The Legislative Chamber at today’s meeting approved the candidacies of two ministers, the press service of the chamber reported.

At the Academy of the Armed Forces on January 12, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired an expanded meeting of the Security Council on the results of the activities of the Armed Forces and military-administrative sectors in 2020 and tasks for the future, the presidential press service said in a statement.

At the meeting, organized by the Committee on Defense and Security of the Legislative Chamber, the issues of ensuring the implementation of the objectives set by the President in his address to the Oliy Majlis on the guaranteed protection of human rights and freedoms, the consistent follow-up of reforms to ensure the rule of law were discussed.

The Uzbek journalist and blogger Abdukarim Mirzaev, who was arrested by Turkish police in Istanbul on December 11, has been released, the religious channel RegistonTV, where he worked, said on its website. All charges have been reportedly dropped.

The Samarkand province governor Erkinjon Turdimov went on a short vacation to improve health, the press service of the provincial governor’s office said.

The First Deputy PM Achilbay Ramatov left for Jizzakh to chair the government commission meeting to study the causes of the collapse of a multi-storey residential building in Jizzakh city and prevent similar incidents in the future.

The Republic Korea will expedite Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks with Uzbekistan, the President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in said in his New Year address on Monday.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev had a telephone conversation with the president-elect of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov on Monday.

A footage surfaced on social networks showing mostly women residents of Pakhtakor district of Jizzakh province, in protest against the lack of gas and electricity, blocked the road.

Companies owned by close relatives of two officials who work as heads of the Unitary Customer Service engineering company were awarded public contracts for construction.

A clandestine religious school (hujra) was banned in Tashkent on December 10. The minors who studied there were allegedly beaten on a regular basis, UzReport TV channel reported.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev made his first trip to Jizzakh province after his vacation on January 11. The first destination of his trip was the artillery brigade of the Central Military District, the presidential press service said.

Dilfuza Azizova has been appointed as deputy mayor of Samarkand district of Samarkand province in charge of youth policies, social development and education, the provincial governor’s office said.

Differentiated fare system could be introduced at the Tashkent metro before June 2021, announced the acting Minister of Transport Ilkhom Makhkamov.

The Committee of the Legislative Chamber on Democratic Institutions, Non-Governmental Organizations and Citizens' Self-Government Bodies, together with the Senate, the Cabinet of Ministers and the National Center for Human Rights, held a round table on the topic “Topical issues of further enhancing women’s role and status in public administration, the Legislative Chamber said in a statement.

Saida Mirziyoyeva met with Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Kelley Currie. “We had a face-to-face meeting with the Ambassador-at-Large Kelley Currie. As the Deputy Chair of the Media Foundation's Board of Trustees and the member of the Gender Equality Commission, I believe it is important to draw the public’s attention to the problems of gender equality and facilitate the self-realization for women," she said in her Telegram channel.

According to the Department of Mosques of the Muslim Board, 256 mosques have been reconstructed and 308 were overhauled in Uzbekistan over the past three years.

Today, on January 10 at 17:10, part of a six-story building under construction collapsed in Jizzakh city, the Ministry of Emergency Situations said.

From 2021, public procurement tenders will be held online. The new edition of Public Procurement Law is being reviewed by parliament. In order to ensure openness and transparency in the conduct of tenders and bids, starting from this year, tenders will be held fully online, announced the Deputy Finance Minister Odilbek Isakov at a session of the International Press Club.

The Deputy PM/Chairman of Tourism Development Committee Aziz Abdukhakimov at a briefing at the Agency of Information and Mass Communications on Saturday spoke about the tourism sector figures in 2020 and the objectives for 2021.