rferl--2020-02-09--Iranian Satellite Launched But Fails To Reach Earth's Orbit

Iranian state television reports that Iran on February 9 failed in an attempt to launch an Iranian-made Zafar satellite into the Earth 's orbit .
Ahmad Hosseini , a spokesman for the Iranian Defense Ministry 's space program , told state TV that `` the Zafar satellite did not reach orbit as planned '' because it did not reach the necessary speed .
It is at least the third failed satellite launch by Iran since the start of 2019 in a program that Washington claims is helping Tehran to advance its ballistic-missile program .
Reports said the rocket that attempted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ orbit around the Earth was a two-stage , liquid-fueled Iranian rocket known as a Simorgh space-launch vehicle .
The launch took place from the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran ’ s Semnan Province , about 230 kilometers southeast of Tehran .
“ Stage-1 and stage-2 motors of the carrier functioned properly and the satellite was successfully detached from its carrier , but at the end of its path it did not reach the required speed for being put in the orbit , ” Hosseini told state TV .
Hosseini still sought to portray @ @ @ @ @ @ @ achievement for Iran 's space program .
The report comes hours after an Iranian cabinet minister announced the launch plan , which coincided with the anniversary of a key event in the country 's Islamic revolution four decades ago .
Reports on February 8 suggested the launch had been postponed indefinitely .
But Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said early on February 9 that `` the Zafar satellite '' would be placed in orbit later on the same day .
`` Beginning countdown to launch # Zafar_Satellite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Name of God , '' Jahromi later tweeted .
U.S. officials , who have pursued a `` maximum pressure '' policy toward Iran since Washington exited a major nuclear deal in 2018 that exchanged curbs on Iran 's nuclear program for sanctions relief , have suggested Tehran 's satellite program is part of a program of ballistic-missile development and that the technology could deliver nuclear warheads .
Also on February 9 , Iran 's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps ( IRGC ) announced that it had developed new short-range ballistic missiles propelled by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zoheir '' engines that are designed to put satellites into orbit .
IRGC commander Major General Hossein Salami unveiled the missile and engines aside the head of the IRGC 's aerospace branch and said the lighter composite materials and a `` movable nozzle '' were part of `` complicated achievements '' that are `` our key to entering space , '' AFP reported .
Iranian claims of new weapons can be difficult to confirm and have sometimes proven misleading in the past .
The head of Iran 's national space agency , Morteza @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country would soon launch the Zafar ( “ Victory ” in Farsi ) satellite .
He said the 113-kilogram satellite would be carried by a Simorgh rocket 530 kilometers above the Earth and that it would make 15 orbits a day .
On February 8 , Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for further strengthening of Iran 's defenses , saying that `` in order to impede war and put an end to the threats , one has to become strong , '' according to Iranian state Press TV .
The supreme @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on religious and political affairs , meets with senior members of the Iranian air force on February 8 every year to mark key military defections during the country 's 1979 revolution to overthrow the U.S.-backed Shah .
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered at least two aerial attacks on senior Iranian military leaders last month .
In one , an air strike near Baghdad 's international airport killed Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani , leader of Iran 's elite Quds Force , along with a senior commander of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia and several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strikes on Iraqi bases that house U.S. troops on January 8 , reportedly injuring around 64 troops with what was described as `` mild traumatic brain injury . ''
Iranian forces also shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner after takeoff from Tehran airport while air defenses were on high alert on January 8 , killing all 176 people on board the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 .
Tehran has gradually stepped back from its own commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal , known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ( JCPOA ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it no longer considered itself bound by it .
Last week , top EU diplomat Josep Borrell met with senior Iranian officials including President Hassan Rohani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran aimed at lowering tensions over Iran 's nuclear program .
Borrell said in January that he had consulted the countries still in the accord -- which also include Russia and China -- and that all were determined to save the JCPOA .
Barari , who is chief of the Iranian Space Agency , said manufacturing of the Zafar satellite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ participation of 80 Iranian scientists , '' adding that it was designed to remain operational for `` more than 18 months . ''
He called it `` a new step for our country '' and said the satellite 's primary mission would be to collect imagery to study earthquakes , prevent natural disasters , and develop agricultural resources .
Iran reportedly hopes to construct five more satellites by March 2021 .
With reporting by Reuters , AFP , and Press TV

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--2020-02-09--Two U.S. Soldiers Killed In Suspected Afghan Insider Attack

KABUL -- Two U.S. soldiers have been killed and six wounded in a firefight in Afghanistan 's eastern Nangarhar Province , with the U.S. military saying initial reports indicate an attack was carried out by a man in an Afghan National Army ( ANA ) uniform .
Colonel Sonny Leggett , a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan , said in a statement early on February 9 that the incident occurred after a combined U.S.-Afghan force was returning from a `` key-leader engagement '' in which U.S. forces meet with important individuals of selected areas .
`` Current reports indicate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fire on the combined U.S. and Afghan force with a machine gun , '' Leggett said .
`` We are still collecting information , and the cause or motive behind the attack is unknown at this time , '' he added .
Shah Mahmood Miakhel , the governor of Nangarhar Province , earlier told RFE/RL that at least three Afghan soldiers were injured in the attack that he also said appears to have been carried out by an assailant in an ANA uniform .
He added that the man had been killed and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not known .
Nangarhar Provincial Council member Ajmal Omer also told AP that the gunman was killed , adding that the incident took place in Nangarhar Province 's Sherzad District .
The New York Times on February 8 quoted an unnamed U.S. military official saying there were at least six American casualties and confirmed that there were fatalities without saying how many .
Assaults by rogue Afghan soldiers -- so-called “ green-on-blue ” attacks -- became a regular occurrence in the conflict , although they have become less frequent in recent years .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ out , but we are not calling it an insider attack , Taliban attack , or 'green-on-blue ' at this stage , '' an Afghan defense official told Reuters .
Sohrab Qaderi , a provincial council member in Nangarhar , said it was possible a “ tactical mistake ” occurred between Afghan and foreign forces .
U.S. spokesman Leggett said in a statement earlier that both Afghan and U.S. personnel were `` engaged by direct firing . ''
The Taliban and an Islamic State ( IS ) affiliate both operate in eastern Nangarhar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be reached for comment .
Some 14,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Afghanistan as part of the U.S.-led NATO mission to train , assist , and advise Afghan forces and to carry out counterterrorism missions .
Washington has conducted talks with the Taliban in Qatar in an effort to find an end to Afghanistan 's 18-year war , but a deal has not yet been reached .
With reporting by AP , Reuters , and The New York Times

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--2020-02-09--Coronavirus Deaths In China Surpass Level Of SARS In 2002-03

The number of deaths from the coronavirus in China has surged past 800 people , surpassing the number of fatalities of the SARS outbreak in 2002-03 , but overall figures showed a one-day slowing of new cases , raising hopes that it was the first sign of a peaking of the epidemic .
China ’ s National Health Commission on February 9 said the central Hubei Province recorded 89 new deaths on February 8 , pushing the total to 811 throughout the country and above the 774 who died from SARS , or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome .
The number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whose capital , Wuhan , is considered the epicenter of the outbreak -- showed a decline in new cases for the first time since February 1 .
Officials said 2,656 new cases were identified throughout the country for the day , with 2,147 in Hubei .
Joseph Eisenberg , professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan , told Reuters it was too early to say whether the epidemic was peaking given the uncertainty in reporting procedures .
`` Even if reported cases might be peaking , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with unreported cases .
This is especially an issue in some of the more rural areas , '' he said .
The total of confirmed cases hit 37,198 in mainland China .
The virus has spread to about two dozen countries , but all but two of the deaths have occurred in mainland China .
The first U.S. citizen died from the disease , officials said on February 8 , identifying him as a 60-year-old man in Wuhan .
The virus broke out at a seafood market in Wuhan that reportedly sold exotic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ SARS outbreak .
With reporting by Reuters , AP , AFP , and dpa

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--2020-02-09--Ruling Party Declares Victory In Azerbaijan's Parliamentary Elections

BAKU -- An exit poll in Azerbaijan 's February 9 parliamentary elections suggests President Ilham Aliyev 's ruling New Azerbaijan Party ( YAP ) has increased its share by four seats in the single-chamber legislature and only one opposition candidate has won a seat .
The exit poll conducted by the U.S.-based firm Arthur J. Finkelstein & Associates suggests YAP won a total of 69 seats in the 125-seat parliament .
The YAP had 65 seats in the outgoing parliament , the Milli Majlis .
The exit poll also suggests that Azerbaijan 's nominally independent candidates , most of whom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ won 41 seats in the elections .
According to the exit poll , the only opposition candidate expected to make it into the next parliament is Erkin Gadirli of the Republican Alternative Civic Movement ( REAL ) .
Aliyev 's YAP declared victory during the early morning hours of February 10 .
A statement on the party 's website said : `` Exit poll results make us think that New Azerbaijan got a majority of votes . ''
Hikmet Hacizade , a Baku-based political analyst and democracy advocate , told RFE/RL that if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a handful of the nominally independent lawmakers in the new parliament , it will be a change from the previous parliament .
`` In the outgoing parliament , no one spoke up , '' Hacizade said .
`` Actually , there was nobody from the opposition [ in the previous parliament . ]
'' He says it will be `` a blessing '' if `` there are just five people in the [ new ] parliament who speak independently and have the heart to speak up . ''
He also said that lawmakers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as independent candidates but `` do nothing '' in the new parliament . ''
The snap election was called by Aliyev in December 2019 .
The ballot was boycotted by some opposition parties in protest over limitations on access to media and the right to peaceably assemble .
Azerbaijan 's Central Election Commission ( CEC ) said turnout was 47.81 percent of eligible voters with more than 2.5 million people casting ballots .
The official turnout for the last parliamentary elections in 2015 was 55.7 percent .
Reports of irregularities included multiple voting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and hindrance or abuse of independent observers .
Critics have cast serious doubt on hopes of genuine reforms that might strengthen the country 's long-beleaguered opposition .
WATCH : Azerbaijani Voters Go To The Polls Instead , critics say , Aliyev and his allies are seeking a way to ensure a line of succession that began with Aliyev 's father , a Soviet-era KGB leader and Politburo member who passed the presidency to his son shortly before his death nearly two decades ago .
Isa Gambar , former head of Azerbaijan ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Baku on February 9 that there was `` excessive passivity '' among voters with `` few who came to vote . ''
Gambar says he expects that `` nothing has changed '' between the outgoing parliament and the newly elected legislature .
`` A majority of the members of the so-called parliament that dissolved itself are being reappointed as deputies , '' Gambar told RFE/RL .
`` Such a parliament will further deepen the already existing political crisis in the country and will increase the political instability that is already taking place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were scheduled for November until they were moved forward by nine months in December 2019 , when Aliyev signed a decree to dissolve the existing parliament .
Aliyev ’ s YAP said the composition of the legislature needed to be changed in order to carry out Aliyev ’ s `` reform '' program .
His reform plan follows several high-profile changes in the government and his administration near the end of last year that included the appointment of 62-year-old economist Ali Asadov as prime minister .
Critics say the party ’ s hope @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parliament suggests Aliyev ’ s party may be trying to clear the way for Aliyev ’ s wife , First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva , to take over the presidency at a later date .
Parliamentary powers are limited in Azerbaijan .
Most political power in the Caucasus nation is concentrated in the hands of the presidency .
The post of prime minister in Azerbaijan has long been held by a close ally of Aliyev , who took over the presidency in 2003 after his father ruled the country the previous 10 years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2008 , 2013 , and 2018 -- was able to consolidate his power through a 2009 referendum that abolished the country ’ s two-term presidential limit and a 2016 referendum that lengthened presidential terms to seven years .
According to the CEC , some 5.3 million voters are eligible to cast ballots on February 9 .
Initial official results are expected to be announced in the early morning hours of February 10 .
Minor complaints were already trickling in within hours of the opening of polling stations .
Some independent observers said they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people visit multiple polling stations -- and people casting multiple ballots at once .
One candidate reported seeing an ambulance ferrying voters to multiple polling stations .
One election monitor working for a candidate said he was beaten and thrown out of a polling station he was attempting to observe .
Other election monitors said they were being prevented from entering polling stations or were ordered to remain in certain locations .
The Institute for Democratic Initiatives shared several videos of people interfering with observers seeking to record at polling stations .
Cameras @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1,000 or so voting locations with live video feeds .
One candidate , activist and blogger Bakhtiyar Hajiyev , told RFE/RL 's Azerbaijani Service that he was initially prevented from voting at a Baku polling station and was told he had n't registered properly .
But an election official later said access to the polling station was being limited ahead of President Aliyev 's arrival there to vote .
Apparent power outages meanwhile cut the lights for more than half an hour at some polling stations in Suraxani and Hovsan , northeast of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Boxes And Carousels : Azerbaijan Votes Again Under Scrutiny Election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) have noted that the number of registered voters in more than half of the 125 constituencies deviated by more than what the Election Code allows .
“ A difference of approximately 2 million persists between the number of registered voters as per CEC data and the number of citizens of voting age according to the State Statistics Committee , ” the OSCE Election Observation Mission ( ODIHR ) said in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Voters who had not yet registered were allowed to do so on election day if they provided proof of residency in Azerbaijan .
Election officials registered 1,637 candidates who had applied by the January 10 deadline .
A total of 19 political parties fielded 272 of the candidates .
They included 123 candidates from the ruling YAP , followed by 25 from the opposition Musavat party , and 21 from the opposition Party of Hope ( UMID ) .
A total of 81 lawmakers , about two-thirds of the outgoing parliament , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commentator and contributor to RFE/RL Arzu Geybullayeva said the elections would be different from previous parliamentary votes because of the emergence of new “ genuine candidates ” who were running as independents or who had joined forces under a new political bloc called Movement .
Movement , which was formed in December after the early elections were announced , brings together human rights activists , rights lawyers , election observes , bloggers , feminists , youth activists , and politicians .
Since Azerbaijan declared independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ falling short of democratic standards by international observers from the OSCE and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe ( PACE ) .
OSCE observers say Azerbaijan conducts its elections “ within a restrictive environment and under laws that curtail fundamental rights and freedoms.
” Independent media also have been stifled economically or closed by force , as was the case with the Baku bureau of RFE/RL ’ s Azerbaijani Service in December 2014 .
The Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders says Aliyev has waged “ a relentless war ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and bloggers being “ jailed on absurd grounds if they do not first yield to harassment , beatings , blackmail , or bribes.
” OSCE observers say most media in Azerbaijan have avoided covering the candidates , parties , and political issues during the official campaign period to avoid being accused of violating a stifling “ equal coverage ” rule in the Election Code .

BAKU -- An exit poll in Azerbaijan's February 9 parliamentary elections suggests President Ilham Aliyev's ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) has increased its share by four seats in the single-chamber legislature and only one opposition candidate has won a seat.
The exit poll conducted by the U.S.-based firm Arthur J. Finkelstein & Associates suggests YAP won a total of 69 seats in the 125-seat parliament. The YAP had 65 seats in the outgoing parliament, the Milli Majlis.
The exit poll also suggests that Azerbaijan's nominally independent candidates, most of whom support the policies of the YAP, won 41 seats in the elections.
Azerbaijan's Central Election Commission approved Finkelstein to conduct the exit poll, which it has done in previous votes as well. It was not immediately clear who funded the exit survey by the U.S.-based pollster.
According to the exit poll, the only opposition candidate expected to make it into the next parliament is Erkin Gadirli of the Republican Alternative Civic Movement (REAL).
Aliyev's YAP declared victory during the early morning hours of February 10.
A statement on the party's website said: "Exit poll results make us think that New Azerbaijan got a majority of votes."
Hikmet Hacizade, a Baku-based political analyst and democracy advocate, told RFE/RL that, if the ruling YAP is challenged by even a handful of the nominally independent lawmakers in the new parliament, it will be a change from the previous assembly.
"In the outgoing parliament, no one spoke up," Hacizade said. "Actually, there was nobody from the opposition [in the previous parliament.]"
He says it will be "a blessing" if "there are just five people in the [new] parliament who speak independently and have the heart to speak up."
He also said that lawmakers will bear shame if they were elected as independent candidates but "do nothing" in the new parliament."
The snap election was called by Aliyev in December 2019. The ballot was boycotted by some opposition parties in protest over limitations on access to media and the right to peaceably assemble.
Azerbaijan's Central Election Commission (CEC) said turnout was 47.81 percent of eligible voters with more than 2.5 million people casting ballots.
The official turnout for the last parliamentary elections in 2015 was 55.7 percent.
Reports of irregularities included multiple voting, interrupted video feeds at polling stations, and hindrance or abuse of independent observers.
Critics have cast serious doubt on hopes of genuine reforms that might strengthen the country's long-beleaguered opposition.
WATCH: Azerbaijani Voters Go To The Polls
Instead, critics say, Aliyev and his allies are seeking a way to ensure a line of succession that began with Aliyev's father, a Soviet-era KGB leader and Politburo member who passed the presidency to his son shortly before his death nearly two decades ago.
Isa Gambar, former head of Azerbaijan's opposition Musavat party, told RFE/RL in Baku on February 9 that there was "excessive passivity" among voters with "few who came to vote."
Gambar says he expects that "nothing has changed" between the outgoing parliament and the newly elected legislature.
"A majority of the members of the so-called parliament that dissolved itself are being reappointed as deputies," Gambar told RFE/RL. "Such a parliament will further deepen the already existing political crisis in the country and will increase the political instability that is already taking place."
The February 9 elections originally were scheduled for November until they were moved forward by nine months in December 2019, when Aliyev signed a decree to dissolve the existing parliament.
Aliyev’s YAP said the composition of the legislature needed to be changed in order to carry out Aliyev’s "reform" program. His reform plan follows several high-profile changes in the government and his administration near the end of last year that included the appointment of 62-year-old economist Ali Asadov as prime minister.
Critics say the party’s hope for a change in the composition of parliament suggests Aliyev’s party may be trying to clear the way for Aliyev’s wife, First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, to take over the presidency at a later date.
Parliamentary powers are limited in Azerbaijan. Most political power in the Caucasus nation is concentrated in the hands of the presidency.
The post of prime minister in Azerbaijan has long been held by a close ally of Aliyev, who took over the presidency in 2003 after his father ruled the country the previous 10 years.
Aliyev -- who was reelected in 2008, 2013, and 2018 -- was able to consolidate his power through a 2009 referendum that abolished the country’s two-term presidential limit and a 2016 referendum that lengthened presidential terms to seven years.
According to the CEC, some 5.3 million voters were eligible to cast ballots on February 9.
Initial official results are expected to be announced in the early morning hours of February 10.
Carousel Voting
Minor complaints were already trickling in within hours of the opening of polling stations.
Some independent observers said they saw instances of carousel voting -- when people visit multiple polling stations -- and people casting multiple ballots at once.
One candidate reported seeing an ambulance ferrying voters to multiple polling stations.
One election monitor working for a candidate said he was beaten and thrown out of a polling station he was attempting to observe.
Other election monitors said they were being prevented from entering polling stations or were ordered to remain in certain locations. The Institute for Democratic Initiatives shared several videos of people interfering with observers seeking to record at polling stations.
Cameras were being blocked at some of the 1,000 or so voting locations with live video feeds.
One candidate, activist and blogger Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service that he was initially prevented from voting at a Baku polling station and was told he hadn't registered properly. But an election official later said access to the polling station was being limited ahead of President Aliyev's arrival there to vote.
Apparent power outages meanwhile cut the lights for more than half an hour at some polling stations in Suraxani and Hovsan, northeast of the capital.
WATCH: Stuffed Ballot Boxes And Carousels: Azerbaijan Votes Again Under Scrutiny
Election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have noted that the number of registered voters in more than half of the 125 constituencies deviated by more than what the Election Code allows.
"A difference of approximately 2 million persists between the number of registered voters as per CEC data and the number of citizens of voting age according to the State Statistics Committee,” the OSCE Election Observation Mission (ODIHR) said in a January 29 preelection report from Baku.
Voters who had not yet registered were allowed to do so on election day if they provided proof of residency in Azerbaijan.
Election officials registered 1,637 candidates who had applied by the January 10 deadline.
A total of 19 political parties fielded 272 of the candidates. They included 123 candidates from the ruling YAP, followed by 25 from the opposition Musavat party, and 21 from the opposition Party of Hope (UMID).
A total of 81 lawmakers, about two-thirds of the outgoing parliament, were seeking reelection.
Istanbul-based Azerbaijani political commentator and contributor to RFE/RL Arzu Geybullayeva said the elections would be different from previous parliamentary votes because of the emergence of new "genuine candidates" who were running as independents or who had joined forces under a new political bloc called Movement.
Movement, which was formed in December after the early elections were announced, brings together human rights activists, rights lawyers, election observes, bloggers, feminists, youth activists, and politicians.
Poor Democratic Record
Since Azerbaijan declared independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991, its elections have repeatedly been deemed as falling short of democratic standards by international observers from the OSCE and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
OSCE observers say Azerbaijan conducts its elections "within a restrictive environment and under laws that curtail fundamental rights and freedoms."
Independent media have also been stifled economically or closed by force, as was the case with the Baku bureau of RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service in December 2014.
The Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders says Aliyev has waged "a relentless war" against his media critics, with journalists and bloggers being "jailed on absurd grounds if they do not first yield to harassment, beatings, blackmail, or bribes."
OSCE observers say most media in Azerbaijan have avoided covering the candidates, parties, and political issues during the official campaign period to avoid being accused of violating a stifling "equal coverage" rule in the Election Code.


rferl--2020-02-08--Zelenskiy Asks Pope For Help In Releasing POWs In Eastern Ukraine

Ukraine 's president has asked Pope Francis for help in securing the release of prisoners of war held by Russia and by Russia-backed separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine .
Volodymyr Zelenskiy made the request after a meeting with the pontiff at the Vatican on February 8 .
`` [ The pope ] does everything possible to achieve peace and harmony throughout the world , '' Zelenskiy said in a tweet after their meeting .
`` I asked for help with the release of Ukrainians captured in Donbas , Crimea , and Russia , '' he said .
Russia annexed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2014 .
A month later , fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people and displaced more than 1 million .
Since being elected in May 2019 , Zelenskiy has overseen two major swaps of prisoners with Russia and the separatist fighters it backs in eastern Ukraine .
The 83-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church has on several occasions voiced hope for an end to the conflict .
Francis offered a prayer ahead of the key summit involving Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also called for peace in eastern Ukraine in his Christmas message on December 25 .
The overwhelming majority of observant Ukrainians are Orthodox Christian ; only a small percentage considers itself Roman Catholic .
However , Greek , or Eastern Rite Catholics , are the second-largest Christian denomination in the country and recognize the pope as its spiritual leader .
During the photo session of the meeting , which was open to reporters , Francis gave Zelenskiy a medal of St. Martin of Tours and said he hoped the saint `` will protect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrived in Italy on February 7 , when he met with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte .
Talks in Rome were reported to focus on Vitaliy Markiv , a Ukrainian National Guardsman sentenced in 2019 by an Italian court to 24 years in prison for his role in the deaths of an Italian photojournalist and his translator during fighting near the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk in 2014 .

Ukraine's president has asked Pope Francis for help in securing the release of prisoners of war held by Russia and by Russia-backed separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy made the request after a meeting with the pontiff at the Vatican on February 8.
"[The pope] does everything possible to achieve peace and harmony throughout the world," Zelenskiy said in a tweet after their meeting.
"I asked for help with the release of Ukrainians captured in Donbas, Crimea, and Russia," he said.
Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in March 2014. A month later, fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people and displaced more than 1 million.
Since being elected in May 2019, Zelenskiy has overseen two major swaps of prisoners with Russia and the separatist fighters it backs in eastern Ukraine.
The 83-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church has on several occasions voiced hope for an end to the conflict.
Francis offered a prayer ahead of the key summit involving Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris on December 9. Francis also called for peace in eastern Ukraine in his Christmas message on December 25.
The overwhelming majority of observant Ukrainians are Orthodox Christian; only a small percentage considers itself Roman Catholic.
However, Greek, or Eastern Rite Catholics, are the second-largest Christian denomination in the country and recognize the pope as its spiritual leader.
During the photo session of the meeting, which was open to reporters, Francis gave Zelenskiy a medal of St. Martin of Tours and said he hoped the saint "will protect your people from war."
Zelenskiy arrived in Italy on February 7, when he met with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
Talks in Rome were reported to focus on Vitaliy Markiv, a Ukrainian National Guardsman sentenced in 2019 by an Italian court to 24 years in prison for his role in the deaths of an Italian photojournalist and his translator during fighting near the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk in 2014.


rferl--2020-02-08--Turkmen Leader Appoints Son To Head Ministry, Sparking Succession Speculation

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has appointed his son Serdar to head the Ministry of Industry and Construction , state media in the gas-rich Central Asian nation reported on February 8 .
His promotion comes less than a year after Serdar Berdymukhammedov , 38 , assumed the post of a provincial governor .
His rapid rise has sparked speculation that the 62-year-old autocratic president is preparing him as a successor .
In his new job , Serdar Berdymukhammedov is likely to oversee the ambitious project of building a new capital from scratch for the central Ahal region , which he used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's governor , Serdar Berdymukhammedov served as Ahal 's deputy governor and the deputy foreign minister .
He also currently holds a seat in parliament .
President Berdymukhammedov this week signed a decree allocating nearly $ 1.5 billion for imports of construction materials , equipment , and other items needed for the new city .
The Berdymukhammedov family comes from the Ahal region .
The move comes amid the government 's policy of limiting imports against a backdrop of foreign currency shortages and depressed energy prices .
Berdymukhammedov , 62 , has run @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tolerating no dissent and becoming the center of an elaborate personality cult .
Turkmen often refer to him as Arkadag ( The Protector ) .
Government critics and human rights groups say Berdymukhammedov has suppressed dissent and made few changes in the secretive country since he came to power after the death of autocrat Saparmurat Niyazov .
Like his late predecessor , Berdymukhammedov has relied on subsidized prices for basic goods and utilities to help maintain his grip on power .
According to Human Rights Watch , Berdymukhammedov , `` his relatives , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public life , and the authorities encroach on private life . ''
With reporting by AFP and Reuters

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has appointed his son Serdar to head the Ministry of Industry and Construction, state media in the gas-rich Central Asian nation reported on February 8.
His promotion comes less than a year after Serdar Berdymukhammedov, 38, assumed the post of a provincial governor.
His rapid rise has sparked speculation that the 62-year-old autocratic president is preparing him as a successor.
In his new job, Serdar Berdymukhammedov is likely to oversee the ambitious project of building a new capital from scratch for the central Ahal region, which he used to head.
Prior to becoming Ahal's governor, Serdar Berdymukhammedov served as Ahal's deputy governor and the deputy foreign minister.
He also currently holds a seat in parliament.
President Berdymukhammedov this week signed a decree allocating nearly $1.5 billion for imports of construction materials, equipment, and other items needed for the new city.
The Berdymukhammedov family comes from the Ahal region.
The move comes amid the government's policy of limiting imports against a backdrop of foreign currency shortages and depressed energy prices.
Berdymukhammedov, 62, has run the former Soviet republic since 2006, tolerating no dissent and becoming the center of an elaborate personality cult. Turkmen often refer to him as Arkadag (The Protector).
Government critics and human rights groups say Berdymukhammedov has suppressed dissent and made few changes in the secretive country since he came to power after the death of autocrat Saparmurat Niyazov.
Like his late predecessor, Berdymukhammedov has relied on subsidized prices for basic goods and utilities to help maintain his grip on power.
According to Human Rights Watch, Berdymukhammedov, "his relatives, and their associates control all aspects of public life, and the authorities encroach on private life."
With reporting by AFP and Reuters


rferl--2020-02-08--At Least Eight Dead As Villagers Brawl, Torch Houses In Ethnic Clashes In Kazakhstan

MASANCHI , Kazakhstan -- Villagers brawled in ethnic clashes in a southern Kazakh district , with groups of men torching houses , overturning cars , and sending hundreds fleeing into neighboring Kyrgyzstan .
At least eight people were killed .
The clashes , which erupted overnight on February 8 , were some of the worst ethnic violence in years in the Zhambyl region , located about 130 kilometers west of Kazakhstan 's commercial capital , Almaty .
The regional governor declared a state of emergency late on February 8 , amid fears that more violence could erupt .
It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pitted ethnic Kazakhs against Dungans , a Muslim group of Chinese origin .
Several Kazakh men who spoke to RFE/RL said there were long-standing grievances between the two groups , with much of the Kazakhs ' resentment focused on the Dungan population 's successes in business and commerce .
Dungans make up much of the population in Masanchi , which was the worst-hit village , and many of the town 's businesses are controlled by Dungan families .
Several other outlying villages also reported clashes overnight .
Kazakh law enforcement deployed riot police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hours after the overnight fighting .
RFE/RL correspondents reported long lines of police , holding riot shields and truncheons , along roads in the region .
Interior Minister Erlan Turghymbaev said at least 40 people were injured in the clashes , and at least 47 people arrested or detained .
Groups of mainly Kazakh men massed near the cordon of police later on February 8 , calling for those detained to be released .
The group later dispersed after officials said 47 detained people had been released in Kordai , about 50 kilometers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ close to the border with Kyrgyzstan .
In Masanchi , many shops and other buildings had been smashed or torched in the unrest .
Firefighters were seen in the village and elsewhere , watering down smoldering debris .
Halima Iserova , a Dungan woman in her 50s from Masanchi , said her brother had been killed in the violence overnight .
“ Those responsible for these crimes should be punished , not us , ” she told RFE/RL .
On February 8 , groups of mainly ethnic Dungans could be seen lining up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , while on the other side of the border , Dungans handed out food and offered medical assistance to those coming across .
Nearly 20 people were reported seeking medical care in Kyrgyzstan , with at least two being taken to the Kyrgyz capital , Bishkek , for treatment .
At a hospital in Tokmok , a Kyrgyz town not far from the border , Kharsan Subakhunov , a Kazakh truck driver , said there had been rumors spreading in the village prior to the outbreak of fighting , though it was unclear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was scary .
[ I was worried ] about the [ safety ] of my family .
We stood guard to defend them ... .
Someone had been spreading fake news -- people had been duped [ into believing them ] , and innocent people ended up suffering , ” Subakhunov told RFE/RL At a press conference in the Kazakh capital , Nur-Sultan , Turghymbaev said 30 homes , 15 shops , and 20 cars had been damaged in Masanchi and other villages in the region .
Footage circulating on social media late @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some armed with clubs , marching along the road of a village in the area with buildings on fire .
Many of the videos could not be independently verified .
In an unscheduled televised appearance , President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said he had ordered security agencies to prosecute those spreading hate speech and `` provocative rumors and disinformation . ''
`` The most important thing now is to calm the population down , '' Toqaev said .
RFE/RL Kazakh Service correspondent Assylkhan Mamashuly reported from Masanchi ; RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service correspondent Aikol Nurlanbek reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Igamberdiev contributed reporting

MASANCHI, Kazakhstan -- Villagers brawled in ethnic clashes in a southern Kazakh district, with groups of men torching houses, overturning cars, and sending hundreds fleeing into neighboring Kyrgyzstan. At least eight people were killed.
The clashes, which erupted overnight on February 8, were some of the worst ethnic violence in years in the Zhambyl region, located about 130 kilometers west of Kazakhstan's commercial capital, Almaty.
The regional governor declared a state of emergency late on February 8, amid fears that more violence could erupt.
It was unclear what sparked the violence, which pitted ethnic Kazakhs against Dungans, a Muslim group of Chinese origin.
Several Kazakh men who spoke to RFE/RL said there were long-standing grievances between the two groups, with much of the Kazakhs' resentment focused on the Dungan population's successes in business and commerce.
Dungans make up much of the population in Masanchi, which was the worst-hit village, and many of the town's businesses are controlled by Dungan families.
Several other outlying villages also reported clashes overnight.
Kazakh law enforcement deployed riot police to the area on February 8, hours after the overnight fighting. RFE/RL correspondents reported long lines of police, holding riot shields and truncheons, along roads in the region.
Interior Minister Erlan Turghymbaev said at least 40 people were injured in the clashes, and at least 47 people arrested or detained.
Groups of mainly Kazakh men massed near the cordon of police later on February 8, calling for those detained to be released. The group later dispersed after officials said 47 detained people had been released in Kordai, about 50 kilometers west of Masanchi.
Both towns sit close to the border with Kyrgyzstan.
In Masanchi, many shops and other buildings had been smashed or torched in the unrest. Firefighters were seen in the village and elsewhere, watering down smoldering debris.
Halima Iserova, a Dungan woman in her 50s from Masanchi, said her brother had been killed in the violence overnight.
“Those responsible for these crimes should be punished, not us,” she told RFE/RL.
On February 8, groups of mainly ethnic Dungans could be seen lining up along the Kyrgyz side of the border, while on the other side of the border, Dungans handed out food and offered medical assistance to those coming across.
Nearly 20 people were reported seeking medical care in Kyrgyzstan, with at least two being taken to the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, for treatment.
At a hospital in Tokmok, a Kyrgyz town not far from the border, Kharsan Subakhunov, a Kazakh truck driver, said there had been rumors spreading in the village prior to the outbreak of fighting, though it was unclear exactly what they were.
"It was scary. [I was worried] about the [safety] of my family. We stood guard to defend them.... Someone had been spreading fake news -- people had been duped [into believing them], and innocent people ended up suffering,” Subakhunov told RFE/RL
At a press conference in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, Turghymbaev said 30 homes, 15 shops, and 20 cars had been damaged in Masanchi and other villages in the region.
Footage circulating on social media late on February 7 showed young men, some armed with clubs, marching along the road of a village in the area with buildings on fire. Many of the videos could not be independently verified.
In an unscheduled televised appearance, President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said he had ordered security agencies to prosecute those spreading hate speech and "provocative rumors and disinformation."
"The most important thing now is to calm the population down," Toqaev said.
RFE/RL Kazakh Service correspondent Assylkhan Mamashuly reported from Masanchi; RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service correspondent Aikol Nurlanbek reported from the Ken-Bulun border checkpoint; Damran Igamberdiev contributed reporting


rferl--2020-02-08--Hungarian Foreign Minister Visits Kyiv In Effort To Mend Relations

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto says his country would like improve relations with Ukraine amid a dispute over a controversial language law .
The remarks came on February 7 during a visit to Kyiv by Szijjarto , his first trip to Hungary ’ s eastern neighbor since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was elected last year .
`` The Hungarian government is interested in renewing good neighborly relations with Ukraine , '' Szijjarto said during a news conference with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Dmytro Kuleba .
Kyiv in 2017 passed a law that emphasizes the instruction of Ukrainian in publicly funded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other minority languages , such as Romanian and Hungarian .
The Council of Europe ’ s constitutional experts have criticized the language legislation and previous regulations regarding educational institutions signed into law by the country 's previous president , Petro Poroshenko .
Hungary , in particular , opposes the law , saying it restricts the right of Ukraine 's ethnic Hungarian minority of approximately 125,000 people to be educated in their native language .
Kyiv maintains the legislation is designed to ensure that all Ukrainian citizens can speak the state 's official @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is discriminatory .
Hungarians are the largest minority group in Transcarpathia , a western Ukrainian region that was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire .
`` We want the Hungarians who live in Transcarpathia to have the opportunity to preserve their native language , '' Szijjarto said .
Szijjarto said he `` made a couple of suggestions '' in a meeting with Ukraine ’ s education minister to resolve the situation and urged Kyiv to consider them .
Kuleba said Ukraine wants Transcarpathia to become `` a success story , thanks to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Hungary , a member of NATO and the European Union , has threatened to stymie Ukraine ’ s aspirations of joining the organizations until matters dividing the countries are resolved .
With reporting by AFP and Interfax

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto says his country would like improve relations with Ukraine amid a dispute over a controversial language law.
The remarks came on February 7 during a visit to Kyiv by Szijjarto, his first trip to Hungary’s eastern neighbor since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was elected last year.
"The Hungarian government is interested in renewing good neighborly relations with Ukraine," Szijjarto said during a news conference with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Kyiv in 2017 passed a law that emphasizes the instruction of Ukrainian in publicly funded schools and curtails the teaching of Russian and other minority languages, such as Romanian and Hungarian.
The Council of Europe’s constitutional experts have criticized the language legislation and previous regulations regarding educational institutions signed into law by the country's previous president, Petro Poroshenko.
Hungary, in particular, opposes the law, saying it restricts the right of Ukraine's ethnic Hungarian minority of approximately 125,000 people to be educated in their native language.
Kyiv maintains the legislation is designed to ensure that all Ukrainian citizens can speak the state's official language, and it denies the law is discriminatory.
Hungarians are the largest minority group in Transcarpathia, a western Ukrainian region that was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
"We want the Hungarians who live in Transcarpathia to have the opportunity to preserve their native language," Szijjarto said.
Szijjarto said he "made a couple of suggestions" in a meeting with Ukraine’s education minister to resolve the situation and urged Kyiv to consider them.
Kuleba said Ukraine wants Transcarpathia to become "a success story, thanks to the joint efforts of Ukraine and Hungary."
Hungary, a member of NATO and the European Union, has threatened to stymie Ukraine’s aspirations of joining the organizations until matters dividing the countries are resolved.
With reporting by AFP and Interfax


rferl--2020-02-08--China’s Communist Party Faces Public Anger As Coronavirus Toll Rises

China 's ruling Communist Party faced public anger over the death of a doctor who was threatened by authorities for trying to alert the public about the new coronavirus in December , before the outbreak spread and became a global crisis .
Meanwhile , China early on February 8 said the death toll from the virus in the country surged to 722 with the number of infections rising to 34,546 .
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing reported on February 8 that a 60-year-old U.S. citizen diagnosed with the virus had died in the city of Wuhan , while Japan said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a man in his 60s , also died from the virus in the city , considered to be the epicenter of the outbreak .
A Reuters count of official statements showed that there have been 320 cases now in 27 countries and regions outside mainland China .
The Chinese government has faced an online uproar over its treatment of doctor Li Wenliang , leading it to strike a conciliatory tone , saying it is sending a team to “ fully investigate relevant issues raised by the public.
” The 34-year-old Li , an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patients and later died .
Experts say Li 's work as an eye doctor required him to sit very close to patients during examinations , something that may have subjected him to an especially large dose of the virus that made his illness more severe .
He was one of eight medical professionals in Wuhan who tried to warn colleagues and others when the government did not .
He had said that police forced him to sign a statement admitting he was spreading falsehoods .
The government-backed Global Times newspaper said Li 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ' incompetence to tackle a contagious and deadly virus . ''
`` Wuhan indeed owes Li Wenliang an apology , '' editor Hu Xilinx said .
The Amnesty International rights watchdog called his death a `` tragic reminder '' of how China 's obsession with stability leads it suppress vital information .
The case brought to light long-standing complaints that Communist Party officials lie about or cover up disease outbreaks , chemical spills , dangerous consumer products , or financial fraud .
In 2003 , China was accused of attempting to cover up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ -- that killed almost 800 people worldwide .
Chinese citizens in the past have been jailed on charges of rumor-mongering or making trouble .
To fight the spread of the virus , China ’ s government has sealed off cities , canceled flights , and closed factories , putting strains on the world 's second-largest economy and roiling markets worldwide .
Concerns about the virus remained high outside of China .
President Xi Jinping spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump and urged Washington to “ respond reasonably '' to the outbreak , echoing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restricting Chinese travelers and those who have visited the country recently .
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on February 7 said the United States was prepared to provide up to $ 100 million to assist China and support coronavirus efforts by the World Health Organization ( WHO ) .
The WHO is seeking $ 675 million for its coronavirus response through April .
In Japan , three more cases were diagnosed on February 8 among 3,700 passengers and crew on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship , bringing the total of cases to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under 14-day quarantine .
With reporting by AP , AFP , and Reuters

China's ruling Communist Party faced public anger over the death of a doctor who was threatened by authorities for trying to alert the public about the new coronavirus in December, before the outbreak spread and became a global crisis.
Meanwhile, China early on February 8 said the death toll from the virus in the country surged to 722 with the number of infections rising to 34,546.
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing reported on February 8 that a 60-year-old U.S. citizen diagnosed with the virus had died in the city of Wuhan, while Japan said that a citizen of that country, a man in his 60s, also died from the virus in the city, considered to be the epicenter of the outbreak.
A Reuters count of official statements showed that there have been 320 cases now in 27 countries and regions outside mainland China.
The Chinese government has faced an online uproar over its treatment of doctor Li Wenliang, leading it to strike a conciliatory tone, saying it is sending a team to “fully investigate relevant issues raised by the public.”
The 34-year-old Li, an ophthalmologist, contracted the virus while treating patients and later died.
Experts say Li's work as an eye doctor required him to sit very close to patients during examinations, something that may have subjected him to an especially large dose of the virus that made his illness more severe.
He was one of eight medical professionals in Wuhan who tried to warn colleagues and others when the government did not. He had said that police forced him to sign a statement admitting he was spreading falsehoods.
The government-backed Global Times newspaper said Li's treatment was "evidence of local authorities' incompetence to tackle a contagious and deadly virus."
"Wuhan indeed owes Li Wenliang an apology," editor Hu Xilinx said.
The Amnesty International rights watchdog called his death a "tragic reminder" of how China's obsession with stability leads it suppress vital information.
The case brought to light long-standing complaints that Communist Party officials lie about or cover up disease outbreaks, chemical spills, dangerous consumer products, or financial fraud.
In 2003, China was accused of attempting to cover up the SARS outbreak -- a similar virus -- that killed almost 800 people worldwide.
Chinese citizens in the past have been jailed on charges of rumor-mongering or making trouble.
To fight the spread of the virus, China’s government has sealed off cities, canceled flights, and closed factories, putting strains on the world's second-largest economy and roiling markets worldwide.
Concerns about the virus remained high outside of China.
President Xi Jinping spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump and urged Washington to “respond reasonably" to the outbreak, echoing complaints that some countries are overreacting by restricting Chinese travelers and those who have visited the country recently.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on February 7 said the United States was prepared to provide up to $100 million to assist China and support coronavirus efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO is seeking $675 million for its coronavirus response through April.
In Japan, three more cases were diagnosed on February 8 among 3,700 passengers and crew on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship, bringing the total of cases to 61. All aboard the ship remain under 14-day quarantine.
With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters


rferl--2020-02-08--Trump Ousts Two Officials Who Testified Against Him In Impeachment Inquiry

Two top officials who gave damaging testimony in the U.S. House of Representatives ' impeachment hearings of President Donald Trump have been ousted from their positions following Trump ’ s acquittal in a Senate trial .
U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman , who testified about a controversial phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian president , was fired from his job on February 7 as the National Security Council ’ s ( NSC ) expert for the former Soviet republic in what his lawyer said was an act of “ revenge.
” Meanwhile , Gordon Sondland , a major @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said in a statement that he has been advised that Trump plans to recall him as the U.S. ambassador to the European Union .
Both men answered House subpoenas and gave testimony that was considered damaging to the president ’ s argument that he did nothing wrong in his relations with Ukraine , the key matter behind the Democratic-led House 's decision to impeach Trump .
Trump has publicly attacked Vindman and distanced himself from Sondland following their testimony , and his spokeswoman , Stephanie Grisham , on February 6 said the president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was treated and , you know , that maybe people should pay for that.
” Trump was acquitted on February 5 in the Senate trial , with just one Republican senator joining all Democrats in voting to convict .
The acquittal was expected as a two-thirds majority was required to convict in the chamber , which is controlled by Republicans .
Vindman was among those tasked by the White House to listen to a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which the U.S. president asked Zelenskiy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joe Biden , according to a rough transcript of the call .
Vindman , who was born Ukraine and emigrated to the United States as a child with his family , said during his House testimony that Trump 's actions were `` improper . ''
`` It is improper for the president of the United States to demand a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen and a political opponent , '' said Vindman , who received a medal for wounds suffered in Iraq .
Vindman ’ s lawyer , David Pressman , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was `` escorted out of the White House , where he has dutifully served his country and his president . ''
`` The truth has cost Alexander Vindman his job , his career , and his privacy , '' he said .
`` He served his country , even when doing so was fraught with danger and personal peril .
`` And for that , the most powerful man in the world -- buoyed by the silent , the pliable , and the complicit -- has decided to exact revenge , '' Pressman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ departure , Trump posted to Twitter that the `` Fake News '' media kept `` talking about 'Lt .
Col. ' Vindman as though I should think only how wonderful he was . ''
`` Actually , I don ’ t know him , never spoke to him , or met him ( I don ’ t believe ! )
but , he was very insubordinate , reported contents of my 'perfect ' calls incorrectly , '' Trump said in his post .
Michael Volkov , who represented Vindman when he testified in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twin brother , Yevgeny Vindman -- also an Army lieutenant colonel who worked as an NSC lawyer -- was also escorted off the White House grounds at the same time .
An Army spokesperson said both men had been reassigned to the Army but declined to provide details `` out of respect for their privacy . ''
A spokesman for the NSC declined to comment .
Representative Eliot Engel , Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee , said the decision to remove Alexander Vindman was `` shameful . ''
`` This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is loyalty to him personally , '' Engel said in a statement .
Separately , Sondland , a Trump appointee , said in a statement seen by U.S. media that `` I was advised today that the president intends to recall me effective immediately as United States ambassador to the European Union . ''
Sondland told House lawmakers that Trump sought a quid pro quo from Ukraine in return for nearly $ 400 million in congressionally approved military assistance that the White House had put on hold and that “ everyone was in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In his February 7 statement , Sondland said that `` I am grateful to President Trump for having given me the opportunity to serve , to Secretary [ Mike ] Pompeo for his consistent support , and to the exceptional and dedicated professionals at the U.S. Mission to the European Union .
I am proud of our accomplishments .
Our work here has been the highlight of my career . ''
With reporting by Reuters , AP , dpa , and The Daily Beast

Two top officials who gave damaging testimony in the U.S. House of Representatives' impeachment hearings of President Donald Trump have been ousted from their positions following Trump’s acquittal in a Senate trial.
U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who testified about a controversial phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian president, was fired from his job on February 7 as the National Security Council’s (NSC) expert for the former Soviet republic in what his lawyer said was an act of “revenge.”
Meanwhile, Gordon Sondland, a major donor to the Trump inaugural committee, said in a statement that he has been advised that Trump plans to recall him as the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.
Both men answered House subpoenas and gave testimony that was considered damaging to the president’s argument that he did nothing wrong in his relations with Ukraine, the key matter behind the Democratic-led House's decision to impeach Trump.
Trump has publicly attacked Vindman and distanced himself from Sondland following their testimony, and his spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, on February 6 said the president would look at ”just how horribly he was treated and, you know, that maybe people should pay for that.”
Trump was acquitted on February 5 in the Senate trial, with just one Republican senator joining all Democrats in voting to convict. The acquittal was expected as a two-thirds majority was required to convict in the chamber, which is controlled by Republicans.
Vindman was among those tasked by the White House to listen to a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which the U.S. president asked Zelenskiy to open an investigation into political rival Joe Biden, according to a rough transcript of the call.
Vindman, who was born Ukraine and emigrated to the United States as a child with his family, said during his House testimony that Trump's actions were "improper."
"It is improper for the president of the United States to demand a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen and a political opponent," said Vindman, who received a medal for wounds suffered in Iraq.
Vindman’s lawyer, David Pressman, said the Army officer had been fired and was "escorted out of the White House, where he has dutifully served his country and his president."
"The truth has cost Alexander Vindman his job, his career, and his privacy," he said. "He served his country, even when doing so was fraught with danger and personal peril.
"And for that, the most powerful man in the world -- buoyed by the silent, the pliable, and the complicit -- has decided to exact revenge," Pressman said.
A day after Vindman's departure, Trump posted to Twitter that the "Fake News" media kept "talking about 'Lt. Col.' Vindman as though I should think only how wonderful he was."
"Actually, I don’t know him, never spoke to him, or met him (I don’t believe!) but, he was very insubordinate, reported contents of my 'perfect' calls incorrectly," Trump said in his post.
Michael Volkov, who represented Vindman when he testified in the impeachment inquiry, said Vindman's twin brother, Yevgeny Vindman -- also an Army lieutenant colonel who worked as an NSC lawyer -- was also escorted off the White House grounds at the same time.
An Army spokesperson said both men had been reassigned to the Army but declined to provide details "out of respect for their privacy."
A spokesman for the NSC declined to comment.
Representative Eliot Engel, Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the decision to remove Alexander Vindman was "shameful."
"This president believes the only loyalty that matters is loyalty to him personally," Engel said in a statement.
Separately, Sondland, a Trump appointee, said in a statement seen by U.S. media that "I was advised today that the president intends to recall me effective immediately as United States ambassador to the European Union."
Sondland told House lawmakers that Trump sought a quid pro quo from Ukraine in return for nearly $400 million in congressionally approved military assistance that the White House had put on hold and that “everyone was in the loop” in the effort.
In his February 7 statement, Sondland said that "I am grateful to President Trump for having given me the opportunity to serve, to Secretary [Mike] Pompeo for his consistent support, and to the exceptional and dedicated professionals at the U.S. Mission to the European Union. I am proud of our accomplishments. Our work here has been the highlight of my career."
With reporting by Reuters, AP, dpa, and The Daily Beast


rferl--2020-02-07--Putin, Lukashenka Make Little Reported Progress At Sochi Talks On Energy, Integration

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart , Alyaksandr Lukashenka , made little reported progress during talks on the thorny issues of energy prices and closer integration .
The two met at Putin ’ s residence in Russia ’ s Black Sea resort of Sochi on February 7 amid increasing economic pressure by Moscow on Minsk .
The Kremlin has argued that Belarus , which relies on cheap Russian energy , should accept greater economic integration if it wants to continue receiving Russian oil and gas at subsidized prices .
Putin and Lukashenka made no official statements to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discussions including aides .
Late on February 7 , Putin ’ s deputy chief of staff , Dmitry Kozak , said that oil , which Russia cut off at the start of the year , could be delivered to Belarus only at market prices .
He did , however , add that a deal had been reached to supply natural gas for this year at the same price as in 2019 -- $ 127 per 1,000 cubic meters .
Belarusian officials said the country has lost $ 300 million since last year , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raising prices .
Lukashenka and Putin also agreed that talks on integration would continue , according to Kozak .
The two leaders took an evening break to play a game of ice hockey , according to the Kremlin .
Lukashenka , who has been in power in Belarus for more than 25 years , has faced growing pressure from Moscow in recent years to agree to deeper integration under a union agreement signed in 1997 that envisaged close political , economic , and military ties , but stopped short of forming a single @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were supposed to sign a series of road maps laying out concrete steps toward the Union State , but Lukashenka balked .
Since then , Russia has sent strong signals to Minsk , mainly in the form of reduced oil supplies and higher prices .
Revenues from refined Belarusian oil products sold to European markets have long been a major economic driver for the country .
In his annual press conference in December , Putin said he saw no point in providing Belarus with a gas discount until the integration project had advanced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the time related to a buildup of the union state .
At best , the key decisions were not implemented .
Simply speaking , 90 percent has not been done , ” he said .
Last week , U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the highest-level U.S. official to visit Minsk in more than two decades .
During the talks , which were characterized by U.S. officials as cordial , Pompeo suggested that the United States could supply Belarus with plenty of oil .
The United States and Belarus began to reconsider @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and began supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine , raising concerns about Belarus ’ s own territorial integrity .

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, made little reported progress during talks on the thorny issues of energy prices and closer integration.
The two met at Putin’s residence in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi on February 7 amid increasing economic pressure by Moscow on Minsk.
The Kremlin has argued that Belarus, which relies on cheap Russian energy, should accept greater economic integration if it wants to continue receiving Russian oil and gas at subsidized prices.
Putin and Lukashenka made no official statements to the press following hours of direct talks and discussions including aides.
Late on February 7, Putin’s deputy chief of staff, Dmitry Kozak, said that oil, which Russia cut off at the start of the year, could be delivered to Belarus only at market prices.
He did, however, add that a deal had been reached to supply natural gas for this year at the same price as in 2019 -- $127 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Belarusian officials said the country has lost $300 million since last year, when Russia began cutting oil subsidies and raising prices.
Lukashenka and Putin also agreed that talks on integration would continue, according to Kozak.
The two leaders took an evening break to play a game of ice hockey, according to the Kremlin.
Lukashenka, who has been in power in Belarus for more than 25 years, has faced growing pressure from Moscow in recent years to agree to deeper integration under a union agreement signed in 1997 that envisaged close political, economic, and military ties, but stopped short of forming a single nation.
The two leaders in December were supposed to sign a series of road maps laying out concrete steps toward the Union State, but Lukashenka balked.
Since then, Russia has sent strong signals to Minsk, mainly in the form of reduced oil supplies and higher prices. Revenues from refined Belarusian oil products sold to European markets have long been a major economic driver for the country.
In his annual press conference in December, Putin said he saw no point in providing Belarus with a gas discount until the integration project had advanced.
“Decisions which were made at the time related to a buildup of the union state. At best, the key decisions were not implemented. Simply speaking, 90 percent has not been done,” he said.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the highest-level U.S. official to visit Minsk in more than two decades. During the talks, which were characterized by U.S. officials as cordial, Pompeo suggested that the United States could supply Belarus with plenty of oil.
The United States and Belarus began to reconsider their frosty relationship after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and began supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine, raising concerns about Belarus’s own territorial integrity.
With reporting by AP


rferl--2020-02-09--Two Ukrainians Jailed In Bosnia On Suspicion Of Stealing $1.5 Million From Russia’s Sberbank ATMs

Two of three Ukrainian men suspected of stealing the equivalent of $ 1.51 million from automated-teller machines ( ATMs ) operated by a Russian state-owned bank in Bosnia-Herzegovina have been placed in pre-trial detention for one month , local media reported over the weekend .
Dmytro Boyko and Oleksnadr Zaytsev were arrested on February 2 in Bihac , a city of more than 56,000 inhabitants .
A third suspect , Yaroslav Tytarenko , is still at large and entered Hungary the next day , according to Bosnian police .
All three entered Bosnia via Serbia on January 31 and were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Serbia as well , local police said .
Approximately $ 60,000 in local currency was found on the two apprehended suspects who solely targeted ATMs belonging to Sberbank , Russia ’ s largest lender .
Police said the arrested suspects weren ’ t cooperating with authorities and didn ’ t provide details of their actions , which saw them allegedly withdraw the money over a span of 53 hours .
The Russian state-owned bank told Sarajevo Times the remaining stolen money is still missing .
RFE/RL learned of the alleged theft last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ using Sberbank ATMs .
Sberbank ’ s in-country network of ATMs are operating normally and money wasn ’ t stolen from any client accounts , Vedran Persic , director of communications and marketing at Sberbank BiH , told RFE/RL .
Computer hacking tools were used to withdraw the money , Vahidan Djaltur , a permanent court expert on information and communications , told RFE/RL .
Based on reporting by Sarajevo Times and Vijesti

Two of three Ukrainian men suspected of stealing the equivalent of $1.51 million from automated-teller machines (ATMs) operated by a Russian state-owned bank in Bosnia-Herzegovina have been placed in pretrial detention for one month, local media reported over the weekend.
Dmytro Boyko and Oleksandr Zaytsev were arrested on February 2 in Bihac, a city of more than 56,000 inhabitants.
A third suspect, Yaroslav Tytarenko, is still at large and entered Hungary the next day, according to Bosnian police.
All three entered Bosnia via Serbia on January 31 and were believed to have been residing in Montenegro and Serbia as well, local police said.
Approximately $60,000 in local currency was found on the two apprehended suspects who solely targeted ATMs belonging to Sberbank, Russia's largest lender.
Police said the arrested suspects weren't cooperating with authorities and didn't provide details of their actions, which saw them allegedly withdraw the money over a span of 53 hours.
The Russian state-owned bank told the Sarajevo Times that the remaining stolen money was still missing.
RFE/RL learned of the alleged theft last week after speaking to customers who tried using Sberbank ATMs.
Sberbank's in-country network of ATMs is operating normally and money wasn’t stolen from any client accounts, Vedran Persic, director of communications and marketing at Sberbank BiH, told RFE/RL.
Computer-hacking tools were used to withdraw the money, Vahidan Djaltur, a permanent court expert on information and communications, told RFE/RL.
Based on reporting by the Sarajevo Times and Vijesti


rferl--2020-02-10--Documentary On 'Brave' Afghan Girls Skateboarding Wins Oscar

A film about girls skateboarding in conservative Afghanistan has won an Oscar for best documentary short at the Academy Awards .
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone ( If You 're a Girl ) shows international charity Skateistan 's work in teaching young girls in Kabul how to skate on ramps and quarter pipes in Kabul amid militant attacks .
In her speech in Los Angeles on February 9 , U.S. documentary filmmaker Carol Dysinger hailed the `` brave girls '' of Afghanistan , where few women are encouraged to participate in sport .
The teachers at Skateistan `` teach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hand , to say : ' I am here , I have something to say , and I 'm going to take that ramp -- do n't try to stop me ' , '' Dysinger said .
Skateistan 's executive director Oliver Percovich told the AFP news agency that the `` the story of a group of girls who are defying expectations '' had gotten the recognition it deserved .
`` We see so many negative stories about Afghanistan and this is a story of real hope which can help to challenge perceptions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it `` empowers children through skateboarding and education '' in Afghanistan , Cambodia , and South Africa .
The group runs programs in the Afghan capital and the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif .


rferl--2020-02-10--Armenia To Hold Referendum On Constitutional Court Amid Spat With Pashinian

YEREVAN -- Armenia is set to hold a referendum on constitutional changes in April , in an attempt by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to remove a majority of judges at the country ’ s Constitutional Court .
President Armen Sarkisian signed a decree on February 9 setting April 5 as the date for the vote , three days after parliament voted to hold the referendum that would lead to the dismissal of seven of the court ’ s nine members installed before nationwide protests swept Pashinian to power in 2018 .
The seven would be replaced by judges to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pashinian ’ s My Step bloc holds a majority .
The court 's two other judges , who were appointed to their posts later , will keep their powers .
“ On April 5 , we will say `` yes '' to the Revolution , say `` yes '' to Freedom and slam the door on corruption , ” Pashinian wrote on his Facebook page after Sarkisian signed the decree .
Pashinian has accused the seven judges of maintaining ties to Armenia ’ s former leadership and impeding reforms that he says are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ His critics say the prime minister is seeking to gain undue control over the courts .
The chairman of the Constitutional Court , Hrair Tovmasian , was charged in December with abuse of power while he was serving as justice minister .
He has denied the accusation as politically motivated .
Earlier in December , a controversial law gave Tovmasian and the six other Constitutional Court members financial incentives to resign before the end of their mandates .

YEREVAN -- Armenia is set to hold a referendum on constitutional changes in April, in an attempt by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to remove a majority of judges at the country’s Constitutional Court.
President Armen Sarkisian signed a decree on February 9 setting April 5 as the date for the vote, three days after parliament voted to hold the referendum that would lead to the dismissal of seven of the court’s nine members installed before nationwide protests swept Pashinian to power in 2018.
The seven would be replaced by judges to be confirmed by the National Assembly in which Pashinian’s My Step bloc holds a majority.
The court's two other judges, who were appointed to their posts later, will keep their powers.
“On April 5, we will say "yes" to the Revolution, say "yes" to Freedom and slam the door on corruption,” Pashinian wrote on his Facebook page after Sarkisian signed the decree.
Pashinian has accused the seven judges of maintaining ties to Armenia’s former leadership and impeding reforms that he says are aimed at creating an independent judiciary.
His critics say the prime minister is seeking to gain undue control over the courts.
The chairman of the Constitutional Court, Hrair Tovmasian, was charged in December with abuse of power while he was serving as justice minister. He has denied the accusation as politically motivated.
Earlier in December, a controversial law gave Tovmasian and the six other Constitutional Court members financial incentives to resign before the end of their mandates.