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Saida Mirziyoyeva, the Uzbek president’s chief of staff, has called for the death penalty to be considered for paedophilia after learning about the alleged sexual assault of a five-year-old girl at a kindergarten in Uzbekistan’s eastern Namangan region.

Mirziyoyeva said on Sunday that a briefing on the case had left her «truly furious.” In an emotive social media post, she promised the harshest possible punishment for the alleged perpetrator and bystanders.

“I was briefed on the tragedy that occurred in Namangan. When I learned about it, I felt real anger,» Mirziyoyeva said in a statement.

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has dismissed defence minister Lt General Dauren Kosanov, three days after 14 servicemen, most of them conscripts, drowned during naval exercises in the Caspian Sea.

President Tokayev approved the dismissal earlier on Sunday, his administration confirmed.

Kosanov’s departure follows one of the deadliest accidents involving Kazakhstan’s armed forces recently and comes as investigators examine decisions made by senior officers before and during the exercise.

The servicemen died during the Khazar Korgany-2026 naval exercises in Kazakhstan’s Mangystau region on 24 September. Seventeen troops were swept into the Caspian Sea after weather...

A mystery British ticket holder has claimed a whopping £111 million win on EuroMillions and made headlines across Europe. A Russian pensioner who celebrated a much smaller windfall this weekend has offered a more aromatic explanation for her good fortune: a lucky bay leaf in her wallet.

Identified by state news agency RIA Novosti as Tatyana O. from St Petersburg, she had been playing the lottery for about three years when she added something new to her routine: carrying a bay leaf in her wallet, following a superstition that it attracts money.

She went to the...

Formula 1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix starts later on Saturday, 26 September, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli facing a recovery race from the 16th. His Mercedes teammate George Russell starts on pole, setting up two very different battles at opposite ends of the grid.

The 51-lap race features a long straight that encourages overtaking and tight old-town corners with little margin for error. Teams must balance straight-line speed and cornering grip.

Organisers moved the weekend forward to avoid overlapping with Azerbaijan’s Remembrance Day on 27 September.

When Azerbaijan Grand Prix starts and where to watch

The...

Kazakh entrepreneur Timur Turlov was elected president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) on Saturday, 26 September, winning the leadership vote held during the federation’s General Assembly in Samarkand. Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand was elected deputy president on the same ticket.

Turlov and his running mate, Anand, received 110 votes in the second decisive ballot, ahead of their near-peer contenders, Wadim Rosenstein and Gordon Tang who garnered 85 votes. 196 delegations have cast their ballot, with one abstention.

“I think it’s a wonderful moment of unity… I’ll do everything I can to bring the...

Bangkok has declared all 50 districts disaster zones after persistent heavy rains flooded roads and disrupted travel throughout the Thai capital. Some residents were forced to evacuate as water accumulated in the city’s canals.

The citywide designation expands on an earlier declaration that included Nong Chok, Suan Luang, and Khan Na Yao. The order, published by the local outlet The Nation, allows government agencies and local authorities to mobilise assistance in affected areas.

Governor Chadchart Sittipunt directed district offices to set up temporary shelters, coordinate transportation and distribute sandbags.

JUST IN...

Timur Turlov, who competes for the FIDE presidency, has tipped grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov to become world chess champion, calling Uzbekistan «the strongest team in the world right now» as the hosts chase the Chess Olympiad gold in Samarkand.

Speaking to reporters in Samarkand, Turlov answered questions about the Uzbek grandmaster and delivered an emphatic endorsement.

«Uzbekistan is undoubtedly the leader. You have a future world champion,» he said. «I think that will most likely be decided this year in Geneva. We’ll be cheering for him.»

Sindarov is due to challenge reigning champion Gukesh Dommaraju in...

Timur Turlov said he would personally guarantee a four-year chess development fund as he addressed the FIDE Congress in Samarkand on September 26. The presidential candidate urged delegates to judge success by support for ordinary players and national federations, rather than revenue or world titles alone.

«Chess is much, much bigger than just championships and tournaments,» Turlov said at the FIDE General Assembly session on 26 September, reported by Kursiv Uzbekistan. He pointed to children joining school chess clubs and smaller federations struggling to send teams to the Olympiad.

Turlov outlined a development fund of $28 million over four years...

Uzbekistan Air Force has taken delivery of its first Embraer C-390 Millennium, making it Central Asia’s first delivery of the military transport aircraft. The handover took place on September 25 in Brazil, marking a new phase in the country’s efforts to modernise its airlift fleet.

Embraer said Uzbekistan’s air force commander, Major General Akhmad Burkhonov, attended the ceremony at its Gavião Peixoto facility. The military cargo aircraft had been publicly unveiled in Uzbek colours earlier this month.

The backstory: Embraer unveils Uzbekistan’s first C-390 military cargo plane

The jet’s main purpose...

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum described Stray Kids as being «like BTS, but younger» as she announced their planned visit to the National Palace. The K-pop group is arriving in the country for two stadium shows on September 25 and 26.

The band was scheduled to meet Sheinbaum and South Korean president Lee Jae-myung during his official visit to Mexico, Billboard reported.

«The group coming is called Stray Kids,» the president said during her press conference on Thursday morning. «They’re kind of like BTS, but younger. I don’t know if they’re boys and...

New research suggests that eating with someone you are close to may dull the rise in blood sugar following a meal. Participants on the same carbohydrate meal had smaller glucose spikes and recovered faster when in company than when alone.

Published in Science Advances, the study looked at whether the presence of another person changes the way the body regulates itself. The paper’s indexed abstract said the glucose experiment had 108 participants.

Shir Atzil and Monia Masalha at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, alongside Shai Fuchs of Sheba Medical Centre, led the work. Their findings suggest...

Tesla’s electric Semi promises a different working life for truck drivers. A close-up inspection reveals some welcome changes — and questions a short demonstration ride cannot answer.

The company first unveiled its Semi in 2017 and began selling the trucks in small quantities to early adopters, including anchor client PepsiCo. in 2022. On Thursday, Tesla finally opened its first factory for high-volume production of the heavy-duty electric truck in Nevada.

Chief executive Elon Musk uploaded a video in which he described the Semi as a «breakthrough product for heavy shipping.»

«It’s almost like a sports car in truck form...

The Uzbek chess players stand to receive tens of thousands of US dollars each if they win gold at the FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand. The increased state bonus puts a potential $1 million reward within reach of the country’s five-player open team.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved the higher payments on September 21, the justice ministry confirmed on social media. The decision sets rewards in US dollars, replacing amounts previously tied to Uzbekistan’s base calculation rate, a benchmark used for official payments.

How much would each medal pay?

The new schedule...

Apple continued its tradition of naming Mac software after California with the release of macOS 27 Golden Gate on 14 September. Included in its earlier releases are mountain lakes, desert landscapes, coastal towns, and enormous trees, providing a miniature geography lesson.

Here are the places and landscapes behind the ten versions that preceded the Golden Gate.

The US Embassy in India announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be leading a business delegation to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in mid-October. Commercial ties will be the focal point of Washington’s diplomatic outreach to the country and the broader Central Asia during the visit.

The announcement first came from Sergio Gor, the US special envoy for South and Central Asia, who described the visit by the delegation as «historic.» 

Gor said that the delegation, led by Rubio, would include executives from more than 100 American companies. The visit to Samarkand, scheduled for mid-October, will revolve around the C...

Kazakhstan observes nationwide mourning on September 25 following the deaths of 14 servicemen during military exercises in the Caspian Sea. The search for the missing personnel continued overnight on Thursday, with hundreds of people, vessels, and aircraft deployed.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared the day of mourning following the September 24 accident off the Mangystau region and expressed condolences to the families.

Kazakhstan’s defence ministry released an update on Friday morning, saying that a rescue party had found the bodies of the two missing, a sergeant and a sailor. It added that the...

Marina Vlady, the French actress whose films won her a massive Soviet following before her marriage to renowned poet and singer Vladimir Vysotsky, has died aged 88. Her family told AFP that she died at home on 24 September, surrounded by loved ones.

Born in France in 1938 to Russian émigré parents, Vlady began acting as a child and appeared in more than 80 films. Her cinematic career took her through popular European cinema and the experimental work of leading directors.

Vlady won the Best Actress award at Cannes in 1963 for...

Timur Turlov has proposed a $7 million programme to support chess tournaments, travel, and coaching if he is elected FIDE president. He also wants a two-year competition calendar to reduce the need for last-minute sponsorship decisions.

Turlov, speaking during the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, estimated the proposed support at €6.2 million, or about $7 million, according to Kursiv Uzbekistan.

The president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation stated that the programme would help fund open tournaments, subsidise travel, and provide young players with more coaching opportunities. He stated that national federations should have access to support regardless of their location or...

The United States has imposed new visa restrictions on people who run or facilitate commercial birth-tourism networks just hours before Chinese president Xi Jinping arrived in Washington for a state visit. The policy focuses on organisers and intermediaries rather than on pregnant travellers as a group.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Wednesday that visas may be restricted for people who knowingly participate in or support schemes to arrange US births to secure citizenship for a child. Targets include network owners and managers, visa “fixers” who coach applicants to misrepresent their travel plans, and foreign...

A South Korean Air Force sergeant has gone viral after performing Kendrick Lamar’s songs Not Like Us and TV Off at a military concert. The video has received millions of views, with fans calling the 23-year-old aspiring rapper “Korean Lamar.”

Sergeant Eom June, also known as Kober, is a member of the Military Police Battalion of South Korea’s 19th Fighter Wing. His performance took place on 1 1 June, but it didn’t go viral until recently, when the Korean Forces Network aired it.

As Eom recreates parts of Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl performance, soldiers sing along, throw their hands in...

Pakistan launched fresh air and drone strikes on 10 locations inside Afghanistan on Thursday, saying they were being used to store and launch drones against Pakistani targets, according to AFP. The latest escalation stems from a toxic mix of militant safe-haven accusations, an unresolved frontier and the collapse of Pakistan’s decades-old relationship with the Afghan Taliban.

The dispute revolves around the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban.

It is distinct from the Taliban, which governs Afghanistan, despite their ideological, historical, and personal similarities. The TTP, which was formed in 2007, seeks to...

Almost two dozen servicemen were swept into the Caspian Sea during a naval exercise on Thursday, Kazakhstan’s Defence Ministry confirmed. Military units, first responders and aircraft were dispatched to search for survivors.

The accident occurred on 24 September in Kazakhstan’s Mangystau region, while troops were conducting a training combat mission on the Caspian coast. According to a defence ministry statement, the weather has suddenly deteriorated in the water area, with strong winds sweeping 19 servicemen into the sea.

Three men were rescued, including one who was taken to hospital. Nine deaths had...

The Dog Stars, a Ridley Scott sci-fi thriller, has nearly vanished from US cinemas less than a month after it opened, down from 3,330 screens to just 110. The $110mn post-apocalyptic film has so far grossed only $14.9mn domestically and $38.9mn worldwide.

The collapse in proceeds accelerated significantly after the second weekend. The Dog Stars grossed $2.77 million across 3,330 theatres from 4 to 6 September, before dropping to $257,548 from 1,030 locations a week later. Its fourth weekend grossed only $26,210, or $238 per cinema, according to estimates.

Scott’s first science-fiction film in nearly a...

Footage of US service members on their hands and knees preparing a red carpet moments before Xi Jinping‘s arrival in Washington has gone viral, sparking ridicule and criticism for the Chinese president’s welcome.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, arrived in the US on Wednesday, 23 September. US president Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump personally met them on the tarmac, an unusual protocol gesture for an arrival at Andrews airbase. The ceremony also included military honours, fighter aircraft and a B-1 bomber flyover.

Later in the day, clips made rounds online, showing US troops smoothing...