A video circulating on social media has sparked public outrage. The footage shows students dressed in light festive clothing in the cold weather being dragged into the bridge opening ceremony. The Ombudsman for Children has responded to the incident.

According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, Kastamonu was named the most religious province in the country. In this province, there is one mosque for every 145 people (a total of 2,605). Samsun came in second (one for every 497 people, a total of 2,751 mosques). Konya, which had previously held the lead, fell to third place with one for every 705 people, a total of 3,255 mosques. For information, the number of mosques in Uzbekistan as a whole, according to Masjid.uz, is 2,043.

A young man from the Antalya region of Turkey has been arrested for disrespecting the Holy Quran by sitting on it on social media. A case has been opened against him on charges of insulting religious values.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has approved the construction of the country's second and third nuclear power plants. He said Kazakhstan aims to achieve economic growth by developing nuclear energy and eliminating energy shortages.

It has been 456 days since Israel launched its war of aggression and genocide in the Gaza Strip. Key events that took place in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the entire Middle East over the past 24 hours.

On January 3, 2025, a 19-year-old conscript serving in a military unit affiliated with the Emergency Response Force in the city of Nukus entered a civilian home while drunk and assaulted a sleeping woman. As if that weren't enough, he stabbed five people, one of whom reportedly died in hospital.

A major traffic accident involving 95 vehicles occurred on the Astana-Petropavlovsk highway in Kazakhstan. The accident was caused by a snowstorm, poor visibility, and drivers' failure to observe speed and safe distance.

On the first day of 2025, the construction of new religious educational institutions began in the Chechen Republic, part of the Russian Federation.

New tariffs for foreign truckers will be implemented in Uzbekistan from 2025. Tolls for Turkmen trucks have been increased, while fees for Iranian vehicles have been abolished.

Kazakhstan has stepped up its fight against drug trafficking, introducing life imprisonment for those involved in the production and sale of drugs. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a bill providing for the procedure.