A 65 meters tall flagpole has been erected in the People's Friendship Square in Tashkent’s, an Uzbekistan flag — 20 meters by 10 meters— was raised for the first time today on 16 July 2018, the Tashkent mayor’s office said.

Farhod Juraev has been appointed as new chief of Kattakurgan police department in Samarkand province, replacing the fired Ilyas Abdukakharov, the Interior Ministry said.

Due to maintenance works and temperature regime Urgench international airport will be temporarily closed from July 16, Uzbekistan announced.

On 16 July 2018, the Council of the European Union adopted negotiating directives for the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission to negotiate an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Uzbekistan.

Fergana, Uzbekistan will today host a meeting of the Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov and the Prime Minister of Tajikistan Kohir Rasulzada, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will hold joint military exercises, the Kazakh media reported. The Uzbek Defense Minister, Abdusalom Azizov is curently in Kazakhstan on a working visit, whre he met with his Kazakh counterpart Saken Zhasuzakov.

One evening last December, a crane lifted construction workers to the top of the ornate arched entrance to Uzbekistan’s biggest commercial market. Overnight, they replaced the huge letters spelling out its title, Reuters’ story said.

The draft Uzbekistan’s Innovation Strategy until 2021 has been published for public consultation Thursday. As noted in the document, in 2015 Uzbekistan was ranked 122nd in the Global Innovation Index, in 2016 and 2017 Uzbekistan was not included in the ranking "due to the lack of data."

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan supported a study visit for six representatives of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Russian Federation and France, which took place from 29 June to 6 July 2018. The delegation consisted of judges and experts and was headed by the Deputy Chairperson of the Court, Askar Gafurov.

Governor of the Samarkand province Turobjon Djuraev was dismissed from his post, Kun.uz said. Djuraev will be reportedly replaced by Erkinjon Turdimov, the Surkhandarya province governor since December 2016.

The Tashkent city deputies council at its 38th session approved renaming Bodomzor Yuli street in Yunusabad district in honor of the Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov, the Tashkent city mayor’s office said.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree appointing Karsten Heinz, a German national as Deputy innovations minister. the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Berlin said in a statement.

Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan and UNFPA (UN Population Fund) together commemorate the World Population Day 2018 to highlight global and national efforts on family planning as a human right.

The number of foreign nationals who entered Uzbekistan nearly doubled reaching 2.688 million, or a 91.6% increase in the first year-half compared to 2017, the Tourism development committee said.

UNICEF and Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan with support of the European Union, launched a project to protect children affected by migration. The project is being rolled out in eight countries of Southeast, South and Central Asia, including Uzbekistan.

The population of Uzbekistan as of July 1 stands at 32.9 million people, an increase by 243.4 thousand from 31 December 2017, or by 0.7%. The urban population is 16.646 million (or 50.6% of total population), and the rural population is at 16.254 million (49.4%), the Statistics Committee’s said in report.

The Legislative Chamber MP Sabit Tursunov died in car accident in Syrdarya province Saturday, when he was heading to Samarkand province on an unlicensed taxi to study problems related to water supply.

Journalist Furkat Yusupov perished in Karakalpakstan. Kruz.Uz reported today. On Saturday evening, Furkat reportedly met with four classmates and went for a swim in a canal. One of the girls decided to have a dip and started drowning. Furkat's friend man rushed to help her, but he could not cope with the current either. Then Furkat tried to help his friends. As a result, none of the three could swim out.

New chiefs have been appointed at the tax departments n Karakalpakstan and four provinces, the committee said in a statement.

Bekzod Abdrimov, acting deputy mayor of Urgench district in Khorezm province, was arrested red-handed when while taking 5 million soums in bribe from a local resident on July 1, Akhborot 24 news program on Uzbekistan 24 reported.