objects around the planet as of August 4. This total represents an overall increase of 956 objects over a three-month period.

Of the total tracked items, 19,154 are classified as spacecraft, which encompasses both operational satellites and completely decommissioned hardware. This specific category saw a quarterly increase of 965 units.

Conversely, the number...

Samsung Electronics has commenced mass production of components for its upcoming Galaxy S27 smartphone series, expanding its flagship lineup to four distinct devices for the first time.

The forthcoming generation introduces a new “Pro” variant to sit alongside the established standard, Plus and Ultra models. According to supply chain sources, the device screen sizes will measure 6.27 inches for the basic model, 6.47 inches for the Pro, 6.66 inches for the Plus and 6.89 inches for the premium Ultra edition.

Samsung Display is scheduled to begin manufacturing OLED panels for the series this month. While the overall production...

Max Verstappen delivered a masterclass at the Sepang International Circuit to claim his first pole position of the 2026 season. Under the searing Malaysian sun with track temperatures peaking at 56 degrees Celsius, the Red Bull driver set a blistering 1m 35.250s to distance himself from the chasing pack.

Lewis Hamilton secured a front-row start for Ferrari, while Mercedes endured a fractured session that left highly touted prospect Kimi Antonelli inheriting third due to grid penalties.

Red Bull dominance and upgrades unravelled

Heading into the weekend, the paddock anticipated a Mercedes runaway following the introduction...

Stray Kids leader Bang Chan marked his 29th birthday on Saturday by donating 300mn won ($223,218) to three distinct non-profit organisations.

His management agency, JYP Entertainment, confirmed the artist split the funds equally, providing 100mn won ($74,406) each to Hearcycle, World Vision and OSEAN. The selected charities represent a wide spectrum of humanitarian and environmental causes, reflecting a targeted approach to his philanthropy.

Hearcycle, a non-profit organisation dedicated to auditory health, will utilise the financial injection to cover medical expenses and fund social rehabilitation programmes for young people experiencing hearing loss.

Read more: Stray Kids...

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has confirmed that the 2026 championship will conclude in the Middle East as originally planned, with both the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix officially remaining on the calendar.

Speaking to Sky Sport Italia, Domenicali addressed ongoing speculation surrounding the final races of the season. The regional security situation involving Iran had previously cast severe doubt over whether the sport would travel to the Gulf for its traditional double-header finale.

“With the information and assurances we have, this remains the direction that leads us to confirm Qatar...

Prominent YouTube tech reviewer MKBHD examining the newly revealed Xiaomi 18 Fold alongside Apple’s iPhone Duo has highlighted how the Chinese manufacturer pre-empted Apple’s foldable debut despite sharing near-identical dimensions.

Officially unveiled on September 6, two days before Apple’s keynote, Xiaomi’s handset mirrors the iPhone Duo down to the millimetre, adopting the identical aspect ratio for both screens and matching its curved D-shaped profile.

The synchronised timing reflects industrial supply chain leakage rather than direct design theft. While Apple enforces strict secrecy during internal research and development, physical specifications inevitably surface once orders for...

The newly launched Honor Magic 9 series has become a massive commercial bestseller in the Chinese smartphone market after consumer demand significantly exceeded manufacturer forecasts. The surge in early orders caused immediate stock shortages across both physical retail locations and online storefronts.

According to Guan Haitao, vice president and global chief marketing officer at Honor, early commercial performance has substantially surpassed the company’s initial projections. By the third day of retail availability, total new device activations were over 70% higher than those recorded by the previous generation during the same post-launch window.

This rapid adoption...

The developers of the popular role-playing dating simulator Love and Deepspace have issued an urgent safety warning to their player base after officially publishing cocktail recipes that included highly poisonous plants.

On September 28, the official social media account for the game shared a list of five “Shimmering Blend” drink recipes. The promotional post was designed to celebrate an in-game event, with each beverage themed around the title’s romanceable characters.

Each protagonist in the sci-fi game is associated with a specific symbolic flower, which the marketing team seemingly incorporated into the recipes as aesthetic garnishes without researching their toxicity.

From 1 October, the cost of a single journey on Tashkent public transport, when paid electronically, rose from UZS 1,700 to UZS 2,500. Kursiv Uzbekistan approached UzNIF, a shareholder in Toshshahartransxizmat JSC, to ask about the operator’s financial position and the future of bus services in the capital. Franklin Templeton, which manages the UzNIF fund, provided the responses.

Franklin Templeton said the fare increase itself would not automatically raise the company’s revenue. Its financial performance depends primarily on the number of services it operates and the technical availability of its buses. Improving the condition...

Apple‘s highly anticipated foldable device, the iPhone Duo, has not yet reached consumers, but the tech giant has already detailed its repair pricing scheme.

A persistent concern for foldable smartphone adopters is the visible crease on the internal screen. Apple appears to have anticipated this user frustration by offering an inexpensive solution to refresh the display’s appearance once the device hits the market on October 23.

Replacing the cover layer will cost users a mere $19. This allows customers who find the hinge crease increasingly prominent or scratched over time to simply...

Stray Kids will not compete at the 69th Grammy Awards, joining a growing movement of K-pop acts pushing back against the Recording Academy’s newly established Best Asian Pop Music Performance category.

JYP Entertainment confirmed the eight-member boy band did not submit any material ahead of the August 21 deadline. The management agency declined to provide a specific reason for the omission or comment on its connection to the ongoing award restructuring.

The decision carries extra weight this year because all eight Stray Kids members recently accepted invitations to join the Recording Academy. Their new status grants...

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.