rferl--2020-03-13--COVID-19: Kosovo, Kazakhstan Confirm First Cases; Ukraine Reports First Death; Iran To Empty Streets

Authorities in Kosovo have announced the first two cases of novel-coronavirus infection to hit Europe 's newest independent state just as global health experts say the continent has become COVID-19 's new `` epicenter . ''
Kosovar Health Minister Arben Vitia said one of those who tested positive for the virus that causes the potentially deadly , pneumonia-like COVID-19 illness is a 77-year-old Kosovar man and the other is a 20-year-old Italian woman .
Both are reportedly in stable condition .
Vitia told a news conference attended by Prime MInister Albin Kurti that both patients are at a Pristina-area clinical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Western Balkans have mostly shown relatively low levels of infection despite their proximity to Italy , which has been early European hub of the new coronavirus .
After a day that saw the first confirmation of coronavirus cases in Ukraine , Kosovo 's neighbor Montenegro is the lone European country that has not reported any COVID-19 cases .
World Health Organization ( WHO ) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on March 13 that COVID-19 deaths had surpassed 5,000 and that `` Europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic '' that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Ukraine has reported its first novel coronavirus death .
Authorities said on March 13 that an elderly woman died after being hospitalized a day earlier in a western region of the country , prompting security officials to announce a border closure to foreigners within 48 hours .
The 71-year-old victim , a resident of the town of Radomyshl in the Zhytomyr region , had reportedly felt unwell after returning from Poland on March 1 but did not initially seek medical care .
Ukrainian authorities said the borders would be closed to foreigners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be allowed back into the country .
`` In 48 hours , our country will close the border to foreigners , '' Oleksandr Danilov , secretary of Ukraine 's National Security and Defense Council , said .
State media said Ukrainian citizens who have been to any country with an acute outbreak of the virus will be allowed to enter but must comply with special observation procedures .
The Healthy Ministry said the woman who died was hospitalized on March 12 after her COVID-19 test came back positive .
Her case was the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Iranian security forces have been ordered to clear the streets across the country within 24 hours as the government struggles to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus .
Major General Mohammad Bagheri , the armed forces chief of staff , made the announcement on March 13 , saying in televised remarks : `` Our law enforcement and security committees , along with the Interior Ministry and provincial governors , will be clearing shops , streets and roads . ''
Meanwhile , the Health Ministry announced another 85 deaths from the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the country to 514 .
Iran , one of the countries most-affected by the pandemic outside of China , reported a total of 11,364 diagnosed infections as of March 13 .
Critics fear the real number of cases , however , could be much higher as questions swirl over the government 's transparency with regard to the issue .
Clerical rulers have already closed schools and universities and suspended religious , cultural , and sports events across the country to combat the outbreak .
On March 12 , Tehran said it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) to help finance the country ’ s efforts to fight the contagion .
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on March 12 to immediately lift sanctions over the country ’ s nuclear program .
He said they made it difficult to import medicine and medical equipment .
Kazakhstan 's Health Ministry says it has recorded the Central Asian nation 's first four confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus .
Health Minister Elzhan Birtanov said in a statement on March @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Nur-Sultan from Italy had tested positive for the virus .
The statement came just hours after Birtanov had announced the country 's first two positive cases , a woman and a man who returned to Kazakhstan 's largest city , Almaty , from Germany .
Both are Kazakh nationals .
Earlier in the day , Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev held a meeting with government members and a coronavirus task force after which he suspended trips abroad for officials due to the coronavirus alert .
`` Trips abroad for state and other officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to ensure the security of our citizens and the country will be allowed , '' Toqaev 's official website said .
Toqaev also ordered the cabinet to provide financial support to companies and organizations to help them cover paid leaves of their employees who have to stay at home with their children as early spring break at schools was announced due to the coronavirus outbreak .
The president called on state and government entities to focus on public relations with citizens to prevent panic associated with rumors about the spreading of the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local residents have stormed grocery stores and other shops buying food and other items en masse in recent days .
Also on March 13 , Toqaev wrote on Twitter that his country `` faces the task of keeping the economy in a sustainable development mode in a completely new reality , '' while in another tweet , he said his government `` will fulfill all of its social obligations . ''
At the meeting with cabinet officials and the coronavirus task force , Toqaev ordered the government to allocate 300 billion tenges ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jobs via infrastructure maintenance projects in the oil-rich former Soviet republic .
Kazakhstan 's national currency , the tenge , plunged to all-time lows in recent days following the abrupt fall in oil prices and chaos in the world 's stock markets caused by the coronavirus outbreak .
Bulgaria ’ s parliament has voted unanimously to declare a monthlong national state of emergency to help stem the spread of the coronavirus in the southeastern European nation .
“ We are showing people that we are thinking about them at a difficult time , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the March 13 vote , which came as the Bulgarian Football Union suspended all soccer matches for one month .
The state of emergency allows the imposition of measures such as travel bans to and from countries with large coronavirus outbreaks and the closing of schools and universities .
Police will also be permitted to intervene when the imposed isolation of infected people is not observed .
Earlier this week , the Balkan country confirmed its first death of a patient who had the virus , while the number of confirmed cases jumped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Borisov said `` legal considerations '' should be put into place to set penalties for noncompliance by those ordered into quarantine , asserting that 14 people who were supposed to be under quarantine did not observe the procedures .
`` In some countries , the penalties are up to seven years in prison ... .
Let 's not get there , but a fine of 5,000 leva ( $ 2,857 ) should be considered , ” he told the Council of Ministers .
He also told the council that `` discos , bars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and hug -- should be closed immediately , '' but no decision regarding such establishments or restaurants was immediately taken .
Bulgaria has already limited indoor gatherings to 250 people , and the government has urged businesses to be flexible and allow employees to work remotely if possible .
A lawmaker in the Russian Duma and other deputies who had contact with him were ordered into self-quarantine on March 12 after it was discovered that he had been to France .
State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin had Liberal Democratic Party of Russia lawmaker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken away and Katasonov was told to isolate himself for 14 days .
“ Let the quarantine pass .
With regard to aides with whom he had contact -- there should be the same decisions , and , colleagues in the faction , be sympathetic .
Here is the row where our colleague was located , and the row in front and behind is under quarantine , `` Volodin said .
Russia on March 12 reported six new cases of coronavirus infection , including four in Moscow , one in Kaliningrad , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Russia has 34 registered cases .
No deaths related to COVID-19 have been recorded in the country .
The virus has infected 2,876 people in France , of whom 61 have died , making it the country 's worst health crisis in a century , French President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address to the nation the same day .
On March 5 , Russia started heightened prevention measures and everyone who has been to some of the hardest-hit countries with the coronavirus like China , South Korea , Iran , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Spain , have been told to self-isolate themselves for 14 days .
The World Health Organization ( WHO ) on March 11 deemed the new coronavirus a global pandemic and urged countries to take aggressive measures to prevent the outbreak from worsening .
Some 125,000 people have been infected worldwide and about 4,600 have died -- most of them in China but with numbers now rising elsewhere .
Some 68,000 have recovered from the virus , which is generally only fatal for elderly people and those with preexisting health problems .
With reporting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ UNIAN , Espreso.tv , TASS , dpa , and Hromadske


rferl--2020-03-14--Iran Coronavirus Death Toll Hits 611

Iran Coronavirus Death Toll Hits 611

Another 97 people in Iran infected with the coronavirus have died , pushing the death toll to 611 , state TV reported on March 14 .
Citing a Health Ministry official , the report said Iran , suffering the worst outbreak in the Middle East , has registered a total of 12,729 confirmed cases .
Critics fear the real number of cases , however , could be much higher amid questions over the government 's transparency with regard to the issue .
Clerical rulers have already closed schools and universities and suspended religious , cultural , and sports events across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On March 13 , a top Iranian military official said Iranian security forces have been ordered to clear the streets across the country within 24 hours as the country struggles to contain the virus .
Major General Mohammad Bagheri , the armed forces chief of staff , said in televised remarks : `` Our law enforcement and security committees , along with the Interior Ministry and provincial governors , will be clearing shops , streets and roads . ''
On March 12 , Tehran said it was seeking a $ 5-billion emergency loan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) to help finance the country ’ s efforts to fight the contagion .
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on March 12 to immediately lift sanctions over the country ’ s nuclear program .
He said they made it difficult to import medicine and medical equipment .
Based on reporting by AFP , AP , Reuters , and dpa

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


rferl--2020-03-14--Rockets Hit Coalition Base North Of Baghdad

A number of rockets have hit a military base housing U.S. and other coalition troops north of Baghdad , Western media reported .
The attack on Camp Taji on March 14 came just days after a similar attack there killed three military personnel , including one British and two American soldiers .
Iraqi security officials quoted by the AP news agency said a dozen rockets landed inside the base , with some striking the coalition quarters while others fell on a runway used by Iraqi forces .
It was not immediately clear if there had been any casualties in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March 11 attack on Camp Taji was the deadliest to target U.S. troops in Iraq since a late December rocket attack on an Iraqi base .
That attack killed a U.S. contractor and triggered a series of tit-for-tat attacks .
In retaliation , the United States launched a series of air strikes early on March 13 on militia bases across Iraq 's south , killing five Iraqi security personnel and a civilian .
The U.S. military said it had targeted sites used by the Iran-backed Kataib Hizbullah militia .
Iraqi President Barham Salih @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , warning that the country could slip into “ chaos ” and become a “ failed state.
” The Iraqi military said the “ aggression ” against its armed forces occurred in the areas of Jurf al-Sakher , Al-Musayib , Najaf , and Al-Iskandariya on the headquarters of the Iraqi Army .
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that U.S. President Donald Trump should “ reconsider the presence and behavior of his troops in the area '' instead of making “ dangerous actions and baseless accusations.
” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forces as `` swift , decisive and proportionate , '' and warned that anyone seeking to harm those forces could expect a “ strong response.
” With reporting by AP and AFP


rferl--2020-03-14--U.S. Regulator Charges Russian National With Defrauding Millions From American Investors

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. stock market watchdog has charged a Russian national with scamming American investors out of at least $ 26 million over the past five years by allegedly offering fake , high-yielding deposits .
The Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) said in a March 13 complaint that Denis Sotnikov , 36 , purchased Internet ads that directed people searching for certificates of deposit to websites spoofing legitimate financial firms .
The fake websites claimed the financial firms were members of the New York Stock Exchange or other legitimate organizations and were offering above-market deposits that were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ When investors called the phone number on the websites , an ‘ account executive ’ impersonating a real registered representative directed investors to wire funds to so-called ‘ clearing ’ partners .
These alleged clearing partners were entities used by Sotnikov to launder and misappropriate investor funds , ” the SEC said in its civil complaint .
When the investors sent the money to the fake financial firm accounts under his control , Sotnikov either wired it to other accounts in the United States , to his overseas accounts , or used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s expenses , the complaint said .
The SEC ’ s 43-page complaint lists many examples of the alleged fraud committed by Sotnikov , including the purchase of luxury jewelry and clothing just two days after an elderly couple wired $ 383,000 to one of the fake financial firm accounts .
The complaint said Sotnikov , who lives in Florida , began his scheme in November 2014 and his websites mimicked at least 24 real financial firms .
Many of the victims were older investors seeking to earn extra income with their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Florida is a hotbed of financial fraud targeting the elderly due to the number of retirees that settle in the southern state .
The SEC investigation into Sotnikov is ongoing and is being assisted by the FBI .

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. stock market watchdog has charged a Russian national with scamming American investors out of at least $26 million over the past five years by allegedly offering fake, high-yielding deposits.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said in a March 13 complaint that Denis Sotnikov, 36, purchased Internet ads that directed people searching for certificates of deposit to websites spoofing legitimate financial firms.
The fake websites claimed the financial firms were members of the New York Stock Exchange or other legitimate organizations and were offering above-market deposits that were federally insured, the complaint said.
“When investors called the phone number on the websites, an ‘account executive’ impersonating a real registered representative directed investors to wire funds to so-called ‘clearing’ partners. These alleged clearing partners were entities used by Sotnikov to launder and misappropriate investor funds,” the SEC said in its civil complaint.
When the investors sent the money to the fake financial firm accounts under his control, Sotnikov either wired it to other accounts in the United States, to his overseas accounts, or used it to pay his or his wife’s expenses, the complaint said.
The SEC’s 43-page complaint lists many examples of the alleged fraud committed by Sotnikov, including the purchase of luxury jewelry and clothing just two days after an elderly couple wired $383,000 to one of the fake financial firm accounts.
The complaint said Sotnikov, who lives in Florida, began his scheme in November 2014 and his websites mimicked at least 24 real financial firms. Many of the victims were older investors seeking to earn extra income with their retirement savings, the SEC said.
Florida is a hotbed of financial fraud targeting the elderly due to the number of retirees that settle in the southern state.
The SEC investigation into Sotnikov is ongoing and is being assisted by the FBI.


rferl--2020-03-14--Romanian Deputies Back New Orban Government

Lawmakers in Romania backed center-right Prime Minister Ludovic Orban 's government in a vote of confidence on March 14 to end a month of wrangling and allow officials to try and combat the global new coronavirus pandemic .
A sufficient number of opposition deputies had signaled their willingness to support an Orban government for President Klaus Iohannis on March 13 to ask the quarantined Orban to try to form a new cabinet .
`` It 's been 286 votes for the government out of 309 cast ballots and 23 MPs voted against it , '' a senior ruling party deputy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iohannis also said that a state of emergency would be declared , effective as of March 16 , giving the government more powers to close borders and impose traveling restrictions in an effort to curtail the spread of the coronavirus .
The government said the number of confirmed cases in the country has reached 109 , with seven new cases registered on the morning of March 14 .
Orban , who is the leader of the center-right National Liberal Party ( PNL ) , lost a confidence vote in his minority government in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just three months after replacing a leftist government beset by corruption scandals , and stayed on in a caretaker role .
Local elections are due in late spring or early summer , and parliamentary polls should be held later this year .
Iohannis had held talks with political parties by teleconference because Orban 's entire caretaker government has been self-isolated since a PNL lawmaker was confirmed to be infected with the potentially deadly new coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease .
Romanian media quoted sources as saying Orban tested negative for the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parliament earlier on March 13 that he would be quarantined in a state-owned villa and would communicate with the ministers , who are self-isolated at home , by phone and e-mail .
Based on reporting by Reuters , dpa , and RFE/RL 's Romanian Service

Lawmakers in Romania backed center-right Prime Minister Ludovic Orban's government in a vote of confidence on March 14 to end a month of wrangling and allow officials to try and combat the global new coronavirus pandemic.
A sufficient number of opposition deputies had signaled their willingness to support an Orban government for President Klaus Iohannis on March 13 to ask the quarantined Orban to try to form a new cabinet.
"It's been 286 votes for the government out of 309 cast ballots and 23 MPs voted against it," a senior ruling party deputy was quoted as having told Reuters.
Iohannis also said that a state of emergency would be declared, effective as of March 16, giving the government more powers to close borders and impose traveling restrictions in an effort to curtail the spread of the coronavirus.
The government said the number of confirmed cases in the country has reached 109, with seven new cases registered on the morning of March 14.
Orban, who is the leader of the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL), lost a confidence vote in his minority government in early February.
He had ruled for just three months after replacing a leftist government beset by corruption scandals, and stayed on in a caretaker role.
Local elections are due in late spring or early summer, and parliamentary polls should be held later this year.
Iohannis had held talks with political parties by teleconference because Orban's entire caretaker government has been self-isolated since a PNL lawmaker was confirmed to be infected with the potentially deadly new coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease.
Romanian media quoted sources as saying Orban tested negative for the virus.
Orban told a news conference at parliament earlier on March 13 that he would be quarantined in a state-owned villa and would communicate with the ministers, who are self-isolated at home, by phone and e-mail.
Based on reporting by Reuters, dpa, and RFE/RL's Romanian Service


rferl--2020-03-14--Dozens Arrested In Moscow Pickets Against 'Political Repression'

Dozens of people holding single-person pickets near the Moscow headquarters of Russia ’ s Federal Security Service ( FSB ) have been detained by Moscow police , including a prominent human rights activist .
Mostly young protesters turned up on March 14 in the Russian capital to protest what they say is political repression in the country .
Some unfurled signs calling the security service the `` Federal Service of Lawlessness '' while others shouted `` Shame ! ''
The OVD Info website , which tracks detentions at political protests , listed more than 40 people as having been detained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hurt in the altercations .
Veteran human rights campaigner Lev Ponomaryov was among those detained in the sweep by police , who said the action was not authorized .
According to the AFP news agency , the 78-year-old Ponomaryov had argued with police that pickets do n't require authorization , before being led to a police bus .
The action was organized by supporters of men convicted this year on terrorism charges , many of whom said in court they had been tortured by the FSB .
A court in the Penza region @ @ @ @ @ @ @ six and 18 years to seven young men who were accused of creating a terrorist organization known as Set ( Network ) .
Russian investigators said the group planned to organize a series of explosions in Russia during the presidential election and the World Cup soccer tournament in 2018 `` to destabilize the situation '' in the country and to organize an armed mutiny .
They all denied the charges in court , and most said they had been tortured in custody with electrodes and beatings to extract confessions since their arrests in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the case are still on trial in St. Petersburg

Dozens of people holding single-person pickets near the Moscow headquarters of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) have been detained by Moscow police, including a prominent human rights activist.
Mostly young protesters turned up on March 14 in the Russian capital to protest what they say is political repression in the country.
Some unfurled signs calling the security service the "Federal Service of Lawlessness" while others shouted "Shame!"
The OVD Info website, which tracks detentions at political protests, listed more than 40 people as having been detained by police, adding that some were hurt in the altercations.
Veteran human rights campaigner Lev Ponomaryov was among those detained in the sweep by police, who said the action was not authorized.
According to the AFP news agency, the 78-year-old Ponomaryov had argued with police that pickets don't require authorization, before being led to a police bus.
The action was organized by supporters of men convicted this year on terrorism charges, many of whom said in court they had been tortured by the FSB.
A court in the Penza region last month handed down terms of between six and 18 years to seven young men who were accused of creating a terrorist organization known as Set (Network).
Russian investigators said the group planned to organize a series of explosions in Russia during the presidential election and the World Cup soccer tournament in 2018 "to destabilize the situation" in the country and to organize an armed mutiny.
They all denied the charges in court, and most said they had been tortured in custody with electrodes and beatings to extract confessions since their arrests in 2017 and 2018.
Two other defendants in the case are still on trial in St. Petersburg
With reporting by AFP


rferl--2020-03-14--Putin Formally Signs Off On Constitutional Changes That Allow Him To Extend Power

Russia 's Constitutional Court convened for an urgent session on March 14 to launch a review of constitutional amendments that , among other changes , would allow Vladimir Putin to run again for president in 2024 .
The court session follows the 67-year-old Putin 's signing of the package of amendments earlier in the day and is expected to yield a decision within a week .
News of the signing , via a state website , came a day after it was reported that all of Russia ’ s regional parliaments had voted in favor of the measures .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a nationwide vote in April .
In January , Putin announced a major shake-up of Russian politics and a constitutional overhaul , which the Kremlin described as a redistribution of power from the presidency to parliament .
But earlier this week , Putin , who is in his fourth presidential term and has been president or prime minister of Russia for two decades , appeared in the State Duma to back a new amendment that would allow him to ignore a current constitutional ban on him running again in four years ' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from running for a third consecutive mandate , but that changes with the provisions of the amendments , meaning he can seek a fifth overall presidential term in 2024 , and conceivably a sixth in 2030 .
The Kremlin notes that Putin has not said whether or not he will run again in 2024 .
Other constitutional changes further strengthen the presidency and emphasize the priority of Russian law over international norms -- a provision reflecting the Kremlin 's irritation with the European Court of Human Rights and other international bodies that have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changes also outlaw same-sex marriage and mention “ a belief in God ” as one of Russia 's traditional values .
Both houses of the national parliament have already backed the changes as has every single regional parliament .
“ The Federation Council [ the upper house of parliament ] has received the results of voting in all 85 regional parliaments , ” said Andrei Klishas , chairman of the council 's committee on constitutional law .
“ They are all positive , ” RIA cited him as saying on March 13 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ includes two which are part of Russian-controlled Crimea , which Moscow forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014 .
Vyacheslav Volodin , the speaker of the State Duma , Russia ’ s lower house of parliament , urged its members on March 12 to rally behind Putin against what he said was a foreign campaign to discredit the constitutional reforms .
With reporting by RFE/RL ’ s Russian Service , Current Time , Meduza.io , and Interfax

Russia's Constitutional Court convened for an urgent session on March 14 to launch a review of constitutional amendments that, among other changes, would allow Vladimir Putin to run again for president in 2024.
The court session follows the 67-year-old Putin's signing of the package of amendments earlier in the day and is expected to yield a decision within a week.
News of the signing, via a state website, came a day after it was reported that all of Russia’s regional parliaments had voted in favor of the measures.
The constitutional changes are due to be put to a nationwide vote in April.
In January, Putin announced a major shake-up of Russian politics and a constitutional overhaul, which the Kremlin described as a redistribution of power from the presidency to parliament.
But earlier this week, Putin, who is in his fourth presidential term and has been president or prime minister of Russia for two decades, appeared in the State Duma to back a new amendment that would allow him to ignore a current constitutional ban on him running again in four years' time.
The previous rules forbade him from running for a third consecutive mandate, but that changes with the provisions of the amendments, meaning he can seek a fifth overall presidential term in 2024, and conceivably a sixth in 2030.
The Kremlin notes that Putin has not said whether or not he will run again in 2024.
Other constitutional changes further strengthen the presidency and emphasize the priority of Russian law over international norms -- a provision reflecting the Kremlin's irritation with the European Court of Human Rights and other international bodies that have often issued verdicts against Russia.
The changes also outlaw same-sex marriage and mention “a belief in God” as one of Russia's traditional values.
Both houses of the national parliament have already backed the changes as has every single regional parliament.
“The Federation Council [the upper house of parliament] has received the results of voting in all 85 regional parliaments,” said Andrei Klishas, chairman of the council's committee on constitutional law. “They are all positive,” RIA cited him as saying on March 13.
The list of 85 regions he referenced includes two which are part of Russian-controlled Crimea, which Moscow forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, urged its members on March 12 to rally behind Putin against what he said was a foreign campaign to discredit the constitutional reforms.
With reporting by RFE/RL’s Russian Service, Current Time, Meduza.io, and Interfax


rferl--2020-03-14--COVID-19: Iran Death Toll Rises; More New Cases In Kazakhstan As Central Asia Remains Sparsely Hit

Another 97 people in Iran infected with the coronavirus have died , pushing the death toll to 611 , state TV reported on March 14 .
Citing a Health Ministry official , the report said Iran , suffering the worst outbreak in the Middle East , has registered a total of 12,729 confirmed cases .
Critics fear the real number of cases , however , could be much higher amid questions over the government 's transparency with regard to the issue .
Clerical rulers have already closed schools and universities and suspended religious , cultural , and sports events across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On March 13 , a top Iranian military official said Iranian security forces have been ordered to clear the streets across the country within 24 hours as the country struggles to contain the virus .
Major General Mohammad Bagheri , the armed forces chief of staff , said in televised remarks : `` Our law enforcement and security committees , along with the Interior Ministry and provincial governors , will be clearing shops , streets and roads . ''
On March 12 , Tehran said it was seeking a $ 5-billion emergency loan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) to help finance the country ’ s efforts to fight the contagion .
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on March 12 to immediately lift sanctions over the country ’ s nuclear program .
He said they made it difficult to import medicine and medical equipment .
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kazakhstan has risen to six after two new infections were discovered after those affected arrived from abroad , the Health Ministry said on March 14 .
One of the infected patients @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Almaty , from Moscow , officials said .
The other , a woman , flew to the capital , Nur-Sultan , from Warsaw , Poland .
Kazakhstan is the only one of the five post-Soviet Central Asian republics to have officially registered any cases of the novela coronavirus at the center of the global pandemic .
It was thought to have been coronavirus-free until four infections were confirmed on March 13 .
Four of Kazakhstan 's six COVID-19 patients are being treated in Almaty and the other two in Nur-Sultan , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the cancellation of Norouz holiday celebrations and a military parade devoted to the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany .
Officials there say more than 1,000 people are currently in quarantine and nearly 500 others are in self-quarantine at home .
Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Uzbekistan , Tajikistan , and Turkmenistan moved quickly to severely restrict travelers from nearby China after the outbreak of the novela coronavirus began late last year .
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his wife , Anna Hakobian , tested negative for the novel coronavirus on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ self-isolation in the town of Sevan , he told a livestream broadcast .
He said they decided to be tested for the potentially deadly virus at the centeer of the global pandemic after local media cited Hakobian ’ s contacts with the wife of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a visit to that Latin American country on March 7 .
The Brazilian leader has since said he tested negative for the virus after it was discovered that an aide and another senior government official were infected .
Turkey and Azerbaijan have agreed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ travel between their countries as they fight the coronavirus pandemic , their presidential offices announced on March 14 .
The closure comes into effect after midnight overnight on March 14-15 and excludes cargo transit , according to the Turkish side .
The announcement came after a telephone call between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan .
The Turkish-Azerbaijani border is just 18 kilometers long with a single border crossing , at the Umut Bridge .
Azerbaijan , which also shares a border with hard-hit Iran , registered its first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has confirmed a total of 19 infections so far .
Azerbaijani authorities closed their border with Iran two weeks ago in a measure slated to last at least two more weeks .
The prime ministers of Georgia , Armenia , and Azerbaijan agreed on March 13 to shutter their borders from March 14 for 10 days in connection with the threat from the virus .
The number of confirmed cases in Turkey rose to five on March 13 , Turkey has recently banned entry for foreigners from nine European countries on top of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Iraq , Italy , and South Korea .
Meanwhile , countries across the globe have continued to take steps to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus as some tallies put the number of worldwide infections above 150,000 on March 14 while China , where the pandemic started , has reported a drop in new cases .
As Europe faces the consequences of becoming the epicenter of the global pandemic , many governments there have further tightened their borders and grappled with the imposition of measures to limit crowds and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spread the new coronavirus .
In Russia , officials said they were shutting their borders with Poland and Norway to foreigners as an official task force cited a spike in infections from 45 to 59 in the previous 24 hours .
The global number of coronavirus cases has surpassed 142,649 in 135 countries , areas , or regions , according to the World Health Organization ( WHO ) on March 14 , with 5,393 deaths so far .
But the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center , which combines WHO figures and local media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ higher at 153,585 , with 5,789 deaths .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Kazakh Service , RFE/RL 's Armenian Service , RFE/RL 's Azerbaijani Service , AFP , AP , Reuters , dpa , and TASS


rferl--2020-03-15--Syrian Civil War Enters 10th Year As Russia, Turkey Struggle To Maintain Truce

Syria 's bloody civil war enters its 10th year with the government of President Bashar al-Assad appearing to be consolidating his hold on power , backed by crucial military and political support from Russia and Iran .
The conflict began when Syrians took to the streets on March 15 , 2011 , to protest against Assad ’ s government , which then launched a brutal crackdown that has led to a conflict that has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions .
Geir Pedersen , the UN special envoy for Syria , said on the eve of the anniversary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people during this tragic and terrible decade still defies comprehension and belief . ''
UN chief Antonio Guterres wrote on Twitter this week that “ a decade of fighting has brought nothing but ruin and misery.
” The conflict at times has resembled a proxy war among world powers , with Moscow and Tehran backing Assad while the United States and Turkey have supported differing rebel groups .
The Islamic State ( IS ) militant group also entered the fray and were opposed by all other sides .
They have been driven from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extremists continue to hold out in Idlib Province in the northwest of the country .
`` Nine years of revolution illustrate the extent of the suffering we have known , between exile , bombings and deaths , '' Hala Ibrahim , a rights activist who lives in Idlib Province , told AFP news agency .
`` I left my university , my house , which was bombed .
We 've lost everything , '' the woman in her 30s said .
Syrian forces , backed by Russian warplanes , have heavily bombarded in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but they have also killed an estimated 500 civilians -- along with dozens of Turkish forces , who are attempting to create a buffer zone in the border region , raising the possibility of an armed conflict between Damascus and Ankara .
The United Nations says that a million people have been forced to flee , creating a humanitarian disaster and threatening to ignite a new migrant crisis in Europe .
A cease-fire came into effect this month in the northwest , with Turkish and Russian forces set to carry out joint @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the truce are often reported .
Russian state-run TASS news agency reported that the first joint Russian-Turkish patrol of the M-4 Highway connecting Al-Hasakah and Aleppo in northern Syria will take place on March 15 .
The UN has brokered talks among warring parties , while Russia , Turkey , and Iran have held simultaneous negotiations -- often in Kazakhstan -- but a wide-ranging solution remains difficult to find .
The so-called `` Astana format '' talks have been held in the Kazakh capital since 2015 .
A new round was scheduled for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tileuberdi said it is unlikely take place planned .
`` [ The suggestion to hold the talks in March ] was made in December , but now the situation has changed ...
It is very likely that the talks will not be held [ in March ] , '' Tileuberdi told reporters on March 10 , without giving any other details .
With reporting by AFP , dpa , and TASS

Syria's bloody civil war enters its 10th year with the government of President Bashar al-Assad appearing to be consolidating his hold on power, backed by crucial military and political support from Russia and Iran.
The conflict began when Syrians took to the streets on March 15, 2011, to protest against Assad’s government, which then launched a brutal crackdown that has led to a conflict that has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions.
Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, said on the eve of the anniversary: "The suffering of the Syrian people during this tragic and terrible decade still defies comprehension and belief."
UN chief Antonio Guterres wrote on Twitter this week that “a decade of fighting has brought nothing but ruin and misery.”
The conflict at times has resembled a proxy war among world powers, with Moscow and Tehran backing Assad while the United States and Turkey have supported differing rebel groups.
The Islamic State (IS) militant group also entered the fray and were opposed by all other sides. They have been driven from most of their strongholds, although some extremists continue to hold out in Idlib Province in the northwest of the country.
"Nine years of revolution illustrates the extent of the suffering we have known, between exile, bombings, and deaths," Hala Ibrahim, a rights activist who lives in Idlib Province, told AFP news agency.
"I left my university, my house, which was bombed. We've lost everything," the woman in her 30s said.
Syrian forces, backed by Russian warplanes, have heavily bombarded in the province, targeting the remaining rebels, but they have also killed an estimated 500 civilians -- along with dozens of Turkish forces, who are attempting to create a buffer zone in the border region, raising the possibility of an armed conflict between Damascus and Ankara.
The United Nations says that a million people have been forced to flee, creating a humanitarian disaster and threatening to ignite a new migrant crisis in Europe.
A cease-fire came into effect this month in the northwest, with Turkish and Russian forces set to carry out joint patrols in Idlib, but violations of the truce are often reported.
Russian state-run TASS news agency reported that the first joint Russian-Turkish patrol of the M-4 Highway connecting Al-Hasakah and Aleppo in northern Syria will take place on March 15.
The UN has brokered talks among warring parties, while Russia, Turkey, and Iran have held simultaneous negotiations -- often in Kazakhstan -- but a wide-ranging solution remains difficult to find.
The so-called "Astana format" talks have been held in the Kazakh capital since 2015. A new round was scheduled for March, but Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi said it is unlikely they will take place as planned.
"[The suggestion to hold the talks in March] was made in December, but now the situation has changed.... It is very likely that the talks will not be held [in March]," Tileuberdi told reporters on March 10, without giving any other details.
With reporting by AFP, dpa, and TASS


rferl--2020-03-15--COVID-19: First Uzbek Coronavirus Case Recorded As Kazakhstan Declares State Of Emergency

Uzbekistan early on March 15 reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 , with the government saying the infected person was an Uzbek citizen returning from France .
The same day , neighboring Kazakhstan declared a state of emergency after authorities announced that two new cases had been recorded , pushing the total number there to eight .
Kazakhstan was thought to have been coronavirus-free until four infections were confirmed on March 13 .
The state of emergency announced by presidential decree imposes a nationwide quarantine and will restrict both entry to and departure from the country to all except @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Kazakhstan had already announced the cancelation of Norouz holiday celebrations and a military parade devoted to the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany .
Officials there say more than 1,000 people are currently in quarantine and nearly 500 others are in self-quarantine at home .
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are the only Central Asian republics to have officially registered any cases of the new coronavirus at the center of a global pandemic .
Meanwhile , in Iran , as the number of fatalities attributed to COVID-19 topped 600 , the official @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the country 's health facilities could soon be overwhelmed .
“ If the trend continues , there will not be enough capacity , ” the state-run IRNA news agency quoted Ali Reza Zali as saying on March 15 .
The day earlier , 97 people infected with COVID-19 died in Iran , pushing the total number of fatalities to 611 .
The country has reported that nearly 13,000 people are infected , behind only China and Italy .
Iran reportedly has around 110,000 hospital beds , including 30,000 in Tehran , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clinics .
Critics fear the real number of COVID-19 infections could be much higher as questions swirl over the government 's transparency with regard to the issue .
Zali said that many of those who died were otherwise healthy , while Iran 's Health Ministry published statistics showing that 55 percent of those who died were in their 60s , but 15 percent were younger than 40 .
Clerical rulers in Iran have closed schools and universities and suspended religious , cultural , and sports events across the country to combat the outbreak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 5-billion emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) to help finance the effort .
Countries around the world continued to introduce new measures in an effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic as the number of infections topped 156,000 globally , according to one estimate , with more than 5,800 deaths .
Across Europe , which was recently identified by the World Health Organization as the epicenter of the pandemic that emerged in China in December 2019 , many states were restricting limits on day-to-day movements and international travel in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus .
Despite taking similar measures , France was preparing to go forward with local elections on March 15 , arguing that the vote was essential to democratic continuity .
In the United States , a travel ban on flights from 26 European states that has caused chaos at airports was being extended to include the United Kingdom and Ireland .
U.S. President Donald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus , the White House physician has said .
`` This evening , I received confirmation that the test is negative , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ physician said in a statement on March 14 .
`` One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago , the president remains symptom-free , '' he said , referring to Trump ’ s Florida resort .
In China , authorities continued to record lower numbers of domestic infections , but were imposing new checks on international travelers after 16 new imported cases were reported on March 14 .
Italy , the hardest-hit country in Europe with more than 1,400 fatalities , recorded 175 deaths from March 13-14 .
Britain , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reportedly preparing to ban large gatherings .
The pandemic has roiled world financial markets and prompted many governments to pledge spending packages to try to limit economic effects .
With reporting by AP , AFP and Reuters

Uzbekistan early on March 15 reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19, with the government saying the infected person was an Uzbek citizen returning from France.
The same day, neighboring Kazakhstan declared a state of emergency as authorities announced that three new cases had been recorded, pushing the total number there to nine.
Kazakhstan was thought to have been coronavirus-free until four infections were confirmed on March 13. The state of emergency announced by presidential decree imposes a nationwide quarantine and will restrict both entry to and departure from the country to all except diplomats and individuals invited by the government.
Kazakhstan had already announced the cancelation of Norouz holiday celebrations and a military parade devoted to the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany.
Officials there previously said more than 1,000 people were in quarantine and nearly 500 others in self-quarantine at home.
Uzbekistan announced similar sweeping measures on March 15, barring entry for all foreigners and departures by locals.
The Uzbek government also closed schools and universities for three weeks, canceled all public events, and suspended international air and highway connections beginning March 16.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are the only Central Asian republics to have officially registered any cases of the new coronavirus at the center of a global pandemic.
Iranian Deaths Top 700
Meanwhile, in Iran, as the number of fatalities attributed to COVID-19 topped 700, the official handling the response to the pandemic warned that the country's health facilities could soon be overwhelmed.
“If the trend continues, there will not be enough capacity,” the state-run IRNA news agency quoted Ali Reza Zali as saying on March 15.
The country has reported that nearly 14,000 people are infected, behind only China and Italy.
Iran reportedly has around 110,000 hospital beds, including 30,000 in Tehran, and has said it will set up mobile clinics. Critics fear the real number of COVID-19 infections could be much higher as questions swirl over the government's transparency with regard to the issue.
Interactive: The Symptoms Of COVID-19
Zali said that many of those who died were otherwise healthy, while Iran's Health Ministry published statistics showing that 55 percent of those who died were in their 60s, but 15 percent were younger than 40.
Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference that people "should cancel all travel and stay at home so that we may see the situation improving in the coming days."
Clerical rulers in Iran have closed schools and universities and suspended religious, cultural, and sports events across the country to combat the outbreak, and the country has sought a $5-billion emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help finance the effort.
Trump Negative For Coronavirus
Countries around the world continued to introduce new measures in an effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center, which combines WHO figures and local media reports, put the precise number of COVID-19 infections around the world at 162,627 as of March 15, with 6,065 deaths. It shows 75,620 patients have recovered after testing positive for the virus.
A Reuters tally put the numbers at 162,365 people infected and 6,070 dead. It put the number of those recovered at 75,871.
Across Europe, which was recently identified by the World Health Organization as the epicenter of the pandemic that emerged in China in December 2019, many states were restricting limits on day-to-day movements and international travel in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
Despite taking similar measures, France was going forward with local elections on March 15, arguing that the vote was essential to democratic continuity.
In the United States, a travel ban on flights from 26 European states that has caused chaos at airports was being extended to include the United Kingdom and Ireland.
U.S. President Donald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, the White House physician has said.
"This evening, I received confirmation that the test is negative," Sean Conley, the president's physician said in a statement on March 14.
"One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago, the president remains symptom-free," he said, referring to Trump’s Florida resort.
In China, authorities continued to record lower numbers of domestic infections, but were imposing new checks on international travelers after 16 new imported cases were reported on March 14.
In Russia, four new cases of COVID-19 infection were announced on March 15, bringing the total there to 63.
Rail service between Russia and Ukraine, Moldova, and Latvia will be suspended as of March 17, according to a subsidiary of Russian Railways.
Armenia shut down the city of Vagharshapat, west of the capital, Yerevan, in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on March 15.
Eighteen coronavirus cases out of 28 registered in Armenia were reported from Vagharshapat, also known as Echmiadzin. The city has a population of 46,000 people.
Pashinian said the local residents will be able to leave the city only after having their body temperature taken.
Italy, the hardest-hit country in Europe with more than 1,800 fatalities, recorded 368 new deaths on March 15, the country’s civil-protection authority said.
The Vatican announced that Pope Francis will not lead any public Easter celebrations.
Britain, which had resisted major restrictions, was reportedly preparing to ban large gatherings.
The pandemic has roiled world financial markets and prompted many governments to pledge spending packages to try to limit economic effects.
With reporting by AP, AFP and Reuters


rferl--2020-03-15--Pakistani President To Visit China Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Pakistani President Arif Alvi is paying an official visit to China on March 16-17 to hold meetings with his Chinese @ @ @ @ @ top officials , Alvi ’ s office said in a statement on March 15 .
@ @ @ @ @ aims at “ further solidifying historic bonds '' between the two countries and described China @ @ @ @ @ closest friends and staunch partners.
” It also pointed out that the visit comes as @ @ @ @ @ efforts to contain ” the spread of the new coronavirus , which has affected 157 @ @ @ @ @ was first recorded in Wuhan , a city in central China .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ visit to China , a strategic partner and major investor to Pakistan ’ s economy @ @ @ @ @ of millions of dollars in investment under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor ( CPEC ) project @ @ @ @ @ and Road infrastructure initiative .

Pakistani President Arif Alvi is paying an official visit to China on March 16-17 to hold meetings with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and other top officials, Alvi’s office said in a statement on March 15.
The statement said the visit aims at “further solidifying historic bonds" between the two countries and described China and Pakistan as “the closest friends and staunch partners.”
It also pointed out that the visit comes as China is “engaged in efforts to contain” the spread of the new coronavirus, which has affected 157 countries and territories since it was first recorded in Wuhan, a city in central China.
It’s Alvi’s first official visit to China, a strategic partner and major investor to Pakistan’s economy.
Beijing has pledged tens of millions of dollars in investment under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, part of its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.


rferl--2020-03-15--Afghan Government Postpones Plan To Release Taliban Prisoners

Afghan authorities say they have delayed the release of 1,500 Taliban prisoners , throwing a precarious peace process into deeper crisis .
Jawed Faisal , a spokesman for the Afghan National-Security Adviser 's office , said on March 14 that the government needed more time to review the list of the prisoners .
`` We have received the lists of the prisoners to be released .
We are checking and verifying the lists , this will take time , '' Faisal said .
He also said the authorities “ want guarantees that they will not return to fighting.
” There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group to the delayed prisoner release .
The announcement came despite President Ashraf Ghani ’ s decree on March 11 promising the start of the releases on March 14 as a “ goodwill gesture ” to get intra-Afghan talks started .
The Taliban promised to begin talks with the Afghan government as part of a deal reached with the United States last month .
The U.S.-Taliban deal called for the release of up to 5,000 Taliban as well as 1,000 Afghan government captives ahead of intra-Afghan talks .
Ghani 's decree promised the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on March 14 until 1,500 prisoners were released .
The government would then free the remaining 3,500 after intra-Afghan talks began and the militants reduced violence .
The Taliban said the group was committed to the U.S.-Taliban deal , but would not start negotiations with the Afghan government until 5,000 Taliban prisoners were freed .
Based on reporting by AP , AFP , and Reuters

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--2020-03-15--Russia, Turkey Carry Out First Joint Patrol In Syria

Russia and Turkey carried out their first joint patrol along an east-west highway in northwest Syria on March 15 , @ @ @ @ @ cut short due to militant activity .
The patrols along the M4 highway in Idlib @ @ @ @ @ keeping with a March 5 cease-fire accord between Russia and Syria , which back opposing @ @ @ @ @ .
Under the deal a security corridor is to be established along either side of @ @ @ @ @ Ministry said that the patrol was cut short due to militant activity , and said @ @ @ @ @ would be given additional time `` to take measures aimed at eliminating terrorist groups and @ @ @ @ @ participating in joint patrols along the M4 highway . ''
The Turkish Defense Ministry released @ @ @ @ @ military vehicles traveling along the highway , and said the two sides `` took necessary @ @ @ @ @ of preventing potential provocations and harm to the civilian population in the region .

Russia and Turkey carried out their first joint patrol along an east-west highway in northwest Syria on March 15, although the route was reportedly cut short due to militant activity.
The patrols along the M4 highway in Idlib Province are being conducted in keeping with a March 5 cease-fire accord between Russia and Turkey, which back opposing sides in the Syrian conflict.
Under the deal a security corridor is to be established along either side of highway.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the patrol was cut short due to militant activity, and said in a statement that Turkey would be given additional time "to take measures aimed at eliminating terrorist groups and ensuring the security of troops participating in joint patrols along the M4 highway."
The Turkish Defense Ministry released images showing Russian and Turkish military vehicles traveling along the highway, and said the two sides "took necessary measures, with the aim of preventing potential provocations and harm to the civilian population in the region.
Based on reports by Reuters, TASS


rferl--2020-03-15--COVID-19: First Uzbek Case Recorded As Kazakhstan Declares State Of Emergency

Uzbekistan early on March 15 reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 , with the government saying the infected person was an Uzbek citizen returning from France .
The same day , neighboring Kazakhstan declared a state of emergency as authorities announced that three new cases had been recorded , pushing the total number there to nine .
Kazakhstan was thought to have been coronavirus-free until four infections were confirmed on March 13 .
The state of emergency announced by presidential decree imposes a nationwide quarantine and will restrict both entry to and departure from the country to all except @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Kazakhstan had already announced the cancelation of Norouz holiday celebrations and a military parade devoted to the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany .
Officials there previously said more than 1,000 people were in quarantine and nearly 500 others in self-quarantine at home .
Uzbekistan announced similar sweeping measures on March 15 , barring entry for all foreigners and departures by locals .
The Uzbek government also closed schools and universities for three weeks , canceled all public events , and suspended international air and highway connections beginning March 16 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Central Asian republics to have officially registered any cases of the new coronavirus at the center of a global pandemic .
Meanwhile , in Iran , as the number of fatalities attributed to COVID-19 topped 700 , the official handling the response to the pandemic warned that the country 's health facilities could soon be overwhelmed .
“ If the trend continues , there will not be enough capacity , ” the state-run IRNA news agency quoted Ali Reza Zali as saying on March 15 .
The country has reported that nearly 14,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Italy .
Iran reportedly has around 110,000 hospital beds , including 30,000 in Tehran , and has said it will set up mobile clinics .
Critics fear the real number of COVID-19 infections could be much higher as questions swirl over the government 's transparency with regard to the issue .
Zali said that many of those who died were otherwise healthy , while Iran 's Health Ministry published statistics showing that 55 percent of those who died were in their 60s , but 15 percent were younger than 40 .
Iranian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a televised news conference that people `` should cancel all travel and stay at home so that we may see the situation improving in the coming days . ''
Clerical rulers in Iran have closed schools and universities and suspended religious , cultural , and sports events across the country to combat the outbreak , and the country has sought a $ 5-billion emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) to help finance the effort .
Countries around the world continued to introduce new measures in an effort to contain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Coronavirus Research Center , which combines WHO figures and local media reports , put the precise number of COVID-19 infections around the world at 162,627 as of March 15 , with 6,065 deaths .
It shows 75,620 patients have recovered after testing positive for the virus .
A Reuters tally put the numbers at 162,365 people infected and 6,070 dead .
It put the number of those recovered at 75,871 .
Across Europe , which was recently identified by the World Health Organization as the epicenter of the pandemic that emerged in China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restricting limits on day-to-day movements and international travel in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus .
Despite taking similar measures , France was going forward with local elections on March 15 , arguing that the vote was essential to democratic continuity .
In the United States , a travel ban on flights from 26 European states that has caused chaos at airports was being extended to include the United Kingdom and Ireland .
U.S. President Donald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus , the White House physician has said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confirmation that the test is negative , '' Sean Conley , the president 's physician said in a statement on March 14 .
`` One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago , the president remains symptom-free , '' he said , referring to Trump ’ s Florida resort .
In China , authorities continued to record lower numbers of domestic infections , but were imposing new checks on international travelers after 16 new imported cases were reported on March 14 .
In Russia , four new cases of COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bringing the total there to 63 .
Rail service between Russia and Ukraine , Moldova , and Latvia will be suspended as of March 17 , according to a subsidiary of Russian Railways .
Armenia shut down the city of Vagharshapat , west of the capital , Yerevan , in a bid to curb the spread of the virus , Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on March 15 .
Eighteen coronavirus cases out of 28 registered in Armenia were reported from Vagharshapat , also known as Echmiadzin .
The city has a population @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local residents will be able to leave the city only after having their body temperature taken .
Italy , the hardest-hit country in Europe with more than 1,800 fatalities , recorded 368 new deaths on March 15 , the country ’ s civil-protection authority said .
The Vatican announced that Pope Francis will not lead any public Easter celebrations .
Britain , which had resisted major restrictions , was reportedly preparing to ban large gatherings .
The pandemic has roiled world financial markets and prompted many governments to pledge spending packages to try @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by AP , AFP and Reuters