rferl--2020-05-11--Media Identify Russian In Alleged Plot To Poison Czech Officials With Ricin

PRAGUE -- Czech media have identified the man they say is the undercover Russian diplomat who entered the country nearly two months ago with a suitcase containing ricin as part of an alleged plot to poison as many as three Prague officials who had taken actions that angered the Kremlin .
In a report aired on May 10 , the Czech public TV program 168 Hours quoted unnamed security sources as saying Andrei Konchakov flew to Prague 's Vaclav Havel Airport two months ago with the toxin and was driven to the Russian Embassy compound in the Czech capital , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ espionage activities .
Konchakov , 34 , rejected the allegations in comments to the Czech news site Seznam Zpravy , saying the suitcase contained `` disinfectant , and candies . ''
`` It must be some mistake , '' Konchakov told the news site , declining to answer further questions , saying he would need clearance from Moscow first .
Moscow , which has been accused of targeting its critics abroad , including the novichok poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal in Britain in 2018 , has also denied the allegations .
Kremlin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like a canard , '' while other Russian officials have called the story part of an anti-Russian campaign .
The Russian Embassy in Prague issued a Facebook statement on May 11 claiming that Konchakov had been the target of unspecified threats .
The statement said the embassy was requesting Czech police protection for Konchakov .
 According to local media , Konchakov is suspected by Czech intelligence of working as a Russian spy .
Several attempts to contact the Czech counterintelligence agency BIS to confirm those allegations were unsuccessful .
The allegations of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Czech investigative weekly Respekt on April 26 and came amid reports of suspected Russia-backed hacker attacks on key Czech infrastructure .
It said the targets of the alleged ricin attack were Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib as well as two of the city 's district mayors , Ondrej Kolar and Pavel Novotny .
Hrib backed a move to rename the square in front of the Russian Embassy in Prague after slain Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov .
Kolar supported the removal of a statue in his Prague 6 district of a World War II @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and said it was investigating as a violation of a 1993 friendship treaty between Russia and the Czech Republic .
The statue had been a source of irritation for Moscow since 2018 , when a new explanatory text on the monument was unveiled .
It described Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev 's leading role in crushing the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising in Hungary , his contribution to the construction of the Berlin Wall , and the preparation of the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia that crushed liberal reforms known as the Prague Spring .
Afterward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hard-line communist regime loyal to Moscow that lasted until 1989 , when it was ousted in the anti-communist Velvet Revolution .
Novotny irritated Moscow when late last year he approved the construction of a monument in his Prague district to the Vlasov Army , Soviet Army defectors who fought with the Nazis but in the final days of World War II are credited with helping liberate Prague .
All three officials are now reported to be under round-the-clock police protection and Prime Minister Andrej Babis has said the Czech Republic would not tolerate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interfere in its internal affairs , although few officials have publicly addressed the charges .
Russian President Vladimir Putin has highlighted the Soviet role in the Allied effort to defeat Nazi Germany in World War II , ignoring or criticizing any facts that downplay or contradict that narrative .
The Soviet Union suffered the most casualties in World War II , but its occupation or liberation of territory resulted in the ensuing decades of Moscow-backed communist regimes in Eastern Europe , including Czechoslovakia .
According to the report on 168 Hours , Koncharov @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 14 -- much earlier than first reports said -- with the ricin in his baggage , which , as a diplomat , he would not be obligated under standard protocol to have checked by Czech customs officials .
Seznam Zpravy said that Konchakov was picked up by a Russian Embassy driver -- identified in the report as Alexandr A .
-- who is suspected by Czech intelligence of being an agent of Russia 's Federal Security Service ( FSB ) and is allegedly tasked with picking up Russian diplomats and taking care not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any secret documents or other items they may be carrying .
Konchakov is believed to have been born in Moscow in 1986 , but other public details on him are few , unclear , and even apparently contradictory .
According to The Insider , a Moscow-based investigative website , Konchakov graduated from the Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute ( MIFI ) .
According to public records , it is unclear when he graduated .
The Insider says Konchakov began working in Prague for Rossotrudnichestvo , a state-run agency tasked with overseeing the well-being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also listed as the director of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Prague since December 2017 .
The center 's website lists MIFI as the institute where Konchakov studied , but identifies it as the National Research Nuclear University , whose acronym is MEPhI .
Further confusing the issue , it lists Konchakov 's area of study as international relations .
According to Seznam Zpravy , Konchakov has lived in the Czech Republic for several years , but only gained diplomatic status last year .
The head of Rossotrudnichestvo , Yelena @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unsubstantiated provocation . ''

PRAGUE -- Czech media have identified the man they say is the undercover Russian diplomat who entered the country nearly two months ago with a suitcase containing ricin as part of an alleged plot to poison as many as three Prague officials who had taken actions that angered the Kremlin.
In a report aired on May 10, the Czech public TV program 168 Hours quoted unnamed security sources as saying Andrei Konchakov flew to Prague's Vaclav Havel Airport two months ago with the toxin and was driven to the Russian Embassy compound in the Czech capital, long considered a nerve center of Russian espionage activities.
Konchakov, 34, rejected the allegations in comments to the Czech news site Seznam Zpravy, saying the suitcase contained "disinfectant, and candies."
"It must be some mistake," Konchakov told the news site, declining to answer further questions, saying he would need clearance from Moscow first.
Moscow, which has been accused of targeting its critics abroad, including the novichok poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal in Britain in 2018, has also denied the allegations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it "looked like a canard," while other Russian officials have called the story part of an anti-Russian campaign.
The Russian Embassy in Prague issued a Facebook statement on May 11 claiming that Konchakov had been the target of unspecified threats. The statement said the embassy was requesting Czech police protection for Konchakov.
According to local media, Konchakov is suspected by Czech intelligence of working as a Russian spy. Several attempts to contact the Czech counterintelligence agency BIS to confirm those allegations were unsuccessful.
Disputing History
The allegations of the ricin plot were first broken by the Czech investigative weekly Respekt on April 26 and came amid reports of suspected Russia-backed hacker attacks on key Czech infrastructure. It said the targets of the alleged ricin attack were Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib as well as two of the city's district mayors, Ondrej Kolar and Pavel Novotny.
Hrib backed a move to rename the square in front of the Russian Embassy in Prague after slain Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov.
Kolar supported the removal of a statue in his Prague 6 district of a World War II Soviet general, a move Russia condemned and said it was investigating as a violation of a 1993 friendship treaty between Russia and the Czech Republic.
The statue had been a source of irritation for Moscow since 2018, when a new explanatory text on the monument was unveiled. It described Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev's leading role in crushing the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising in Hungary, his contribution to the construction of the Berlin Wall ,and the preparation of the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia that crushed liberal reforms known as the Prague Spring.
Afterward, Czechoslovakia was taken over by a hard-line communist regime loyal to Moscow that lasted until 1989, when it was ousted in the anti-communist Velvet Revolution.
Novotny irritated Moscow when late last year he approved the construction of a monument in his Prague district to the Vlasov Army, Soviet Army defectors who fought with the Nazis but in the final days of World War II are credited with helping liberate Prague.
All three officials are now reported to be under round-the-clock police protection and Prime Minister Andrej Babis has said the Czech Republic would not tolerate "any world power" trying to interfere in its internal affairs, although few officials have publicly addressed the charges.
WATCH: Latest Historical Dispute In Prague Inflames Czechs And Russians
Russian President Vladimir Putin has highlighted the Soviet role in the Allied effort to defeat Nazi Germany in World War II, ignoring or criticizing any facts that downplay or contradict that narrative. The Soviet Union suffered the most casualties in World War II, but its occupation or liberation of territory resulted in the ensuing decades of Moscow-backed communist regimes in Eastern Europe, including Czechoslovakia.
According to the report on 168 Hours, Koncharov arrived at Prague's airport on March 14 -- much earlier than first reports said -- with the ricin in his baggage, which, as a diplomat, he would not be obligated under standard protocol to have checked by Czech customs officials.
Seznam Zpravy said that Konchakov was picked up by a Russian Embassy driver -- identified in the report as Alexandr A. -- who is suspected by Czech intelligence of being an agent of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and is allegedly tasked with picking up Russian diplomats and taking care not only of their physical security but also any secret documents or other items they may be carrying.
Shadowy Figure
Konchakov is believed to have been born in Moscow in 1986, but other public details on him are few, unclear, and even apparently contradictory. According to The Insider, a Moscow-based investigative website, Konchakov graduated from the Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute (MIFI).
According to public records, it is unclear when he graduated. The Insider says Konchakov began working in Prague for Rossotrudnichestvo, a state-run agency tasked with overseeing the well-being of Russians living abroad.
He is also listed as the director of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Prague since December 2017. The center's website lists MIFI as the institute where Konchakov studied, but identifies it as the National Research Nuclear University, whose acronym is MEPhI. Further confusing the issue, it lists Konchakov's area of study as international relations.
According to Seznam Zpravy, Konchakov has lived in the Czech Republic for several years, but only gained diplomatic status last year.
The head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Yelena Mitrofanova, called the reports an "unsubstantiated provocation."
With additional reporting by Merhat Sharipzhan


rferl--2020-05-11--Four Tajik Nationals Detained For Alleged Militant Recruitment In Poland

Polish authorities have detained four Tajik nationals on charges of attempting to recruit Muslim converts to carry out militant attacks .
Stanislaw Zaryn , the spokesman for the minister coordinating special forces , said on May 11 that the four men would be expelled and barred from reentering Poland and the rest of Europe 's passport-free Schengen Area .
The suspects , who were detained on May 7 , were inspired by the Islamic State ( IS ) terrorist organization but are not members of the group , Zaryn said .
The men were detained based on evidence collected by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The move in Poland comes as Tajik nationals suspected of ties to the IS extremist group have been targeted by security forces in Albania and Germany .
On April 15 , German authorities announced the detention of five Tajik nationals suspected of forming an IS cell plotting attacks on German soil .
Two individuals in the cell were alleged to have traveled to Albania with plans to carry out a contract killing .
Around two weeks later , authorities in Albania said they arrested a Tajik citizen sought by Germany for suspected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on reporting by Reuters , Wiadomosci , and TVP

Polish authorities have detained four Tajik nationals on charges of attempting to recruit Muslim converts to carry out militant attacks.
Stanislaw Zaryn, the spokesman for the minister coordinating special forces, said on May 11 that the four men would be expelled and barred from reentering Poland and the rest of Europe's passport-free Schengen Area.
The suspects, who were detained on May 7, were inspired by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization but are not members of the group, Zaryn said.
The men were detained based on evidence collected by the Internal Security Agency (ABW).
The move in Poland comes as Tajik nationals suspected of ties to the IS extremist group have been targeted by security forces in Albania and Germany.
On April 15, German authorities announced the detention of five Tajik nationals suspected of forming an IS cell plotting attacks on German soil. Two individuals in the cell were alleged to have traveled to Albania with plans to carry out a contract killing.
Around two weeks later, authorities in Albania said they arrested a Tajik citizen sought by Germany for suspected membership in an IS cell.
Based on reporting by Reuters, Wiadomosci, and TVP


rferl--2020-05-11--COVID-19: Putin Ends Russia's 'Nonworking Period'; Kazakhstan Eases Restrictions

The global death toll from the coronavirus is some 283,000 with 4.1 million infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Russian President Vladimir Putin says coronavirus measures that have prevented workers from going to their jobs in Russia will formally end on May 12 even as the country 's coronavirus caseload posts daily-record increases .
Putin said in an address to the nation on May 11 that many coronavirus-related health restrictions will remain in place with a gradual easing to be carried out at different speeds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , depending on local developments .
The speech , Putin 's fifth to the country about the pandemic within eight weeks , comes as officials continue to debate how to bolster the economy amid a wave of coronavirus infections that have given the country the fourth-highest number of cases in the world behind the United States , Spain , and the United Kingdom '' As of May 12 , it is necessary to create terms and conditions to resume operations in energy , communications , other basic industries where direct contact with consumers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the televised speech , adding that `` the epidemic and associated restrictions have had a strong impact on the economy and hurt millions of our citizens . ''
According to information posted on May 11 on a coronavirus data website set up by the Russian government , 11,656 people tested positive for the virus in Russia during the previous 24 hours , a one-day record .
That brings the Russian government 's official tally to 221,344 infections with more than 2,000 deaths .
Russian officials say 5.6 million tests have been carried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tests have revealed that nearly half of the people infected by the coronavirus had not been showing any symptoms when they were tested .
Meanwhile , Moscow 's civil registry office said on May 11 that there was a 20 percent increase in fatalities during April 2020 compared with the monthly average over the past 10 years .
Despite having the fastest growth rate of coronavirus infections in Europe , Russia still has a comparatively low mortality rate of 0.9 percent .
Some critics say that suggests the number of deaths in Russia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ results can be inaccurate .
By comparison , Italy had confirmed a total of 219,070 cases by May 11 with a death toll of 30,560 , according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University .
France has had 177,094 infections and 26,383 deaths .
The Belarusian soccer federation announced on May 11 it is postponing two upcoming matches because players from two teams are suspected of having COVID-19 .
Belarus has downplayed the coronavirus pandemic and the country 's top soccer league has allowed games to continue in front of fans while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ postponed matches or canceled their seasons .
But the Belarusian Football Federation now says a first-division game scheduled for May 15 between clubs FC Minsk and FC Neman Grodno has been postponed .
A match between Arsenal Dzerzhinsk and GOBZHD scheduled for May 16 also has been postponed .
“ This decision was made due to the suspicion of the presence of the COVID-19 virus among the players of Arsenal Dzerzhinsk and Minsk , ” the federation said .
The Belarusian federation says extra precautions have been taken at stadiums during the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the body temperature of spectators , and social distancing in the stands .
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka , in power since 1994 , has said the world is in a `` psychosis '' and has shunned restrictive measures implemented in other European countries to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
On May 9 , Lukashenka pushed ahead with Belarus 's controversial Victory Day military parade marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II .
Neighboring Russia , which is emerging as a global coronavirus hotspot with more than 10,000 new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Victory Day celebrations .
Belarus has registered nearly 24,000 infections and 135 deaths from the virus as of May 11 .
Experts believe the figures underreport the extent of the outbreak there .
Elsewhere in Europe , Germany 's Bundesliga announced last week that its season will resume on May 16 without fans in the stadiums -- a move that is being closely watched by other leagues .
Soccer leagues in Italy , Spain , and Britain hope to restart their seasons by June or July .
In France , the 10 remaining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s acting prime minister says he has been tested for the coronavirus and will wait for the results in self-isolation at home .
Albin Kurti said May 11 he went into quarantine after having met with a government official who had close contacts with a person confirmed positive with the virus .
Kurti said he would remain isolated until the test result is announced and would carry out government duties “ at a distance but with the same commitment.
” Kosovo has lifted some of its lockdown restrictions , but its borders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shut .
As of May 11 , Kosovo had 884 confirmed infections and 28 fatalities .
Kurti ’ s government collapsed in March after only 50 days in power , losing a no-confidence vote initiated by his coalition partners amid disputes over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the removal of trade tariffs on Serbian goods .
Kurti has stayed on in a caretaker capacity .
He wants to hold snap parliamentary elections once the pandemic is over .
Kazakhstan has lifted its state of emergency imposed in March to slow the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restrictions remain as Central Asia 's hardest-hit country continues to battle the pandemic .
After the announcement on May 11 , long lines of vehicles appeared on roads leading to Almaty as police and security forces continued to block cars and trucks from entering , with officials saying that the nation 's largest city , along with the capital Nur-Sultan , remain under lockdown until further notice .
The government announced that , as of May 11 , all nongrocery shops occupying up to 2,000 square meters , beauty salons , and education @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said that the remaining restrictions will be lifted gradually , depending on developments in each region or city .
He added that half of the personnel at state companies and other entities had resumed work , while owners and managers of private companies and businesses can decide for themselves how many employees are essential to resume operations .
Toqaev called on citizens to continue to stay home and not gather in groups larger than three people until all restrictions are lifted to avoid a second wave of COVID-19 spreading , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has registered the largest number of coronavirus cases in the region with 5,138 recorded infections , including 31 deaths , as of May 11 .
In Tajikistan , residents of the capital , Dushanbe , said to RFE/RL that some people with COVID-19 symptoms are encouraged to treat themselves at home as the capacity for treatment at some hospitals is limited .
Senior students of the Tajik State Medical University and those who graduated from the institution just days ago told RFE/RL that many of them had been forced to work at hospitals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a shortage of medical personnel .
After weeks of officially having no cases , Tajikistan finally confirmed the presence of the coronavirus in the country on April 30 , just ahead of a mission from the World Health Organization .
The latest official data in Tajikistan , issued on May 9 , said that the number of coronavirus there was 612 , including 20 deaths .
But many in the country say the number may be much higher because of underreporting by officials .
In neighboring Kyrgyzstan , the government on May 11 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for violating coronavirus restrictions , including the failure to wear masks outdoors .
Kyrgyz health authorities say the latest number of coronavirus cases in the country has reached 1,016 , including 12 deaths .
In Uzbekistan , the latest figures are 2453 infected , including 10 deaths .
The fifth nation in region , Turkmenistan , has not reported a single coronavirus case .
The World Health Organization ( WHO ) has been working on possible visit to Turkmenistan to assess the situation on the ground of one of the world 's most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the claim that there are no cases given the lack of transparency and an independent media in the country .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Kazakh , Tajik , Kyrgyz , and Uzbek services , Interfax , TASS , and AFP

The global death toll from the coronavirus is some 283,000 with 4.1 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions.
Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin says coronavirus measures that have prevented workers from going to their jobs in Russia will formally end on May 12 even as the country's coronavirus caseload posts daily-record increases.
Putin said in an address to the nation on May 11 that many coronavirus-related health restrictions will remain in place with a gradual easing to be carried out at different speeds in the various regions of the country, depending on local developments.
The speech, Putin's fifth to the country about the pandemic within eight weeks, comes as officials continue to debate how to bolster the economy amid a wave of coronavirus infections that have given the country the fourth-highest number of cases in the world behind the United States, Spain, and the United Kingdom
"As of May 12, it is necessary to create terms and conditions to resume operations in energy, communications, other basic industries where direct contact with consumers is not required," Putin said in the televised speech, adding that "the epidemic and associated restrictions have had a strong impact on the economy and hurt millions of our citizens."
According to information posted on May 11 on a coronavirus data website set up by the Russian government, 11,656 people tested positive for the virus in Russia during the previous 24 hours, a one-day record.
That brings the Russian government's official tally to 221,344 infections with more than 2,000 deaths.
Russian officials say 5.6 million tests have been carried out in Russia. They say the tests have revealed that nearly half of the people infected by the coronavirus had not been showing any symptoms when they were tested.
Meanwhile, Moscow's civil registry office said on May 11 that there was a 20 percent increase in fatalities during April 2020 compared with the monthly average over the past 10 years.
Despite having the fastest growth rate of coronavirus infections in Europe, Russia still has a comparatively low mortality rate of 0.9 percent.
Some critics say that suggests the number of deaths in Russia is being underreported while others say test results can be inaccurate.
By comparison, Italy had confirmed a total of 219,070 cases by May 11 with a death toll of 30,560, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. France has had 177,094 infections and 26,383 deaths.
Belarus
The Belarusian soccer federation announced on May 11 it is postponing two upcoming matches because players from two teams are suspected of having COVID-19.
Belarus has downplayed the coronavirus pandemic and the country's top soccer league has allowed games to continue in front of fans while federations across the rest of Europe have postponed matches or canceled their seasons.
But the Belarusian Football Federation now says a first-division game scheduled for May 15 between clubs FC Minsk and FC Neman Grodno has been postponed.
A match between Arsenal Dzerzhinsk and GOBZHD scheduled for May 16 also has been postponed.
“This decision was made due to the suspicion of the presence of the COVID-19 virus among the players of Arsenal Dzerzhinsk and Minsk,” the federation said.
The Belarusian federation says extra precautions have been taken at stadiums during the pandemic, including antiseptic cleaning stations, measuring the body temperature of spectators, and social distancing in the stands.
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, in power since 1994, has said the world is in a "psychosis" and has shunned restrictive measures implemented in other European countries to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
On May 9, Lukashenka pushed ahead with Belarus's controversial Victory Day military parade marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Neighboring Russia, which is emerging as a global coronavirus hotspot with more than 10,000 new cases recorded per day, postponed its Victory Day celebrations.
Belarus has registered nearly 24,000 infections and 135 deaths from the virus as of May 11. Experts believe the figures underreport the extent of the outbreak there.
Elsewhere in Europe, Germany's Bundesliga announced last week that its season will resume on May 16 without fans in the stadiums -- a move that is being closely watched by other leagues.
Soccer leagues in Italy, Spain, and Britain hope to restart their seasons by June or July. In France, the 10 remaining league matches have been canceled.
Kosovo
Kosovo’s acting prime minister says he has been tested for the coronavirus and will wait for the results in self-isolation at home.
Albin Kurti said May 11 he went into quarantine after having met with a government official who had close contacts with a person confirmed positive with the virus.
Kurti said he would remain isolated until the test result is announced and would carry out government duties “at a distance but with the same commitment.”
Kosovo has lifted some of its lockdown restrictions, but its borders are still closed and most businesses are shut.
As of May 11, Kosovo had 884 confirmed infections and 28 fatalities.
Kurti’s government collapsed in March after only 50 days in power, losing a no-confidence vote initiated by his coalition partners amid disputes over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the removal of trade tariffs on Serbian goods.
Kurti has stayed on in a caretaker capacity. He wants to hold snap parliamentary elections once the pandemic is over.
Central Asia
Kazakhstan has lifted its state of emergency imposed in March to slow the spread of the coronavirus, but some restrictions remain as Central Asia's hardest-hit country continues to battle the pandemic.
After the announcement on May 11, long lines of vehicles appeared on roads leading to Almaty as police and security forces continued to block cars and trucks from entering, with officials saying that the nation's largest city, along with the capital Nur-Sultan, remain under lockdown until further notice.
The government announced that, as of May 11, all nongrocery shops occupying up to 2,000 square meters, beauty salons, and education centers for children may reopen.
President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said that the remaining restrictions will be lifted gradually, depending on developments in each region or city.
He added that half of the personnel at state companies and other entities had resumed work, while owners and managers of private companies and businesses can decide for themselves how many employees are essential to resume operations.
Toqaev called on citizens to continue to stay home and not gather in groups larger than three people until all restrictions are lifted to avoid a second wave of COVID-19 spreading, which is "very possible."
Kazakhstan has registered the largest number of coronavirus cases in the region with 5,138 recorded infections, including 31 deaths, as of May 11.
In Tajikistan, residents of the capital, Dushanbe, said to RFE/RL that some people with COVID-19 symptoms are encouraged to treat themselves at home as the capacity for treatment at some hospitals is limited.
RFE/RL's Coverage Of COVID-19 Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region.
Senior students of the Tajik State Medical University and those who graduated from the institution just days ago told RFE/RL that many of them had been forced to work at hospitals in groups treating coronavirus patients due to a shortage of medical personnel.
After weeks of officially having no cases, Tajikistan finally confirmed the presence of the coronavirus in the country on April 30, just ahead of a mission from the World Health Organization.
The latest official data in Tajikistan, issued on May 9, said that the number of coronavirus there was 612, including 20 deaths. But many in the country say the number may be much higher because of underreporting by officials.
In neighboring Kyrgyzstan, the government on May 11 introduced fines that can exceed $330 for violating coronavirus restrictions, including the failure to wear masks outdoors.
Kyrgyz health authorities say the latest number of coronavirus cases in the country has reached 1,016, including 12 deaths.
In Uzbekistan, the latest figures are 2453 infected, including 10 deaths.
The fifth nation in region, Turkmenistan, has not reported a single coronavirus case.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been working on possible visit to Turkmenistan to assess the situation on the ground of one of the world's most tightly run countries.
Experts are skeptical of the claim that there are no cases given the lack of transparency and an independent media in the country.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Kazakh, Tajik, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek services, Interfax, TASS, and AFP


rferl--2020-05-12--Tajik Reporter Says He Was Attacked In Dushanbe

DUSHANBE -- A reporter for the Asia-Plus news agency says he was attacked and beaten by unknown assailants .
Abdulloh Ghurbati , a 23-year-old journalist , told RFE/RL on May 12 that two masked men attacked him late the previous evening as he made his way home from a shop .
According to Ghurbati , one attacker hit him on the head from behind and started beating him after he fell .
`` I started loudly calling for help and the two left me alone and fled the site , '' Ghurbati said , adding that he believes the attack @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ghurbati said that he had received numerous threats in several phone calls from unknown individuals who threatened him for his articles questioning some of the government ’ s activities , including efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the country .
Interior Ministry spokesman Nusratullo Mahmadzoda told RFE/RL that `` necessary measures [ to find the attackers ] will be undertaken , '' if Ghurbati filed an official complaint with police , which the reporter said he had done .
Earlier in April , Reporters Without Borders ( RSF ) issued @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tajikistan in 161st place out of 180 countries .
According to RSF , conditions for independent media working in Tajikistan have dramatically worsened in the last two years .

DUSHANBE -- Media-freedom watchdogs are urging the Tajik authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the attack on a reporter for the Asia-Plus news agency and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Abdulloh Ghurbati, a 23-year-old journalist, told RFE/RL on May 12 that two masked men attacked him late the previous evening as he made his way home from a shop.
According to Ghurbati, one attacker hit him on the head from behind and started beating him after he fell.
"I started loudly calling for help and the two left me alone and fled the site," Ghurbati said, adding that he believes the attack was linked to his professional activities.
Ghurbati said that he had received numerous threats in several phone calls from unknown individuals who threatened him for his articles questioning some of the government’s activities, including efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
Interior Ministry spokesman Nusratullo Mahmadzoda told RFE/RL that "necessary measures [to find the attackers] will be undertaken," if Ghurbati filed an official complaint with police, which the reporter said he had done.
The OSCE representative on freedom of the media, Harlem Desir, said he was "appalled" by the violent attack and called on the authorities to "search for & bring to justice the perpetrators."
"Independent media are key to inform the public, especially in times of pandemic," he tweeted.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said the Tajik authorities should determine whether the incident was related to his journalistic work and hold those responsible to account.
"Tajikistan must ensure that journalists can work without fear that they will be attacked on the streets or censored or prosecuted by authorities," said to Gulnoza Said, CPJ's Europe and Central Asia program coordinator.
In April, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Tajikistan in 161st place out of 180 countries for press freedom.
According to RSF, conditions for independent media working in Tajikistan have dramatically worsened in the last two years.


rferl--2020-05-12--Death Toll In Private Nursing Home Fire Near Moscow Rises To 11

The death toll in a fire in a retirement home in the town of Krasnogorsk near Moscow has risen to @ @ @ @ @ elderly people succumbing to injuries suffered during the blaze .
Town authorities said on May @ @ @ @ @ retirement-home residents hospitalized after the fire died overnight .
The blaze ravaged the private nursing @ @ @ @ @ 11 , killing nine on the spot .
Officials have said the fire was caused @ @ @ @ @ .
The administrator of the retirement home , whose identity has not been disclosed , @ @ @ @ @ of failing to provide services `` corresponding to safety regulations . ''
Deadly fires caused @ @ @ @ @ or faulty wiring are common in Russia .
Last month , a fire in another @ @ @ @ @ claimed four lives .
Based on reporting by Interfax , Kommersant , and TASS

The death toll in a fire in a retirement home in the town of Krasnogorsk near Moscow has risen to 11, with two more elderly people succumbing to injuries suffered during the blaze.
Town authorities said on May 12 that two of nine retirement-home residents hospitalized after the fire died overnight.
The blaze ravaged the private nursing home around midnight on May 11, killing nine on the spot.
Officials have said the fire was caused by a faulty electrical wire.
The administrator of the retirement home, whose identity has not been disclosed, was detained on a charge of failing to provide services "corresponding to safety regulations."
Deadly fires caused by violations of safety regulations or faulty wiring are common in Russia.
Last month, a fire in another private retirement house in Moscow claimed four lives.
Based on reporting by Interfax, Kommersant, and TASS


rferl--2020-05-12--Russian Health-Care Regulator Checking Verntilators Linked To Deadly Fires

Russia 's health-care regulator , Roszdravnadzor , has started checking ventilation devices widely used for treating serious coronavirus cases in the country following two deadly fires allegedly caused by malfunctions in such equipment .
`` Roszdravnadzor is checking the quality and safety of the ventilation units installed in the hospitals where the fires took place , '' the regulator said in a May 12 statement that came just hours after a fire in the country 's second-largest city , St. Petersburg , killed five COVID-19 patients .
St. Petersburg authorities said the deadly fire was most likely caused by a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ operating on the sixth floor of the St. George Hospital early in the morning of May 12 .
Three days earlier , a female patient was kiilled in a fire in a hospital in Moscow that is also suspected of being sparked by a similar device .
Russian news agencies quoted sources close to law enforcement as saying that devices in both fires were made at the same industrial facility -- the Urals Instrument-Engineering Plant in the city of Yekaterinburg .
The news site Znak.com reported that the company , also known as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after receiving a state order for 5,700 ventilator units .
The number of new cases of the coronavirus in Russia rose by 10,899 in the previous 24 hours , officials said on May 12 , bringing the total of officially registered cases to 232,243 , including 2,116 deaths .
Based on reporting by Interfax , TASS , Dozhd , Kommersant , Znak.com , and Fontanka

Russia's health-care regulator, Roszdravnadzor, has started checking ventilation devices widely used for treating serious coronavirus cases in the country following two deadly fires allegedly caused by malfunctions in such equipment.
"Roszdravnadzor is checking the quality and safety of the ventilation units installed in the hospitals where the fires took place," the regulator said in a May 12 statement that came just hours after a fire in the country's second-largest city, St. Petersburg, killed five COVID-19 patients.
St. Petersburg authorities said the deadly fire was most likely caused by a malfunction in a ventilator device that was operating on the sixth floor of the St. George Hospital early in the morning of May 12.
Three days earlier, a female patient was kiilled in a fire in a hospital in Moscow that is also suspected of being sparked by a similar device.
Russian news agencies quoted sources close to law enforcement as saying that devices in both fires were made at the same industrial facility -- the Urals Instrument-Engineering Plant in the city of Yekaterinburg.
The news site Znak.com reported that the company, also known as Rostec, recently increased its output tenfold after receiving a state order for 5,700 ventilator units.
The number of new cases of the coronavirus in Russia rose by 10,899 in the previous 24 hours, officials said on May 12, bringing the total of officially registered cases to 232,243, including 2,116 deaths.
Based on reporting by Interfax, TASS, Dozhd, Kommersant, Znak.com, and Fontanka


rferl--2020-05-12--Four Civilians Dead As Gunmen Attack Maternity Hospital In Kabul

Three gunmen have stormed a maternity hospital run by the Doctors Without Borders charity in a Shi'ite part of Kabul , setting off a gunbattle with Afghan security forces that has left at least four civilians dead .
The Interior Ministry said that , in addition to the four civilians who were killed , several others were injured in the attack on the 100-bed facility , which started at 10 a.m. `` One of the attackers has also been killed , and the hospital 's first house has been completely cleared of terrorists while rescue operations continue , '' the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 80 women and infants were evacuated by Afghan security forces from the hospital during the battle .
Photos shared by the ministry show newborn babies and their mothers being carried out of the hospital .
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack .
In a message sent to RFE/RL , Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied the group 's involvement in the incident .
Both the Taliban and the Islamic State ( IS ) group are active in Kabul and its surroundings , and both frequently target the military and security forces , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claimed responsibility for most attacks in Dashti Barchi , the western part of Kabul where the Shi'te minority lives .
Doctors Without Borders is also known by its French name Médecins Sans Frontières ( MSF ) .
Meanwhile in eastern Nangarhar Province , a hotbed of IS activity , officials said a suicide bomber targeted a funeral ceremony in the Khewa district .
There were no confirmed figures but there are fears of a high casualty toll , said Attahullah Khogyani , a spokesman for the provincial governor .
At least 10 people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ IS claimed it was behind a spate of attacks on May 11 in Kabul when four bombs , one placed under a garbage bin and the other three by the roadside , went off in the northern part of the city , wounding four civilians , including a child .
Afghanistan 's intelligence service said in a statement later on May 11 that the agency had arrested an IS leader in the region , Zia-ul Haq , also known as Shaikh Abu Omer Al-Khorasani .
With reporting by Reuters , AP , and @

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


rferl--2020-05-12--Study Of Remains Found In Bulgaria Provide Clues On Modern Human Presence In Europe

Remains found inside a cave in central Bulgaria suggest that modern humans had an extensive contact phase with Neanderthals in Europe and could provide more clues to why the Neanderthals went extinct .
It ’ s long been known that modern humans and Neanderthals in Europe and in Asia had contact with one another before Neanderthals died out , but there is much debate among scientists about how long modern humans overlapped with Neanderthals and the implications of the overlap .
The study on remains found at Bacho Kiro , near Dryanovo , by two teams of researchers from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Leipzig , Germany , determined the ages of artefacts found in the cave .
Their research suggests modern humans were there at least as early as 45,000 years ago , possibly even earlier .
At the time Europe was populated by Neanderthals , a distinct type of human that vanished after modern humans – homo sapiens – appeared on the scene .
Studies on the Bacho Kiro remains show they are thousands of years older than evidence from remains found in a cave in Romania and older than other evidence found in Britain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to believe that Neanderthals died out relatively soon after the arrival of modern humans .
The new data shows , however , that the two species might have lived together for thousands of years .
The recent data is spelled out in two new scientific papers published in the journals Nature and Nature Ecology & Evolution .
Among the wealth of artefacts yielded through excavations at Bacho Kiro were a tooth and four bone fragments identified as broadly human .
The researchers determined their ages using carbon dating and an analysis of proteins @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the BBC , Nature , Nature Ecology & Evolution , and Spiegel

Remains found inside a cave in central Bulgaria suggest that modern humans had an extensive contact phase with Neanderthals in Europe and could provide more clues to why the Neanderthals went extinct.
It’s long been known that modern humans and Neanderthals in Europe and in Asia had contact with one another before Neanderthals died out, but there is much debate among scientists about how long modern humans overlapped with Neanderthals and the implications of the overlap.
The study on remains found at Bacho Kiro, near Dryanovo, by two teams of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, determined the ages of artefacts found in the cave. Their research suggests modern humans were there at least as early as 45,000 years ago, possibly even earlier.
At the time Europe was populated by Neanderthals, a distinct type of human that vanished after modern humans – homo sapiens – appeared on the scene.
Studies on the Bacho Kiro remains show they are thousands of years older than evidence from remains found in a cave in Romania and older than other evidence found in Britain and Italy.
Those finds led scientists to believe that Neanderthals died out relatively soon after the arrival of modern humans.
The new data shows, however, that the two species might have lived together for thousands of years.
The recent data is spelled out in two new scientific papers published in the journals Nature and Nature Ecology & Evolution.
Among the wealth of artefacts yielded through excavations at Bacho Kiro were a tooth and four bone fragments identified as broadly human. The researchers determined their ages using carbon dating and an analysis of proteins and trace DNA.
Based on reporting by the BBC, Nature, Nature Ecology & Evolution, and Spiegel


rferl--2020-05-12--COVID-19: Iran Allows All Mosques To Open Temporarily As Restrictions Ease; Russia Reports Nearly 11

COVID-19: Iran Allows All Mosques To Open Temporarily As Restrictions Ease; Russia Reports Nearly 11,000 New Cases

The global death toll from the coronavirus is some 286,000 with more than 4.1 million infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
All mosques in Iran will reopen temporarily on May 12 in another step toward easing restrictions implemented to contain the spread of the new coronavirus .
The decision to reopen the mosques was made in consultation with the Ministry of Health , Iranian state news agency IRIB reported , quoting Mohammad Qomi , the director of the Islamic Development Organization .
Qomi said later @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three days commemorating specific nights for the holy month of Ramadan and it was unclear whether they would stay open , according to the semiofficial Fars news agency .
Iran , which has suffered the Middle East 's deadliest coronavirus outbreak , has begun easing restrictions even though some parts of the country have seen a rise in infections .
The Tasnim news agency reported on May 10 that a district in Khuzestan Province had been placed under lockdown .
It quoted the governor of the province as saying there had been a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ authorities to reverse a phased return to work .
Iran has allowed the phased return since April 11 to help rescue its economy , which has been battered by U.S. sanctions .
The country last week had to devalue its currency to fight hyperinflation caused by the sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic .
Iran 's coronavirus deaths stood at 6,685 on May 11 , Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a statement on state TV .
It has 109,286 diagnosed cases .
President Hassan Rohani last week announced that mosques in 132 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus could open .
This amounted to about one-third of Iran 's administrative division .
Friday Prayer gatherings resumed on May 8 in up to 180 Iranian cities and towns seen as being at low risk of coronavirus contagion , state media reported .
Schools will reopen next week , Rohani said on May 10 , according to the presidency 's official website .
Iran has already lifted a ban on intercity trips , and large shopping centers have resumed activities .
Rohani also announced the replacement of the minister of industry , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to the official presidential website .
Hossein Modares Khiabani will replace Reza Rahmani as the caretaker head of the ministry , the announcement said without explaining why Rahmani was dismissed .
Rohani called on Khiabani to stabilize car prices , eliminate obstacles for domestic production , and expand nonoil exports .
Rahmani said in a letter to Rohani that the reason for his removal was that the parliament had not agreed to the formation of a ministry of commerce .
A copy of his letter was published by Fars .
In Russia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to work formally ended on May 12 even with the country 's official infection rate rising by thousands a day .
Russia has reported almost 11,000 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours -- making its total the second-largest number of confirmed infections in the world -- as lockdowns continued easing in parts of Europe .
Despite having the fastest growth rate of coronavirus infections in Europe and 232,243 cases overall -- trailing only the United States -- Russia still has a comparatively low number of fatalities at 2,116 as of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continued daily rise in cases down to widespread testing , noting that more than 5.8 million tests have been carried out so far .
But some critics say that suggests the number of deaths in Russia is being underreported while others say test results can be inaccurate .
With reporting by Reuters , AP , and AFP

The global death toll from the coronavirus is some 286,000 with more than 4.1 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions.
Central Asia
Dozens of rights activists representing almost 20 nongovernmental organizations in Kazakhstan have demanded the government provide detailed information on how it's spending billions of dollars allocated to tackle the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
In their petition dated May 12, the activists recalled President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev's public statement last week saying his government had spent $13 billion on measures to slow the spread of the virus in the country and demanded "transparency and accountability in all measures and financial spending by the State Treasury and the National Fund."
"The coronavirus pandemic is not only causing economic and social hardships, it is creating conditions for corruption, inappropriate and unreasonable budgetary spending. And that undermines public confidence in government institutions and the measures it undertakes," the petition says.
Energy-rich Kazakhstan has registered the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the region with 5,279, including 32 deaths.
In Tajikistan, the Defense Ministry has imposed a quarantine on all military units and introduced a temporary ban on family visits to conscripts.
Ministry spokesman Orif Nozimiyon told RFE/RL on May 12 that all military barracks and cafeterias were now being regularly disinfected.
Tajikistan did not officially register a coronavirus case until April 30, just ahead of a mission by the World Health (WHO) to the country.
By May 11, health authorities had reported 661 cases in Tajikistan, including 21 deaths. Still, many in the country doubt the data and believe the government has been underreporting the situation.
Meanwhile, Turkmenistan remains the only country in the region that has not officially registered a single coronavirus case yet.
Experts are skeptical of the claim that there are no cases given the lack of transparency and independent media in the country.
The WHO has been working on a possible visit to Turkmenistan to assess the situation on the ground of one of the world's most tightly run countries.
Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov said his country was ready to host the WHO mission. "With a big amount of respect, we are awaiting the visit of this [WHO] group to Turkmenistan," he said.
In neighboring Uzbekistan, the latest official statement says 2,509 coronavirus cases have been registered, including 10 deaths.
In Kyrgyzstan, 1,037 cases have been recorded with 12 deaths.
Iran
All mosques in Iran will reopen temporarily on May 12 in another step toward easing restrictions implemented to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.
The decision to reopen the mosques was made in consultation with the Ministry of Health, Iranian state news agency IRIB reported, quoting Mohammad Qomi, the director of the Islamic Development Organization.
Qomi said later that mosques would only be open for three days commemorating specific nights for the holy month of Ramadan and it was unclear whether they would stay open, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency.
Iran, which has suffered the Middle East's deadliest coronavirus outbreak, has begun easing restrictions even though some parts of the country have seen a rise in infections.
The Tasnim news agency reported on May 10 that a district in Khuzestan Province had been placed under lockdown. It quoted the governor of the province as saying there had been a sharp rise in new cases, forcing authorities to reverse a phased return to work.
Iran has allowed the phased return since April 11 to help rescue its economy, which has been battered by U.S. sanctions. The country last week had to devalue its currency to fight hyperinflation caused by the sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic.
Iran's coronavirus deaths stood at 6,685 on May 11, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a statement on state TV. It has 109,286 diagnosed cases.
President Hassan Rohani last week announced that mosques in 132 districts considered low-risk for spread of the virus could open. This amounted to about one-third of Iran's administrative division.
Friday Prayer gatherings resumed on May 8 in up to 180 Iranian cities and towns seen as being at low risk of coronavirus contagion, state media reported.
Schools will reopen next week, Rohani said on May 10, according to the presidency's official website.
Iran has already lifted a ban on intercity trips, and large shopping centers have resumed activities.
Rohani also announced the replacement of the minister of industry, mines and trade on May 11, according to the official presidential website.
Hossein Modares Khiabani will replace Reza Rahmani as the caretaker head of the ministry, the announcement said without explaining why Rahmani was dismissed.
Rohani called on Khiabani to stabilize car prices, eliminate obstacles for domestic production, and expand nonoil exports.
Rahmani said in a letter to Rohani that the reason for his removal was that the parliament had not agreed to the formation of a ministry of commerce. A copy of his letter was published by Fars.
Russia
In Russia, restrictions that have prevented people from going to work formally ended on May 12 even with the country's official infection rate rising by thousands a day.
Russia has reported almost 11,000 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours -- making its total the second-largest number of confirmed infections in the world -- as lockdowns continued easing in parts of Europe.
Despite having the fastest growth rate of coronavirus infections in Europe and 232,243 cases overall -- trailing only the United States -- Russia still has a comparatively low number of fatalities at 2,116 as of May 12.
Russian officials put the continued daily rise in cases down to widespread testing, noting that more than 5.8 million tests have been carried out so far.
But some critics say that suggests the number of deaths in Russia is being underreported while others say test results can be inaccurate.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek services, RIA Novosti, Reuters, AP, and AFP


rferl--2020-05-12--Serbian Parties Vow Rival Hunger Strikes As Election Drama Escalates

BELGRADE -- Serbian pro-government and right-wing opposition figures have vowed to stage rival hunger strikes until their competing demands are met as supporters of each side staged protests separated by riot police in front of the parliament in Belgrade .
The political drama on May 11 came as President Aleksandar Vucic is facing a possible opposition boycott of parliamentary and local elections that could foreshadow an even deeper political crisis .
The right-wing Dveri movement , led by Bosko Obradovic , is demanding that elections scheduled for June 21 be postponed until autumn due to the coronavirus pandemic and what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ field for the campaign .
Serbia was in election campaign mode when a state of emergency was declared in March over the coronavirus , and elections scheduled for April 26 were pushed back to June 21 .
Political observers say they expect Vuvic ’ s ruling Serbian Progressive Party to come out on top if the vote is held on June 21 .
On the other hand , a delayed election could benefit the opposition if it were held during an anticipated recession caused by the coronavirus .
Meanwhile , supporters of Vucic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Obradovic over an incident on May 8 when Dveri members got into an altercation with the health minister as he entered parliament .
Two members of parliament from the Serbian Progressive Party went on hunger strike on May 10 to protest the incident , the same day Obradovic and another opposition politician began a hunger strike over elections and the government ’ s stance on Kosovo , which they consider a breakaway state .
Vucic on May 11 urged all sides to stop any hunger strike and for the opposition to enter negotiations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic .

BELGRADE -- Serbian pro-government and right-wing opposition figures have vowed to stage rival hunger strikes until their competing demands are met as supporters of each side staged protests separated by riot police in front of the parliament in Belgrade.
The political drama on May 11 came as President Aleksandar Vucic is facing a possible opposition boycott of parliamentary and local elections that could foreshadow an even deeper political crisis.
The right-wing Dveri movement, led by Bosko Obradovic, is demanding that elections scheduled for June 21 be postponed until autumn due to the coronavirus pandemic and what he says will be an unfair playing field for the campaign.
Serbia was in election campaign mode when a state of emergency was declared in March over the coronavirus, and elections scheduled for April 26 were pushed back to June 21.
Political observers say they expect Vuvic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party to come out on top if the vote is held on June 21. On the other hand, a delayed election could benefit the opposition if it were held during an anticipated recession caused by the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, supporters of Vucic and his party want prosecutors to investigate Obradovic over an incident on May 8 when Dveri members got into an altercation with the health minister as he entered parliament.
Two members of parliament from the Serbian Progressive Party went on hunger strike on May 10 to protest the incident, the same day Obradovic and another opposition politician began a hunger strike over elections and the government’s stance on Kosovo, which they consider a breakaway state.
Vucic on May 11 urged all sides to stop any hunger strike and for the opposition to enter negotiations, while warning that all gatherings should end in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.


rferl--2020-05-13--Pompeo Makes Short Trip To Israel To Discuss Pandemic Response, Iran's Activities

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to arrive in Israel on May 13 for discussions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of Israel ’ s new government on Iran ’ s activities in the Middle East , the COVID-19 pandemic , and other issues .
The discussions will include Iran ’ s “ destabilizing behavior in the region , activities in Syria , and developments with Hizballah in Lebanon , ” U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker said last week in a conference call with reporters .
Schenker said Pompeo is making this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Israel have “ much to learn from each other as we address current threats , whether those threats stem from a global pandemic or from Iran ’ s malign regional influence.
” The discussions about Iran will cover “ all sorts of Iranian activities and the threats '' posed to both Israeli and U.S. interests and personnel throughout the region , Schenker added .
The trip follows a flareup of violence on May 12 when a Palestinian rock-thrower killed an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank and police wounded a Palestinian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a checkpoint , Israeli authorities said .
The separate events marred a relative lull in West Bank violence during the coronavirus outbreak .
Schenker said the United States continues to pursue a peace plan for the Middle East that U.S President Donald Trump laid out in January .
The plan has been praised by Netanyahu but categorically rejected by the Palestinians .
Pompeo ’ s agenda includes no contact with any Palestinian officials , Schenker said , adding that the Palestinian leadership “ has not spoken with U.S. officials in quite a long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a time when they will .
Schenker also declined to comment on reports that Israeli defense officials have said that at least some Iranian forces were leaving Syria .
But he said Iran has been persistent in its efforts to establish a presence on Israel ’ s border and to bring in advanced weaponry and assets targeting Israel , moving the equipment through Syria to Hizballah .
The one-day trip comes ahead of the swearing-in of the new unity government , scheduled to take place on May 14 .
In addition to Netanyahu @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Minister Benny Gantz .
The coalition government framework , approved last week , calls for Netanyahu and Gantz to share the premiership and end a year-long political deadlock .
Officials admitted that international travel comes with risks but said they had taken “ every precaution ” to comply with the guidance of the State Department ’ s medical team and ensure the safety of all those who will be a part of the trip .
The secretary ’ s physician will be on hand , masks will be used , and everyone who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group traveling with him must be screened for symptoms , State Department physician William Walters said .
“ The interactions will be obviously brief and professional , and then the secretary will head back to the plane and come back to the United States , ” Walters said .
With reporting by Reuters and AFP

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.
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But, instead, those enrolled were encouraged and in some cases pressured into working at the drone facility, where the salaries of the mostly underage laborers are contingent on meeting tough production quotas.
“This is a textbook definition of what constitutes exploitation,” Sergei Podsytnik, an investigative journalist at Protokol who worked on the series of reports, told RFE/RL. “[Students] assemble drones, with the work taking priority over their studies.”
The pressure to fulfill these quotas has allegedly led to strenuous back-to-back days -- with some shifts lasting up to 15 hours -- with little time for sleep or adequate sustenance. Overtime work is often unpaid, further highlighting potential labor violations. Exhausted students also reported not always meeting their quotas, which led to them not earning the salary initially promised by the school. Many students came from disadvantaged backgrounds and relied on their earnings to cover costs for tuition, room, and board and would send the remainder home.
Other parents, such as Marina, said she decided to take her daughter out of the program when she discovered that she was working in apparent unsafe conditions and that staff from the school had instructed students not to tell their parents about the drone assembly work.
“This was the last straw for me,” Marina, who also asked for her identity to be concealed, told RFE/RL. “This is a dangerous production process that involves dangerous chemicals. They also forbid the kids from telling everything to their parents.”
RFE/RL sent multiple requests for comment to various staff and administrators at Alabuga Polytechnic University but received no replies.
Making Iranian Drones In Russia
The complicated and concerning dynamic at Alabuga Polytechnic University stems from growing military cooperation between Iran and Russia that has accelerated since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Iran has said it provided drones to Russia before the start of the war, but not since. However, U.S. intelligence officials have warned for months of continued deliveries and deepening cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, saying the two sides were exploring how to set up a manufacturing plant for Iranian drones inside Russia.
According to The Wall Street Journal, an Iranian delegation visited Yelabuga in Tatarstan on January 5, touring a potential site for such a factory at the Alabuga special economic zone close to Alabuga Polytechnic University. U.S. officials released satellite images in April of the plant being built.
Russia already possesses an array of unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which are used mainly for surveillance and artillery spotting, but has turned increasingly to Tehran for attack drones.
After being forced to abandon Ukrainian territory that its troops captured in the early stretches of the war, Moscow shifted to a strategy of relentless air assaults on Ukrainian cities. These attacks often rely on a combination of cruise missiles and self-detonating drones packed with explosives to knock out electricity and running water for the civilian population in Ukraine.
So far, Iran has provided Russia mostly with so-called "suicide" drones, known as the Shahed-136, that contain a modest amount of explosives that can detonate when the drones crash into targets, military experts say.
In acquiring its own domestic assembly line, Russia could dramatically increase its stockpile of the relatively inexpensive but highly destructive weapons systems.
WATCH: Russia has resorted to using Shahed-136 drones from Iran in its war on Ukraine. Ukraine says it's already downed many of the drones, which work by slamming into their intended target, laden with explosives. Ordinary Ukrainians say they can already recognize the sound of the drones, which use two-stroke engines like lawnmowers or motorbikes. Iran has denied supplying the drones to Russia.
The arrangement also offers substantial economic and political benefits for Iran, which has sought to portray itself as neutral in the Ukraine war. The appearance of Iranian-made drones over Ukrainian cities, however, has triggered threats of new economic sanctions from the West. The United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have also all issued rules in recent months designed to cut off the flow of drone components to Russia and Iran.
The Washington Post reported in November 2022, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, that the agreement to deliver Iranian drone schematics and materials for manufacture in Russia resulted from Iranian leaders believing that the arrangement would allow Tehran to avert new sanctions.
Foreign Recruitment And Patriotic Education
Alabuga Polytechnic University is formally not a college. All of its students are officially enrolled at nearby Yelabuga Polytechnic College, with the Alabuga institution existing on paper as a specialized program for students looking to break into high-tech industries.
Currently, about 1,000 students are studying at Alabuga Polytechnic University, with several hundred of them -- most of whom are between the ages of 15 and 17 -- involved in assembling the Iranian drones.
In addition to the work on the drones, there are other signs that point to blurred lines in Russia between the education system and the country’s military amid the war in Ukraine.
According to current and former Alabuga Polytechnic University students, team-building and organized extracurricular activities through the school often take on a “patriotic” character that may be designed to expose students to official government narratives of international events or echo talking points from state television.
Organized paintball games have become a mainstay for students, especially first-year arrivals, in which they are encouraged to compete against one another and then play together against more experienced outside players. Teachers and administration officials regularly refer to paintball as being part of a “patriotic” education needed to complement the technical aspect of their studies.
In one instance, a group of new students competed in paintball as Soviet soldiers against outside players who were dressed as troops from Nazi Germany in a capture-the-flag competition meant to simulate the World War II battle of Stalingrad. According to one student, the Nazi flag contained the compass symbol used by the NATO military alliance instead of the swastika used by Nazi Germany.
Other instances of political teachings from staff are more direct. In a recording obtained by RFE/RL from June 16, a senior administrator can be heard telling the teenagers that NATO launched a hybrid war against Russia back in 2011 and that it has slowly become more overt. The man then goes on to tell students that their hard work and exceeding long days at the drone factory are part of a nationwide struggle against the West and that their patriotism will be rewarded.
Several students and parents identified the man in the recording as Timur Shagivaleev, the director-general of the special economic zone where Alabuga Polytechnic University and the drone factory operate.
Shagivaleev did not respond to RFE/RL’s request for comment.
The man in the recording then goes on to tell students not to take holidays and to continue working “even if it's mom's birthday,” before ending his speech with, “Long live our great country.”
WATCH: Amid a new wave of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, analysts in Kyiv are gaining useful intelligence from a collection of downed Russian aerial weapons. They have been studying the remains of Iranian Shahed drones and Russian Kinzhal missiles, among others.
Multiple current and former students told RFE/RL that students who work in the drone factory are often praised by staff, while those who have refused or asked to be reassigned due to the high workload are often publicly shamed. In some instances -- according to recordings heard by RFE/RL -- staff even encourage students to bully others who are not deemed “patriotic” enough.
According to Protokol and Razvorot’s investigations, Alabuga Polytechnic University has also turned toward recruiting foreign students to enroll. The majority of them come from African countries, but also from Central Asia and Azerbaijan, where they are promised “world class” salaries as part of the dual-track world experience program.
However, these foreign students are then given low-skill and menial tasks around the campus and the special economic zone, such as janitorial work, and are also paid lower salaries than initially promised.
Written by Reid Standish based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities


rferl--2020-05-12--Kyrgyz Court To Hear Appeal Of Jailed Rights Activist Askarov

On May 13 , Kyrgyzstan 's Supreme Court is set to hold its final hearing in the appeal of ethnic Uzbek human rights activist Azimjan Askarov against his life sentence .
Askarov , who also contributed to independent news websites , has been behind bars for nearly 10 years on what human rights and media-freedom watchdogs described as trumped-up charges .
Askarov , who turns 69 this month , has insisted that his case is politically motivated .
Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing , human rights defenders reiterated their calls for the activist 's release , saying his health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Askarov `` suffers from cardiac and respiratory conditions and has not received appropriate medical attention in prison , '' and warned that the inmate was at high risk of contracting COVID-19 , a disease that disproportionately affects older people and individuals with underlying illnesses .
`` There is also one more compelling reason : it is the right and just thing to do , '' the New York-based watchdog added , saying Askarov was sentenced to life following `` a deeply flawed trial and credible allegations of torture which were never investigated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ismailova said it was `` heartbreaking to see him -- at high risk due to his declining health and having endured torture -- losing hope for a fair trial and release . ''
In 2010 , a Kyrgyz court sentenced Askarov to life in prison after finding him guilty of creating a mass disturbance and involvement in the murder of a police officer during deadly ethnic clashes between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz .
More than 450 people , mainly ethnic Uzbeks , were killed and tens of thousands more were displaced during the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has found that Askarov was arbitrarily detained , denied a fair trial , and tortured , and ruled the activist should be released immediately and his conviction quashed .
However , Askarov ’ s conviction was upheld after several appeals .

On May 13, Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court is set to hold its final hearing in the appeal of ethnic Uzbek human rights activist Azimjan Askarov against his life sentence.
Askarov, who also contributed to independent news websites, has been behind bars for nearly 10 years on what human rights and media-freedom watchdogs described as trumped-up charges.
Askarov, who turns 69 this month, has insisted that his case is politically motivated.
Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing, human rights defenders reiterated their calls for the activist's release, saying his health has dramatically deteriorated.
Human Rights Watch said Askarov "suffers from cardiac and respiratory conditions and has not received appropriate medical attention in prison," and warned that the inmate was at high risk of contracting COVID-19, a disease that disproportionately affects older people and individuals with underlying illnesses.
"There is also one more compelling reason: It is the right and just thing to do," the New York-based watchdog added, saying Askarov was sentenced to life following "a deeply flawed trial and credible allegations of torture which were never investigated."
Prominent Kyrgyz rights activist Tolekan Ismailova said it was "heartbreaking to see him -- at high risk due to his declining health and having endured torture -- losing hope for a fair trial and release."
In 2010, a Kyrgyz court sentenced Askarov to life in prison after finding him guilty of creating a mass disturbance and involvement in the murder of a police officer during deadly ethnic clashes between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.
More than 450 people, mainly ethnic Uzbeks, were killed and tens of thousands more were displaced during the violence.
The UN Human Rights Committee has found that Askarov was arbitrarily detained, denied a fair trial, and tortured, and ruled the activist should be released immediately and his conviction quashed.
However, Askarov’s conviction was upheld after several appeals.


rferl--2020-05-12--Russian Shaman Who Wanted To Drive Putin From Power Detained

YAKUTSK , Russia -- Russian special police have detained Aleksandr Gabyshev , a shaman in the Siberian region of Yakutia who gained notoriety in 2019 after declaring that he wanted to drive President Vladimir Putin from power .
Aleksei Pryanishnikov , a legal coordinator for the opposition group Open Russia , told RFE/RL on May 12 that at least 20 officers from an OMON police unit of the National Guard had stormed into Gabyshev 's home in the city of Yakutsk .
Pryanishnikov said Gabyshev was taken away barefooted and in handcuffs .
He said two of Gabyshev 's associates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reason for detaining them was unclear .
According to Pryanishnikov , several people who visited Gabyshev 's house earlier on May 12 had introduced themselves as physicians who wanted to test him for the coronavirus .
Gabyshev 's lawyer , Olga Timofeyeva , told RFE/RL that police had informed her he was being taken to a psychiatric clinic .
Timofeyeva said nobody can be sent to a psychiatric clinic in Russia without a court order .
Last week , Gabyshev posted a video on YouTube that showed him performing a traditional Yakut shaman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soon you all break out to freedom . ''
`` Guys , in two months , you will not recognize the world , including Russia , '' Gabyshev says in the video .
`` Nobody will hold the people 's power .
The people 's power is from nature , from God .
And it will sweep out everything in two months .
Consider it my forecast , my prophecy ... .
You will take care of your own destinies yourselves , you will take freedom with your own hands . ''
Gabyshev @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Putin `` evil '' and announced he would march to Moscow in an attempt to drive the Russian president out of the Kremlin .
Starting the journey in March 2019 , Gabyshev walked more than 2,000 kilometers -- speaking with hundreds of Russians along the way .
As his notoriety rose , videos of his conversations with people were posted on social media and attracted millions of views .
In July , when Gabyshev reached the city of Chita , he gathered about 700 people together for a rally under the slogan `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time , Gabyshev said , `` God told me Putin is not a human , but instead a demon , and has ordered me to drive him out . ''
His march was halted when he was detained in the region of Buryatia in September .
Authorities transferred him to Yakutia , where he was sent to a psychiatric clinic and then released .
In October , psychiatrists in Yakutsk said Gabyshev was mentally unstable .
But independent experts hired by the shaman 's lawyers concluded that Gabyshev was mentally sound , did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clinic , and was not a danger to society .
In December , Gabyshev and two supporters attempted to resume the march to Moscow , ignoring Yakutia 's sub-zero temperatures .
But they were stopped again by the police and forced to return home .
Shamans have served as healers and diviners in Siberia for centuries .
During the Soviet era , they were harshly repressed .
But in isolated parts of Siberia , they are now regaining importance .

YAKUTSK, Russia -- Russian special police have detained Aleksandr Gabyshev, a shaman in the Siberian region of Yakutia who gained notoriety in 2019 after declaring that he wanted to drive President Vladimir Putin from power.
Aleksei Pryanishnikov, a legal coordinator for the opposition group Open Russia, told RFE/RL on May 12 that at least 20 officers from an OMON police unit of the National Guard had stormed into Gabyshev's home in the city of Yakutsk.
Pryanishnikov said Gabyshev was taken away barefooted and in handcuffs. He said two of Gabyshev's associates were also being held, although the reason for detaining them was unclear.
According to Pryanishnikov, several people who visited Gabyshev's house earlier on May 12 had introduced themselves as physicians who wanted to test him for the coronavirus.
Gabyshev's lawyer, Olga Timofeyeva, told RFE/RL that police had informed her he was being taken to a psychiatric clinic.
Timofeyeva said nobody can be sent to a psychiatric clinic in Russia without a court order.
Last week, Gabyshev posted a video on YouTube that showed him performing a traditional Yakut shaman's dance while declaring, "Very soon you all break out to freedom."
"Guys, in two months, you will not recognize the world, including Russia," Gabyshev says in the video. "Nobody will hold the people's power. The people's power is from nature, from God. And it will sweep out everything in two months. Consider it my forecast, my prophecy.... You will take care of your own destinies yourselves, you will take freedom with your own hands."
Gabyshev made headlines in 2019 when he called Putin "evil" and announced he would march to Moscow in an attempt to drive the Russian president out of the Kremlin.
Starting the journey in March 2019, Gabyshev walked more than 2,000 kilometers -- speaking with hundreds of Russians along the way.
As his notoriety rose, videos of his conversations with people were posted on social media and attracted millions of views.
In July, when Gabyshev reached the city of Chita, he gathered about 700 people together for a rally under the slogan "Russia without Putin!"
At the time, Gabyshev said, "God told me Putin is not a human, but instead a demon, and has ordered me to drive him out."
His march was halted when he was detained in the region of Buryatia in September. Authorities transferred him to Yakutia, where he was sent to a psychiatric clinic and then released.
In October, psychiatrists in Yakutsk said Gabyshev was mentally unstable. But independent experts hired by the shaman's lawyers concluded that Gabyshev was mentally sound, did not need forced treatment in a psychiatric clinic, and was not a danger to society.
In December, Gabyshev and two supporters attempted to resume the march to Moscow, ignoring Yakutia's sub-zero temperatures.
But they were stopped again by the police and forced to return home.
Shamans have served as healers and diviners in Siberia for centuries. During the Soviet era, they were harshly repressed. But in isolated parts of Siberia, they are now regaining importance.


rferl--2020-05-12--U.S., EU Urge Georgian Authorities, Opposition To Uphold March 8 Agreement

TBILISI -- The U.S. and European Union ambassadors have called on Georgia 's ruling and opposition parties to uphold and implement a foreign-brokered deal on election reforms after more than two months of failing to move forward .
In a statement , the facilitators of the deal said it was intended to `` depolarize '' Georgia 's political system and `` create a better environment '' for October parliamentary elections following the failure of promised constitutional amendments to move to fully proportional parliamentary elections in 2020 .
`` We note that this agreement is composed of two parts -- one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other on addressing the appearance of political interference in the judicial system , '' the statement said , adding that `` we call upon all sides to uphold the letter and spirit of both parts of the agreement with a view to its successful implementation . ''
The statement comes after Georgian parliament speaker Archil Talakvadze appealed to U.S .
Ambassador Kelly Degnan , German Ambassador Hubert Knirsch , and chief EU diplomat Carl Hartzell to provide an `` objective assessment '' of the role of each signatory in putting the agreement into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of understanding signed on March 8 in which the two sides agreed that parliament will consist of 120 members elected through a proportional voting system , while 30 members will be elected through a majority system , where the party or candidate winning more than 50 percent of the vote in a constituency is awarded the contested seat .
It also says that the electoral threshold for proportional elections will be set at 1 percent and that a capping mechanism will mean that no single party receiving less than 40 percent of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a majority of seats in parliament .
Under the current electoral system , 73 of 150 parliamentary seats are claimed by candidates who finish first in district races .
The remaining seats are distributed proportionally to the national share of the vote that a party wins .
This led to Georgian Dream , led by its billionaire founder , Bidzina Ivanishvili , winning 76 percent of the legislature 's seats even though it won just less than half of the popular vote .

TBILISI -- The U.S. and European Union ambassadors have called on Georgia's ruling and opposition parties to uphold and implement a foreign-brokered deal on election reforms after more than two months of failing to move forward.
In a statement, the facilitators of the deal said it was intended to "depolarize" Georgia's political system and "create a better environment" for October parliamentary elections following the failure of promised constitutional amendments to move to fully proportional parliamentary elections in 2020.
"We note that this agreement is composed of two parts -- one focused on the election system and the other on addressing the appearance of political interference in the judicial system," the statement said, adding that "we call upon all sides to uphold the letter and spirit of both parts of the agreement with a view to its successful implementation."
The statement comes after Georgian parliament speaker Archil Talakvadze appealed to U.S. Ambassador Kelly Degnan, German Ambassador Hubert Knirsch, and chief EU diplomat Carl Hartzell to provide an "objective assessment" of the role of each signatory in putting the agreement into practice.
At issue is a memorandum of understanding signed on March 8 in which the two sides agreed that parliament will consist of 120 members elected through a proportional voting system, while 30 members will be elected through a majority system, where the party or candidate winning more than 50 percent of the vote in a constituency is awarded the contested seat.
It also says that the electoral threshold for proportional elections will be set at 1 percent and that a capping mechanism will mean that no single party receiving less than 40 percent of the votes cast will be allowed to hold a majority of seats in parliament.
Under the current electoral system, 73 of 150 parliamentary seats are claimed by candidates who finish first in district races. The remaining seats are distributed proportionally to the national share of the vote that a party wins.
This led to Georgian Dream, led by its billionaire founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, winning 76 percent of the legislature's seats even though it won just less than half of the popular vote.


rferl--2020-05-12--Jailed Former Armenian President Kocharian Undergoes Surgery

YEREVAN -- Armenian ex-President Robert Kocharian , who is currently in pretrial detention , has undergone surgery for the second time in seven months .
Kocharian 's office did not reveal what medical condition the ex-president had , but said he was now in a `` satisfactory '' state .
Kocharian underwent surgery at Yerevan ’ s Izmirlian Medical Center in October 2019 and was taken to the private hospital again in late April for what one of his lawyers described as a `` postoperative checkup . ''
Earlier this spring , Kocharian spent more than three weeks in another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Kocharian , who ruled Armenia from 1998 to 2008 , is currently on trial on charges stemming from his alleged role in a 2008 postelection crackdown on the opposition , as well as for taking bribes .
He rejects the charges as politically motivated .
A Yerevan court resumed the high-profile trial on May 8 , with Kocharian ’ s lawyers reiterating their demand to release their client from pretrial custody on health grounds .
They argued the 65-year-old is at high risk from coronavirus given his age and health problems .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is set to respond to the petition on May 13 .
Kocharian is standing trial along with three other former officials .

YEREVAN -- Armenian ex-President Robert Kocharian, who is currently in pretrial detention, has undergone surgery for the second time in seven months.
Kocharian's office did not reveal what medical condition the ex-president had, but said he was now in a "satisfactory" state.
Kocharian underwent surgery at Yerevan’s Izmirlian Medical Center in October 2019 and was taken to the private hospital again in late April for what one of his lawyers described as a "postoperative checkup."
Earlier this spring, Kocharian spent more than three weeks in another hospital after suffering from fluctuating blood pressure.
Kocharian, who ruled Armenia from 1998 to 2008, is currently on trial on charges stemming from his alleged role in a 2008 postelection crackdown on the opposition, as well as for taking bribes. He rejects the charges as politically motivated.
A Yerevan court resumed the high-profile trial on May 8, with Kocharian’s lawyers reiterating their demand to release their client from pretrial custody on health grounds. They argued the 65-year-old is at high risk from coronavirus given his age and health problems.
The presiding judge, Anna Danibekian, is set to respond to the petition on May 13.
Kocharian is standing trial along with three other former officials.