YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, visited Tashkent on 9 October for a fan event organised by Uzbekistan’s Art and Culture Development Foundation. The visit marked his first trip to Central Asia.
Uzbekistan welcomed 10.3 million foreign tourists in the first nine months of 2026, up 20.4 per cent year-on-year, as the Central Asian nation pushes towards its ambitious goal of attracting 20 million visitors annually by 2030.
Türkiye says talks with Washington are continuing over six F-35 fighter jets it purchased but never received, as Ankara pushes for the lifting of U.S. sanctions on its defence industry.
Kazakhstan is considering new rules governing the use of artificial intelligence in newsrooms, including requirements to label AI-generated content. The proposal was discussed at the tenth Astana Media Week, which also focused on digital threats and children's online safety.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reaffirmed his support for Saudi Arabia following Houthi attacks, as U.S. President Donald Trump considers involving Türkiye in the Yemen conflict.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is in Baku for the seventh Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Summit on 14–15 October, as Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan seek to turn stronger political ties into deeper economic cooperation.
Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of blaming Kabul for its domestic political and security problems, as Islamabad repeated claims that militants are using Afghan territory to launch attacks across the border.
Kazakhstan’s competition regulator has issued a formal warning to ride-hailing platform inDrive after fares for some journeys reportedly nearly tripled as widespread Yandex outages disrupted taxi services across Central Asia on 11 October.
Russia's TASS news agency is reporting that Russia's defence and digital development ministries are in talks about how to protect data centres, after several Yandex centres were targeted in Ukrainian drone attacks.
Turkic states are assessing the feasibility of passport-free travel between countries using national ID cards, Kürşad Zorlu, the Deputy Chairman of Türkiye’s ruling AK Party said on Saturday.
Uzbekistan has unveiled plans to deepen economic ties with Central Asia and Azerbaijan, proposing shared artificial intelligence infrastructure, a critical minerals alliance and a regional trade strategy extending to 2035.
Leaders of countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have agreed to hold coordinated population censuses around 2030. They took the decision at the CIS Council of Heads of State meeting in Awaza, Turkmenistan on Friday, media reported.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 9 October 2026 with five key developments from the CIS summit in Turkmenistan.
Central Asian countries have agreed on water withdrawal limits and reservoir operating plans for the 2026-2027 non-growing season, with inflows into Kazakhstan’s Shardara Reservoir -- a crucial water source for agriculture --expected to reach around 10 billion cubic metres.
Tajikistan has begun the process of leaving the International Criminal Court, citing what it calls growing politicisation and bias in the court’s work.
Azerbaijan and the five Central Asian states have signed two key documents at the 8th Consultative Meeting of Heads of State in Turkmenbashi, formalising a broader framework for regional cooperation in transport, trade, energy, digitalisation and security.
Russian oil company Lukoil plans to expand its activities in Uzbekistan, with potential areas including geological exploration, hydrocarbon development and retail fuel sales. The plans were discussed during a meeting between President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Lukoil founder Vagit Alekperov.
The preliminary results of an investigation into Kazakhstan's armed forces have emerged. The probe was ordered by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev following the deaths of 14 servicemen during military exercises in the Caspian Sea, which resulted in the arrest of the former naval chief.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has travelled to Avaza, Turkmenistan, where he is scheduled to attend and address a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 7 October 2026. These are the top five things to expect from the CIS summit in Turkmenistan.
Central Asian countries are strengthening sanitary and quarantine controls amid the situation in Russia’s Irkutsk region. Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have introduced preventive measures following the death of an employee of a plague research institute in the city of Shelekhov.
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