The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Central Asia Media Program kicked off the second annual MediaCAMP Eduthon 2021, an innovative seminar on media and digital literacy. The virtual event gathers university professors, schoolteachers, media trainers, and experts in the field of media and digital literacy from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Over the course of five days, with mentorship from international and local media and digital experts, participants will team up and develop projects on interactive teaching of media and digital literacy to various populations using digital tools.

Narzullo Oblomuradov has been elected Chairman of the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan, replacing Komiljon Tojiboev, who worked only for two months – since November 2020.

On February 1, the Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov hosted the his Afghan counterpart Hanif Atmar, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said.

The Uzbek Ministry of Energy, in cooperation with the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, with support from the EBRD and the Japanese government, attracted a consortium of international experts to develop a roadmap to explore the possibility of creating a carbon-neutral electricity generation sector in Uzbekistan by 2050.

Agnieszka Pikulicka, fellow of the Coalition for Women in Journalism (a New York-based nonprofit organization) currently based in Tashkent, reported of her being rejected journalistic accreditation, sexual harassment and pressure by an Uzbek Foreign Ministry official. She wrote about this on Twitter on February 1.

A 10-year-old Uzbek girl, who arrived from the UAE, was diagnosed with the UK strain of coronavirus. This is the first case of this type of COVID-19 in the country, said Deputy Minister of Health/Head of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare Service Bakhodir Yusupaliev.

The President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the decree dismissing Dilmurod Nabiev from the post of the Minister of Sports. "Dilmurod Nabiev is being dismissed from the post of the Minister of Sports due to his being moved to another role," the presidential press service said.

Uzbekistan has extended restrictions on international flights (inbound, outbound and transit) with the UK, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Australia, the Netherlands and South Africa until March 1, as per the decision of the Republican Anti-Coronavirus Commission, taking into account the persistence of a difficult epidemiological situation in these countries.

Four people were trapped in the rubble during the illegal gold prospecting in Galaorol district of Jizzakh region Tuesday, the press service of the provincial police department said. Two people died on the spot, two were taken to intensive care with fractures and other bodily injuries.

The Deputy Prime Minister/Chairman of the Tourism Development Committee Aziz Abdukhakimov held talks with a Kuwaiti delegation led by Vice President of Jazeera Airways Ravindran Bharathan.

On January 28, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held an online summit with the President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in, the presidential press service said.

Uzbekistan climbs 7 places to rank 146 in Transparency International's corruption perception index 2020. The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

The Cotton Campaign welcomes significant further progress toward ending forced labor of cotton pickers in the 2020 cotton harvest in Uzbekistan. In a notable sign of change, the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, the Cotton Campaign’s frontline partner, did not document any cases of forced labor in some cotton-growing districts for the first time in ten years of monitoring forced labor in the Uzbek cotton harvest, Cotton Campaign said.

 Innovative Development Ministry has signed a deal with the Turkish airport operator TAV on cooperation in the fields of joint investment and innovative projects, Anadolu said.

At the Jan. 27 government meeting, Shavkat Mirziyoyev warned government officials that those who hold "unnecessary meetings" will be fired.

Year-to-date, the officers of the Tashkent City Police Department have seized 655 cold arms or objects that can be used as edged weapons, the press service of the Department reported.

The President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree approving the agreement between the government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the government of the Federal Republic of Germany on the exchange and mutual protection of classified information.

The President of Uzbekistan, at the Jan. 27 government meeting, instructed the Prosecutor General Nigmatilla Yuldashev to identify the causes of corruption in each province of Uzbekistan.

Shortly, one governor and one minister will be dismissed from office, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said at a government meeting on January 27. However, he did not elaborated on who exeactly will be sacked.

Online summit between the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in will take place on January 28, the Uzbek leader’s press service said.