Uzbekistan–Israel Minerals Talks: Uzbekistan and Israel discussed cooperation in mining, hydrogeology and critical metals, including groundwater management and the use of Israel’s expertise, alongside Uzbekistan’s updated Subsoil Law and investment plans. Karakalpakstan Infrastructure Push: Uzbekistan launched 11 projects worth $592M and broke ground on 47 initiatives totaling $7B in Karakalpakstan, spanning energy, digital economy, industry, transport and healthcare, aiming to create 8,000 high-income jobs. Water Crisis Warning: A WMO study says Central Asia is losing glaciers fast and seeing reduced water inflow to reservoirs, with the Aral Sea basin facing especially critical runoff levels. AI in Counter-Terrorism: INTERPOL’s “Operation Shams II” used AI on 108,076 facial images from jihadist content to identify 126 foreign terrorist suspects, with Uzbekistan among participating countries. Competition Policy for the Digital Age: Uzbekistan’s antimonopoly authority shared results and its Fair Tech system for digital regulation of competition at an SCO meeting in Dushanbe. Archaeology Breakthrough: Small arrowheads at Uzbekistan’s Obi-Rakhmat site may indicate Homo sapiens in Central Asia 80,000 years ago, reshaping migration timelines. Regional Business Link: Italy and Central Asia launched the B5+Italy platform in Astana to turn political dialogue into trade, technology transfer and industrial partnerships.