rferl--2020-05-01--U.S. Watchdog Warns Of Pending Coronavirus Disaster In Afghanistan

A watchdog report to the U.S. Congress has warned that Afghanistan is likely to face a health disaster in the coming months brought on by the coronavirus pandemic .
The April 30 report by the U.S. Special Inspector-General for Afghanistan Reconstruction ( SIGAR ) has heightened concerns that the pandemic could derail stalled peace efforts brokered by the United States .
The spread of COVID-19 , the disease caused by the coronavirus , has significantly impacted Afghanistan .
`` Afghanistan 's numerous and , in some cases , unique vulnerabilities -- a weak health-care system , widespread malnutrition , porous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Iran , and ongoing conflict -- make it likely the country will confront a health disaster in the coming months , '' the report concludes .
The pandemic has forced the closure of border crossings , disrupting commercial and humanitarian deliveries .
SIGAR , which monitors billions of dollars spent in Afghanistan by the United States , warns that rising food prices are likely to worsen as the crisis continues .
Afghanistan has confirmed nearly 2,200 coronavirus cases and 64 deaths , according to local news reports quoting the Afghan Health Ministry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Afghanistan signed a deal with Washington in February -- raising hopes that formal peace talks between the militants and Afghanistan 's central government could start soon .
The Taliban committed to severing ties with terrorists and preventing terrorists from using territory under its control to launch attacks against the United States or its allies , including the Afghan government .
In exchange for those guarantees , the United States agreed to withdraw all of its troops from Afghanistan by July 2021 .
Since signing the deal , Taliban militants have escalated attacks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Taliban rejected a proposal by the Afghan government for a cease-fire during the holy month of Ramadan .
The latest SIGAR report said the international coalition has declined to make data available for public release about the number of Taliban attacks launched during the first three months of 2020 .
It was the first time publication of the data has been held back since 2018 when SIGAR began using the information to track levels and locations of violence , the report said .
SIGAR said the coalition justified holding back the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ internal U.S. government deliberations on negotiations with the Taliban .
Peace talks are supposed to begin after the Afghan government releases some 5,000 Taliban prisoners from custody .
In return , the Taliban also is supposed to release about 1,000 Afghan troops and civilian government employees it is holding .
As of April 27 , the Afghan government had freed nearly 500 Taliban prisoners , while the militant group had released about 60 of its captives .
With reporting by Reuters , AFP , and dpa

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--2020-05-01--Kosovo's President Names New Candidate For Prime Minister In Bid To Resolve Crisis

Kosovo ’ s president has formally asked a top official of the second-biggest party in parliament to form a new government in a bid to resolve a political crisis in the country .
President Hashim Thaci on April 30 nominated Avdullah Hoti of the center-right Democratic League of Kosovo ( LDK ) to replace acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti .
Hoti previously served as finance minister and deputy prime minister .
Thaci made the announcement after LDK leader Isa Mustafa gave assurances that the party has a majority of votes in parliament to form the new government .
The LDK @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parties , giving it the required 61 votes in the 120-seat parliament .
Kurti ’ s outgoing Vetevendosje ( Self-Determination ) party says Thaci ’ s decree is unconstitutional and filed a complaint at the Constitutional Court challenging it .
The party claims that only it is entitled to form a new cabinet and that if it fails , the country should hold an early general election .
The Constitutional Court is unlikely to hold a meeting before May 4 because of the May 1 national holiday .
The LDK finished second with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ behind Kurti ’ s leftist-nationalist Vetevendosje party , and the two parties formed an uneasy coalition .
Kurti ’ s government collapsed in March after only 50 days in power , losing a no-confidence vote initiated by the LDK , 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 .
Based on reporting by Reuters and AP

Kosovo’s Constitutional Court has suspended a parliamentary vote on a new prime minister until May 29, dashing President Hashim Thaci’s hopes for a quick resolution to a political crisis.
Kosovo’s top court made the decision on May 1 amid a national holiday and just a day before parliament was to vote on Thaci’s new choice to lead the government.
Thaci on April 30 nominated Avdullah Hoti of the center-right Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) to replace acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Hoti previously served as finance minister and deputy prime minister.
Thaci made the announcement after LDK leader Isa Mustafa gave assurances that the party has a majority of votes in parliament to form the new government. The LDK has formed a coalition with two smaller parties, giving it the required 61 votes in the 120-seat parliament.
Kurti’s outgoing Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) party said Thaci’s decree was unconstitutional and filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court to challenge it. The party claims only it is entitled to form a new cabinet and that, if it fails, the country should hold an early general election.
The Constitutional Court was initially not expected to meet before May 4 because of the long holiday weekend.
The LDK finished second with 28 seats in last year's election behind Kurti’s leftist-nationalist Vetevendosje party, and the two parties formed an uneasy coalition.
Kurti’s government collapsed in March after only 50 days in power, losing a no-confidence vote initiated by the LDK, 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.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AP


rferl--2020-04-30--WADA's Probe Into 300 Russian Athletes Shows Manipulation In Half Of The Cases

The World Anti-Doping Agency ( WADA ) has completed an investigation into nearly 300 Russia athletes , with almost half showing evidence of manipulation of anti-doping test results .
WADA said in a statement on April 30 that it has handed over the cases of 298 athletes to 28 anti-doping organizations , including 27 international sports federations .
Of those investigated , the files of 145 athletes were marked for manipulation .
WADA said the relevant international organizations would have to decide on what action to take against each doping case .
But it also said it has the option @ @ @ @ @ @ @ court if action against doping isn ’ t taken “ in a reasonable time frame.
” “ The fact that we have moved to the results management phase now for the entire target group means we are another step closer to bringing those who cheated to justice .
This has always been the objective for us as we continue to do what is best for clean sport and athletes around the world , ” said Gunter Younger , the director of WADA ’ s independent intelligence and investigations team .
WADA investigators sifted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of samples on a computer archive it obtained in 2019 from a disgraced Moscow laboratory and the facility 's Laboratory Information Management System ( LIMS ) , where doping cases were covered up .
WADA said its investigators faced hurdles due to alleged Russian manipulation of the data archive and other attempts to throw them off track in the probe .
The anti-doping agency ’ s president , Witold Banka , emphasized investigations would continue into Russian manipulation .
“ This is not the end of the road , ” he said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 57 samples from the Moscow laboratory .
Doping allegations have plagued the country since the revelation of large-scale state-sponsored doping aimed at improving its medal performance at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia ’ s Black Sea resort of Sochi .
In 2019 , WADA banned Russia from all major international sporting events for four years for its attempts to undermine the investigation into state-backed doping , which Moscow denies .
With reporting by AFP , AP , and Reuters

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has completed an investigation into nearly 300 Russia athletes, with almost half showing evidence of manipulation of anti-doping test results.
WADA said in a statement on April 30 that it has handed over the cases of 298 athletes to 28 anti-doping organizations, including 27 international sports federations.
Of those investigated, the files of 145 athletes were marked for manipulation.
WADA said the relevant international organizations would have to decide on what action to take against each doping case.
But it also said it has the option to bring cases to a sports arbitration court if action against doping isn’t taken “in a reasonable time frame.”
“The fact that we have moved to the results management phase now for the entire target group means we are another step closer to bringing those who cheated to justice. This has always been the objective for us as we continue to do what is best for clean sport and athletes around the world,” said Gunter Younger, the director of WADA’s independent intelligence and investigations team.
WADA investigators sifted through 24 terabytes of data and thousands of samples on a computer archive it obtained in 2019 from a disgraced Moscow laboratory and the facility's Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), where doping cases were covered up.
WADA said its investigators faced hurdles due to alleged Russian manipulation of the data archive and other attempts to throw them off track in the probe.
The anti-doping agency’s president, Witold Banka, emphasized investigations would continue into Russian manipulation.
“This is not the end of the road,” he said, pointing to a reanalysis of at least 57 samples from the Moscow laboratory.
Doping allegations have plagued the country since the revelation of large-scale state-sponsored doping aimed at improving its medal performance at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi.
In 2019, WADA banned Russia from all major international sporting events for four years for its attempts to undermine the investigation into state-backed doping, which Moscow denies.
With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters


rferl--2020-04-30--Russian Prime Minister Tests Positive For Coronavirus

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin says he will self-isolate after testing positive for the coronavirus .
`` I have just learned that the test on the coronavirus I took was positive , '' Mishustin said in a video call with President Vladimir Putin on April 30 , adding that he will self-isolate to protect other cabinet members .
Mishustin suggested that First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov should temporarily perform his duties , but the prime minister insisted he would remain in touch on key issues .
The Kremlin later announced that Putin signed a decree appointing Belousov acting prime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the government . ''
Putin wished Mishustin a speedy recovery and expressed hope that he would continue taking part in drafting policies to shore up the Russian economy , which has been hard hit by the pandemic .
The 54-year-old was named prime minister in January .
His positive test came on the same day that Russia recorded a record 7,099 new virus cases , taking the total number of confirmed infections above 106,000 .
Authorities said 1,073 people have now died of coronavirus , a relatively low number for Russia 's size @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases of pneumonia , which is often caused by the coronavirus , as evidence that the real number of COVID-19-related deaths is higher .
The mayor of Moscow , which accounts for half of Russia ’ s reported infections , said he does not think the Russian capital is close to overcoming the spread of the disease .
“ We ’ re not even at the midpoint , in my opinion ; at best we have passed a quarter of this way , ” Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said .
Putin and many other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent weeks in an effort to shield themselves from the outbreak .
With reporting by AFP , AP , Reuters , dpa , and Interfax

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin says he will self-isolate after testing positive for the coronavirus.
"I have just learned that the test on the coronavirus I took was positive," Mishustin said in a video call with President Vladimir Putin on April 30, adding that he will self-isolate to protect other cabinet members.
Mishustin suggested that First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov should temporarily perform his duties, but the prime minister insisted he would remain in touch on key issues.
The Kremlin later announced that Putin signed a decree appointing Belousov acting prime minister to "ensure uninterrupted functioning of the government."
Putin wished Mishustin a speedy recovery and expressed hope that he would continue taking part in drafting policies to shore up the Russian economy, which has been hard hit by the pandemic.
The 54-year-old was named prime minister in January.
His positive test came on the same day that Russia recorded a record 7,099 new virus cases, taking the total number of confirmed infections above 106,000.
Authorities said 1,073 people have now died of coronavirus, a relatively low number for Russia's size.
Critics point to official figures on cases of pneumonia, which is often caused by the coronavirus, as evidence that the real number of COVID-19-related deaths is higher.
The mayor of Moscow, which accounts for half of Russia’s reported infections, said he does not think the Russian capital is close to overcoming the spread of the disease.
“We’re not even at the midpoint, in my opinion; at best we have passed a quarter of this way,” Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
Putin and many other senior officials have been working remotely in recent weeks in an effort to shield themselves from the outbreak.
With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa, and Interfax


rferl--2020-05-01--Gunmen Critically Injure Pashtun Rights Activist In Pakistan's Tribal Areas

Unidentified gunmen have critically injured a prominent ethnic Pashtun rights activist in an attack in Pakistan 's South Waziristan tribal district .
Sardar Arif Wazir , one of the leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement ( PTM ) , was traveling by car in the city of Wan na when gunmen opened fire from another vehicle , RFE/RL ’ s Radio Mashaal reported late on May 1 .
He was rushed to the hospital in the city of Dera Ismail Khan .
The attack comes after Pakistani police arrested Wazir on April 17 for delivering an `` anti-Pakistan '' speech @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He was released on bail two days before the attack .
Mohsin Dawar , a member of Pakistan ’ s lower house of parliament and a prominent figure in the PTM , accused “ state-sponsored militants ” of carrying out the attack .
“ The masters of the attackers should know that bullets , injuries , and prisons ca n't weaken our resolve , ” he wrote on Twitter .
There was no immediate response from the government .
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack .
The PTM has campaigned for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's largest ethnic minority , since 2018 .
The group has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army 's heavy-handed operations against militants in tribal regions that have killed thousands of Pashtun civilians and forced millions more to abandon their homes since 2003 .
The PTM has been calling for the removal of military checkpoints in tribal areas and an end to `` enforced disappearances , '' in which suspects are detained by security forces without due process .
Pakistan 's government rejects allegations that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ responsible for forced disappearances .
Since the movement was formed in January 2018 , international rights groups say authorities have banned peaceful rallies organized by the PTM and some of its leading members have been arbitrarily detained and prevented from traveling within the country .
Some members have also faced charges of sedition and cybercrimes .
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan ( HRCP ) has said the authorities have made allegations of anti-state activities “ an expedient label for human rights defenders , particularly those associated with the PTM . ''

Unidentified gunmen have critically injured a prominent ethnic Pashtun rights activist in an attack in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal district.
Sardar Arif Wazir, one of the leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), was traveling by car in the city of Wanna when gunmen opened fire from another vehicle, RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal reported late on May 1.
He was rushed to a hospital in the city of Dera Ismail Khan.
The attack comes after Pakistani police arrested Wazir on April 17 for delivering an "anti-Pakistan" speech during a recent visit to Afghanistan. He was released on bail two days before the attack.
Mohsin Dawar, a member of Pakistan’s lower house of parliament and a prominent figure in the PTM, accused “state-sponsored militants” of carrying out the attack.
“The masters of the attackers should know that bullets, injuries, and prisons can't weaken our resolve,” he wrote on Twitter.
There was no immediate response from the government. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The PTM has campaigned for civil rights for Pashtuns, the country's largest ethnic minority, since 2018.
The group has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army's heavy-handed operations against militants in tribal regions that have killed thousands of Pashtun civilians and forced millions more to abandon their homes since 2003.
The PTM has been calling for the removal of military checkpoints in tribal areas and an end to "enforced disappearances," in which suspects are detained by security forces without due process.
Pakistan's government rejects allegations that its security forces and intelligence agents are responsible for forced disappearances.
Since the movement was formed in January 2018, international rights groups say authorities have banned peaceful rallies organized by the PTM and some of its leading members have been arbitrarily detained and prevented from traveling within the country. Some members have also faced charges of sedition and cybercrimes.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said the authorities have made allegations of anti-state activities “an expedient label for human rights defenders, particularly those associated with the PTM."


rferl--2020-05-01--Siberian Officials' Fight Over Wildfires Heats Up As Locals See Power Struggle

UST-KUT , Russia -- A fight between local officials in the Russian region of Irkutsk over forest fires is heating up , with one of them landing in a hospital and another in a river , as residents say it may be a sign of a power struggle ahead of elections .
Russia ’ s Investigative Committee said on April 29 that it had launched a preliminary investigation into a fire that occurred a day earlier near a forest on the outskirts of Ust-Kut , a Siberian town located 850 kilometers north of Irkutsk .
The committee said a local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the site , may face a charge of abuse of power .
No names or other details were provided by the committee , but Ust-Kut Mayor Aleksandr Dushin told RFE/RL that he and his associates had caught four district officials , including Deputy District Governor Mikhail Bars and the district governor 's press secretary , Yekaterina Anisimova , as they -- or so Dushin alleges -- set dry grass on fire near a forest not far from Dushin 's private lands .
The Ust-Kut mayor insists the four also were filming the fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accuse him later of being an arsonist .
Dushin provided RFE/RL with several videos , in one of which he is seen checking the contents of three plastic canisters aboard a boat allegedly used by the district officials to travel to the area .
The mayor says on the video that the canisters are filled with gasoline as a visibly beaten man , who was later identified as Bars , sits slumped across from him .
Ust-Kut district Governor Tamara Klimina , meanwhile , rejected Dushin 's accusations , saying she had sent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reports about fire cells in the forest at three sites .
One of the sites was close to Dushin 's private lands , where Klimina claims her associates were `` taken hostage '' by Dushin and his people .
According to Klimina , it was Dushin himself who set fire to dry grass and other wood waste to clean up areas around his private lands .
`` Each year , Dushin uses fire for cleaning space near his farming acreage and the fire then moves deeper inside the forest ... .
As far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mikhail Bars ' jaw and collarbone , threw Yekaterina Anisimova into the river , and forcibly took the drone and mobile phones from them , '' Klimina said on April 29 , adding that the gasoline in the canisters was fuel for the boat .
On April 30 , the head of Klimina 's administration , Marina Kosygina , told the TASS news agency that Bars had been hospitalized .
Dmitry Dmitriyev , a local lawyer , told RFE/RL that the fight most likely has political roots .
Klimina , who runs the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Party , while Dushin is a member of the ruling United Russia party .
Klimina is up for reelection later this year .
Forest fires can sometimes be a political hot topic in Russia , especially in Siberia .
Each year , wildfires destroy hundreds of thousands of hectares in the country , sometimes with devastating impacts for local communities .
The Irkutsk and Krasnoyark regions were hit particularly hard last year by fires , forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to declare a state of emergency .
Greenpeace said last week that forest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million hectares in Russia , which the organization said is unusually large for the spring season .

UST-KUT, Russia -- A fight between local officials in the Russian region of Irkutsk over forest fires is heating up, with one of them landing in a hospital and another in a river, as residents say it may be a sign of a power struggle ahead of elections.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said on April 29 that it had launched a preliminary investigation into a fire that occurred a day earlier near a forest on the outskirts of Ust-Kut, a Siberian town located 850 kilometers north of Irkutsk.
The committee said a local district official, who was noticed at the site, may face a charge of abuse of power.
No names or other details were provided by the committee, but Ust-Kut Mayor Aleksandr Dushin told RFE/RL that he and his associates had caught four district officials, including Deputy District Governor Mikhail Bars and the district governor's press secretary, Yekaterina Anisimova, as they -- or so Dushin alleges -- set dry grass on fire near a forest not far from Dushin's private lands.
The Ust-Kut mayor insists the four also were filming the fire using a drone, in order to accuse him later of being an arsonist.
Dushin provided RFE/RL with several videos, in one of which he is seen checking the contents of three plastic canisters aboard a boat allegedly used by the district officials to travel to the area.
The mayor says on the video that the canisters are filled with gasoline as a visibly beaten man, who was later identified as Bars, sits slumped across from him.
Ust-Kut district Governor Tamara Klimina, meanwhile, rejected Dushin's accusations, saying she had sent her deputy Bars and others to check reports about fire cells in the forest at three sites.
One of the sites was close to Dushin's private lands, where Klimina claims her associates were "taken hostage" by Dushin and his people.
According to Klimina, it was Dushin himself who set fire to dry grass and other wood waste to clean up areas around his private lands.
"Each year, Dushin uses fire for cleaning space near his farming acreage and the fire then moves deeper inside the forest.... As far as we know, those people broke Mikhail Bars' jaw and collarbone, threw Yekaterina Anisimova into the river, and forcibly took the drone and mobile phones from them," Klimina said on April 29, adding that the gasoline in the canisters was fuel for the boat.
On April 30, the head of Klimina's administration, Marina Kosygina, told the TASS news agency that Bars had been hospitalized.
Dmitry Dmitriyev, a local lawyer, told RFE/RL that the fight most likely has political roots.
Klimina, who runs the district, belongs to the Liberal Democratic Party, while Dushin is a member of the ruling United Russia party. Klimina is up for reelection later this year.
Forest fires can sometimes be a political hot topic in Russia, especially in Siberia.
Each year, wildfires destroy hundreds of thousands of hectares in the country, sometimes with devastating impacts for local communities. The Irkutsk and Krasnoyark regions were hit particularly hard last year by fires, forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to declare a state of emergency.
Greenpeace said last week that forest fires are currently burning on over 1.3 million hectares in Russia, which the organization said is unusually large for the spring season.


rferl--2020-05-01--Afghan President, Chief Rival Reach 'Tentative Agreement' To End Months-Long Feud

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival , Abdullah Abdullah , appeared close to ending a months-long political crisis that has undermined peace talks with the Taliban and the country ’ s response to the COVID-19 pandemic .
Abdullah said in a series of tweets on May 1 that progress in negotiations with Ghani to end the political impasse “ reached tentative agreement on a range of principles.
” He did not provide details of the agreement .
Abdullah , who previously served as Afghanistan 's chief executive under a U.S.-brokered power-sharing deal with Ghani , has refused to recognize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ September presidential election , which was marred by low voter turnout and allegations of fraud .
After much delay , the Afghan election commission in December announced that Ghani had won the election with just over 50 percent of the votes needed to avoid a runoff .
Abdullah secured 39 percent .
Instead of recognizing the results , Abdullah declared himself president , although the international community recognizes Ghani .
The political crisis has undermined Kabul ’ s position ahead of planned intra-Afghan peace talks at a time when the Taliban is increasing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States in February .
It also comes as Afghanistan struggles to slow the spread of the coronavirus , which according to official numbers has infected 2,335 people and killed another 69 .
The real number of infections is believed to be much higher .
“ We hope to finalize the political agreement at the earliest so that we can pay undivided attention to tackling [ the ] COVID-19 pandemic , ensuring a just , dignified & lasting peace , & confronting the security & economic challenges in a spirit of national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Twitter .
To apply pressure on Ghani and Abdullah , the United States announced in March that it was cutting $ 1 billion in aid to Afghanistan .
The European Union has also said the lack of progress to end the two rivals ' feud could lead to aid cuts .
Meanwhile , NBC News reported this week that the combination of the coronavirus and U.S. frustration over the slow pace of Afghan peace talks has hastened calls by President Donald Trump to pull troops out of Afghanistan or consolidate forces on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dpa


rferl--2020-05-01--Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Cancels Debate With Navalny

The pugnacious spokeswoman for Russia ’ s Foreign Ministry has canceled an online debate with prominent opposition figure Aleksei Navalny that would have potentially given him greater legitimacy .
Maria Zakharova announced on May 1 that Navalny had made too many demands for the debate to take place , including having a moderator , Novaya gazeta reported .
The two were scheduled to debate later that day .
Zakharova , whose confrontational style in defending Russia ’ s foreign policy has made her something of a celebrity at home , surprisingly challenged Navalny on April 30 via a Facebook post @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her earlier that day on his weekly video blog .
“ Comrade Navalny , you don ’ t have any more oligarchs [ to attack ] ?
Well ?
Ready , Aleksei Anatolyevich , for a conversation ?
Not in courts where you can hide behind legalese or lawyers .
But online ?
After all , you are afraid , ” Zakharova said .
Navalny immediately accepted the challenge and recommended that TV Dozhd , an independent media outlet , moderate the debate .
Russian President Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking Russian officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asked directly about him .
Analysts have said it is an attempt to deny Navalny any legitimacy as a political figure .
Navalny has built up a following over the years for his investigative pieces exposing corruption among top Russian officials .
However , his popularity rating in polls is in the low single digits .

The pugnacious spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry has canceled an online debate with prominent opposition figure Aleksei Navalny that would have potentially given him greater legitimacy.
Maria Zakharova announced on May 1 that Navalny had made too many demands for the debate to take place, including having a moderator, Novaya gazeta reported. The two were scheduled to debate later that day.
Zakharova, whose confrontational style in defending Russia’s foreign policy has made her something of a celebrity at home, surprisingly challenged Navalny on April 30 via a Facebook post to an online debate after he criticized her earlier that day on his weekly video blog.
“Comrade Navalny, you don’t have any more oligarchs [to attack]? Well? Ready, Aleksei Anatolyevich, for a conversation? Not in courts where you can hide behind legalese or lawyers. But online? After all, you are afraid,” Zakharova said.
Navalny immediately accepted the challenge and recommended that TV Dozhd, an independent media outlet, moderate the debate.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking Russian officials avoid mentioning Navalny by name even when asked directly about him. Analysts have said it is an attempt to deny Navalny any legitimacy as a political figure.
Navalny has built up a following over the years for his investigative pieces exposing corruption among top Russian officials. However, his popularity rating in polls is in the low single digits.
With reporting by Novaya gazeta


rferl--2020-05-01--Russian Mosaic Featuring Putin Won't Be Displayed In New Armed Forces Cathedral

A controversial mosaic featuring Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be displayed inside a new cathedral dedicated to the nation ’ s armed forces after the Kremlin leader reportedly expressed opposition to the idea .
Recently leaked photos of work on the massive Resurrection of Christ Cathedral -- which is scheduled to open outside Moscow ahead of the May 9 holiday that celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II -- showed a partially completed mosaic featuring Putin , Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu , General Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov , and several other Russian officials .
Russian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ image of Putin was taken down , citing officials of the Russian Orthodox Church .
The Russian leader ’ s spokesman , Dmitry Peskov , said on April 26 that Putin was aware of the mosaic but felt it was early to evaluate his work with such a depiction .
“ In the workshop where it was being made , they are now redoing it , ” Russian Orthodox Bishop Stefan of Klin told TASS .
The mosaic featuring Putin is not the only controversial aspect of the cathedral , which is located @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Moscow .
A World War II mosaic depicts a banner of former Soviet leader Josef Stalin , who is responsible for the deaths of millions of citizens as well as the closure or demolition of hundreds of churches across the country .
Another mosaic depicts scenes of Russia ’ s 2014 forcible annexation of Ukraine ’ s Crimean Peninsula , which triggered Western condemnation and sanctions .
The church was supposed to be paid for entirely through donations , but according to Russian reports almost 3 billion rubles ( about $ 40 million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the project .
The cathedral was set to open on May 6 as part of a grand celebration to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany .
With reporting by Kommersant , TASS , and AFP

A controversial mosaic featuring Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be displayed inside a new cathedral dedicated to the nation’s armed forces after the Kremlin leader reportedly expressed opposition to the idea.
Recently leaked photos of work on the massive Resurrection of Christ Cathedral -- which is scheduled to open outside Moscow ahead of the May 9 holiday that celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II -- showed a partially completed mosaic featuring Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, General Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, and several other Russian officials.
Russian media reported on May 1 that the image of Putin was taken down, citing officials of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Russian leader’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on April 26 that Putin was aware of the mosaic but felt it was early to evaluate his work with such a depiction.
“In the workshop where it was being made, they are now redoing it,” Russian Orthodox Bishop Stefan of Klin told TASS.
The mosaic featuring Putin is not the only controversial aspect of the cathedral, which is located in Patriot Park some 60 kilometers outside Moscow.
A World War II mosaic depicts a banner of former Soviet leader Josef Stalin, who is responsible for the deaths of millions of citizens as well as the closure or demolition of hundreds of churches across the country.
Another mosaic depicts scenes of Russia’s 2014 forcible annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, which triggered Western condemnation and sanctions.
The church was supposed to be paid for entirely through donations, but according to Russian reports almost 3 billion rubles (about $40 million) came from the Kremlin's budget for the project.
The cathedral was set to open on May 6 as part of a grand celebration to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
With reporting by Kommersant, TASS, and AFP


rferl--2020-05-01--COVID-19: Russia Reports Record Daily Increase; Pakistan's Parliament Speaker Tests Positive

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 233,000 with almost 3.3 million infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Russia on May 1 reported 7,933 new cases of the coronavirus during the previous 24 hours -- a record daily increase that has brought the country 's acknowledged nationwide tally to 114,431 cases .
The daily toll is nearly 900 cases higher than the previous record of 7,099 new infections reported by Russia a day earlier .
Meanwhile , Russia 's official nationwide death @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after the country 's coronavirus crisis response center reported 96 fatalities during the previous 24 hours .
Critics point to official figures on cases of pneumonia , which is often caused by the coronavirus , as evidence that Russia 's real number of COVID-19-related deaths is higher .
The latest tallies come a day after Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced in a video call with President Vladimir Putin that he would self-isolate because he had tested positive for the coronavirus .
The 54-year-old Mishustin was named prime minister in January .
Mishustin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ late on April 30 that Mishustin would be kept under observation at an unnamed medical facility .
Meanwhile , the Kremlin announced that Putin had signed a decree appointing First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov as acting prime minister to `` ensure uninterrupted functioning of government . ''
Putin and many other senior Russian officials have been working remotely in recent weeks in an effort to shield themselves from the pandemic .
The speaker of Pakistan 's National Assembly has tested positive for COVID-19 , raising concerns about whether he infected other officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home , '' Asad Qaiser , who is also a close aide to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan , said on Twitter on April 30 .
Qaiser met with Khan on April 27 as well as with other leading Pakistani politicians figures over the past few days , local media reported .
He also hosted an iftar dinner to celebrate Ramadan .
Qaiser is the second individual infected with COVID-19 to come into contact with Khan .
Faisal Edhi , the head of Pakistan ’ s biggest charity organization who was also diagnosed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the prime minister 's office .
Khan last month tested negative for the disease .
It is unclear if he will be tested again .
Pakistan is seeing a growing number of cases as its ramps up testing .
The country now has more than 17,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 , with more than 400 fatalities .
Though small in comparison to the United States , Western Europe , Russia , and China , the number of cases in Pakistan is rapidly growing with nearly 1,000 new infections reported on April 30 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tally .
Pakistan , which has a population of more than 200 million people , is testing about 8,000 individuals a day .
With reporting by Reuters , Dawn , AFP , AP , dpa , TASS , and Interfax

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 233,000 with almost 3.3 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions.
Russia
Russia on May 1 reported 7,933 new cases of the coronavirus during the previous 24 hours -- a record daily increase that has brought the country's acknowledged nationwide tally to 114,431 cases.
The daily toll is nearly 900 cases higher than the previous record of 7,099 new infections reported by Russia a day earlier.
Meanwhile, Russia's official nationwide death toll on May 1 stood at 1,169 after the country's coronavirus crisis response center reported 96 fatalities during the previous 24 hours.
Critics point to official figures on cases of pneumonia, which is often caused by the coronavirus, as evidence that Russia's real number of COVID-19-related deaths is higher.
The latest tallies come a day after Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced in a video call with President Vladimir Putin that he would self-isolate because he had tested positive for the coronavirus. The 54-year-old Mishustin was named prime minister in January.
Mishustin's spokesman, Boris Belyakov, said late on April 30 that Mishustin would be kept under observation at an unnamed medical facility.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin announced that Putin had signed a decree appointing First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov as acting prime minister to "ensure uninterrupted functioning of government."
Putin and many other senior Russian officials have been working remotely in recent weeks in an effort to shield themselves from the pandemic.
Pakistan
The speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly has tested positive for COVID-19, raising concerns about whether he infected other officials.
"I have quarantined myself at home," Asad Qaiser, who is also a close aide to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, said on Twitter on April 30.
Qaiser met with Khan on April 27 as well as with other leading Pakistani politicians figures over the past few days, local media reported. He also hosted an iftar dinner to celebrate Ramadan.
Qaiser is the second individual infected with COVID-19 to come into contact with Khan.
Faisal Edhi, the head of Pakistan’s biggest charity organization who was also diagnosed with COVID-19, recently met with Khan at the prime minister's office.
Khan last month tested negative for the disease. It is unclear if he will be tested again.
Pakistan is seeing a growing number of cases as its ramps up testing. The country now has more than 17,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with more than 400 fatalities.
Though small in comparison to the United States, Western Europe, Russia, and China, the number of cases in Pakistan is rapidly growing with nearly 1,000 new infections reported on April 30, the country’s largest single-day tally.
Pakistan, which has a population of more than 200 million people, is testing about 8,000 individuals a day.
With reporting by Reuters, Dawn, AFP, AP, dpa, TASS, and Interfax


rferl--2020-05-01--Kosovo's Constitutional Court Delays Parliamentary Vote On New Prime Minister

Kosovo ’ s Constitutional Court has suspended a parliamentary vote on a new prime minister until May 29 , dashing President Hashim Thaci ’ s hopes for a quick resolution to a political crisis .
Kosovo ’ s top court made the decision on May 1 amid a national holiday and just a day before parliament was to vote on Thaci ’ s new choice to lead the government .
Thaci on April 30 nominated Avdullah Hoti of the center-right Democratic League of Kosovo ( LDK ) to replace acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti .
Hoti previously served as finance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made the announcement after LDK leader Isa Mustafa gave assurances that the party has a majority of votes in parliament to form the new government .
The LDK has formed a coalition with two smaller parties , giving it the required 61 votes in the 120-seat parliament .
Kurti ’ s outgoing Vetevendosje ( Self-Determination ) party said Thaci ’ s decree was unconstitutional and filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court to challenge it .
The party claims only it is entitled to form a new cabinet and that , if it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ early general election .
The Constitutional Court was initially not expected to meet before May 4 because of the long holiday weekend .
The LDK finished second with 28 seats in last year 's election behind Kurti ’ s leftist-nationalist Vetevendosje party , and the two parties formed an uneasy coalition .
Kurti ’ s government collapsed in March after only 50 days in power , losing a no-confidence vote initiated by the LDK , amid disputes over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the removal of trade tariffs on Serbian goods @ @ @ @ @ @ @ caretaker capacity .
He wants to hold snap parliamentary elections once the pandemic is over .
Based on reporting by Reuters and AP


rferl--2020-05-02--Kazakh President Dismisses Nazarbaev's Daughter As Speaker Of Parliament

Dariga Nazarbaeva , the daughter of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev , has been dismissed from her post as speaker of the upper house of parliament .
The move , which removes Nazarbaeva from a position that put her second in line to the head of state , was announced on May 2 by the office of President Qasym-Zormart Toqaev , her father 's hand-picked successor .
Toqaev `` terminated the powers '' of Nazarbaeva , his office said in a statement .
She also loses her seat in parliament .
Toqaev thanked Nazarbaeva for her `` active and fruitful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Twitter on May 2 .
Nazarbaeva had served as speaker of parliament since March 20 , 2019 , the same day her father stepped down as president .
Nazarbaev , 79 , is widely seen as the country 's top decision-maker despite leaving the presidency he held for nearly three decades .
He continues to lead the ruling Nur-Otan party and holds a lifetime post as chairman of the Security Council .
Immediately following Nazarbaev 's resignation , Toqaev proposed renaming the country 's capital to Nur-Sultan in his predecessor 's honor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speaker by Toqaev , who himself served in the position under Nazarbaev .
Nazarbaeva 's arrival to parliament in 2016 on her father 's appointment was widely seen as a move to groom a possible successor .

Darigha Nazarbaeva, the daughter of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, has been dismissed from her post as speaker of the upper house of parliament.
The move, which removes Nazarbaeva from a position that put her second in line to the head of state, was announced on May 2 by the office of President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, her father's hand-picked successor.
Toqaev "terminated the powers" of Nazarbaeva, his office said in a statement.
She also loses her seat in parliament.
Toqaev thanked Nazarbaeva for her "active and fruitful work as chair of the Senate" on Twitter on May 2.
Nazarbaeva had served as speaker of parliament since March 20, 2019, the same day her father stepped down as president.
Nazarbaev, 79, is widely seen as the country's top decision-maker despite leaving the presidency he held for nearly three decades.
He continues to lead the ruling Nur-Otan party and holds a lifetime post as chairman of the Security Council.
Immediately following Nazarbaev's resignation, Toqaev proposed renaming the country's capital to Nur-Sultan in his predecessor's honor.
Nazarbaeva was nominated to be parliament speaker by Toqaev, who himself served in the position under Nazarbaev.
Nazarbaeva's arrival to parliament in 2016 on her father's appointment was widely seen as a move to groom a possible successor.


rferl--2020-05-02--Russian Ship Capable Of Completing Nord Stream 2 Approaches Danish Waters

A Russian ship capable of laying pipe is approaching Danish waters , raising speculation it may seek to complete an $ 11 billion natural-gas pipeline whose construction was halted by U.S. sanctions last year .
The Admiral Chersky , which left Russia ’ s Far East port of Nakhodka in February -- two months after U.S. sanctions forced Western-owned ships to stop work on Nord Stream 2 -- is about to reach Danish waters after passing through the English Channel , Russia media reported .
Nord Stream 2 consists of two parallel lines each stretching 1,230 kilometers along the Baltic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The pipeline has a capacity to export 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year .
The project is more than 90 percent complete with about 160 kilometers of pipeline remaining to be laid along the Baltic Sea near Denmark .
Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said the Admiral Chersky was one of the options to complete the project .
The Admiral Chersky has meandered over the past two months , often changing course , leading some analysts to suspect it is seeking to hide its final destination less the U.S. block @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vladimir Putin said earlier this year during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he expected Nord Stream 2 to be completed by the beginning of 2021 at the latest .
The United States passed a bill in December that allowed Washington to impose sanctions on any vessel that helps Russia complete the pipeline , forcing Swiss-based Allseas to bow out and Russia to search for a substitute .
The United States opposes Nord Stream 2 because it claims the project strengthens Russia ’ s hold on Western Europe ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ avoid exports through Ukraine , depriving Kyiv of much needed transit revenue .
Russia claims the United States is seeking to block the project to export more U.S. liquefied natural gas to Europe .
Senator Ted Cruz ( Republican-Texas ) , who initiated the sanctions bill against Nord Stream 2 , met in March with the head of Ukraine ’ s state-owned gas company to discuss additional measures to halt the project 's completion .
Ukraine has lobbied the U.S. government for the Nord Stream 2 sanctions .
With reporting by RBC and @

A Russian ship capable of laying pipe is approaching Danish waters, raising speculation it may seek to complete an $11 billion natural-gas pipeline whose construction was halted by U.S. sanctions last year.
The Admiral Chersky, which left Russia’s Far East port of Nakhodka in February -- two months after U.S. sanctions forced Western-owned ships to stop work on Nord Stream 2 -- is about to reach Danish waters after passing through the English Channel, Russia media reported.
Nord Stream 2 consists of two parallel lines each stretching 1,230 kilometers along the Baltic Sea from Russia to northern Germany. The pipeline has a capacity to export 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year.
The project is more than 90 percent complete with about 160 kilometers of pipeline remaining to be laid along the Baltic Sea near Denmark.
Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said the Admiral Chersky was one of the options to complete the project.
The Admiral Chersky has meandered over the past two months, often changing course, leading some analysts to suspect it is seeking to hide its final destination less the U.S. block is passage through straits.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this year during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he expected Nord Stream 2 to be completed by the beginning of 2021 at the latest.
The United States passed a bill in December that allowed Washington to impose sanctions on any vessel that helps Russia complete the pipeline, forcing Swiss-based Allseas to bow out and Russia to search for a substitute.
The United States opposes Nord Stream 2 because it claims the project strengthens Russia’s hold on Western Europe’s energy market and allows the Kremlin to avoid exports through Ukraine, depriving Kyiv of much needed transit revenue.
Russia claims the United States is seeking to block the project to export more U.S. liquefied natural gas to Europe.
Senator Ted Cruz (Republican-Texas), who initiated the sanctions bill against Nord Stream 2, met in March with the head of Ukraine’s state-owned gas company to discuss additional measures to halt the project's completion.
Ukraine has lobbied the U.S. government for the Nord Stream 2 sanctions.
With reporting by RBC and TASS


rferl--2020-05-02--COVID-19: Second Senior Russian Official In Hospital As Country Sees Record Daily Increase

The global death toll from the coronavirus is nearing 239,000 with more than 3.3 million infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
A second minister in the Russian government has tested positive for COVID-19 and is being treated in a hospital .
Construction Minister Vladimir Yakushev said on May 1 that he has been hospitalized in Moscow and is receiving “ treatment under the supervision of doctors , ” according to TASS , quoting the ministry ’ s press office .
One of his deputies at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Volkov , also tested positive for the coronavirus , the report said .
Deputy Minister Nikita Stasishin has been appointed acting minister of construction in Yakushev ’ s absence , TASS reported .
The announcement that Yakushev is being treated for COVID-19 comes a day after Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said he was entering self-isolation after testing positive .
A spokesman said he would be kept under observation at a medical facility but did not give its name .
First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov is serving as acting prime minister while the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minister in January , recuperates .
The double blow to Russia ’ s cabinet comes as the country recorded a steady rise in cases despite lockdown measures in place since late March .
Russia reported 7,933 new cases of the coronavirus on May 1 during the previous 24 hours -- a record daily increase that has brought the country 's acknowledged nationwide tally to 114,431 cases , although there are questions about the accuracy of state figures .
Critics point to official figures on cases of pneumonia , which is often caused by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's real number of COVID-19-related deaths is higher .
The daily toll is nearly 900 cases higher than the previous record of 7,099 new infections reported by Russia a day earlier .
Officials have said Russia has not reached the peak of the outbreak , which has killed more than 1,100 people in the country .
President Vladimir Putin and many other senior Russian officials have been working remotely in recent weeks in an effort to shield themselves from the pandemic .
With reporting by AFP , TASS , and Reuters

The global death toll from the coronavirus is approaching 242,000 with 3.4 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.
Tajikistan
Tajikistan has announced the first deaths in the country from the coronavirus after weeks of denying it even had any cases.
Tajik state television reported on May 2 that two people infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, have died. No further information was given.
The Central Asian nation, run by authoritarian President Emomali Rahmon, admitted its first registered cases of COVID-19 on April 30 after more than 3 million people globally in nearly every country had been diagnosed with the virus.
Tajikistan now officially has 15 registered cases of the virus compared to its neighbor Uzbekistan, which has more than 2,000 cases. Uzbekistan has more than three times the population of Tajikistan.
Turkmenistan is now the only country in Central Asia that has not officially reported any cases of the virus.
Speculation has been rife for weeks that the Tajik government had been suppressing information about the existence of the coronavirus inside the country.
Tajikistan has registered a nearly 20 percent increase in pneumonia cases over the first four months of 2020 compared with the same period last year. Severe cases of coronavirus can lead to pneumonia.
Even as infections skyrocketed in other Central Asian nations over the past few months, Rahmon flouted warnings from international experts to order social-distancing restrictions or other measures to try and curtail any spread of the disease.
Tajikistan’s health-care system is underfunded and ill-equipped to deal with a widespread outbreak of cases, making the government’s lack of precautions in recent weeks a major risk for the country.
The government is now starting to take some actions to address the spread. State-run Khovar news agency said on April 30 that a new government task force has ordered all citizens to wear face coverings when outdoors.
The government last week closed schools for two weeks and suspended the national league soccer season over the coronavirus.
Representatives from the World Health Organization, which is helping lead the global fight against the spread of COVID-19, are expected to arrive in Tajikistan on May 2.
Russia
A second minister in the Russian government has tested positive for COVID-19 and is being treated in a hospital.
Construction Minister Vladimir Yakushev said on May 1 that he has been hospitalized in Moscow and is receiving “treatment under the supervision of doctors,” according to TASS, quoting the ministry’s press office.
One of his deputies at the Construction and Housing Ministry, Dmitry Volkov, also tested positive for the coronavirus, the report said.
Deputy Minister Nikita Stasishin has been appointed acting minister of construction in Yakushev’s absence, TASS reported.
The announcement that Yakushev is being treated for COVID-19 comes a day after Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said he was entering self-isolation after testing positive. A spokesman said he would be kept under observation at a medical facility but did not give its name.
First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov is serving as acting prime minister while the 54-year-old Mishustin, who was named prime minister in January, recuperates.
The double blow to Russia’s cabinet comes as the country recorded a steady rise in cases despite lockdown measures in place since late March.
Russia registered nearly 10,000 new COVID-19 cases over the past day, a new record, as Moscow’s mayor said he may strengthen the lockdown.
Russia said COVID-19 cases rose by 9,623 on May 2, bringing the total number of people who have been infected in the country with the coronavirus to 124,054, the seventh-highest globally.
Another 57 people died from the disease over the past day, lifting the fatality tally to 1,222. More than 15,000 people in Russia have recovered from the virus.
More than half of the new cases are in Moscow, the nation’s capital, prompting Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to say he may further restrict the number of residents that can travel around the city.
While residents can leave their homes to go to the store, the pharmacy, throw out trash and walk their dogs, they need to receive a digital pass to use public or private transport.
Sobyanin said on May 2 that the city could reduce the number of digital passes issued should the coronavirus situation warrant such a move.
“If we see any threat, of course, we will not hesitate for a minute. We will come out with a proposal to tighten these measures,” he told state TV.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Tajik Service, AFP, TASS, RBC, and Reuters


rferl--2020-05-02--Pakistani Journalist Missing In Sweden Since March Found Dead In River

A Pakistani journalist who went missing two months ago in Sweden has been found dead in a river , Swedish police said .
Sajid Hussain 's body was found on April 23 in the Fyris River outside Uppsala , Jonas Eronen , a police spokesman , said , according to The Guardian newspaper .
Hussain , the editor of the Balochistan Times news website , had been missing since early March .
Eronen said a crime could not be completely ruled out but added that Hussain ’ s death could equally have been an accident or suicide .
An autopsy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some of the suspicion that he was the victim of a crime , ” the police spokesman added .
Hussain ’ s wife , Shahnaz Baloch , was quoted by The Guardian as saying Hussain was in good spirits when she spoke with him by phone on the day he went missing , and they discussed his plans to move into a new apartment in Uppsala .
Hussain , 39 , fled Pakistan in 2012 after receiving threats related to his reporting and lived in exile in several countries before seeking asylum in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ writing about human rights violations in the southwestern Pakistani region , he reported on organized crime and forced disappearances , and exposed a drug kingpin in Pakistan .
He was last seen boarding a train in Stockholm on March 2 to go to Uppsala , 70 kilometers north of the Swedish capital .
Local police had said Hussain did get off the train in Uppsala 45 minutes after it left Stockholm .
An official with Reporters Without Borders ( RSF ) said Hussain ’ s controversial profile meant it could not be ruled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ killed “ at the behest of a Pakistani intelligence agency.
” Erik Halkjaer , the president of RSF ’ s Swedish section , was quoted by The Guardian as saying that as long as a crime can not be ruled out , “ there remains the risk that his death is linked to his work as a journalist.
” RSF said in late March that it believed Hussain was abducted on the orders of an intelligence agency in Pakistan .
It pointed out that Hussain continued working as editor of the Balochistan Times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ often crossed the ‘ red lines ’ imposed by the military establishment in Islamabad , ” according to the Paris-based media freedom watchdog .
Balochistan has been plagued by sectarian violence , Islamist militant attacks , and a separatist insurgency since 2004 .
Pakistan 's successive governments and the powerful military have been accused for years of censoring the media .
The country is ranked 142nd out of 180 countries in RSF 's 2019 World Press Freedom Index .
With reporting by The Guardian and the BBC

A Pakistani journalist who went missing two months ago in Sweden has been found dead in a river, Swedish police said.
Sajid Hussain's body was found on April 23 in the Fyris River outside Uppsala, Jonas Eronen, a police spokesman, said, according to The Guardian newspaper.
Hussain, the editor of the Balochistan Times news website, had been missing since early March.
Eronen said a crime could not be completely ruled out but added that Hussain’s death could equally have been an accident or suicide.
An autopsy has been conducted and it “dispelled some of the suspicion that he was the victim of a crime,” the police spokesman added.
Hussain’s wife, Shahnaz Baloch, was quoted by The Guardian as saying Hussain was in good spirits when she spoke with him by phone on the day he went missing, and they discussed his plans to move into a new apartment in Uppsala.
Hussain, 39, fled Pakistan in 2012 after receiving threats related to his reporting and lived in exile in several countries before seeking asylum in Sweden in 2017.
In addition to writing about human rights violations in the southwestern Pakistani region, he reported on organized crime and forced disappearances, and exposed a drug kingpin in Pakistan.
He was last seen boarding a train in Stockholm on March 2 to go to Uppsala, 70 kilometers north of the Swedish capital.
Local police had said Hussain did get off the train in Uppsala 45 minutes after it left Stockholm.
An official with Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Hussain’s controversial profile meant it could not be ruled out that he had been abducted and killed “at the behest of a Pakistani intelligence agency.”
Erik Halkjaer, the president of RSF’s Swedish section, was quoted by The Guardian as saying that as long as a crime cannot be ruled out, “there remains the risk that his death is linked to his work as a journalist.”
RSF said in late March that it believed Hussain was abducted on the orders of an intelligence agency in Pakistan. It pointed out that Hussain continued working as editor of the Balochistan Times from abroad.
The Balochistan Times “often crossed the ‘red lines’ imposed by the military establishment in Islamabad,” according to the Paris-based media freedom watchdog.
Balochistan has been plagued by sectarian violence, Islamist militant attacks, and a separatist insurgency since 2004.
Pakistan's successive governments and the powerful military have been accused for years of censoring the media.
The country is ranked 142nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2019 World Press Freedom Index.
With reporting by The Guardian and the BBC


rferl--2020-05-02--Russian State TV Cancels Airing Of 'Conspiracy Extravaganza' By Pro-Kremlin Filmmaker

Russian state television canceled the reruns of a program by one of its most famous directors after he criticized the head of the nation ’ s largest bank .
During his show that aired May 1 on Rossia-24 , Nikita Mikhalkov , who has close ties to the Kremlin , slammed Sberbank Chief Executive Officer German Gref for not having bank branches in Crimea .
The same program also accused American billionaire and Microsoft founder Bill Gates of seeking to insert microchips into people .
The state channel canceled the traditional replays of his show on May 2 and May @ @ @ @ @ @ @ TV of censorship in a video statement .
Rossia-24 did not give a reason for the cancelations .
RIA Novosti , a state-run news agency , called the nearly 50-minute show a “ conspiracy extravaganza ” in which the topics of Gates ’ supposed plans to microchip people , Nazi SS leader Heinrich Himmler , and the absence of Sberbank branches in Crimea were included .
Russian state television had previously aired programs containing baseless accusations that Gates was seeking to install microchips containing a coronavirus vaccine in people : The author of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state withdrew the show is because of the bad light it sheds on Gref , who has led Sberbank for 13 years .
Gref has been credited with revamping the once stodgy lender , turning it into a Russian leader in online and mobile banking .
No major Russian banks operate in Crimea , which the Kremlin forcibly annexed in 2014 , due to the threat of U.S. sanctions .
The Katarsis author said Mikhalkov is a figure whom many Russians respect and pointed out that two officials he previously attacked -- @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vladimir Medinsky -- lost their posts .
“ Let ’ s see how the fate of German Oskarovich [ Gref ] develops , ” the author said .

Russian state television canceled the reruns of a program by one of its most famous directors after he criticized the head of the nation’s largest bank.
During his show that aired May 1 on Rossia-24, Nikita Mikhalkov, who has close ties to the Kremlin, slammed Sberbank Chief Executive Officer German Gref for not having bank branches in Crimea. The same program also accused American billionaire and Microsoft founder Bill Gates of seeking to insert microchips into people.
The state channel canceled the traditional replays of his show on May 2 and May 3, causing Mikhalkov to accuse state TV of censorship in a video statement. Rossia-24 did not give a reason for the cancelations.
RIA Novosti, a state-run news agency, called the nearly 50-minute show a “conspiracy extravaganza” in which the topics of Gates’ supposed plans to microchip people, Nazi SS leader Heinrich Himmler, and the absence of Sberbank branches in Crimea were included.
Russian state television had previously aired programs containing baseless accusations that Gates was seeking to install microchips containing a coronavirus vaccine in people:
The author of the Telegram channel Katarsis said the reason the state withdrew the show is because of the bad light it sheds on Gref, who has led Sberbank for 13 years. Gref has been credited with revamping the once stodgy lender, turning it into a Russian leader in online and mobile banking.
No major Russian banks operate in Crimea, which the Kremlin forcibly annexed in 2014, due to the threat of U.S. sanctions.
The Katarsis author said Mikhalkov is a figure whom many Russians respect and pointed out that two officials he previously attacked -- Emergency Minister Vladimir Puchkov and Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky -- lost their posts.
“Let’s see how the fate of German Oskarovich [Gref] develops,” the author said.


rferl--2020-05-02--Trump To Nominate Retired Army Lieutenant General As Ambassador To Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate a retired Army lieutenant general to become the nation ’ s ambassador to Ukraine , filling a critical position that has been vacant for nearly a year .
Keith Dayton , who currently serves as the senior U.S. defense adviser to Ukraine and as director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany , will need to be approved by the U.S. Senate .
Trump made the announcement late on May 1 .
Ukraine ’ s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the decision to appoint Dayton , saying in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had met with the retired lieutenant general in his previous role as defense reform adviser .
The appointment comes amid a tough period for U.S.-Ukraine relations , which were shaken last year following reports that Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate a political rival -- former Vice President Joe Biden -- during a July 2019 phone call and withheld military assistance to Kyiv .
The reports sparked an impeachment trial of Trump and resulted in the departure of several key U.S. officials handling Ukraine policy .
Trump was found not guilty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has not had an ambassador to Ukraine since Trump recalled Marie Yovanovitch in May 2019 after what she said was a targeted campaign to tarnish her image .
Former Ukrainian Ambassador Bill Taylor later served six months as charge d ' affaires while the Trump administration sought a replacement .
The 71-year old Dayton has worked in the former Soviet region before , serving as U.S. defense attaché in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow .
John Herbst , a political analyst at the Atlantic Council and a former ambassador to Ukraine , told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because he knows the issues facing Kyiv well .
Dayton ’ s top concerns will be the Russia-backed war in eastern Ukraine as well as Ukrainian reforms , Herbst said .
Washington has yet to nominate a replacement for Kurt Volker , the special envoy to Ukraine who stepped down in September after the House of Representatives announced the start of its impeachment inquiry .
The United States is the largest supporter of Ukraine ’ s military , having supplied the country with more than $ 1.6 billion in aid , including lethal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as it fights Russia-backed separatists in its eastern regions .
With reporting by Reuters and AP

U.S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate a retired Army lieutenant general to become the nation’s ambassador to Ukraine, filling a critical position that has been vacant for nearly a year.
Keith Dayton, who currently serves as the senior U.S. defense adviser to Ukraine and as director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany, will need to be approved by the U.S. Senate.
Trump made the announcement late on May 1.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the decision to appoint Dayton, saying in a tweet on May 2 that he had met with the retired lieutenant general in his previous role as defense reform adviser.
The appointment comes amid a tough period for U.S.-Ukraine relations, which were shaken last year following reports that Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate a political rival -- former Vice President Joe Biden -- during a July 2019 phone call and withheld military assistance to Kyiv.
The reports sparked an impeachment trial of Trump and resulted in the departure of several key U.S. officials handling Ukraine policy. Trump was found not guilty by the Senate.
The United States has not had an ambassador to Ukraine since Trump recalled Marie Yovanovitch in May 2019 after what she said was a targeted campaign to tarnish her image. Former Ukrainian Ambassador Bill Taylor later served six months as charge d' affaires while the Trump administration sought a replacement.
The 71-year old Dayton has worked in the former Soviet region before, serving as U.S. defense attaché in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
John Herbst, a political analyst at the Atlantic Council and a former ambassador to Ukraine, told RFE/RL that Dayton is a good choice because he knows the issues facing Kyiv well.
Dayton’s top concerns will be the Russia-backed war in eastern Ukraine as well as Ukrainian reforms, Herbst said.
Washington has yet to nominate a replacement for Kurt Volker, the special envoy to Ukraine who stepped down in September after the House of Representatives announced the start of its impeachment inquiry.
The United States is the largest supporter of Ukraine’s military, having supplied the country with more than $1.6 billion in aid, including lethal weapons, over the past six years as it fights Russia-backed separatists in its eastern regions.
With reporting by Reuters and AP


rferl--2020-05-02--Pashtun Rights Activist Dies After Shooting Attack In Pakistan's Tribal Areas

Pashtun rights activist and political leader Sardar Arif Wazir has died of injuries sustained in a shooting attack in Pakistan 's South Waziristan tribal district .
The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement ( PTM ) , a rights group that Wazir helped lead , confirmed to RFE/RL 's Radio Mashaal that Wazir died in Islamabad on May 2 .
Wazir was injured when the vehicle he was traveling in came under fire in the city of Wan na .
The attackers , who fired from another vehicle , have not been identified .
Police officials have confirmed that a search operation is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the attack , for which no group has claimed responsibility .
The rights watchdog Amnesty International on May 2 called on `` the Pakistani authorities to carry out an independent and effective investigation . ''
The attack came after Pakistani police arrested Wazir on April 17 for delivering an `` anti-Pakistan '' speech during a recent visit to Afghanistan .
He was released on bail this week .
Mohsin Dawar , a member of Pakistan ’ s lower house of parliament and prominent figure in the PTM , earlier accused “ state-sponsored militants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The masters of the attackers should know that bullets , injuries , and prisons ca n't weaken our resolve , ” he wrote on Twitter .
There was no immediate response from the government .
The PTM has campaigned for civil rights for Pashtuns , the country 's largest ethnic minority , since 2018 .
The group has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army 's heavy-handed operations against militants in tribal regions that have killed thousands of Pashtun civilians and forced millions more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The PTM has been calling for the removal of military checkpoints in tribal areas and an end to `` enforced disappearances , '' in which suspects are detained by security forces without due process .
Pakistan 's government rejects allegations that its security forces and intelligence agents are responsible for forced disappearances .
Since the movement was formed in January 2018 , international rights groups say authorities have banned peaceful rallies organized by the PTM and some of its leading members have been arbitrarily detained and prevented from traveling within the country .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ sedition and cybercrimes .
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan ( HRCP ) has said the authorities have made allegations of anti-state activities “ an expedient label for human rights defenders , particularly those associated with the PTM . ''

Pashtun rights activist and political leader Sardar Arif Wazir has died of injuries sustained in a shooting attack in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal district.
The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), a rights group that Wazir helped lead, confirmed to RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that Wazir died in Islamabad on May 2.
Wazir was injured when the vehicle he was traveling in came under fire in the city of Wanna.
The attackers, who fired from another vehicle, have not been identified.
Police officials have confirmed that a search operation is under way to find the perpetrators of the attack, for which no group has claimed responsibility.
The rights watchdog Amnesty International on May 2 called on "the Pakistani authorities to carry out an independent and effective investigation."
The attack came after Pakistani police arrested Wazir on April 17 for delivering an "anti-Pakistan" speech during a recent visit to Afghanistan. He was released on bail this week.
Mohsin Dawar, a member of Pakistan’s lower house of parliament and prominent figure in the PTM, earlier accused “state-sponsored militants” of carrying out the attack.
“The masters of the attackers should know that bullets, injuries, and prisons can't weaken our resolve,” he wrote on Twitter.
There was no immediate response from the government.
The PTM has campaigned for civil rights for Pashtuns, the country's largest ethnic minority, since 2018.
The group has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army's heavy-handed operations against militants in tribal regions that have killed thousands of Pashtun civilians and forced millions more to abandon their homes since 2003.
The PTM has been calling for the removal of military checkpoints in tribal areas and an end to "enforced disappearances," in which suspects are detained by security forces without due process.
Pakistan's government rejects allegations that its security forces and intelligence agents are responsible for forced disappearances.
Since the movement was formed in January 2018, international rights groups say authorities have banned peaceful rallies organized by the PTM and some of its leading members have been arbitrarily detained and prevented from traveling within the country. Some members have also faced charges of sedition and cybercrimes.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said the authorities have made allegations of anti-state activities “an expedient label for human rights defenders, particularly those associated with the PTM."


rferl--2020-05-02--COVID-19: Tajikistan Announces First Deaths; Second Russian Official In Hospital

The global death toll from the coronavirus is approaching 242,000 with 3.4 million infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Tajikistan has announced the first deaths in the country from the coronavirus after weeks of denying it even had any cases .
Tajik state television reported on May 2 that two people infected with COVID-19 , the disease caused by the virus , have died .
No further information was given .
The Central Asian nation , run by authoritarian President Emomali Rahmon , admitted its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 30 after more than 3 million people globally in nearly every country had been diagnosed with the virus .
Tajikistan now officially has 15 registered cases of the virus compared to its neighbor Uzbekistan , which has more than 2,000 cases .
Uzbekistan has more than three times the population of Tajikistan .
Turkmenistan is now the only country in Central Asia that has not officially reported any cases of the virus .
Speculation has been rife for weeks that the Tajik government had been suppressing information about the existence of the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a nearly 20 percent increase in pneumonia cases over the first four months of 2020 compared with the same period last year .
Severe cases of coronavirus can lead to pneumonia .
Even as infections skyrocketed in other Central Asian nations over the past few months , Rahmon flouted warnings from international experts to order social-distancing restrictions or other measures to try and curtail any spread of the disease .
Tajikistan ’ s health-care system is underfunded and ill-equipped to deal with a widespread outbreak of cases , making the government ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ major risk for the country .
The government is now starting to take some actions to address the spread .
State-run Khovar news agency said on April 30 that a new government task force has ordered all citizens to wear face coverings when outdoors .
The government last week closed schools for two weeks and suspended the national league soccer season over the coronavirus .
Representatives from the World Health Organization , which is helping lead the global fight against the spread of COVID-19 , are expected to arrive in Tajikistan on May @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russian government has tested positive for COVID-19 and is being treated in a hospital .
Construction Minister Vladimir Yakushev said on May 1 that he has been hospitalized in Moscow and is receiving “ treatment under the supervision of doctors , ” according to TASS , quoting the ministry ’ s press office .
One of his deputies at the Construction and Housing Ministry , Dmitry Volkov , also tested positive for the coronavirus , the report said .
Deputy Minister Nikita Stasishin has been appointed acting minister of construction in Yakushev ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ announcement that Yakushev is being treated for COVID-19 comes a day after Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said he was entering self-isolation after testing positive .
A spokesman said he would be kept under observation at a medical facility but did not give its name .
First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov is serving as acting prime minister while the 54-year-old Mishustin , who was named prime minister in January , recuperates .
The double blow to Russia ’ s cabinet comes as the country recorded a steady rise in cases despite lockdown measures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ registered nearly 10,000 new COVID-19 cases over the past day , a new record , as Moscow ’ s mayor said he may strengthen the lockdown .
Russia said COVID-19 cases rose by 9,623 on May 2 , bringing the total number of people who have been infected in the country with the coronavirus to 124,054 , the seventh-highest globally .
Another 57 people died from the disease over the past day , lifting the fatality tally to 1,222 .
More than 15,000 people in Russia have recovered from the virus .
More @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Moscow , the nation ’ s capital , prompting Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to say he may further restrict the number of residents that can travel around the city .
While residents can leave their homes to go to the store , the pharmacy , throw out trash and walk their dogs , they need to receive a digital pass to use public or private transport .
Sobyanin said on May 2 that the city could reduce the number of digital passes issued should the coronavirus situation warrant such a move .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ course , we will not hesitate for a minute .
We will come out with a proposal to tighten these measures , ” he told state TV .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Tajik Service , AFP , TASS , RBC , and Reuters