rferl--2020-05-23--Report: U.S. Officials Discussed Conducting First Nuke Test In Decades

The Washington Post has reported that officials in U.S. President Donald Trump 's administration discussed whether to conduct the country 's first nuclear test explosion since 1992 .
The newspaper on May 22 cited a senior administration official and two former officials as saying the topic came up at a meeting of top national-security officials last week .
What prompted the discussion was U.S. suspicions that both Russia and China have been conducting low-yield nuclear tests in recent years .
The meeting did not conclude with any agreement to conduct a nuclear test .
A decision was ultimately made to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ avoid a resumption of testing , the Post said .
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty , which bans nuclear test explosions of any size , has not been ratified by enough countries to take effect , but the world ’ s major powers have agreed to abide by its terms .
The United States has not ratified it .
The treaty allows test activities for countries to ensure the safety and reliability of their arsenals , as long as they don ’ t produce a fission explosive yield .
Last year , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intelligence agency caused a stir when he asserted that Russia had moved forward in developing new nonstrategic nuclear weapons and might have been violating an international test ban in place for decades .
`` The United States believes Russia is probably not adhering to the nuclear testing moratorium in a manner consistent with the zero-yield standard , '' Lieutenant General Robert Ashley said at the Hudson Institute , a Washington , D.C. thinktank , in May 2019 .

A former top FBI counterintelligence agent pleaded guilty to charges related to his work for notorious Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, changing his plea after federal prosecutors filed new, reduced charges of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Russia by working for the billionaire industrialist.
The move by Charles McGonigal, made on August 15 before a federal judge in New York City, ends a prosecution that had stunned the FBI, where McGonigal had investigated Russian influence operations for years while climbing the bureau’s ranks.
The 55-year-old also still faces a separate set of foreign agent charges in Washington, D.C., related to work he did for Albanian officials.
McGonigal, who retired as head counterintelligence in the FBI's New York bureau in 2018, was originally indicted in January by a grand jury on more serious charges of money laundering and violating U.S. sanctions.
Prosecutors alleged that McGonigal and a former Russian diplomat with whom he was associated, were paid more than $200,000 to do work for Deripaska, a wealthy Russian metals tycoon who has long been seen as a Kremlin insider. Deripaska was hit with sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018.
U.S. authorities said McGonigal was hired to dig up negative information on Vladimir Potanin, a rival oligarch to Deripaska. McGonigal and the former diplomat, Sergei Shestakov, also worked to try and get Deripaska removed from U.S. sanctions lists.
Shestakov has pleaded not guilty to the more serious charges than had been originally filed against McGonigal.
They "attempted to conceal Deripaska's involvement by, among other means, not directly naming Deripaska in electronic communications, using shell companies as counterparties in the contract that outlined the services to be performed, using a forged signature on that contract, and using the same shell companies to send and receive payment from Deripaska," the Justice Department said in a press release after McGonigal entered his plea.
McGonigal could receive up to five years in prison when he is sentenced in December.
The separate case filed in Washington, D.C., by federal prosecutors centers on work McGonigal allegedly did on behalf of a former Albanian intelligence officer, for which he was paid $225,000.
McGonigal also allegedly lied to the FBI about his contacts with foreign nationals and foreign travel while he was still employed by the bureau.
Deripaska also faces charges of violating U.S. sanctions through real estate deals and a complicated scheme under which he allegedly arranged for his girlfriend to travel to the United States to give birth to two of their children.


rferl--2020-05-22--HRW Denounces 'Wave Of Arrests' In Belarus As Elections Loom

Belarus has intensified its crackdown on independent activists and journalists with a `` new wave of arbitrary arrests '' ahead of presidential elections , Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) says .
With polls less than three months away , more than 120 peaceful protesters , opposition bloggers , journalists , and other critics of the government were arrested in 17 Belarusian cities between May 6 and 13 , the New York-based human rights watchdog said on May 22 .
It said that those detained were handed jail sentences of up to 25 days on charges of “ participation in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic and the increased risk of virus transmission in detention facilities .
The authorities `` should not be arresting people for peaceful protests , but to expose them to higher risk of a deadly infection is unacceptable , '' said Tanya Lokshina , associate Europe and Central Asia director at HRW .
The group urged Minsk to `` act on the calls by the World Health Organization and other expert international bodies…to minimize the number of people in custody during the coronavirus epidemic . ''
Belarus , which has reported more than 34,300 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , hasn ’ t ordered a lockdown .
HRW said those arbitrarily arrested this month included environmental protestors who opposed the construction of a battery factory in the western city of Brest , supporters of a popular blogger who has announced he would run for president , and human rights defenders and journalists who reported on peaceful public gatherings .
One of the detained activists was diagnosed with COVID-19 shortly after his arrest , while another fell ill with coronavirus symptoms during his detention , according to HRW .
`` Arresting people for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is an unjust penalty even in normal times , and pursuing this practice during a pandemic is simply outrageous , '' Lokshina said .
Critics of authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka , who has been in power in Belarus for more than 25 years , say his government has shown little tolerance for dissent and independent media .
The country has been the target of U.S. and EU sanctions over its poor rights record and lack of fair elections , but Belarus and the West have recently sought to mend ties to reduce Russia @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Belarus has intensified its crackdown on independent activists and journalists with a "new wave of arbitrary arrests" ahead of presidential elections, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.
With polls less than three months away, more than 120 peaceful protesters, opposition bloggers, journalists, and other critics of the government were arrested in 17 Belarusian cities between May 6 and 13, the New York-based human rights watchdog said on May 22.
It said that those detained were handed jail sentences of up to 25 days on charges of “participation in unsanctioned public gatherings” despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased risk of virus transmission in detention facilities.
The authorities "should not be arresting people for peaceful protests, but to expose them to higher risk of a deadly infection is unacceptable," said Tanya Lokshina, associate Europe and Central Asia director at HRW.
The group urged Minsk to "act on the calls by the World Health Organization and other expert international bodies…to minimize the number of people in custody during the coronavirus epidemic."
Belarus, which has reported more than 34,300 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 190 deaths, hasn’t ordered a lockdown.
'Simply Outrageous'
HRW said those arbitrarily arrested this month included environmental protestors who opposed the construction of a battery factory in the western city of Brest, supporters of a popular blogger who has announced he would run for president, and human rights defenders and journalists who reported on peaceful public gatherings.
One of the detained activists was diagnosed with COVID-19 shortly after his arrest, while another fell ill with coronavirus symptoms during his detention, according to HRW.
"Arresting people for participating in or reporting on peaceful gatherings is an unjust penalty even in normal times, and pursuing this practice during a pandemic is simply outrageous," Lokshina said.
Critics of authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has been in power in Belarus for more than 25 years, say his government has shown little tolerance for dissent and independent media.
The country has been the target of U.S. and EU sanctions over its poor rights record and lack of fair elections, but Belarus and the West have recently sought to mend ties to reduce Russia’s influence in the country.


rferl--2020-05-22--Report: Ukrainian Security Service Chief Runs Company In Spain, Illegally

KYIV -- The head of the Ukrainian Security Service holds a top position in a private company registered in Spain , in violation of an anti-corruption law , according to a Skhemy investigative program .
According to the May 21 report , an official extract from the register of legal entities in Spain shows Ivan Bakanov has occupied the post of sole administrator at Nueva Tierra Verde Sociedad Limitada since 2015 .
According to Ukrainian law , the head of the service , known as the SBU , can not be the head of a private company .
The founder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Davegra LTD , owned by Andriy Yakovlev , the creator of Kvartal-95 Studio , where President Volodymyr Zelenskiy worked as a comedian/actor before he was elected last year .
The name of the company , based in the Spanish province of Girona , translates as New Green Territory in English , echoing the titles of projects with Zelenskiy 's involvement .
The president 's last name stems from the word green in Slavic languages .
According to the register , the company specializes in construction and various real-estate activities .
Since it does @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the company was added to a list of violators of Spanish tax regulations .
Last autumn , the company 's tax identification number was temporarily revoked due to the violation .
The State Register of Legal Entities of the Province of Girona confirmed to Skhemy that the company had not been liquidated and was considered a functioning entity .
Under Spanish regulations , Bakanov is legally the company 's sole manager and fully in charge of running it .
Article 25 of Ukraine 's Law on the Prevention of Corruption states that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from being members of boards , other executive or control bodies , and supervisory boards of commercial enterprises or profit organizations . ''
Bakanov refused to comment on the situation , but the SBU press service provided Skhemy with a statement denying Bakanov did anything wrong .
Skhemy , which translates as Schemes , is a joint investigative news project produced by RFE/RL and UA : Pershy television .
`` It is a well-known fact that , long before his appointment as the chief of the Security Service of Ukraine , Ivan Bakanov @ @ @ @ @ @ @ business activities abroad .
We stress that , in compliance with the law requirements , he has not been engaged in commercial activities since his appointment to the public office .
Nueva Tierra Verde Sociedad Limitada officially suspended its activities in 2019 , which is reflected in the relevant register of legal entities , '' the SBU 's statement said .
When asked about the Spanish State Register 's statement confirming the company was still listed as functioning with Bakanov as its sole administrator , the press service said that `` work to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' The deadline for submitting property and income declarations by Ukrainian officials to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption is June 1 .
According to amendments to the legislation introduced last fall , the SBU leadership must make all income declarations public .
However , Zelenskiy submitted an `` urgent '' bill to parliament in March that would again classify the SBU leadership 's income and property declarations .
Zelenskiy promised to discuss the issue with Bakanov , whom he calls `` the most honest SBU chief , '' when asked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on May 20 .

KYIV -- The head of the Ukrainian Security Service holds a top position in a private company registered in Spain, in violation of an anti-corruption law, according to a Skhemy investigative program.
According to the May 21 report, an official extract from the register of legal entities in Spain shows Ivan Bakanov has occupied the post of sole administrator at Nueva Tierra Verde Sociedad Limitada since 2015.
According to Ukrainian law, the head of the service, known as the SBU, cannot be the head of a private company.
The founder of the company is the Cypriot firm Davegra LTD, owned by Andriy Yakovlev, the creator of Kvartal-95 Studio, where President Volodymyr Zelenskiy worked as a comedian/actor before he was elected last year.
The name of the company, based in the Spanish province of Girona, translates as New Green Territory in English, echoing the titles of projects with Zelenskiy's involvement. The president's last name stems from the word green in Slavic languages.
According to the register, the company specializes in construction and various real-estate activities.
Since it does not submit annual reports on its operations, the company was added to a list of violators of Spanish tax regulations.
Last autumn, the company's tax identification number was temporarily revoked due to the violation.
The State Register of Legal Entities of the Province of Girona confirmed to Skhemy that the company had not been liquidated and was considered a functioning entity.
Under Spanish regulations, Bakanov is legally the company's sole manager and fully in charge of running it.
Article 25 of Ukraine's Law on the Prevention of Corruption states that individuals occupying public offices are banned "from being members of boards, other executive or control bodies, and supervisory boards of commercial enterprises or profit organizations."
Bakanov refused to comment on the situation, but the SBU press service provided Skhemy with a statement denying Bakanov did anything wrong.
Skhemy, which translates as Schemes, is a joint investigative news project produced by RFE/RL and UA:Pershy television.
"It is a well-known fact that, long before his appointment as the chief of the Security Service of Ukraine, Ivan Bakanov was successfully engaged in business, including business activities abroad. We stress that, in compliance with the law requirements, he has not been engaged in commercial activities since his appointment to the public office. Nueva Tierra Verde Sociedad Limitada officially suspended its activities in 2019, which is reflected in the relevant register of legal entities," the SBU's statement said.
When asked about the Spanish State Register's statement confirming the company was still listed as functioning with Bakanov as its sole administrator, the press service said that "work to clarify the issue will be done."
The deadline for submitting property and income declarations by Ukrainian officials to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption is June 1.
According to amendments to the legislation introduced last fall, the SBU leadership must make all income declarations public.
However, Zelenskiy submitted an "urgent" bill to parliament in March that would again classify the SBU leadership's income and property declarations.
Zelenskiy promised to discuss the issue with Bakanov, whom he calls "the most honest SBU chief," when asked about the move during a press conference on May 20.


rferl--2020-05-22--97 Confirmed Dead, Two Survivors In Crash Of Pakistani Passenger Jet In Karachi

Ninety-seven people have been confirmed dead in the crash of a Pakistani International Airlines ( PIA ) plane into a residential area in the southern port city of Karachi .
Provincial health officials said on May 23 that two people survived the crash of Flight PK8303 , which was carrying 91 passengers and eight crew .
All passengers and crew have been accounted for , and the bodies of those killed had been recovered from the crash site , the Sindh Health Ministry said .
Nineteen of the bodies have been identified .
There were reports that people had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was unclear how many and whether their bodies had been recovered .
The Airbus A320 traveling from the eastern city of Lahore crashed on May 22 on a second approach to the Karachi 's Jinnah International Airport .
One of the survivors , Muhammad Zubair , told Geo TV that the plane came down for one landing , briefly touched down , then took off again .
About 10 minutes later the pilot announced to passengers he was going to make a second attempt , then crashed on approaching to the runway , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The plane was flying smoothly and no one was aware it was about to crash , the BBC quoted Zubair as saying .
The plane had developed a technical fault , according to Interior Minister Ijaz Ahmad Shah , who said the pilot issued a mayday call after the aircraft lost an engine .
The airline 's CEO , Arshad Mahmood Malik , identified one survivor as the president of the Bank of Punjab , Zafar Masud .
The bank said he had suffered fractures but was `` conscious and responding well.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's independent safety investigations agency would probe the crash .
Airbus said in a statement that the plane had first entered service in 2004 and was acquired by PIA a decade later and had logged around 47,100 flight hours .
It said it had no confirmed information about the accident .
The crash occurred as Muslims prepare to celebrate Eid al-Fitr this weekend -- the breaking of the Ramadan fast .
Many Pakistanis are travelling back to their homes in cities and villages for the holiday .
It also came days after Pakistan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a coronavirus lockdown .
Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was `` shocked and saddened '' by the crash , tweeting that he was in touch with Malik .
He also said he was grateful for the condolences sent by world leaders over the loss of `` precious lives . ''
`` The people of Pakistan value this support and solidarity in our hour of grief , '' he wrote on Twitter .
With reporting by Reuters , AFP , and the BBC

Ninety-seven people have been confirmed dead in the crash of a Pakistani International Airlines (PIA) plane into a residential area in the southern port city of Karachi.
Provincial health officials said on May 23 that two people survived the crash of Flight PK8303, which was carrying 91 passengers and eight crew.
All passengers and crew have been accounted for, and the bodies of those killed had been recovered from the crash site, the Sindh Health Ministry said. Nineteen of the bodies have been identified.
There were reports that people had been killed on the ground, but it was unclear how many and whether their bodies had been recovered.
The Airbus A320 traveling from the eastern city of Lahore crashed on May 22 on a second approach to the Karachi's Jinnah International Airport.
One of the survivors, Muhammad Zubair, told Geo TV that the plane came down for one landing, briefly touched down, then took off again.
About 10 minutes later the pilot announced to passengers he was going to make a second attempt, then crashed on approaching to the runway, Zubair said according to Geo TV.
The plane was flying smoothly and no one was aware it was about to crash, the BBC quoted Zubair as saying.
The plane had developed a technical fault, according to Interior Minister Ijaz Ahmad Shah, who said the pilot issued a mayday call after the aircraft lost an engine.
The airline's CEO, Arshad Mahmood Malik, identified one survivor as the president of the Bank of Punjab, Zafar Masud.
The bank said he had suffered fractures but was "conscious and responding well.”
Malik told a news conference that Pakistan's independent safety investigations agency would probe the crash.
Airbus said in a statement that the plane had first entered service in 2004 and was acquired by PIA a decade later and had logged around 47,100 flight hours. It said it had no confirmed information about the accident.
The crash occurred as Muslims prepare to celebrate Eid al-Fitr this weekend -- the breaking of the Ramadan fast. Many Pakistanis are travelling back to their homes in cities and villages for the holiday.
It also came days after Pakistan began allowing commercial flights to resume following a coronavirus lockdown.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was "shocked and saddened" by the crash, tweeting that he was in touch with Malik.
He also said he was grateful for the condolences sent by world leaders over the loss of "precious lives."
"The people of Pakistan value this support and solidarity in our hour of grief," he wrote on Twitter.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and the BBC


rferl--2020-05-23--Ukrainian Lawmaker Found In Office With Fatal Gunshot Wound

A Ukrainian lawmaker was found dead in his office with a fatal gunshot wound to the head .
Valeriy Davydenko @ @ @ @ @ dead by a cleaner in the restroom of his office in central Kyiv on May @ @ @ @ @ Anton Herashchenko said on Facebook a comprehensive investigation would be carried out .
“ The @ @ @ @ @ all possible versions of the tragedy , ” he wrote .
Zoryan Shkiryak , an @ @ @ @ @ a preliminary investigation suggests he may have committed suicide .
Davydenko ran as an independent @ @ @ @ @ in the 2019 parliamentary elections .
He later joined the Dovira parliamentary group .
From @ @ @ @ @ , he was deputy agriculture minister .
With reporting by AP , Reuters , and @ @

A Ukrainian lawmaker was found dead in his office with a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
Valeriy Davydenko, 47, was found dead by a cleaner in the restroom of his office in central Kyiv on May 23.
Deputy Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko said on Facebook a comprehensive investigation would be carried out.
“The police and prosecutors will check all possible versions of the tragedy,” he wrote.
Zoryan Shkiryak, an Interior Ministry official, said a preliminary investigation suggests he may have committed suicide.
Davydenko ran as an independent from the northern Chernihiv Oblast in the 2019 parliamentary elections. He later joined the Dovira parliamentary group.
From May 2013 to March 2014, he was deputy agriculture minister.
With reporting by AP, Reuters, and 112 UA


rferl--2020-05-23--Chechen Leader Kadyrov Issues Eid Message Despite Rumored COVID-19 Hospitalization

Ramzan Kadyrov , the leader of Russia 's North Caucasus region of Chechnya , has issued a recorded message congratulating Muslims on Eid al-Fitr , which marks the end of the monthlong Ramadan fasting .
The video and audio message was released on Kadyrov 's Telegram channel on May 23 .
Kadyrov 's whereabouts are unknown , although Russian media reported on May 21 that he had been taken to a Moscow clinic with suspected COVID-19 .
On May 23 , Chechen Parliament Speaker Magomed Daudov rejected reports of Kadyrov 's illness .
`` What they say is untrue , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is nothing… .
I am saying this to pacify all those concerned . ''
Official Russian media have not confirmed the reports .
President Vladimir Putin did not mention them on May 22 when he participated in a video conference with senior officials .
Kadyrov does not appear in the video released on May 23 , but he expresses gratitude to the people of Chechnya for supporting the measures that have been imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus .
He urged everyone to follow medical advice to counter the pandemic .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ with an iron fist since he was installed as the region 's leader by President Vladimir Putin in 2007 .
He has been widely accused in Russia and abroad of massive human rights violations , including abductions , disappearances , assassinations , torture , and extrajudicial killings .
With reporting by Interfax and AP

Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya, has issued a recorded message congratulating Muslims on Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the monthlong Ramadan fasting.
The video and audio message was released on Kadyrov's Telegram channel on May 23.
Kadyrov's whereabouts are unknown, although Russian media reported on May 21 that he had been taken to a Moscow clinic with suspected COVID-19.
On May 23, Chechen Parliament Speaker Magomed Daudov rejected reports of Kadyrov's illness.
"What they say is untrue," he told Interfax. "There is nothing…. I am saying this to pacify all those concerned."
Official Russian media have not confirmed the reports. President Vladimir Putin did not mention them on May 22 when he participated in a video conference with senior officials.
Kadyrov does not appear in the video released on May 23, but he expresses gratitude to the people of Chechnya for supporting the measures that have been imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus. He urged everyone to follow medical advice to counter the pandemic.
Kadyrov, 43, has ruled Chechnya with an iron fist since he was installed as the region's leader by President Vladimir Putin in 2007.
He has been widely accused in Russia and abroad of massive human rights violations, including abductions, disappearances, assassinations, torture, and extrajudicial killings.
With reporting by Interfax and AP


rferl--2020-05-23--Taliban, Afghan Government Announce Three-Day Cease-Fire To Mark End Of Ramadan

The Afghan Taliban announced a three-day cease-fire on May 23 to mark Eid al-Fitr , the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan .
Shortly afterward , Afghan President Ashraf Ghani ordered security forces to abide by cease-fire as well .
In a post on Twitter , Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the movement 's leadership has ordered all fighters to `` conduct no offensive operation against the enemy anywhere . ''
In addition , they have been told to ensure `` the security of fellow citizens . ''
The cease-fire is set to begin on May 24 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ would reciprocate .
`` As commander in chief , I have instructed [ Afghan security forces ] to comply with the three-day truce and to defend only if attacked , '' Ghani wrote .
U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan , Zalmay Khalizad , described the cease-fire as “ a momentous opportunity ” to accelerate a stalled U.S.-Taliban peace process .
“ Other positive steps should immediately follow : the release of remaining prisoners as specified in the US-Taliban agreement by both sides , no returning to high levels of violence , and an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ start of intra-Afghan negotiations , ” Khalizad wrote on Twitter .
In February , the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement aimed at ending the longest military action in U.S. history .
The deal lays out a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in return for security commitments from the Taliban .
A deadline for the Taliban to hold talks with the Afghan government passed in March amid a spike in violence and disagreements between the two sides over prisoner swaps .
The prospect of direct talks between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on May 17 when Ghani and his political rival , Abdullah Abdullah , reached a power-sharing agreement nearly eight months after disputed elections that led to a parallel government and hampered efforts to broker a peace deal .
The United States has about 12,000 troops in Afghanistan .
Washington pays about $ 4 billion a year to maintain the Afghan military .
Taliban militants control about half of Afghanistan 's territory and have continued to carry out attacks since the deal was signed .
More than 85 percent of Afghans have no sympathy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2019 survey by the Asia Foundation .
In April , the Taliban rejected a government call for a Ramadan cease-fire , saying it was `` not rational . ''
Afghan intelligence service spokesman Javid Faisal said on May 23 that at least 146 civilians were killed and 430 wounded in Taliban attacks during Ramadan .
With reporting by AFP and AP

The Afghan Taliban announced a three-day cease-fire on May 23 to mark Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Shortly afterward, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani ordered security forces to abide by cease-fire as well.
In a post on Twitter, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the movement's leadership has ordered all fighters to "conduct no offensive operation against the enemy anywhere." In addition, they have been told to ensure "the security of fellow citizens."
The cease-fire is set to begin on May 24.
Ghani posted on Twitter that government forces would reciprocate.
"As commander in chief, I have instructed [Afghan security forces] to comply with the three-day truce and to defend only if attacked," Ghani wrote.
U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalizad, described the cease-fire as “a momentous opportunity” to accelerate a stalled U.S.-Taliban peace process.
“Other positive steps should immediately follow: the release of remaining prisoners as specified in the US-Taliban agreement by both sides, no returning to high levels of violence, and an agreement on a new date for the start of intra-Afghan negotiations,” Khalizad wrote on Twitter.
In February, the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement aimed at ending the longest military action in U.S. history. The deal lays out a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in return for security commitments from the Taliban.
A deadline for the Taliban to hold talks with the Afghan government passed in March amid a spike in violence and disagreements between the two sides over prisoner swaps.
The prospect of direct talks between Kabul and the Taliban gained a boost on May 17 when Ghani and his political rival, Abdullah Abdullah, reached a power-sharing agreement nearly eight months after disputed elections that led to a parallel government and hampered efforts to broker a peace deal.
The United States has about 12,000 troops in Afghanistan. Washington pays about $4 billion a year to maintain the Afghan military.
Taliban militants control about half of Afghanistan's territory and have continued to carry out attacks since the deal was signed.
More than 85 percent of Afghans have no sympathy for the Taliban, according to a 2019 survey by the Asia Foundation.
In April, the Taliban rejected a government call for a Ramadan cease-fire, saying it was "not rational."
Afghan intelligence service spokesman Javid Faisal said on May 23 that at least 146 civilians were killed and 430 wounded in Taliban attacks during Ramadan.
With reporting by AFP and AP


rferl--2020-05-23--Putin Signs Law Allowing Voting By Mail And Internet

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a new measure that allows elections at all levels and referendums to be conducted by mail and via the Internet , according to the Kremlin 's website .
The law was rushed through all three readings in the State Duma on May 13 and approved by the Federation Council , the upper house of the legislature , one week later .
Although the bill was introduced by lawmakers from the ruling United Russia party , media reports have asserted that it was drafted by the presidential administration .
The new law will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on proposed constitutional amendments -- including a provision that would allow Putin to seek two more terms as president .
That vote was set for April 22 , but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic .
The new law allows the Central Election Commission to organize voting by mail or via the Internet .
Lawmakers said the bill was necessary because of the restrictions on public gatherings imposed to combat the spread of the coronavirus .
Under the new law , the gathering of signatures needed to qualify for elections can be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Putin also signed a law that would bar people convicted of `` moderate '' crimes from seeking public office for a period of five years after their sentence is completed .
Previously , only those with `` serious '' felony convictions were barred .
The new law would block anyone convicted under a law criminalizing multiple violations of the laws on public protests or of making public calls for `` extremism . ''

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a new measure that allows elections at all levels and referendums to be conducted by mail and via the Internet, according to the Kremlin's website.
The law was rushed through all three readings in the State Duma on May 13 and approved by the Federation Council, the upper house of the legislature, one week later.
Although the bill was introduced by lawmakers from the ruling United Russia party, media reports have asserted that it was drafted by the presidential administration.
The new law will not apply to the planned national vote on proposed constitutional amendments -- including a provision that would allow Putin to seek two more terms as president. That vote was set for April 22, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The new law allows the Central Election Commission to organize voting by mail or via the Internet. Lawmakers said the bill was necessary because of the restrictions on public gatherings imposed to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Under the new law, the gathering of signatures needed to qualify for elections can be conducted through a special government website.
Putin also signed a law that would bar people convicted of "moderate" crimes from seeking public office for a period of five years after their sentence is completed. Previously, only those with "serious" felony convictions were barred.
The new law would block anyone convicted under a law criminalizing multiple violations of the laws on public protests or of making public calls for "extremism."
With reporting by Meduza


rferl--2020-05-23--'An Entire Era': Alligator Who Survived WWII Bombing Dies In Moscow Zoo

The Moscow City Zoo has announced the death of Saturn , an 83-year-old alligator who had been part of the zoo 's collection since 1946 .
The zoo made the announcement in an Instagram post on May 23 , saying Saturn had died the previous day .
The lifespan of a American alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis ) in the wild is about 30-50 years .
Saturn was born in the United States in 1936 .
He was almost immediately handed over to the Berlin Zoo .
On November 23 , 1943 , Saturn escaped the zoo during an Allied bombing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is unknown how he survived the next three years , but in 1946 , he was captured by British troops and handed over to Soviet forces , who transferred him to the Moscow Zoo in July 1946 .
An urban myth soon developed that Saturn had been part of a personal menagerie owned by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler .
`` Saturn represents an entire era for us , '' the zoo 's post said , noting that he had been in the zoo 's collection for 74 years .
`` We say that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shortly after Victory [ in World War II ] and celebrated the 75th anniversary of Victory Day with us… .
He saw many of us when we were children .
We hope we did n't disappoint him . ''

The Moscow City Zoo has announced the death of Saturn, an 83-year-old alligator who had been part of the zoo's collection since 1946.
The zoo made the announcement in an Instagram post on May 23, saying Saturn had died the previous day.
The lifespan of a American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in the wild is about 30-50 years.
Saturn was born in the United States in 1936. He was almost immediately handed over to the Berlin Zoo. On November 23, 1943, Saturn escaped the zoo during an Allied bombing raid on the German capital.
It is unknown how he survived the next three years, but in 1946, he was captured by British troops and handed over to Soviet forces, who transferred him to the Moscow Zoo in July 1946.
An urban myth soon developed that Saturn had been part of a personal menagerie owned by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
"Saturn represents an entire era for us," the zoo's post said, noting that he had been in the zoo's collection for 74 years. "We say that without the slightest exaggeration. He arrived shortly after Victory [in World War II] and celebrated the 75th anniversary of Victory Day with us…. He saw many of us when we were children. We hope we didn't disappoint him."


rferl--2020-05-23--Bosnia Postpones Local Elections Over Budget Delays

Officials in Bosnia-Herzegovina announced on May 23 that they will postpone local elections , whihc had been set for October 4 because of the country 's ongoing budget crisis .
The government has not yet adopted a 2020 budget and the Central Election Commission said it was not able to set up a timetable for the elections because the government missed the deadline for allocating funds for them on May 22 .
`` The elections could not be held in accordance with the election law and will be put off until November 15 , '' the election commission said in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are eligible to help choose town and municipal councils and mayors in the country 's two autonomous regions -- the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the Republica Srpska , and in the neutral Brsko District .
The elections cost some 4.5 million euros ( $ 4.9 million ) , half of it to be provided by the central government and half by local governments .
The government has been operating under interim financing arrangements as it tries to pass a national budget .
The government hopes to pass a budget , including funding for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It would then have to be approved by the presidency .
Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

Officials in Bosnia-Herzegovina announced on May 23 that they will postpone local elections, whihc had been set for October 4 because of the country's ongoing budget crisis.
The government has not yet adopted a 2020 budget and the Central Election Commission said it was not able to set up a timetable for the elections because the government missed the deadline for allocating funds for them on May 22.
"The elections could not be held in accordance with the election law and will be put off until November 15," the election commission said in a statement.
Nearly 3.4 million voters are eligible to help choose town and municipal councils and mayors in the country's two autonomous regions -- the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the Republica Srpska, and in the neutral Brsko District.
The elections cost some 4.5 million euros ($4.9 million), half of it to be provided by the central government and half by local governments.
The government has been operating under interim financing arrangements as it tries to pass a national budget.
The government hopes to pass a budget, including funding for the elections, by the end of May. It would then have to be approved by the presidency.
Based on reporting by AP and Reuters


rferl--2020-05-24--Afghanistan's Ghani Vows To Expedite Release Of Taliban Prisoners

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani vowed on May 24 to speed up the release of Taliban prisoners after welcoming an offer by the militants of a three-day cease-fire to mark Eid al-Fitr , the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan .
`` As a responsible government we take one more step forward .
I announce that I will expedite the Taliban prisoner releases , '' Ghani said in an address to the nation marking Eid al-Fitr .
Ghani also urged the Taliban to press ahead with the release of Afghan security personnel they hold .
In February , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agreement aimed at ending the longest military action in U.S. history .
The deal lays out a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in return for security commitments from the Taliban .
It also stipulates that Kabul must free 5,000 Taliban prisoners , while the militants are to release 1,000 captives -- a move expected to lead to intra-Afghan negotiations .
The Taliban on May 23 announced the cease-fire would start the following day .
Shortly afterward , Ghani ordered security forces to abide by the cease-fire as well .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the movement 's leadership has ordered all fighters to `` conduct no offensive operation against the enemy anywhere . ''
In addition , they have been told to ensure `` the security of fellow citizens . ''
Zalmay Khalizad , the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan , described the cease-fire as “ a momentous opportunity ” to accelerate a stalled U.S.-Taliban peace process .
“ Other positive steps should immediately follow : the release of remaining prisoners as specified in the U.S.-Taliban agreement by both sides , no returning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an agreement on a new date for the start of intra-Afghan negotiations , ” Khalizad wrote on Twitter .
A deadline for the Taliban to hold talks with the Afghan government passed in March amid a spike in violence and disagreements between the two sides over prisoner swaps .
The prospect of direct talks between Kabul and the Taliban gained a boost on May 17 when Ghani and his political rival , Abdullah Abdullah , reached a power-sharing agreement nearly eight months after disputed elections that led to a parallel government and hampered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The United States has about 12,000 troops in Afghanistan .
Washington pays about $ 4 billion a year to maintain the Afghan military .
Taliban militants control about half of Afghanistan 's territory and have continued to carry out attacks since the deal was signed .
Afghan intelligence service spokesman Javid Faisal said on May 23 that at least 146 civilians were killed and 430 wounded in Taliban attacks during Ramadan .
With reporting by AFP and AP

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--2020-05-24--Ukrainian Police Detain Far-Right Activists For Hooliganism Against Pro-Russia Party HQ

Seventeen members of a far-right group have been detained for attacking the headquarters of Ukraine ’ s largest pro-Russia political party in Kyiv .
Police said on May 23 that members of the far-right National Corps were arrested for hooliganism after they clashed with security guards and threw smoke bombs , fireworks , and paint cans at the headquarters of the Opposition Platform - For Life .
The party is led by Viktor Medvedchuk , a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin , who is godfather to one of the Ukrainian politician ’ s daughters .
The National Corps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Azov movement that emerged during fighting with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine .
The National Corps have demanded authorities file charges of treason against Opposition Platform - For Life and its leaders .
On March 10 , a delegation of Ukrainian lawmakers from the Opposition Platform - For Life met with deputies from the Russian State Duma in Moscow .
The party said the two sides were discussing the creation of a inter-parliamentary element of the Normandy Format , a diplomatic process involving Ukraine , Russia , Germany , and France to end @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discussed the initiative with Putin .

Seventeen members of a far-right group have been detained for attacking the headquarters of Ukraine’s largest pro-Russia political party in Kyiv.
Police said on May 23 that members of the far-right National Corps were arrested for hooliganism after they clashed with security guards and threw smoke bombs, fireworks, and paint cans at the headquarters of the Opposition Platform - For Life.
The party is led by Viktor Medvedchuk, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is godfather to one of the Ukrainian politician’s daughters.
The National Corps is the political wing of the far-right Azov movement that emerged during fighting with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The National Corps have demanded authorities file charges of treason against Opposition Platform - For Life and its leaders.
On March 10, a delegation of Ukrainian lawmakers from the Opposition Platform - For Life met with deputies from the Russian State Duma in Moscow.
The party said the two sides were discussing the creation of a inter-parliamentary element of the Normandy Format, a diplomatic process involving Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France to end fighting in eastern Ukraine. Medvedchuk reportedly discussed the initiative with Putin.


rferl--2020-05-24--Former Speaker of Kyrgyz Parliament Dies From COVID-19

The former speaker of Kyrgyzstan ’ s parliament , Mukar Cholponbaev , has died from the novel coronavirus .
The @ @ @ @ @ in the capital Bishkek said on May 24 that the 70-year-old political figure died from @ @ @ @ @ was earlier reported to have been on a ventilator .
Kyrgyzstan has reported only 15 @ @ @ @ @ and 1,403 infections .
Cholponbaev served as speaker of parliament and justice minister in the @ @ @ @ @ in the country ’ s political scene since .
As the coronavirus was spreading around @ @ @ @ @ Cholponbaev spoke at a rally in Bishkek demanding the government resign and enact constitutional amendments @

The former speaker of Kyrgyzstan's parliament, Mukar Cholponbaev, has died from the coronavirus.
The Republican Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital in the capital, Bishkek, said on May 24 that the 70-year-old political figure died from multiple coronavirus-related complications.
He was earlier reported to have been on a ventilator.
Kyrgyzstan has reported only 15 deaths from the coronavirus and 1,403 infections.
Cholponbaev served as speaker of parliament and justice minister in the 1990s and has remained active on the country's political scene since.
As the coronavirus was spreading around the globe in March, Cholponbaev spoke at a rally in Bishkek demanding the government resign and enact constitutional amendments.


rferl--2020-05-24--Turkish State Broadcaster Launches Russian Channel To Fight 'Disinformation and Manipulation'

Turkey ’ s state-run TRT broadcaster on May 24 launched a new Russian digital platform .
TRT Russian will focus @ @ @ @ @ regional and global issues , including through local correspondents in the Russian-speaking world , the @ @ @ @ @ platform and its social media channels will “ play a key role in battling disinformation @ @ @ @ @ said .
Turkey and Russia back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Libya @ @ @ @ @ to compartmentalize their differences by expanding political and economic ties .
In launching the new @ @ @ @ @ also likely keen on reaching its ethnic Turkic cousins in Russia and Central Asia .
@ @ @ @ @ source of visitors in the vital tourism industry , with seven million Russian tourists visiting @ @ @ @ @ the Turkish Tourism Ministry .
TRT already broadcasts TRT World in English , TRT Arabic @ @ @ @ @

Turkey's state-run TRT broadcaster has launched a new Russian digital platform.
TRT Russian will focus on providing balanced news on regional and global issues, including through local correspondents in the Russian-speaking world, the broadcaster said on May 24.
The new platform and its social media channels will "play a key role in battling disinformation and manipulation," TRT said.
Turkey and Russia back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Libya, but have also sought to compartmentalize their differences by expanding political and economic ties.
In launching the new digital platform, Turkey is also likely keen on reaching its ethnic Turkic cousins in Russia and Central Asia.
Russia is Turkey's largest source of visitors in the vital tourism industry, with 7 million Russian tourists visiting in 2019, according to the Turkish Tourism Ministry.
TRT already broadcasts TRT World in English, TRT Arabic, and TRT German.


rferl--2020-05-24--Attackers Kill Two Officials At Eid Celebration In Northwest Pakistan

At least three people , including two government officials , were killed in an attack in Pakistan 's restive North Waziristan district on May 24 , administration and police officials said .
An administration official who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to talk to reporters told Radio Mashaal that gunmen riding two motorcycles opened fire at the men in Hassu Khel village of Mir Ali town .
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack .
Attacks on Pakistani security forces in the restive Balochistan region bordering Afghanistan and Iran and the tribal districts bordering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ months .
Zubaidullah Dawar , a director at the Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation within the Ministry of Housing and Works , and Malik Nematullah , a local tribal elder and officer at Health Department of Khyber Pakhunkhwa province , died “ on the spot , ” the administration official said .
Farman , the third victim , reportedly died on his way to the hospital in Bannu .
Nizam , a police official at Mir Ali police station , told Radio Mashaal that the attack took place at 11:00 a.m. local time near @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Eid al-Fitr prayers .
A case was filed and sent to the Counter Terrorism Department of the police , he added .
Both officials were attending an Eid al-Fitr celebration , marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan , in their hometown , Nizam said .
When contacted , Shafiullah Gandapur , police chief of North Waziristan tribal district , declined to comment .
Mohsin Dawar , a lawmaker representing North Waziristan in Pakistan 's parliament , “ strongly ” condemned the attack in a tweet .
On May 17 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roadside bomb attack in Mir Ali in North Waziristan .

At least three people, including two government officials, were killed in an attack in Pakistan's restive North Waziristan district on May 24, administration and police officials said.
An administration official who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to talk to reporters told RFE/RL that gunmen riding two motorcycles opened fire at the men in Hassu Khel village of Mir Ali town.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Attacks on Pakistani security forces in the restive Balochistan Province bordering Afghanistan and Iran and the tribal districts bordering Afghanistan have increased over the past few months.
Zubaidullah Dawar, a director at the Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation within the Ministry of Housing and Works, and Malik Nematullah, a local tribal elder and officer at Health Department of Khyber Pakhunkhwa Province, died "on the spot," the administration official said.
Farman, the third victim, reportedly died on his way to the hospital in Bannu.
Nizam, a police official at Mir Ali police station, told RFE/RL that the attack took place at 11 a.m. local time near Eidgah, a place where Muslims offer Eid al-Fitr prayers.
A case was filed and sent to the Counterterrorism Department of the police, he added.
Both officials were attending an Eid al-Fitr celebration marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan in their hometown, Nizam said.
When contacted, Shafiullah Gandapur, police chief of North Waziristan tribal district, declined to comment.
Mohsin Dawar, a lawmaker representing North Waziristan in Pakistan's parliament, "strongly" condemned the attack on Twitter.
On May 17, a Pakistani soldier was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Mir Ali in North Waziristan.


rferl--2020-05-24--Russian Consumer Protection Chief Warns Of Higher Coronavirus Death Rate

The head of Russia 's consumer protection and well-being agency , Anna Popova , warned on May 24 of increased COVID-19 death rates even as official figures show a slight easing in daily infections since peak counts around two weeks ago .
Her statements , on state television 's Voskresny Vecher ( Sunday Evening ) program , followed news of Russia 's highest one-day coronavirus death toll , 153 , but also the lowest number of new infections in three weeks .
`` The number of coronavirus-related deaths will go up and , regrettably , it is evident today , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rosptrebnadzor , the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Well-Being , as saying .
`` It is a typical situation for all countries : the peak of coronavirus fatalities follows the peak of daily incidence ; it comes after . ''
Russia ’ s comparatively low mortality rate has been questioned by experts , with some suggesting the country ’ s government may be underreporting virus-related deaths and manipulating the statistics .
Russia has the third-largest number of registered coronavirus infections at almost 344,000 , according to Johns Hopkins @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( 1.6 million ) and Brazil ( more than 347,000 ) .
The national coronavirus task force said on May 24 that 3,541 people in Russia have died from the virus , an increase of 153 .
The previous high was 150 .
The number of new infection cases was 8,599 .
Daily infection tallies of more than 11,000 were reported for several days in May .
There have been a number of prominent cases of Russians dying of `` pneumonia , '' a frequent symptom of COVID-19 .
More than one-third of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have received “ instructions ” to manipulate statistics on the COVID-19 outbreak , a poll conducted in the first half of May suggested .
The results showed that nearly 36 percent of the doctors involved answered “ yes ” to the question : “ Are you given instructions to code cases of confirmed COVID-induced pneumonia with codes that will allow you to adjust the rates of infection and death ?
” The coding system is used to attribute the cause of a patient 's death .
On Russian TV on May 24 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its fatality figures during the pandemic .
`` We are among the few country , the only country making diagnosis on the basis of autopsy results of all fatalities .
This is our rule .
It excludes any possible errors , '' she said .
Popova added that the country had `` managed to prevent an overloading of medical groups and the public health system . ''
Three doctors who complained of inadequate personal protection equipment or other crises for medical professionals were reported to have fallen from building windows in April and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fatally .
Russian medical professionals who distrust the official tallies launched a list online of colleagues who have died during the pandemic that now has more than 250 names .
President Vladimir Putin this week acknowledged an acute coronavirus problem facing the southern Republic of Daghestan , where a local religious leader recently described the situation as a `` catastrophe . ''
The speaker of the local parliament in another southern Russian republic , Chechnya , on May 23 rejected Russian media reports that republican leader Ramzan Kadyrov had been taken to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @

The head of Russia's consumer protection and well-being agency, Anna Popova, warned on May 24 of increased COVID-19 death rates even as official figures show a slight easing in daily infections since peak counts around two weeks ago.
Her statements, on state television's Voskresny Vecher (Sunday Evening) program, followed news of Russia's highest one-day coronavirus death toll, 153, but also the lowest number of new infections in three weeks.
"The number of coronavirus-related deaths will go up and, regrettably, it is evident today," TASS quoted Popova, who heads Rosptrebnadzor, the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Well-Being, as saying. "It is a typical situation for all countries: the peak of coronavirus fatalities follows the peak of daily incidence; it comes after."
Russia’s comparatively low mortality rate has been questioned by experts, with some suggesting the country’s government may be underreporting virus-related deaths and manipulating the statistics.
Russia has the third-largest number of registered coronavirus infections at almost 344,000, according to Johns Hopkins University, behind only the United States (1.6 million) and Brazil (more than 347,000).
The national coronavirus task force said on May 24 that 3,541 people in Russia have died from the virus, an increase of 153. The previous high was 150.
The number of new infection cases was 8,599. Daily infection tallies of more than 11,000 were reported for several days in May.
There have been a number of prominent cases of Russians dying of "pneumonia," a frequent symptom of COVID-19.
More than one-third of doctors working with coronavirus patients in Russia have received “instructions” to manipulate statistics on the COVID-19 outbreak, a poll conducted in the first half of May suggested.
The results showed that nearly 36 percent of the doctors involved answered “yes” to the question: “Are you given instructions to code cases of confirmed COVID-induced pneumonia with codes that will allow you to adjust the rates of infection and death?”
The coding system is used to attribute the cause of a patient's death.
On Russian TV on May 24, Popova rejected reports that Russia was underreporting its fatality figures during the pandemic.
"We are among the few country, the only country making diagnosis on the basis of autopsy results of all fatalities. This is our rule. It excludes any possible errors," she said.
Popova added that the country had "managed to prevent an overloading of medical groups and the public health system."
Three doctors who complained of inadequate personal protection equipment or other crises for medical professionals were reported to have fallen from building windows in April and May, at least two of them fatally.
Russian medical professionals who distrust the official tallies launched a list online of colleagues who have died during the pandemic that now has more than 250 names.
President Vladimir Putin this week acknowledged an acute coronavirus problem facing the southern Republic of Daghestan, where a local religious leader recently described the situation as a "catastrophe."
The speaker of the local parliament in another southern Russian republic, Chechnya, on May 23 rejected Russian media reports that republican leader Ramzan Kadyrov had been taken to a Moscow clinic with suspected COVID-19 symptoms.
With reporting by TASS


rferl--2020-05-24--More Than 1,000 Belarusians Protest Lukashenka's Bid For Sixth Term

More than 1,000 demonstrators joined together in the Belarusian capital on May 24 to oppose another term for longtime President Alyaksandr Lukshenka in one of the biggest protests of the year in that country .
The challenge against a sixth term for Lukashenka comes less than three months before an election and with outside groups warning of a roundup and other measures to clamp down on dissent in the post-Soviet country of around 9 million .
The demonstration was reportedly organized jointly by Mikalay Statkevich -- a former presidential challenger whose candidacy for the August 9 presidential election was rejected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tsikhanouski , who was recently jailed over an `` unsanctioned mass gathering '' and whose candidacy was also nixed by authorities .
Some of the attendees signed up to back the candidacy of Tsikhanouski 's wife , Svitlana Tsikhanouskaya .
Many of those who turned up near Kamarousky Market in downtown Minsk on May 24 wore masks and physically distanced in an apparent riposte to Lukashenka 's public rejection of the COVID-19 pandemic as a `` psychosis , '' despite climbing infection and death tolls in Belarus .
Police , accustomed to shutting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ slightest pretext , did not intervene .
Belarus , which has reported more than 36,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases , including an improbably low 199 deaths , hasn ’ t ordered a lockdown .
It bucked other countries ' cancellation of major sporting competitions and even of gatherings earlier this month to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II , instead holding a military-style parade attended by thousands of spectators .
None of the elections since Lukashenka took power in 1994 has been deemed free or fair by Western standards @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2010 presidential election that was widely decried as rigged and was followed by a brutal crackdown .
Statkevich was arrested after attending a large demonstration protesting the 2010 results and spent 5 years in prison after being convicted of organizing riots at a trial criticized by human rights groups and Western governments as unfair .
The Belarusian Central Election Commission on May 19 rejected documents filed by an initiative group for a Statkevich candidacy , citing his `` criminal record . ''
Tsikhanouski controls a popular YouTube channel , called The Country For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) warned this week that authorities in Belarus have intensified their crackdown on independent activists and journalists with a “ new wave of arbitrary arrests ” ahead of the election .
The rights watchdog noted that more than 120 peaceful protesters , opposition bloggers , journalists , and other government critics had been arrested in 17 Belarusian cities between May 6 and 13 .
Critics of Lukashenka , who has been in power in Belarus for more than 25 years , say his government has shown little @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The country has been the target of U.S. and EU sanctions over its poor rights record and lack of fair elections , but Belarus and the West have recently sought to mend ties in an apparent bid to reduce Russia ’ s influence in the country .

More than 1,000 demonstrators joined together in the Belarusian capital on May 24 to oppose another term for longtime President Alyaksandr Lukshenka in one of the biggest protests of the year in that country.
The challenge against a sixth term for Lukashenka comes less than three months before an election and with outside groups warning of a roundup and other measures to clamp down on dissent in the post-Soviet country of around 9 million.
The demonstration was reportedly organized jointly by Mikalay Statkevich -- a former presidential challenger whose candidacy for the August 9 presidential election was rejected last week -- and opposition blogger Syarhey Tsikhanouski, who was recently jailed over an "unsanctioned mass gathering" and whose candidacy was also nixed by authorities.
Some of the attendees signed up to back the candidacy of Tsikhanouski's wife, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
Many of those who turned up near the Kamarouski market in downtown Minsk on May 24 wore masks and physically distanced in an apparent riposte to Lukashenka's public rejection of the COVID-19 pandemic as a "psychosis," despite climbing infection and death tolls in Belarus.
GALLERY: Belarusians Protest Against Lukashenka's Run For Sixth Term As President (CLICK TO VIEW)
Police, accustomed to shutting down gatherings of government critics on the slightest pretext, did not intervene.
Belarus, which has reported more than 36,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including an improbably low 199 deaths, hasn't ordered a lockdown.
It bucked other countries' cancellation of major sporting competitions and even of gatherings earlier this month to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, instead holding a military-style parade attended by thousands of spectators.
None of the elections since Lukashenka took power in 1994 has been deemed free or fair by Western standards.
Belarus abolished presidential term limits in a referendum in 2004.
Statkevich ran against Lukashenka in a 2010 presidential election that was widely decried as rigged and was followed by a brutal crackdown.
Statkevich was arrested after attending a large demonstration protesting the 2010 results and spent 5 years in prison after being convicted of organizing riots at a trial criticized by human rights groups and Western governments as unfair.
The Belarusian Central Election Commission on May 19 rejected documents filed by an initiative group for a Statkevich candidacy, citing his "criminal record."
Tsikhanouski controls a popular YouTube channel, called The Country For Life, which frequently challenges Belarusian officialdom.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned this week that authorities in Belarus have intensified their crackdown on independent activists and journalists with a “new wave of arbitrary arrests” ahead of the election.
The rights watchdog noted that more than 120 peaceful protesters, opposition bloggers, journalists, and other government critics had been arrested in 17 Belarusian cities between May 6 and 13.
Critics of Lukashenka, who has been in power in Belarus for more than 25 years, say his government has shown little tolerance for dissent and independent media.
The country has been the target of U.S. and EU sanctions over its poor rights record and lack of fair elections, but Belarus and the West have recently sought to mend ties in an apparent bid to reduce Russia’s influence in the country.
With reporting by AP


rferl--2020-05-24--Iranians Mark End Of Ramadan As Society Gradually Reopening

Many Iranians began cautious celebrations to mark the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan as the country took further steps to reopen amid its ongoing coronavirus outbreak .
Iranian media said Eid al-Fitr prayers were conducted in 110 mosques in the capital , Tehran , on May 24 under what official Iranian outlet Press TV described as `` strict health protocols '' that included social distancing .
Worshipers in predominantly Shi'ite Iran are marking the end of Ramadan on separate days -- May 24 or 25 -- depending on the differing edicts from different religious authorities .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of museums and historical sites announced a day earlier by President Hassan Rohani .
Rohani said the country was entering `` the fourth stage '' of the outbreak , which he described as one of `` containment ... to manage and counter the coronavirus . ''
Iran is trying to recover from the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the region , with an official infection count of over 135,000 and more than 7,400 deaths in Iran , although many believe those numbers underrepresent the severity of the pandemic there .
Rohani said religious shrines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from early on in the crisis , will reopen on May 25 and worshippers will have to observe social distancing and similar rules to prevent spreading the virus further .
Rohani last week said that restaurants would reopen after Ramadan and sports activities would resume without spectators .
Universities are set to reopen early next month .
Press TV quoted the semiofficial Fars news agency as saying that Rohani and his Turkish counterpart , Recep Tayyip Erdogan , spoke by telephone on May 24 to encourage the reopening of land and air borders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 outbreak , but there was no confirmation of any immediate measures .
The supreme leader , Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , who has final religious and political authority in Iran , said on his official website that the Eid al-Fitr would fall on May 24 .
But other senior Shi'ite clerics in Iran , known as `` marjas , '' issued separate statements saying the holiday would be celebrated on May 25 .
The end of Ramadan is determined by the position of the moon , in accordance with the Muslim lunar calendar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prayers at Tehran 's Imam Khomeini Grand Prayer Grounds , canceled that event as part of the measures to contain the pandemic .
`` We 're happy to have taken part in prayers here , '' AFP quoted a 55-year-old worshiper as saying through a face mask outside the Samen Mosque west of Tehran .
Most of those present had masks , the agency said .
The head of Iran 's task force to contain the coronavirus and other authorities urged anyone who suspected they had COVID-19 symptoms , as well as pregnant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to avoid public venues to mark Eid .
There was no initial word on possible damage caused by an earthquake of 5.1 magnitude that the U.S. Geological Survey said hit western Iran on May 24 .

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--2020-05-24--Earthquake Strikes Western Iran

Earthquake Strikes Western Iran

An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 struck the province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad in western Iran on May 24 , @ @ @ @ @ .
State TV gave no immediate information about possible casualties or damage .
Tehran University @ @ @ @ @ Geophysics Institute said the earthquake occurred at 13:41 hours local time at a depth of @ @ @ @ @ IRNA news agency reported .
There were no immediate reports on casualties or damages .
@ @ @ @ @ lines and is prone to frequent temblors .
Based on reporting by Reuters and IRNA


rferl--2020-05-25--Russia Demands Apology From Bloomberg Over Report About Putin's Low Ratings

Russia has demanded an apology from the Bloomberg news agency over a report it published about President Vladimir Putin 's low trust rating among Russians .
The Russian Embassy in Washington , D.C. , said in a post on Facebook that the article by Bloomberg , which cited a poll last month conducted by Russia 's main state-funded pollster , the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center ( VTsIOM ) , was `` written to promote fake graphs and create sustainable false visual images about the 'negative dynamics ' in Russia . ''
The report on Bloomberg noted that only 27 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ published on April 27 , named Putin when asked to name a politician they they most trust .
The embassy , however , said that `` the editors of Bloomberg continue to show complete disrespect for its readers '' since the `` real level of trust '' is 67.9 percent , a number that refers to a second part of the poll that asked specifically whether the respondent trusted Putin .
Bloomberg has not commented publicly on the issue .
It 's not the first time VTsIOM 's polling on the issue has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ irritation for the president .
In May 2019 , VTsIOM added the closed , yes-or-no question on whether respondents trusted Putin , a format that led to a huge jump in his rating .
Some critics questioned why the agency changed its methodology and accused VTsIOM of succumbing to pressure from the Kremlin .
VTsIOM General Director Valery Fedorov explained at the time that the change was made to give a more rounded picture of the public that would make the data `` more understandable to our audience and the journalistic community .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ independent Levada Center put support for Putin at 59 percent in April , down from 63 percent the previous month .
It was the lowest recorded approval rating for Putin since September 1999 .
A second Levada poll released the same day , however , found increased support for proposed constitutional amendments that would , among other things , enable Putin to seek two more presidential terms .
According to that poll , 47 percent of Russians favor the package of amendments , up from 40 percent in March .
Those who said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote on the constitutional changes were even more likely to support them , with 58 percent saying they would vote `` yes . ''
Pollsters cautioned that the most recent polls were conducted by telephone rather than face-to-face because of coronavirus-related restrictions , which makes it difficult to compare the results .

Russia has demanded an apology from the Bloomberg news agency over a report it published about President Vladimir Putin's low trust rating among Russians.
The Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., said in a post on Facebook that the article by Bloomberg, which cited a poll last month conducted by Russia's main state-funded pollster, the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), was "written to promote fake graphs and create sustainable false visual images about the 'negative dynamics' in Russia."
The report on Bloomberg noted that only 27 percent of respondents in the poll, published on April 27, named Putin when asked to name a politician they they most trust.
The embassy, however, said that "the editors of Bloomberg continue to show complete disrespect for its readers" since the "real level of trust" is 67.9 percent, a number that refers to a second part of the poll that asked specifically whether the respondent trusted Putin.
Bloomberg has not commented publicly on the issue.
It's not the first time VTsIOM's polling on the issue has been rumored to be a source of irritation for the president.
In May 2019, VTsIOM added the closed, yes-or-no question on whether respondents trusted Putin, a format that led to a huge jump in his rating.
Some critics questioned why the agency changed its methodology and accused VTsIOM of succumbing to pressure from the Kremlin.
VTsIOM General Director Valery Fedorov explained at the time that the change was made to give a more rounded picture of the public that would make the data "more understandable to our audience and the journalistic community."
A May 6 poll by the independent Levada Center put support for Putin at 59 percent in April, down from 63 percent the previous month. It was the lowest recorded approval rating for Putin since September 1999.
A second Levada poll released the same day, however, found increased support for proposed constitutional amendments that would, among other things, enable Putin to seek two more presidential terms.
According to that poll, 47 percent of Russians favor the package of amendments, up from 40 percent in March. Those who said they would definitely participate in the national vote on the constitutional changes were even more likely to support them, with 58 percent saying they would vote "yes."
Pollsters cautioned that the most recent polls were conducted by telephone rather than face-to-face because of coronavirus-related restrictions, which makes it difficult to compare the results.
In recent weeks, Moscow has lashed out at several Western outlets over their coverage of Russia’s response to the outbreak.
The Foreign Ministry on May 14 criticized the Financial Times and The New York Times after they reported that Russia's coronavirus death toll could be much higher than officials were saying.
Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova complained about what she called “disinformation” by the two newspapers and said letters demanding a retraction would be passed on to both.
With reporting by RIA Novosti and AP


rferl--2020-05-25--Afghan Cease-Fire Appears To Hold As Prisoner Release Expected

A cease-fire between the Taliban and the Afghan government appears to be holding for a second day as the authorities prepare to release up to 2,000 insurgents held by security forces .
The Taliban made the three-day truce offer that started on May 24 to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan , the Eid al-Fitr holiday -- a move swiftly welcomed by the government , which reciprocated by announcing plans to free militant prisoners .
In February , the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement aimed at ending the longest military action in U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in return for security commitments from the Taliban .
It also stipulates that Kabul must free 5,000 Taliban prisoners , while the militants are to release 1,000 captives -- a move expected to lead to intra-Afghan negotiations .
President Ashraf Ghani said the government was also ready to hold peace talks with the Taliban , seen as key to ending a nearly two-decade-long war .
`` The cease-fire is holding .
There have been no reports of any violation so far , '' National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ May 25 .
`` We hope this will eventually lead to a lasting peace that the people of Afghanistan so much desire and deserve , '' he added .
Ghani launched a process on May 24 to release up to 2,000 Taliban prisoners .
`` As a responsible government we take one more step forward -- I announce that I will expedite the Taliban prisoner releases , '' Ghani said in an address to the nation marking Eid al-Fitr .
Ghani also urged the Taliban to press ahead with the release of Afghan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spokesman , Sediq Sediqqi , later on May 24 tweeted that `` President Ghani today initiated a process to release up to 2,000 Taliban prisoners as a good will gesture in response to the Taliban 's announcement of a ceasefire during Eid . ''
Sediqqi added that the government `` is extending the offer of peace and is taking further steps to ensure success of the peace process . ''
However , Afghanistan 's Human Rights Commission cautioned the government against releasing Taliban militants who committed war crimes .
The U.S. special envoy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the cease-fire as `` a momentous opportunity '' to accelerate a stalled U.S.-Taliban peace process .
`` Other positive steps should immediately follow : the release of remaining prisoners as specified in the US-Taliban agreement by both sides , no returning to high levels of violence , and an agreement on a new date for the start of intra-Afghan negotiations , '' Khalizad wrote on Twitter .
The prospect of direct talks between Kabul and the Taliban gained a boost on May 17 when Ghani and his political rival , Abdullah Abdullah , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after disputed elections that led to a parallel government and hampered efforts to broker a peace deal .
The United States has about 12,000 troops in Afghanistan .
Washington pays about $ 4 billion a year to maintain the Afghan military .
Taliban militants control about half of Afghanistan 's territory and have continued to carry out attacks since the deal was signed .
Afghan intelligence service spokesman Javid Faisal said on May 23 that at least 146 civilians were killed and 430 wounded in Taliban attacks during Ramadan .
With reporting by @ @ @