rferl--2020-04-24--Georgia Seeks To Buffer Expected 4 Percent Economic Contraction

Georgia has announced a 3.5 billion-lari ( $ 1.1 billion ) support package aimed at shoring up the country 's economy , which is expected to contract 4 percent this year because of the coronavirus pandemic .
More than 2 billion laris provided in the package will go toward supporting businesses and the wider economy , Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said on April 24 .
Another 1 billion laris will go toward welfare support , and 350 million laris is included for health-care and medical needs .
Gakharia presented the plan to his government on April 24 , saying the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and lose 1.8 billion laris in revenue .
The government had projected 4.5 percent growth in 2020 .
The support measures draw on $ 3 billion of emergency funding to be provided by international financial institutions and donors announced on April 14 .
Georgia had appealed to the donors for help in balancing its budget for this year .
Georgia earlier this week extended its state of emergency until May 22 .
It includes a curfew from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. , the closure of restaurants , cafes and most shops , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a ban on gatherings of more than three people .
Grocery stores , pharmacies , and gas stations remain open .
A nationwide ban on driving private vehicles will end on April 27 , and other restrictions will be removed gradually , Gakharia said .
The South Caucasus country of about 4 million people has so far reported 431 confirmed cases of the coronavirus , with five deaths .


rferl--2020-04-25--Belarus Pushes Ahead With Civic-Labor Day Despite Spread Of Coronavirus

Thousands of Belarusians took part in a day of civic labor at the government ’ s behest even as the novel coronavirus spreads at a fast pace in the former Soviet republic .
Citizens working in groups planted trees and cleaned parks and streets on April 25 as part of an annual event that dates back to the communist period .
Belarusian President Alyaksander Lukashenka , who has repeatedly dismissed concerns about the dangers of the virus , took part in the government-decreed event as did other state officials .
Lukashenka claimed humans ’ disregard for the environment was in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus and that the day ’ s activities -- like planting trees -- could help defend against it .
`` I once said that ( God ) saw that we have an awful attitude toward the environment ” and lead a way of life that “ does not meet those criteria that should be met .
And he hit us on the head ( with the coronavirus ) , ” the presidential press service quoted Lukashenka as saying .
“ Therefore , we are trying , if not to even out the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ourselves and our loved ones with these steps , '' he said .
At one park , Belarusian state television showed bottles of antiseptic available for workers , few of whom , though , wore face masks as they cleaned up .
Belarus has been criticized for not imposing social-distancing measures or restricting public activities in response to the coronavirus pandemic .
In stark contrast to other European countries that have adopted strict lockdown measures to contain the epidemic , Belarus 's borders remain open , factories , shops , and restaurants conduct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and spectators are permitted to attend sporting events , including matches in the national soccer league .
The World Health Organization on April 21 said Belarus needs to postpone “ large gatherings , ” including sports , religious , and cultural events , and place in quarantine “ contacts of confirmed patients and people potentially exposed to the virus , ” they said in a statement .
Belarus has nearly 10,000 reported cases of COVID-19 , more than neighboring Ukraine , which has about four-times the population .
Nearly 70 people have died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reporting by RFE/RL Belarusian Service and AP

Thousands of Belarusians took part in a day of civic labor at the government’s behest even as the coronavirus spreads at a fast pace in the former Soviet republic.
Citizens working in groups planted trees and cleaned parks and streets on April 25 as part of an annual event that dates back to the communist period.
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has repeatedly dismissed concerns about the dangers of the virus, took part in the government-decreed event as did other state officials.
Lukashenka claimed humans’ disregard for the environment was in part to blame for the spread of the virus and that the day’s activities -- like planting trees -- could help defend against it.
"I once said that [God] saw that we have an awful attitude toward the environment” and lead a way of life that “does not meet those criteria that should be met. And he hit us on the head [with the coronavirus],” the presidential press service quoted Lukashenka as saying.
“Therefore, we are trying, if not to even out the situation, then at least to protect ourselves and our loved ones with these steps," he said.
At one park, Belarusian state television showed bottles of antiseptic available for workers, few of whom, though, wore face masks as they cleaned up.
Belarus has been criticized for not imposing social-distancing measures or restricting public activities in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
In stark contrast to other European countries that have adopted strict lockdown measures to contain the epidemic, Belarus's borders remain open, factories, shops, and restaurants conduct business as usual in the country, and spectators are permitted to attend sporting events, including matches in the national soccer league.
The World Health Organization on April 21 said Belarus needs to postpone “large gatherings,” including sports, religious, and cultural events, and place in quarantine “contacts of confirmed patients and people potentially exposed to the virus,” they said in a statement.
Belarus has nearly 10,000 reported cases of COVID-19, more than neighboring Ukraine, which has about four-times the population. Nearly 70 people have died in Belarus from the virus.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Belarus Service and AP


rferl--2020-04-25--U.S., Russia Commemorate Historic Elbe Meeting As Example Of Overcoming 'Differences'

The United States and Russia have commemorated the 75th anniversary of a meeting between U.S. and Soviet soldiers on a bridge in Germany as an example that the two countries can overcome `` differences '' to resolve global threats .
The historic handshake by U.S. and Soviet troops on April 25 , 1945. as they stood on a damaged bridge crossing the Elbe River near the town of Torgau signified the impending defeat of Nazi Germany by the allied forces .
`` The 'Spirit of the Elbe ' is an example of how our countries can put aside differences , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a greater cause , '' U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a joint statement on April 25 .
The anniversary comes as the two countries , at odds on a host of issues , are again fighting a common enemy in the coronavirus pandemic .
U.S.-Russia relations are at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War more than a quarter-century ago as actions by the Kremlin , including its annexation of Ukraine 's Crimean Peninsula , support of separatists in eastern Ukraine , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to impose hard-hitting sanctions against the country .
However , dialogue between Washington and Moscow has reactivated in recent weeks amid the global fight to stop the spread of COVID-19 .
Trump and Putin have spoken at least five times over the past month to discuss the pandemic , including its impact on global oil prices , an unprecedented number of calls since Trump took office in 2017 .
U.S .
Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said the events of 75 years ago were a reminder that the world is a `` safer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States and Russia `` reach across that bridge and work together . ''

The United States and Russia have commemorated the 75th anniversary of a meeting between U.S. and Soviet soldiers on a bridge in Germany as an example that the two countries can overcome "differences" to resolve global threats.
The historic handshake by U.S. and Soviet troops on April 25, 1945, as they stood on a damaged bridge crossing the Elbe River near the town of Torgau signified the impending defeat of Nazi Germany by the allied forces.
"The 'Spirit of the Elbe' is an example of how our countries can put aside differences, build trust, and cooperate in pursuit of a greater cause," U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a joint statement on April 25.
The anniversary comes as the two countries, at odds on a host of issues, are again fighting a common enemy in the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S.-Russia relations are at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War more than a quarter-century ago as actions by the Kremlin, including its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, support of separatists in eastern Ukraine, and interference in U.S. elections, pushed Washington to impose hard-hitting sanctions against the country.
However, dialogue between Washington and Moscow has reactivated in recent weeks amid the global fight to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Trump and Putin have spoken at least five times over the past month to discuss the pandemic, including its impact on global oil prices, an unprecedented number of calls since Trump took office in 2017.
U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said the events of 75 years ago were a reminder that the world is a "safer and more stable place" when the United States and Russia "reach across that bridge and work together."


rferl--2020-04-25--Poland Says Russia's Gazprom Continues To Overcharge For Gas Despite Court Ruling

Poland said Gazprom , Russia 's state-owned natural gas exporter , continues to overcharge it for deliveries in violation of a recent European court ruling .
PGNiG , Poland ’ s state-owned energy company , last month won a binding arbitration case against Gazprom in a Stockholm court that ordered the Russian firm to reduce its pricing formula for gas exported to the Central European country under an existing long-term contract .
`` Gazprom is not honoring the award issued following the long arbitration process , continuing to issue invoices based on the invalid pricing formula , '' PGNiG said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Poland in 2014 began talks with Gazprom to change the pricing formula for gas imports as the rise of liquefied natural gas ( LNG ) altered global energy markets .
Following years of unfruitful talks , PGNiG filed an arbitration case against Gazprom .
The Stockholm court on March 30 ruled in PGNiG ’ s favor , ordering Gazprom to retroactively alter the pricing formula and pay the Polish firm $ 1.5 billion for overcharging it since 2014 .
PGNiG is seeking to replace Russian gas with imports from other countries .
Poland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States .

Poland said Gazprom, Russia's state-owned natural gas exporter, continues to overcharge it for deliveries in violation of a recent European court ruling.
PGNiG, Poland’s state-owned energy company, last month won a binding arbitration case against Gazprom in a Stockholm court that ordered the Russian firm to reduce its pricing formula for gas exported to the Central European country under an existing long-term contract.
"Gazprom is not honoring the award issued following the long arbitration process, continuing to issue invoices based on the invalid pricing formula," PGNiG said in a statement on April 24.
Poland in 2014 began talks with Gazprom to change the pricing formula for gas imports as the rise of liquefied natural gas (LNG) altered global energy markets.
Following years of unfruitful talks, PGNiG filed an arbitration case against Gazprom.
The Stockholm court on March 30 ruled in PGNiG’s favor, ordering Gazprom to retroactively alter the pricing formula and pay the Polish firm $1.5 billion for overcharging it since 2014.
Poland’s gas-import contract with Gazprom expires in 2022.
PGNiG is seeking to replace Russian gas with imports from other countries. Poland is already importing LNG from the United States.
With reporting by Vedomosti


rferl--2020-04-25--U.S. Calls On EU To Put Sanctions On Iranians Developing Missile Program

The United States has called on the European Union to place sanctions on individuals and entities working on Iran 's missile programs after Tehran said it successfully launched a military satellite .
Washington also called on all countries to extend the United Nations conventional-arms embargo on Iran , saying the launch was proof the country 's space program was `` neither peaceful nor entirely civilian . ''
`` This satellite launch vehicle and others launched before it incorporate technologies identical to , and interchangeable with , ballistic missiles , including longer-range systems such as intercontinental ballistic missiles ( ICBMs ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ICBM capability except for the purpose of delivering nuclear weapons , '' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on April 25 .
After months of failed attempts , Iran 's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps ( IRGC ) announced on April 22 that it had launched a military satellite into orbit .
The IRGC said on its official website the satellite reached an orbit of 425 kilometers above the Earth 's surface .
Washington criticized Iran for spending its limited financial resources on a launch at a time when the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus , which has hurt its already devastated economy .
The United States has imposed punishing sanctions on Iran that have been compounded recently by the sharp fall in the price of oil , one of Iran 's main exports .
`` When the Iranian people are suffering and dying from the coronavirus pandemic , it is regrettable to see the regime waste its resources and efforts on provocative military pursuits that do nothing to help the Iranian people , '' Pompeo said .

A polytechnic school in Russia’s Tatarstan, a region some 900 kilometers east of Moscow, is using manufacturing facilities that are part of a nearby special economic zone to assemble Iranian attack drones and are increasingly turning to underage students as laborers, many of whom often work in exploitative conditions.
The revelations at Alabuga Polytechnic University raise troubling implications about the lengths that Russian authorities are going to in order to boost the war effort and how the advanced Iranian weaponry -- which is increasingly used to bombard Ukrainian cities and has only recently begun to be manufactured inside Russia -- could contribute to escalating tensions and rising civilian casualties.
The use of underage students as drone factory workers and the details of the manufacturing facilities were first reported by Russian independent media outlets Protokol and Razvorot, which published a series of investigations in July.
Since then, RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities has spoken with students who describe grueling working conditions and interviewed dozens of parents whose children have been enrolled at Alabuga Polytechnic University -- some as young at 15 -- who say that their children were forced to work exceedingly long hours, often without proper breaks or meals, and under hostile conditions that have deeply affected their mental health.
“My son enrolled and 2 1/2 months later he called for me to take him away,” Zhanna, who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect against reprisals for speaking about the operation, told RFE/RL. “He said to me on the phone, ‘Come and get me or I’ll die,’ so I picked him up immediately.”
Zhanna, who asked that her underage son’s name also not be used, says that she sent him from Nizhny Novgorod to study at Alabuga Polytechnic University in 2022 because of its reputation as a leading technical institution inside Russia.
The school offered students -- often between the ages of 15-18 -- an opportunity to get vocational training as part of a dual program that combines a classroom education with practical work experience. Students were also promised an opportunity to work and earn a locally competitive salary of up to 70,000 rubles ($700) a month as part of the work experience program that could further their career growth.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
But, instead, those enrolled were encouraged and in some cases pressured into working at the drone facility, where the salaries of the mostly underage laborers are contingent on meeting tough production quotas.
“This is a textbook definition of what constitutes exploitation,” Sergei Podsytnik, an investigative journalist at Protokol who worked on the series of reports, told RFE/RL. “[Students] assemble drones, with the work taking priority over their studies.”
The pressure to fulfill these quotas has allegedly led to strenuous back-to-back days -- with some shifts lasting up to 15 hours -- with little time for sleep or adequate sustenance. Overtime work is often unpaid, further highlighting potential labor violations. Exhausted students also reported not always meeting their quotas, which led to them not earning the salary initially promised by the school. Many students came from disadvantaged backgrounds and relied on their earnings to cover costs for tuition, room, and board and would send the remainder home.
Other parents, such as Marina, said she decided to take her daughter out of the program when she discovered that she was working in apparent unsafe conditions and that staff from the school had instructed students not to tell their parents about the drone assembly work.
“This was the last straw for me,” Marina, who also asked for her identity to be concealed, told RFE/RL. “This is a dangerous production process that involves dangerous chemicals. They also forbid the kids from telling everything to their parents.”
RFE/RL sent multiple requests for comment to various staff and administrators at Alabuga Polytechnic University but received no replies.
Making Iranian Drones In Russia
The complicated and concerning dynamic at Alabuga Polytechnic University stems from growing military cooperation between Iran and Russia that has accelerated since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Iran has said it provided drones to Russia before the start of the war, but not since. However, U.S. intelligence officials have warned for months of continued deliveries and deepening cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, saying the two sides were exploring how to set up a manufacturing plant for Iranian drones inside Russia.
According to The Wall Street Journal, an Iranian delegation visited Yelabuga in Tatarstan on January 5, touring a potential site for such a factory at the Alabuga special economic zone close to Alabuga Polytechnic University. U.S. officials released satellite images in April of the plant being built.
Russia already possesses an array of unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which are used mainly for surveillance and artillery spotting, but has turned increasingly to Tehran for attack drones.
After being forced to abandon Ukrainian territory that its troops captured in the early stretches of the war, Moscow shifted to a strategy of relentless air assaults on Ukrainian cities. These attacks often rely on a combination of cruise missiles and self-detonating drones packed with explosives to knock out electricity and running water for the civilian population in Ukraine.
So far, Iran has provided Russia mostly with so-called "suicide" drones, known as the Shahed-136, that contain a modest amount of explosives that can detonate when the drones crash into targets, military experts say.
In acquiring its own domestic assembly line, Russia could dramatically increase its stockpile of the relatively inexpensive but highly destructive weapons systems.
WATCH: Russia has resorted to using Shahed-136 drones from Iran in its war on Ukraine. Ukraine says it's already downed many of the drones, which work by slamming into their intended target, laden with explosives. Ordinary Ukrainians say they can already recognize the sound of the drones, which use two-stroke engines like lawnmowers or motorbikes. Iran has denied supplying the drones to Russia.
The arrangement also offers substantial economic and political benefits for Iran, which has sought to portray itself as neutral in the Ukraine war. The appearance of Iranian-made drones over Ukrainian cities, however, has triggered threats of new economic sanctions from the West. The United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have also all issued rules in recent months designed to cut off the flow of drone components to Russia and Iran.
The Washington Post reported in November 2022, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, that the agreement to deliver Iranian drone schematics and materials for manufacture in Russia resulted from Iranian leaders believing that the arrangement would allow Tehran to avert new sanctions.
Foreign Recruitment And Patriotic Education
Alabuga Polytechnic University is formally not a college. All of its students are officially enrolled at nearby Yelabuga Polytechnic College, with the Alabuga institution existing on paper as a specialized program for students looking to break into high-tech industries.
Currently, about 1,000 students are studying at Alabuga Polytechnic University, with several hundred of them -- most of whom are between the ages of 15 and 17 -- involved in assembling the Iranian drones.
In addition to the work on the drones, there are other signs that point to blurred lines in Russia between the education system and the country’s military amid the war in Ukraine.
According to current and former Alabuga Polytechnic University students, team-building and organized extracurricular activities through the school often take on a “patriotic” character that may be designed to expose students to official government narratives of international events or echo talking points from state television.
Organized paintball games have become a mainstay for students, especially first-year arrivals, in which they are encouraged to compete against one another and then play together against more experienced outside players. Teachers and administration officials regularly refer to paintball as being part of a “patriotic” education needed to complement the technical aspect of their studies.
In one instance, a group of new students competed in paintball as Soviet soldiers against outside players who were dressed as troops from Nazi Germany in a capture-the-flag competition meant to simulate the World War II battle of Stalingrad. According to one student, the Nazi flag contained the compass symbol used by the NATO military alliance instead of the swastika used by Nazi Germany.
Other instances of political teachings from staff are more direct. In a recording obtained by RFE/RL from June 16, a senior administrator can be heard telling the teenagers that NATO launched a hybrid war against Russia back in 2011 and that it has slowly become more overt. The man then goes on to tell students that their hard work and exceeding long days at the drone factory are part of a nationwide struggle against the West and that their patriotism will be rewarded.
Several students and parents identified the man in the recording as Timur Shagivaleev, the director-general of the special economic zone where Alabuga Polytechnic University and the drone factory operate.
Shagivaleev did not respond to RFE/RL’s request for comment.
The man in the recording then goes on to tell students not to take holidays and to continue working “even if it's mom's birthday,” before ending his speech with, “Long live our great country.”
WATCH: Amid a new wave of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, analysts in Kyiv are gaining useful intelligence from a collection of downed Russian aerial weapons. They have been studying the remains of Iranian Shahed drones and Russian Kinzhal missiles, among others.
Multiple current and former students told RFE/RL that students who work in the drone factory are often praised by staff, while those who have refused or asked to be reassigned due to the high workload are often publicly shamed. In some instances -- according to recordings heard by RFE/RL -- staff even encourage students to bully others who are not deemed “patriotic” enough.
According to Protokol and Razvorot’s investigations, Alabuga Polytechnic University has also turned toward recruiting foreign students to enroll. The majority of them come from African countries, but also from Central Asia and Azerbaijan, where they are promised “world class” salaries as part of the dual-track world experience program.
However, these foreign students are then given low-skill and menial tasks around the campus and the special economic zone, such as janitorial work, and are also paid lower salaries than initially promised.
Written by Reid Standish based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities


rferl--2020-04-25--COVID-19: Russia Hits Record Fatalities; 'Coronavirus Free' Tajikistan Shuts Schools

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 191,000 with over 2.7 million infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Russia has recorded its largest single day tally of fatalities from the novel coronavirus as the number of new cases reached nearly 6,000 .
The country registered 66 deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours , Russian media reported on April 25 , bringing the fatality total from the disease to 681 .
Russia 's death tally from COVID-19 is very low compared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and has raised questions about whether fatalities are being artificially lowered by ascribing them to other causes , such as pneumonia .
New cases rose by nearly 6,000 over the past 24 hours , lifting the total number of registered cases in Russia to just under 75,000 .
Eight children at a Russian military academy in Tver , a town about 180 kilometers from Moscow , have been infected with the disease , the Defense Ministry said in a statement on April 25 .
Meanwhile , Dmitry Novikov , a member of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Duma , said he had contracted COVID-19 .
Novikov is the second Communist Party Duma deputy to catch the virus after Leonid Kalashnikov , who is in a hospital with a fever .
Thousands of Belarusians have taken part in a day of civic labor even as the new coronavirus spreads in the former Soviet republic .
Citizens working in groups planted trees and cleaned parks and streets on April 25 as part of the annual event that dates back to the communist period .
Belarusian President Alyaksander Lukashenka , who has repeatedly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part in the government-decreed event , as did other state officials .
At one park , Belarusian state television showed bottles of antiseptic available for workers , few of whom wore face masks as they worked .
Belarus has been criticized for not imposing social-distancing measures or restricting public activities in response to the coronavirus pandemic .
The country has nearly 10,000 reported cases of COVID-19 and nearly 70 deaths , according to Johns Hopkins University .
Even as the lack of an officially declared coronavirus infection draws skepticism , Tajikistan has announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks , ban public gatherings , and temporarily halt grain exports as a precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic .
The government 's body tasked with preventing a coronavirus outbreak announced on April 25 that the measures will affect institutions of learning from preschool to high school , and were implemented in order to `` protect the public health and safety of the population , especially children and adolescents . ''
Universities will continue to operate , according to Ministry of Education 's press center .
The suspension of grain exports is intended to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government , while the ban on public gatherings will affect cinemas , theaters , and sporting events .
Tajikistan borders China , where the coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 2.8 million people and killed nearly 198,000 originated .
But the Central Asian country has officially yet to record a coronavirus case , leading to concerns that officials could be hiding the presence of infections or that the country 's beleaguered health-care sector may not be testing adequately .
Galina Perfiliyeva , a representative for the World Health Organization , in an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said that `` to categorically state that there are no cases [ of coronavirus ] in the country is not possible . ''
The Muslim-majority country of nearly 9 million people has shut the borders and closed mosques , but has continued to hold events such as soccer games , although without spectators .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Tajik Service , RBK , Novaya gazeta , AP , Mir24 , and TASS

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 191,000 with over 2.7 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions.
Russia
Russia has recorded its largest single day tally of fatalities from the novel coronavirus as the number of new cases reached nearly 6,000.
The country registered 66 deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, Russian media reported on April 25, bringing the fatality total from the disease to 681.
Russia's death tally from COVID-19 is very low compared to Western Europe and the United States and has raised questions about whether fatalities are being artificially lowered by ascribing them to other causes, such as pneumonia.
New cases rose by nearly 6,000 over the past 24 hours, lifting the total number of registered cases in Russia to just under 75,000.
Eight children at a Russian military academy in Tver, a town about 180 kilometers from Moscow, have been infected with the disease, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on April 25.
Meanwhile, Dmitry Novikov, a member of the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, said he had contracted COVID-19.
Novikov is the second Communist Party Duma deputy to catch the virus after Leonid Kalashnikov, who is in a hospital with a fever.
Belarus
Thousands of Belarusians have taken part in a day of civic labor even as the new coronavirus spreads in the former Soviet republic.
Citizens working in groups planted trees and cleaned parks and streets on April 25 as part of the annual event that dates back to the communist period.
Belarusian President Alyaksander Lukashenka, who has repeatedly dismissed concerns about the virus, took part in the government-decreed event, as did other state officials.
At one park, Belarusian state television showed bottles of antiseptic available for workers, few of whom wore face masks as they worked.
Belarus has been criticized for not imposing social-distancing measures or restricting public activities in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The country has nearly 10,000 reported cases of COVID-19 and nearly 70 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Tajikistan
Even as the lack of an officially declared coronavirus infection draws skepticism, Tajikistan has announced that it will close schools for two weeks, ban public gatherings, and temporarily halt grain exports as a precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government's body tasked with preventing a coronavirus outbreak announced on April 25 that the measures will affect institutions of learning from preschool to high school, and were implemented in order to "protect the public health and safety of the population, especially children and adolescents."
Universities will continue to operate, according to Ministry of Education's press center.
The suspension of grain exports is intended to conserve domestic supplies, according to the government, while the ban on public gatherings will affect cinemas, theaters, and sporting events.
Tajikistan borders China, where the coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 2.8 million people and killed nearly 198,000 originated.
But the Central Asian country has officially yet to record a coronavirus case, leading to concerns that officials could be hiding the presence of infections or that the country's beleaguered health-care sector may not be testing adequately.
Galina Perfiliyeva, a representative for the World Health Organization, in an April 22 interview reversed earlier comments and said that "to categorically state that there are no cases [of coronavirus] in the country is not possible."
The Muslim-majority country of nearly 9 million people has shut the borders and closed mosques, but has continued to hold events such as soccer games, although without spectators.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Tajik Service, RBK, Novaya gazeta, AP, Mir24, and TASS


rferl--2020-04-26--Two Pakistani Soldiers, Nine Militants Killed In North Waziristan Clash

Pakistani military officials say at least two soldiers from Pakistan 's army and nine militants were killed in a gun battle late on April 25 near the border with Afghanistan .
Pakistan 's Inter-Services Public Relations , the military 's media wing , said on April 26 that five Pakistani soldiers also were injured in the clash that took place in the volatile tribal region of North Waziristan .
It did not identify which militant group the gunmen were thought to be linked to .
According to Pakistani officials , security forces captured what they described as `` an accomplice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a large cache '' of weapons and explosives from a hideout used by the militants in North Waziristan .
Terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda , the Haqqani network of the Afghan Taliban , and Pakistani militants have all been active in the region during the past decade .
The Pakistani military managed to push militants out of their border-region strongholds through a series of offensives since 2014 .
But militants continue to stage surprise attacks there .
The latest clash was the fifth between security forces and militants in the area within the past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the militants may be trying to regroup in their former strongholds in Pakistan .
Based on reporting by Reuters , AP , AFP , and dpa

Pakistani military officials say at least two soldiers from Pakistan's army and nine militants were killed in a gun battle late on April 25 near the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations, the military's media wing, said on April 26 that five Pakistani soldiers also were injured in the clash that took place in the volatile tribal region of North Waziristan.
It did not identify which militant group the gunmen were thought to be linked to.
According to Pakistani officials, security forces captured what they described as "an accomplice" of the militants and seized "a large cache" of weapons and explosives from a hideout used by the militants in North Waziristan.
Terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network of the Afghan Taliban, and Pakistani militants have all been active in the region during the past decade.
The Pakistani military managed to push militants out of their border-region strongholds through a series of offensives since 2014. But militants continue to stage surprise attacks there.
The latest clash was the fifth between security forces and militants in the area within the past month.
That has reinforced concerns that the militants may be trying to regroup in their former strongholds in Pakistan.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa


rferl--2020-04-26--U.S. Envoy Calls On Taliban To Observe Cease-Fire During Ramadan, Coronavirus Crisis

The U.S. special envoy for Afghan reconciliation has asked the Taliban to observe a cease-fire on `` humanitarian grounds '' during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the ongoing coronavirus crisis .
In a series of tweets on April 26 , U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said the Taliban should `` reduce violence '' and `` stop all their offensive operations '' until the end of the coronavirus crisis .
His remarks follow an attack by Taliban militants on the first day of Ramadan , April 24 , that killed at least 13 pro-government forces in the northeastern Afghan province @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an earlier request by the Afghan government for a cease-fire during Ramadan .
In a statement on April 23 , the Taliban said steps for a cease-fire were already drawn up in an agreement signed with the United States in Qatar in February .
The Taliban accused Afghanistan 's government of failing to fully implement the peace process .
Intra-Afghan peace talks , including representatives of the Taliban , are supposed to begin after some 5,000 Taliban prisoners are released from the custody of the Afghan government .
In return , the Taliban @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Afghan troops and civilian government employees it is holding .
So far , the government has freed nearly 500 Taliban prisoners and the militant group has released about 60 prisoners .
Based on reporting by AP , Reuters , and AFP

The education of girls and women is universally accepted in more than 200 countries and territories, including nearly 50 Muslim-majority nations.
But Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers have banned teenage girls from attending school after the sixth grade since they returned to power two years ago. The ban was extended in December to women in universities.
Countless protests by Afghans inside the country, pressure from the international community, and lobbying by Muslim scholars and clerics have failed to convince the fundamentalist Taliban leaders to reopen schools.
Experts are divided over whether the ban is rooted in how the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam is shaped by conservative Pashtun tribal customs and cultural practices or if it is prompted by how senior Taliban ideologues interpret Islamic teachings.
Most Taliban leaders are ethnic Pashtun, Sunni Muslim clerics. Many were educated in Deobandi madrasahs in neighboring Pakistan. Deobandism emerged as a puritanical Islamic revivalist movement in 19-century British Colonial India. Based on the Sunni Hanafi school of jurisprudence, it is a prominent strain among Islamists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tribal Influences
Sami Yousafzai, a veteran Afghan journalist and commentator, argues that the Taliban restrictions against women are linked to social customs and cultural practices in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
Most Taliban leaders come from various Pashtun rural tribal communities in these regions bordering Pakistan.
"They believe that a woman's place is either inside a house or in a grave," Yousafzai said of the basic Taliban belief influenced by the status of women in the families of clerics and religious leaders in these Pashtun regions.
“Women living in the households of the current Taliban policymakers were never educated and never left their homes,” said Yousafzai, who has tracked the Islamist group since it emerged as a ragtag militia in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar in late 1994. “These women never performed any government or nongovernmental jobs.”
Yousafzai says the Taliban backs policies shaped by this worldview by leaning on Islamic teachings supporting such ideas. He says Taliban leaders rely on sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad that discourage women from leaving their homes.
“Their primary belief is that pubescent girls should not leave home under any circumstance,” he said. “This is why they view women leaving home for education or work as engaging in moral corruption.”
In Afghanistan, a Muslim nation of some 40 million people, activists and rights advocates accuse the Taliban of implementing "gender apartheid" by denying women education, work, freedom of movement, and deciding how they can appear in public.
Most Muslims agree that Islam allows women to get an education. Yet the Taliban publicly says that it will allow girls access to education only after ensuring complete gender segregation and other unspecified conditions.
Almost all Afghan secondary schools were gender segregated and universities imposed a strict separation between men and women after the Taliban takeover.
Yousafzai says in conservative and traditional Muslim societies around the world, some clerics also favor restrictions on women's education, work, and their role in public life. But the governments in those countries usually oppose or limit such ideas.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia -- one of the most conservative Sunni Muslim nations -- has allowed women to drive and granted them freedom of movement without a male guardian. These steps are part of a reform and modernity drive by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
The Taliban ban on education has invited universal condemnation from Muslims globally.
“The Taliban's ban on women's education is not rooted in [the Islamic] Shari’a law but rather reflects cultural biases that contradict the teachings of Islam,” said Salam al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in the United States.
He said that contrary to Taliban practices, “Islam emphasizes the importance of seeking knowledge and encourages all individuals, regardless of gender, to acquire an education.”
Historical Conflict
But Islamic scholars and those who have attempted to convince the Taliban about reopening girls schools offer a different explanation.
John Mohammad Butt, an Islamic scholar and former BBC broadcaster who is the only Westerner to graduate from India’s Darul Uloom Deoband, argues that the Taliban's policy on girls' education is not tribal but shaped by the century-old conflict over modern education.
“The problem is that girls' education in Afghanistan -- indeed, contemporary education in general -- has generally been introduced in Afghanistan in line with a secular agenda,” he said.
In the 1920s, a coalition of conservative clerics and tribal and community leaders deposed reformist King Amanullah Khan. He wanted to modernize Afghanistan along Turkish leader Kamal Ataturk's secular lines and championed modern education and rights for women.
This opposition to modernity and secularism continued, and conservative clerics opposed women's education and work. It became a key part of the Islamist opposition to the pro-Soviet Afghan communist governments after the April 1978 military coup that ended the Afghan monarchy. The mujahedin accused the communists of spreading immorality by promoting women’s education and empowerment.
“This has led to particular wariness on the part of conservative circles in Afghanistan with regard to girls' education,” Butt said.
'Deep Ideological Conviction'
Obaidullah Baheer, a political science lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan, became part of an effort to rescind the ban by talking to the Taliban last year.
But he says the effort failed because “the ban is a matter of deep ideological conviction” for the current supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.
Baheer says that the most prominent Taliban leaders have studied in Pakistani madrasahs and were thus disconnected from village and tribal life.
“They have been indoctrinated by the Deobandi school of thought so that they now enforce the strictest version of Islam on the Afghan population,” he said.
He argues that the ban on girls’ schools is a deliberate policy championed by Akhundzada, who he says has endorsed Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani's Arabic language book The Islamic Emirate And Its System. In this book, Haqqani supports a fringe Islamic opinion of preferring the choice of one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives, Sawdah Bint Zam'ah, who chose to stay at home until her death.
Baheer says Haqqani ignores his other wives and other female companions that played an active role in many sectors of society and how they served as students and teachers for men.
“This fringe opinion is not held by all Taliban leaders but is one that the current absolute sovereign, the Taliban emir, seems to be convinced of,” he said.
Butt says that even Haqqani has acknowledged the principle that if there is something that women need to act upon, then that is also something that women need to learn about.
“I hope the Taliban authorities will come to realize in the not-too-distant future that education for women will make Afghan women into better Muslims,” he says. “It will enable them to make a stronger contribution to the well-being of their country.”
Two years after grappling with the issue, Western diplomats appear to be encouraging Afghan conservative and clerical circles to find ways to end the ban.
Tom West, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, recently tweeted that Afghan women must be educated and contribute to the economy to help their country stand on its own two feet.
“If change to policies is made, it will be because Afghans have asked for it, not a result of foreign requests,” he wrote.


rferl--2020-04-26--COVID-19: Pakistan Extends Suspension Of International Flights; Tajikistan Suspends Soccer Season

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 200,000 with nearly 3 million infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Authorities in Pakistan have extended the suspension of international flights for a further two weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic .
The suspension of international flight operations had been due to end in early May but has now been `` extended up to May 15 , '' government aviation division spokesperson Abdul Sattar Khokhar said .
The move came as health officials warned that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are ignoring advice to stay home during the holy month of Ramadan , raising fears that the coronavirus pandemic will spread further .
Pakistan has been divided over whether to ease coronavirus restrictions during Ramadan , which began in the country on the evening of April 24 .
The federal government in Islamabad has caved to pressure from Islamic clerics to let them lead prayers .
But the southern province of Sindh has announced that no religious gatherings can be held there amid grim warnings by medical workers .
Thousands of people ignored @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weekend , flocking to mosques and markets on April 25 .
Many people were seen without face masks and were ignoring social-distancing guidelines .
President Arif Alvi has asked prayer leaders not to allow people over 50 years old into mosques , as agreed by the government and clerics in a 20-point plan to hold congregational prayers during Ramadan .
Doctors warn that the decision to allow gatherings could unleash an uncontrollable wave of the coronavirus outbreak .
The Pakistani Medical Association says the country is still at least six weeks away from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ More than 12,700 people have been infected in Pakistan so far and 269 have died , according to official government figures .
Russia on April 26 reported its largest number of new coronavirus infections within 24 hours , confirming more than 6,360 new infections since a day earlier .
The record single-day tally came a day after health officials in Russia reported the country 's worst daily death toll from coronavirus with 66 fatalities .
More than half of those deaths were in Moscow .
According to a global database maintained by Johns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been infected by coronavirus in Russia .
Russia 's official death toll from the pandemic is 681 .
Russia ’ s death tally from COVID-19 is very low compared to Western Europe and the United States .
That has raised questions about whether fatalities are being artificially lowered by ascribing them to other causes , such as pneumonia or heart ailments .
Meanwhile , Dmitry Novikov , a member of Russia ’ s lower house of parliament , or Duma , said he has been infected with COVID-19 .
Novikov is the second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after Leonid Kalashnikov , who is in a hospital with a fever .
Facing a projected 6 percent decline in Russian GDP this year , the government panel tasked with countering the fallout from the coronavirus has instructed relevant departments to submit proposals on the gradual lifting of restrictions on certain organizations and individual entrepreneurs , Interfax reported .
The Labor Ministry , the Economic Development Ministry , the consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor , and the Health Ministry have until April 30 to fulfil the instruction , which was published on the government 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country 's 10-team soccer league until May 10 amid a series of fresh coronavirus restrictions imposed by the government .
Tajikistan 's soccer federation said on April 26 that the suspension of league games will take effect on April 27 .
Games scheduled to take place on April 26 were set to go ahead without any spectators , just like other matches staged in Tajikistan while the pandemic has been spreading around the world .
Tajikistan has yet to acknowledge that it has any cases of the coronavirus .
That has prompted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accurately reporting information about the pandemic in their country .
Other former Soviet republics in Central Asia have confirmed hundreds of cases .
On April 25 , Tajikistan 's government decided to close schools for two weeks .
It also imposed a ban on exports of grain in what the government said was an effort to ensure there is an adequate domestic supply .
Tajikistan 's soccer league has attracted international attention in recent weeks as one of the only countries that has pushed ahead with its soccer season .
With reporting by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , RBK , Novaya Gazeta , Interfax , and TASS

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 205,000 with nearly 3 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions.
Iran
Iranian President Hassan Rohani said on April 26 that health officials are launching a color-based system to classify COVID-19 risk all over the country in a move that could pave the way for the opening of religious sites and mass prayers in less-affected parts of Iran.
Rohani said on April 26 that the Health Ministry will designate regions as "red," "yellow," or "white," and mosques and shrines may be reopened in areas that remain "white" for a period of two weeks, he said.
Rohani's announcement came shortly before a Health Ministry spokesman said total cases had reached 90,481 in Iran. The spokesman also said 60 new deaths put the official death toll at 5,710.
"This is the first step in opening up religious sites that are of great interest to the people, and God willing, we hope that the white areas will expand day by day and we will have better conditions while the people observe" measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, he said at a meeting of Iran's national headquarters to fight the pandemic, according to Iranian state Press TV.
Activities in each region will be restricted according to the ratings, the president said, signaling the latest step in a reopening of Iranian business and social affairs that began about two weeks ago.
The president said some 127 of Iran's 324 or so counties are currently in the least-affected category.
Many health and religious experts have encouraged the world's Muslims during the current holy month of Ramadan to avoid gatherings to maintain the physical distancing that they say is vital to slowing the global pandemic.
Iran has been the Middle East's hardest-hit country by the coronavirus.
But the official rate of new cases has been falling since March 30, with some 1,134 new cases reported on April 25.
Iranian officials were slow to confirm the outbreak there despite mounting indications of COVID-19 in mid-February, and some experts believe Iran's COVID-19 numbers are considerably higher than have been acknowledged.
The official rate of new cases has been falling since March 30, with some 1,134 new cases reported on April 25.
Authorities in the clerically led country have been ushering in a phased reopening since April 11 of some businesses, along with an easing of domestic travel restrictions.
Schools, universities, mosques and shrines, cinemas, and sports venues all currently remain closed.
Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur on April 26 urged Iranians to respect health and physical-distancing measures, despite a slowing in the COVID-19 death toll.
Rohani reportedly warned on April 26 that Iranians can expect major disturbances to continue throughout the year as a result of the pandemic.
Alireza Zali, the anti-COVID-19 coordinator for the capital, said on April 25 that "hasty openings" could "create new waves of sickness in Tehran and complicate efforts to bring the epidemic under control."
Iran was already reeling economically before the pandemic from American sanctions reimposed and tightened after U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 abandoned a major international deal that exchanged relief from international sanctions for restrictions on Iran's nuclear program.
An Iranian government source was quoted by a local daily on April 26 as saying the country has increased its allowance of imported wheat by around 3 million tons.
Pakistan
Authorities in Pakistan have extended the suspension of international flights for a further two weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The suspension of international flight operations had been due to end in early May but has now been "extended up to May 15," government aviation division spokesperson Abdul Sattar Khokhar said.
The move came as health officials warned that tens of thousands of people in Pakistan are ignoring advice to stay home during the holy month of Ramadan, raising fears that the coronavirus pandemic will spread further.
Pakistan has been divided over whether to ease coronavirus restrictions during Ramadan, which began in the country on the evening of April 24.
The federal government in Islamabad has caved to pressure from Islamic clerics to let them lead prayers.
But the southern province of Sindh has announced that no religious gatherings can be held there amid grim warnings by medical workers.
Thousands of people ignored the advice to stay home during the weekend, flocking to mosques and markets on April 25. Many people were seen without face masks and were ignoring social-distancing guidelines.
President Arif Alvi has asked prayer leaders not to allow people over 50 years old into mosques, as agreed by the government and clerics in a 20-point plan to hold congregational prayers during Ramadan.
Doctors warn that the decision to allow gatherings could unleash an uncontrollable wave of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Pakistani Medical Association says the country is still at least six weeks away from a peak of the coronavirus spread.
Meanwhile, frontline health workers in Pakistan’s largest province, Punjab, are carrying out sit-in protests against the poor quality of their personal protection equipment as they try to care for people stricken by the deadly coronavirus.
Salman Haseeb Chaudhry, president of Punjab's provincial chapter of the Young Doctor’s Association, said on April 26 that substandard equipment is leading to an increasing number of health professionals contracting COVID-19.
Chaudhry said an alliance of health workers has formed, including nurses and paramedics, to demand greater protection.
Chaudhry said 100 health professionals in Pakistan had tested positive for coronavirus during the previous 24 hours.
Pakistan on April 26 had confirmed a total of 12,723 cases of the virus with 269 deaths. The true number of infections is thought to be much higher.
Pakistan has been recording a steady daily increase of about 750 positive cases during the past week. Testing is still low with barely 6,800 people tested per day in a country of 220 million people.
.
Pakistan has struggled to get protective equipment to its health professionals. Doctors in the southwestern province of Baluchistan who protested against the shortage of adequate protective equipment were detained by authorities earlier in April. They were freed within hours.
Pakistan's government has increased its stocks of protective equipment after receiving planeloads of supplies from China and stepping up local production.
Russia
Russia on April 26 reported its largest daily rise in coronavirus infections, prompting a warning from the head of a consumer-health body that Russians should stay vigilant during upcoming May holidays.
A record 6,361 new infections were reported over the previous 24 hours, one day after health officials announced the country's worst daily death toll from coronavirus with 66 fatalities. More than half of those deaths were in Moscow.
According to a global database maintained by Johns Hopkins University, 80,949 people have been infected by coronavirus in Russia and 747 people have died.
Russia's official death toll from the pandemic is very low compared to Western Europe and the United States, fueling questions about whether fatalities are being artificially lowered by ascribing them to other causes, such as pneumonia or heart ailments.
On April 26, the Russian Orthodox Church cited double pneumonia as the cause of death of a 54-year-old priest in western Russia in what appeared to be a COVID-19 case.
Anna Popova, head of the state consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor, told state television on April 26 that the country had so far avoided a major spike but could keep that up "if only we don't give up during the holidays," Reuters reported.
Russia has two shortened work weeks in early May with state holidays to mark Spring And Labor Day on May 1 and Victory Day over Nazi Germany on May 9.
"That's the biggest risk today," Popova added.
Meanwhile, Dmitry Novikov, a member of Russia’s lower house of parliament, or Duma, said he has been infected with COVID-19.
Novikov is the second Communist Duma deputy to catch the virus after Leonid Kalashnikov, who is in a hospital with a fever.
Facing a projected 6 percent decline in the Russian GDP this year, the government panel tasked with countering the fallout from the coronavirus has instructed relevant departments to submit proposals on the gradual lifting of restrictions on certain organizations and individual entrepreneurs, Interfax reported.
The Labor Ministry, the Economic Development Ministry, the consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, and the Health Ministry have until April 30 to fulfill the instruction, which was published on the government's website.
Tajikistan
Tajikistan is suspending games of the country's 10-team soccer league until May 10 amid a series of fresh coronavirus restrictions imposed by the government.
Tajikistan's soccer federation said on April 26 that the suspension of league games will take effect on April 27.
Why Numbers Don’t Tell The Full Story A daily compilation of global coronavirus cases by Johns Hopkins University is currently the most comprehensive in the world, but it relies on information provided by governments. In many countries, there are restrictions on releasing such information or reasons why the full story might not want to be told. The methodology, immediacy, transparency, and quality of this data can vary dramatically country by country.
Games scheduled to take place on April 26 were set to go ahead without any spectators, just like other matches staged in Tajikistan while the pandemic has been spreading around the world.
Tajikistan has yet to acknowledge that it has any cases of the coronavirus. That has prompted suspicions that authorities in Dushanbe are not accurately reporting information about the pandemic in their country.
Other former Soviet republics in Central Asia have confirmed hundreds of cases.
On April 25, Tajikistan's government decided to close schools for two weeks. It also imposed a ban on exports of grain in what the government said was an effort to ensure there is an adequate domestic supply.
Tajikistan's soccer league has attracted international attention in recent weeks as one of the only countries that has pushed ahead with its soccer season.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, RBK, Novaya Gazeta, Interfax, and TASS


rferl--2020-04-26--UN Says Consequences Remain More Than Three Decades After Chernobyl Disaster

The United Nations says persistent and serious long-term consequences remain more than 30 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine .
The world body is marking International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day on April 26 , the 34th anniversary of the accident that spread a radioactive cloud over large parts of Belarus , Ukraine , and Russia .
The anniversary is being marked after fires recently burned in the 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the plant , raising concerns about the potential release of radioactive particles into the air .
The UN General Assembly adopted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 26 as a day to recognize the consequences of the accident .
Its statement says that while progress has been made , “ there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done in the affected region.
” The United Nations says the completion of a confinement structure over the reactor most heavily damaged in the accident was a major milestone of 2019 .
It noted that the project received more than 2 billion dollars in funding from 45 donor nations through funds managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ project in terms of international cooperation is one of the largest ever seen in the field of nuclear safety , the UN said .
The UN 's involvement in Chernobyl recovery efforts dates back to a resolution passed in 1990 .
UN agencies continue to work closely with the governments of Belarus , Russia , and Ukraine to provide development assistance to the communities affected by the disaster .
The UN 's statement on Chernobyl remembrance day does not mention the fires that have burned in the exclusion zone .
The largest among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Smaller fires continue to burn in the zone , the authority that administrates it said on April 24 .
Video showing plumes of smoke billowing from the charred landscape earlier this month alarmed environmental activists , who said the burning of contaminated trees and other vegetation could disperse radioactive particles .
The International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) said on April 24 that the increase in levels of radiation measured in the country was very small and posed `` no risk to human health . ''
The Vienna-based IAEA , which acts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it was basing its assessment on data provided by Ukraine .
There have been `` some minor increases in radiation , '' the IAEA said , adding the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine found the concentration of radioactive materials in the air remained below Ukraine 's radiation safety norms .

The United Nations says persistent and serious long-term consequences remain more than 30 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
The warning came as the UN marks International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day on April 26, the 34th anniversary of the accident that spread a radioactive cloud over large parts of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.
More than 1,000 firefighters were working on April 26 to try to put out brushfires and forest fires that have been burning the past three weeks within the 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the plant -- raising concerns about the potential release of radioactive particles into the air.
The firefighters on April 26 were focusing on trying to contain fires in two separate areas where trees and brush are smoldering, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said.
Ukrainian officials have attributed smoky air in Kyiv in recent days to fires in the nearby Zhytomyr region, assuring residents that radiation levels in the Ukrainian capital are within an acceptable range.
Background radiation in Kyiv is "stable" and does "not exceed the permissible values," the State Emergency Service said on April 26.
The 1986 reactor meltdown and explosion at Chernobyl is considered the worst civilian nuclear disaster in history. Dozens of people, particularly firefighters and other first responders, died as a direct result of the disaster.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy honored the memory of those who risked their lives to help contain radiation at the site in the months after the explosion and fire at the nuclear power plant in 1986.
"On this day we bow our heads to the blessed memory of those heroes who saved the future from the danger of radiation," Zelenskiy said in a statement for the anniversary.
Zelenskiy also expressed "deep respect" for the firefighters and others currently working in the zone to "protect these lands from new natural disasters."
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in December 2016 designating April 26 as a day to recognize the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.
Its statement says that while progress has been made, “There is still a great deal of work that needs to be done in the affected region.”
The UN says the completion of a confinement structure over the reactor most heavily damaged in the accident was a major milestone of 2019.
It noted that the project received more than 2 billion dollars in funding from 45 donor nations through funds managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The scope of the project in terms of international cooperation is one of the largest ever seen in the field of nuclear safety, the UN said.
The UN's involvement in Chernobyl recovery efforts dates back to a resolution passed in 1990. UN agencies continue to work closely with the governments of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine to provide development assistance to the communities affected by the disaster.
The UN's statement on Chernobyl remembrance day does not mention the forest fires and brushfires that have been burning in the exclusion zone for three weeks. The largest of several blazes was extinguished last week. Smaller fires continue to burn in the zone, the authority that administrates it said on April 24.
Video showing plumes of smoke billowing from the charred landscape earlier this month alarmed environmental activists, who said the burning of contaminated trees and other vegetation could disperse radioactive particles.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says the increase in levels of radiation measured in the country was very small and posed "no risk to human health."
The Vienna-based IAEA, which acts as the UN nuclear watchdog, said it was basing its assessment on data provided by Ukraine.
There have been "some minor increases in radiation," the IAEA said, adding the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine found the concentration of radioactive materials in the air remained below Ukraine's radiation safety norms.
With reporting by Reuters


rferl--2020-04-26--Coronavirus Outbreak In Belarus Orphanage For Disabled Children Raises Alarm

The founder of a charity that supports an orphanage for children with developmental disabilities in Belarus says it is a “ shattering blow ” that coronavirus has spread to the facility .
The Vesnova orphanage in the central Hlusk district is home to about 170 children and young adults with severe disabilities and weak immune systems .
Local authorities confirmed the infections on April 24 but didn ’ t say how many people had been infected .
The BBC reported on April 25 that the number of cases is 23 , including 13 children .
The orphanage is financially supported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Its founder , Adi Roche , says the children are extremely at risk as they have severe disabilities with a low immunity and a number of genetic disorders .
`` Their chances of survival would be very poor , '' she told Irish Public broadcaster RTE on April 23 .
Roche said the orphanage had taken measures to try to protect the children but faced difficulties as they live in close conditions .
`` There are no painkillers , no cough bottles .
We are really worried and we feel we can not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ RTE .
The first case of the virus was found in one of the employees at the orphanage , according to the authorities of the Mogilev region , where the orphanage is located .
Since then all employees and residents have been tested .
`` Some have received positive test results .
At present , most of them have no symptoms of the disease , '' said a statement from the Executive Committee of the Mogilev region .
In an effort to contain the disease , employees have started working in shifts , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been stopped , and visits prohibited , the committee said .
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has not closed borders or imposed strict lockdown measures .
On April 25 , he joined thousands of Belarusians in a government-decreed day of civic labor .
Citizens working in groups planted trees and cleaned parks and streets as part of an annual event that dates back to the communist period .
Lukashenka , who has derided global concerns over COVID-19 , the disease caused by the coronavirus , has repeatedly dismissed concerns about the dangers of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disregard for the environment was in part to blame for the spread of the virus and activities like planting trees could help defend against it .
There have been 9,590 confirmed coronavirus cases in Belarus , with 67 deaths in total , according to data from Johns Hopkins University .
With reporting by Reuters , BBC , and RTE .

The founder of a charity that supports an orphanage for children with developmental disabilities in Belarus says it is a “shattering blow” that coronavirus has spread to the facility.
The Vesnova orphanage in the central Hlusk district is home to about 170 children and young adults with severe disabilities and weak immune systems.
Local authorities confirmed the infections on April 24 but didn’t say how many people had been infected. The BBC reported on April 25 that the number of cases is 23, including 13 children.
The orphanage is financially supported by Irish charity Chernobyl Children International. Its founder, Adi Roche, says the children are extremely at risk as they have severe disabilities with a low immunity and a number of genetic disorders.
"Their chances of survival would be very poor," she told Irish Public broadcaster RTE on April 23.
Roche said the orphanage had taken measures to try to protect the children but faced difficulties as they live in close conditions.
"There are no painkillers, no cough bottles. We are really worried and we feel we cannot abandon the children," she told RTE.
The first case of the virus was found in one of the employees at the orphanage, according to the authorities of the Mogilev region, where the orphanage is located. Since then all employees and residents have been tested.
"Some have received positive test results. At present, most of them have no symptoms of the disease," said a statement from the Executive Committee of the Mogilev region.
Tree Planting
In an effort to contain the disease, employees have started working in shifts, contacts between different groups of children have been stopped, and visits prohibited, the committee said.
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has not closed borders or imposed strict lockdown measures.
On April 25, he joined thousands of Belarusians in a government-decreed day of civic labor. Citizens working in groups planted trees and cleaned parks and streets as part of an annual event that dates back to the communist period.
Lukashenka, who has derided global concerns over COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has repeatedly dismissed concerns about the dangers of the virus.
He has claimed humans’ disregard for the environment was in part to blame for the spread of the virus and activities like planting trees could help defend against it.
There have been 9,590 confirmed coronavirus cases in Belarus, with 67 deaths in total, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
With reporting by Reuters, BBC, and RTE.


rferl--2020-04-26--Turkmenistan Holds National Horse Day, Authoritarian Leader Reveals $680 Million Spent On His Passio

Turkmenistan Holds National Horse Day, Authoritarian Leader Reveals $680 Million Spent On His Passion

Turkmenistan has marked national Horse Day , an annual holiday particularly loved by authoritarian President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov .
Turkmenistan continues to host crowded festivities , sports competitions , and horse races despite the coronavirus pandemic .
Officially the tightly controlled country has not registered any coronavirus cases , a claim critics and health experts doubt .
State media reported a series of events were held on April 25 and 26 , including a race at the Equestrian Sports Complex near Ashgabat , the annual horse-beauty contest , art shows , and dancing performances .
The president , who is known @ @ @ @ @ @ @ authored books on the national Akhal-Teke horse breed , also received gifts from horse breeders .
In turn , Berdymukhammedov awarded cash prizes to artists depicting horses on their work and gave the keys of an Audi Q8 to the winner of the horse-beauty contest .
RFE/RL ’ s Turkmen Service reported that Berdymukhammedov is believed to have hundreds of Akhal-Teke horses .
Critics of Turkmenistan ’ s government , as well as experts familiar with the country 's equestrian problems , argue that Akhal-Teke horses have become a tool of corruption and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In a statement issued on state media , Berdymukhammedov said that the staggering sum of $ 680 million had been allocated to improve the living conditions of horses and their breeders .
It was unclear over what time period the money was spent , but it comes as the gas-rich country faces economic troubles due to low global energy prices and the coronavirus pandemic .
Turkmenistan in recent years has also faced widespread shortages of food supplies and price hikes for food staples .

Turkmenistan has marked its national Horse Day, an annual holiday particularly loved by authoritarian President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov.
Turkmenistan continues to host crowded festivities, sports competitions, and horse races despite the coronavirus pandemic. Officially, the tightly controlled country has not registered any coronavirus cases, a claim critics and health experts doubt.
State media reported a series of events were held on April 26, including a race at the Equestrian Sports Complex near Ashgabat, the annual horse-beauty contest, art shows, and dancing performances.
The president, who is known for his love of horses and has authored books on the national Akhal-Teke horse breed, also received gifts from horse breeders.
In turn, Berdymukhammedov awarded cash prizes to artists depicting horses in their work and gave the keys of an Audi Q8 to the winner of the horse-beauty contest.
RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service reported that Berdymukhammedov is believed to have hundreds of Akhal-Teke horses.
Critics of Turkmenistan’s government, as well as experts familiar with the country's equestrian issues, argue that Akhal-Teke horses have become a tool of corruption and a growing personality cult in recent years.
In a statement issued on state media, Berdymukhammedov said that the staggering sum of $680 million had been allocated to improve the living conditions of horses and their breeders.
It was unclear over what time period the money was spent, but it comes as the gas-rich country faces economic troubles due to low global energy prices and the coronavirus pandemic.
Turkmenistan in recent years has also faced widespread shortages of food supplies and price hikes for food staples.


rferl--2020-04-26--Russia Cuts Off Wheat, Other Grain Exports

The Russian Agriculture Ministry announced on April 26 that it was suspending its export of most grains until July 1 , seemingly shrugging off warnings from international organizations who are asking countries not to disrupt global food supply chains during the current COVID-19 pandemic .
The ministry said the Russian cutoff affected shipments of wheat , corn , rye , barley , and meslin , which is a mixture of wheat and rye .
It made no mention of the crisis from the coronavirus that has infected 185 countries or regions around the world and infected nearly 3 million people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2019 .
The supplies from Russia , the world 's largest wheat exporter , will continue to fellow members of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union ( EES ) , which includes other post-Soviet states Armenia , Belarus , Kazakhstan , and Kyrgyzstan .
Leaders of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ( FAO ) , the World Health Organization ( WHO ) , and the World Trade Organization ( WTO ) warned in a joint statement in late March that `` as countries move to enact measures aiming to halt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be taken to minimise potential impacts on the food supply or unintended consequences on global trade and food security . ''
British Secretary of State for Environment , Food , and Rural Affairs George Eustice said on April 26 that there was `` no serious disruption '' to international flows of food , although he acknowledged that there had been `` isolated cases '' of trade being disrupted , for example goods from India .
The Russian Agriculture Ministry announced the April 26 move by saying a quota set earlier this month for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exhausted . ''
Moscow had said the quota was introduced to safeguard its national supplies and market .
The World Food Program ( WFP ) said in early April that while `` disruptions are so far minimal '' from the COVID-19 crisis , food supply `` adequate , '' and markets `` relatively stable , '' panics or other behavior changes could create major problems .
But spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs said accompanying the release of a WFP report that `` we may soon expect to see disruptions in food-supply chains . ''
An @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 26 as saying that Tehran had allowed for the import of 3 million tons of wheat , more than half of it already unloaded to Iranian ports .
Kazakhstan has seen protests over wheat and flour supplies and said recently that it might abolish quotas on wheat and flour exports .
A Reuters report said less than 1 million tons of a 7 million-ton quota for April-June remained by April 25 , owing to a deluge of orders for later exports .
It quoted analysts suggesting that while the quota might be formally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ April were probably around 4 million and 3 million tons more might be spoken for but would probably ship out in May and June .
Russia exported more than 35 million tons of wheat and 43 million tons of all grains in 2018-19 , RIA Novosti reported .
With reporting by Reuters and TASS

The Russian Agriculture Ministry announced on April 26 that it was suspending its export of most grains until July 1, seemingly shrugging off warnings from international organizations who are asking countries not to disrupt global food supply chains during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The ministry said the Russian cutoff affected shipments of wheat, corn, rye, barley, and meslin, which is a mixture of wheat and rye.
It made no mention of the crisis from the coronavirus that has infected 185 countries or regions around the world and infected nearly 3 million people since emerging in central China in December 2019.
The supplies from Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, will continue to fellow members of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EES), which includes other post-Soviet states Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
Leaders of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) warned in a joint statement in late March that "as countries move to enact measures aiming to halt the accelerating COVID-19 pandemic, care must be taken to minimise potential impacts on the food supply or unintended consequences on global trade and food security."
British Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs George Eustice said on April 26 that there was "no serious disruption" to international flows of food, although he acknowledged that there had been "isolated cases" of trade being disrupted, for example goods from India.
The Russian Agriculture Ministry announced the April 26 move by saying a quota set earlier this month for exports through June had been "fully exhausted."
Moscow had said the quota was introduced to safeguard its national supplies and market.
The World Food Program (WFP) said in early April that while "disruptions are so far minimal" from the COVID-19 crisis, food supply "adequate," and markets "relatively stable," panics or other behavior changes could create major problems.
But spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs said accompanying the release of a WFP report that "we may soon expect to see disruptions in food-supply chains."
An unnamed Iranian official was quoted on April 26 as saying that Tehran had allowed for the import of 3 million tons of wheat, more than half of it already unloaded to Iranian ports.
Kazakhstan has seen protests over wheat and flour supplies and said recently that it might abolish quotas on wheat and flour exports.
A Reuters report said less than 1 million tons of a recently announced Russian 7 million-ton quota for April-June remained by April 25, owing to a deluge of orders for later exports.
It quoted analysts suggesting that while the quota might be formally exhausted, grain exports so far in April were probably around 4 million and 3 million tons more might be spoken for but would probably ship out in May and June.
Russia exported more than 35 million tons of wheat and 43 million tons of all grains in 2018-19, RIA Novosti reported.
With reporting by Reuters and TASS


rferl--2020-04-26--COVID-19: Iran's Rohani Says New Tracking System Could Lead To Mosque Reopenings; Pakistan Extends S

COVID-19: Iran's Rohani Says New Tracking System Could Lead To Mosque Reopenings; Pakistan Extends Suspension Of International Flights

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 205,000 with nearly 3 million infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Iranian President Hassan Rohani said on April 26 that health officials are launching a color-based system to classify COVID-19 risk all over the country in a move that could pave the way for the opening of religious sites and mass prayers in less-affected parts of Iran .
Rohani said on April 26 that the Health Ministry will designate regions as `` red , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' and mosques and shrines may be reopened in areas that remain `` white '' for a period of two weeks , he said .
Rohani 's announcement came shortly before a Health Ministry spokesman said total cases had reached 90,481 in Iran .
The spokesman also said 60 new deaths put the official death toll at 5,710 .
`` This is the first step in opening up religious sites that are of great interest to the people , and God willing , we hope that the white areas will expand day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conditions while the people observe '' measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus , he said at a meeting of Iran 's national headquarters to fight the pandemic , according to Iranian state Press TV .
Activities in each region will be restricted according to the ratings , the president said , signaling the latest step in a reopening of Iranian business and social affairs that began about two weeks ago .
The president said some 127 of Iran 's 324 or so counties are currently in the least-affected category .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world 's Muslims during the current holy month of Ramadan to avoid gatherings to maintain the physical distancing that they say is vital to slowing the global pandemic .
Iran has been the Middle East 's hardest-hit country by the coronavirus .
But the official rate of new cases has been falling since March 30 , with some 1,134 new cases reported on April 25 .
Iranian officials were slow to confirm the outbreak there despite mounting indications of COVID-19 in mid-February , and some experts believe Iran 's COVID-19 numbers are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The official rate of new cases has been falling since March 30 , with some 1,134 new cases reported on April 25 .
Authorities in the clerically led country have been ushering in a phased reopening since April 11 of some businesses , along with an easing of domestic travel restrictions .
Schools , universities , mosques and shrines , cinemas , and sports venues all currently remain closed .
Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur on April 26 urged Iranians to respect health and physical-distancing measures , despite a slowing in the COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ April 26 that Iranians can expect major disturbances to continue throughout the year as a result of the pandemic .
Alireza Zali , the anti-COVID-19 coordinator for the capital , said on April 25 that `` hasty openings '' could `` create new waves of sickness in Tehran and complicate efforts to bring the epidemic under control . ''
Iran was already reeling economically before the pandemic from American sanctions reimposed and tightened after U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 abandoned a major international deal that exchanged relief from international sanctions for restrictions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iranian government source was quoted by a local daily on April 26 as saying the country has increased its allowance of imported wheat by around 3 million tons .
Authorities in Pakistan have extended the suspension of international flights for a further two weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic .
The suspension of international flight operations had been due to end in early May but has now been `` extended up to May 15 , '' government aviation division spokesperson Abdul Sattar Khokhar said .
The move came as health officials warned that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are ignoring advice to stay home during the holy month of Ramadan , raising fears that the coronavirus pandemic will spread further .
Pakistan has been divided over whether to ease coronavirus restrictions during Ramadan , which began in the country on the evening of April 24 .
The federal government in Islamabad has caved to pressure from Islamic clerics to let them lead prayers .
But the southern province of Sindh has announced that no religious gatherings can be held there amid grim warnings by medical workers .
Thousands of people ignored @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weekend , flocking to mosques and markets on April 25 .
Many people were seen without face masks and were ignoring social-distancing guidelines .
President Arif Alvi has asked prayer leaders not to allow people over 50 years old into mosques , as agreed by the government and clerics in a 20-point plan to hold congregational prayers during Ramadan .
Doctors warn that the decision to allow gatherings could unleash an uncontrollable wave of the coronavirus outbreak .
The Pakistani Medical Association says the country is still at least six weeks away from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Meanwhile , frontline health workers in Pakistan ’ s largest province , Punjab , are carrying out sit-in protests against the poor quality of their personal protection equipment as they try to care for people stricken by the deadly coronavirus .
Salman Haseeb Chaudhry , president of Punjab 's provincial chapter of the Young Doctor ’ s Association , said on April 26 that substandard equipment is leading to an increasing number of health professionals contracting COVID-19 .
Chaudhry said an alliance of health workers has formed , including nurses and paramedics , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 100 health professionals in Pakistan had tested positive for coronavirus during the previous 24 hours .
Pakistan on April 26 had confirmed a total of 12,723 cases of the virus with 269 deaths .
The true number of infections is thought to be much higher .
Pakistan has been recording a steady daily increase of about 750 positive cases during the past week .
Testing is still low with barely 6,800 people tested per day in a country of 220 million people .
.
Pakistan has struggled to get protective equipment to its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ province of Baluchistan who protested against the shortage of adequate protective equipment were detained by authorities earlier in April .
They were freed within hours .
Pakistan 's government has increased its stocks of protective equipment after receiving planeloads of supplies from China and stepping up local production .
Russia on April 26 reported its largest daily rise in coronavirus infections , prompting a warning from the head of a consumer-health body that Russians should stay vigilant during upcoming May holidays .
A record 6,361 new infections were reported over the previous 24 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ announced the country 's worst daily death toll from coronavirus with 66 fatalities .
More than half of those deaths were in Moscow .
According to a global database maintained by Johns Hopkins University , 80,949 people have been infected by coronavirus in Russia and 747 people have died .
Russia 's official death toll from the pandemic is very low compared to Western Europe and the United States , fueling questions about whether fatalities are being artificially lowered by ascribing them to other causes , such as pneumonia or heart ailments .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Church cited double pneumonia as the cause of death of a 54-year-old priest in western Russia in what appeared to be a COVID-19 case .
Anna Popova , head of the state consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor , told state television on April 26 that the country had so far avoided a major spike but could keep that up `` if only we do n't give up during the holidays , '' Reuters reported .
Russia has two shortened work weeks in early May with state holidays to mark Spring And Labor Day on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Germany on May 9 .
Meanwhile , Dmitry Novikov , a member of Russia ’ s lower house of parliament , or Duma , said he has been infected with COVID-19 .
Novikov is the second Communist Duma deputy to catch the virus after Leonid Kalashnikov , who is in a hospital with a fever .
Facing a projected 6 percent decline in the Russian GDP this year , the government panel tasked with countering the fallout from the coronavirus has instructed relevant departments to submit proposals on the gradual lifting of restrictions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Interfax reported .
The Labor Ministry , the Economic Development Ministry , the consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor , and the Health Ministry have until April 30 to fulfill the instruction , which was published on the government 's website .
Tajikistan is suspending games of the country 's 10-team soccer league until May 10 amid a series of fresh coronavirus restrictions imposed by the government .
Tajikistan 's soccer federation said on April 26 that the suspension of league games will take effect on April 27 .
Games scheduled to take place on April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any spectators , just like other matches staged in Tajikistan while the pandemic has been spreading around the world .
Tajikistan has yet to acknowledge that it has any cases of the coronavirus .
That has prompted suspicions that authorities in Dushanbe are not accurately reporting information about the pandemic in their country .
Other former Soviet republics in Central Asia have confirmed hundreds of cases .
On April 25 , Tajikistan 's government decided to close schools for two weeks .
It also imposed a ban on exports of grain in what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ensure there is an adequate domestic supply .
Tajikistan 's soccer league has attracted international attention in recent weeks as one of the only countries that has pushed ahead with its soccer season .
With reporting by Reuters , AP , AFP , dpa , RBK , Novaya Gazeta , Interfax , and TASS


rferl--2020-04-27--Siberian Doctor At Proposed COVID-19 Hospital Falls From Fifth Floor Window

KRASNOYARSK -- The acting chief physician of a hospital for war veterans in the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia is in intensive care and in `` grave condition '' after falling from a window of her fifth-floor office .
According to the Krasnoyarsk regional police , law enforcement officers visited the site of the fall , which happened on April 25 , but have not launched a probe .
Police did not mention the doctor ’ s name , while the medical facility 's website says that its acting chief physician is Yelena Nepomnyashchaya .
TVK Krasnoyarsk television reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ physician had fallen out from the office window while talking on a conference call with regional Health Minister Boris Nemik about turning one of the buildings of the hospital into a facility to treat coronavirus patients .
The hospital 's acting chief physician was adamantly against the idea , the television channel said , adding that she is in `` grave condition , '' after undergoing surgery following the fall .
According to the latest official report , as of April 27 , the number of coronavirus cases in Russia is 87,147 , @ @ @ @

KRASNOYARSK -- The acting chief physician of a hospital for war veterans in the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia is in intensive care and in "grave condition" after falling from a window of her fifth-floor office.
According to the Krasnoyarsk regional police, law enforcement officers visited the site of the fall, which happened on April 25, but have not launched a probe.
Police did not mention the doctor’s name, while the medical facility's website says that its acting chief physician is Yelena Nepomnyashchaya.
TVK Krasnoyarsk television reported on April 25 that the acting chief physician had fallen out from the office window while talking on a conference call with regional Health Minister Boris Nemik about turning one of the buildings of the hospital into a facility to treat coronavirus patients.
The hospital's acting chief physician was adamantly against the idea, the television channel said, adding that she is in "grave condition," after undergoing surgery following the fall.
According to the latest official report, as of April 27, the number of coronavirus cases in Russia is 87,147, including 794 deaths.
With reporting by TVK


rferl--2020-04-27--More Than 500 Afghan Civilians, Including Many Children, Killed In First Quarter, Says UN

More than 500 civilians , almost a third of them children , were killed and 760 were wounded due to the fighting in Afghanistan in the first three months of this year , the UN said in a report on April 27 , stressing the need to better protect civilians amid the threat posed to all Afghans by the coronavirus outbreak .
Those figures included 152 dead children and 265 wounded , as well 60 women killed and 108 wounded from January 1 to March 31 , the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ( UNAMA ) said in its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ despite hopes that the government and the Taliban would seek ways to defuse the conflict , the report said .
Anti-government forces -- including the Taliban , Islamic State , and other unidentified groups -- were responsible for 55 per cent of all the casualties during the time frame , the UN report said .
But Afghan government forces and international troops caused more child casualties than anti-government armed groups , it said .
`` To safeguard the lives of countless civilians in Afghanistan and to give the nation hope of a better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is stopped with the establishment of a cease-fire and for peace negotiations to commence , '' said Deborah Lyons , the secretary-general 's special representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA .
The report comes a day after U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said in a series of tweets that the Taliban should `` reduce violence '' and `` stop all their offensive operations '' until the end of the coronavirus crisis .
The Taliban has rejected a proposal by the Afghan government for a cease-fire during the holy month of Ramadan .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government of failing to fully implement the peace process .
Intra-Afghan peace talks , including representatives of the Taliban , are supposed to begin after some 5,000 Taliban prisoners are released from the custody of the Afghan government .
In return , the Taliban is also supposed to release about 1,000 Afghan troops and civilian government employees it is holding .
So far , the government has freed nearly 500 Taliban prisoners and the militant group has released about 60 prisoners .
Authorities have released thousands of detainees , mostly women , juveniles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the risk of coronavirus spreading in prisons .
Afghanistan has so far reported 1,531 coronavirus infections and 50 deaths .
With reporting by Reuters , AP , AFP , and dpa