Shukhrat Bobojon is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Uzbek Service.
Uzbekistan’s agriculture "cluster" reforms have proven to be a new form of “hidden” or “secret privatization” -- a scheme used during the 1990s by corrupt officials and their private-sector cronies in former communist countries of Eastern Europe to plunder state firms.
The latest music video by popular Uzbek singer Lola Yuldosheva has been called a “social protest” because it criticizes authorities who scrutinize performers’ lyrics, music, attire, and even facial hair.
An Uzbek political party has demanded law enforcement agencies take measures against a LUKoil official who used offensive language against local employees in Uzbekistan and referred to them as a “flock of sheep.”
In a sensational allegation at an unusual event in the Uzbek capital, a prominent businessman claims a group of generals plotted a coup in Tashkent in 2012.
Uzbek singers who profit from performing at extravagant weddings are unhappy with a recent ruling that limits the number of music groups that can perform at such affairs.
An investigation is under way to determine who painted over a scantily-clad angel and altered the images of Soviet soldiers on a fresco in eastern Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan has introduced new rules for music videos that bans singers from sporting tattoos, insulting national symbols, and singing in bedrooms, among other things.
At least six domestically produced Uzbek soap operas are currently being prepared for release on the country's two major state television channels in hopes of supplanting hugely popular foreign ones. Preparations have been accompanied by televised promotions and national appeals for "fresh faces" and capable screenwriters to join the effort.
