Japan donated 800 million yen (US$ 7.3 million) worth of road construction equipment to Uzbekistan as part of the government's Economic and Social Development Program.

Infectious diseases hospital with 200 beds, built jointly with Uzbekistan, was commissioned in Batken province of Kyrgyzstan, the Ministry of Health said.

The world-renowned Code.org platform has started collaborating with IT Park. The main aim of the joint cooperation is to open the doors of opportunities of the IT world for the children.

The Uzbek Ministry for ICTs Development and the Ministry of Interior and Safety of the Republic of Korea signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on setting up of an Uzbek-Korean expert group in the field of e-government and digital economy.

Olivier Norman, a water resources management expert, has been appointed adviser to the Minister of Housing and Utilities and will be in charge of provision of drinking water to villages, the Ministry reported.

The Tashkent State Dental Institute will open a branch at ADEMA dental school of the University of the Balearic Islands in Mallorca (Spain), the Uzbek Ministry of Health said.

On December 22, the Courtyard by Marriott Tashkent Hotel opened in Tashkent’s Yakkasaray district. This is the first hotel of the Marriott International hotel chain, which has over 1100 hotels in more than 50 countries, Dunyo said.

On December 21, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a telephone conversation with President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the press service of the Uzbek leader said.

On December 21, during the working trip of the Foreign Minister A. Kamilov to Moscow, he held talks with his Russian counterpart S. Lavrov.

The Minister of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Jamshid Kuchkarov and Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Lee Yong signed a joint declaration for 2020-2024, the Ministry said in a statement.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Russia satisfied the requests of the Prosecutor General's Office of Uzbekistan for the extradition of citizens for criminal prosecution, the Russian supervisory authority said.

On December 21, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the Uzbekistan's accession to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Kyoto, May 18, 1973, as amended on June 26, 1999) Bill into Law. The Bill was passed by the Legislative Chamber on December 4 and approved by the Senate on December 19.

From December 21 to January 10, Uzbekistan will suspend international flights, including inbound, outbound and transit, with the UK, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Australia, the Netherlands and South Africa. This decision was made by the Special Republican Anti-Coronavirus Commission, due to the detection of a new strain of COVID-19 and the difficult epidemiological situation in these countries.

Turkish police have detained journalist Abdukarim Mirzayev. The graduate degree student in journalism at the University of Kastamonu was arrested on December 11.

The tenth plenary session of the Senate reviewed the appointment of a new Ambassador to Pakistan. The senators voted to appoint Oybek Usmanov as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uzbekistan to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

The meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS Summit) will be held online on December 18 chaired by the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the presidential press service said.

New freight and freight-passenger locomotives delivered to Uzbekistan from China were presented yesterday, Uzbekistan Railways (UTY) said in a statement.

The Agency for Information and Mass Communications under the Presidential Administration posted draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers on improving the use of social networks and the media in covering the activities of state institutions for public input.

On December 15, as part of the visit of the Uzbek government delegation to Japan, the Deputy PM/Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the S. Umurzakov held a meeting with the President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Shinichi Kitaoka, during which issues and prospects for expanding the financial and technical and cultural and humanitarian cooperation, the ministry said in a statament.

106 people have died from carbon monoxide poisoning and gas balsts in Uzbekistan year-to-date, another 190 received various bodily injuries, the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said today at a government meeting.