rferl--2020-04-01--Kosovo Lifts 100 Percent Tariff On Serbia; Belgrade Calls It 'Fake News'

PRISTINA -- Kosovo says it is lifting a 100 percent tariff on goods from neighboring Serbia , but Belgrade called it `` fake news '' and claims Pristina has actually increased punitive measures .
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti told a news conference on March 31 that , starting on April 1 , all goods imported from Serbia will need only documentation that `` must comply with the constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and the applicable legislation . ''
He said the documentation matches Belgrade ’ s requirements for Kosovar goods going to Serbia .
That could , however @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kosovo '' on the documents , which would represent a de facto recognition of Kosovo 's independence by Serbia .
Kurti also demanded `` reciprocity '' in all matters dealing with Serbia .
“ We want equality because we feel discriminated against , ” he said , while threatening to reinstate the import fees depending on Serbia 's actions .
The imposition of the 100 percent tariff on Serbia stems from Pristina 's demand that Belgrade recognize its sovereignty and end its diplomatic campaign to encourage some of the 110-plus countries that have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Serbia in 2008 to reverse their position .
The tariff , imposed in November 2018 , has been divisive internally , leading to the collapse of Kurti ’ s government , and has angered Kosovo ’ s backers in the West , especially close allies the United States and the European Union .
Since taking power , Kurti has resisted removing the tariff and instead has suggested a partial lifting -- something rejected by Kosovar President Hashim Thaci , a rival of Kurti 's .
In his March 31 news conference , Kurti @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such as the banning of vehicles with Kosovar license plates and the blocking of foreign travelers coming from Kosovo , or face the return of the 100 percent tariff .
“ This decision shall remain in force until June 15 , and after that we will make a comprehensive assessment of how well this decision has progressed in terms of implementation , ” Kurti said .
“ Periodically , but at least once a month , this decision will be reviewed by collecting data from our customs officials in terms of how reciprocity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accept the move of its bitter rival and former province .
`` Kurti did not abolish fees .
Do n't get caught up in fake news , '' government spokesman Marko Djuric said .
The actions announced by Kurti , he said , was only a suspension of taxes and was conditional , `` while introducing new punitive measures for our citizens and the economy , which he calls reciprocity . ''
`` This does not de-escalate the situation and does not return to the situation before the introduction '' of the taxes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continues to play with this issue and ... this decision is a play intended for the international community . ''
The U.S. government has opposed a partial or conditional lifting of the tariff and has demanded it be dropped entirely .
In a statement last week , it linked the battle against the coronavirus with the tariffs .
“ We believe the tariffs are harming the people of Kosovo by hindering regional cooperation against COVID-19 -- including by delaying the entry into Kosovo of needed supplies -- and hindering economic growth , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said that similar import fees will be lifted on goods from Bosnia-Herzegovina and that “ there will be a complete removal of tariffs ” from that neighboring country .
“ We do not want to treat Bosnia-Herzegovina in the same manner as we do Serbia , '' Kurti said , although he called on the Bosnian leadership to lift the visa regime for Kosovar citizens .
He added that Bosnia had also been a `` victim '' of Serbia .

PRISTINA -- Kosovo says it is lifting a 100 percent tariff on goods from neighboring Serbia, but Belgrade called it "fake news" and claims Pristina has actually increased punitive measures.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti told a news conference on March 31 that, starting on April 1, all goods imported from Serbia will need only documentation that "must comply with the constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and the applicable legislation."
He said the documentation matches Belgrade’s requirements for Kosovar goods going to Serbia. That could, however, require the words "Republic of Kosovo" on the documents, which would represent a de facto recognition of Kosovo's independence by Serbia.
Kurti also demanded "reciprocity" in all matters dealing with Serbia.
“We want equality because we feel discriminated against,” he said, while threatening to reinstate the import fees depending on Serbia's actions.
The imposition of the 100 percent tariff on Serbia stems from Pristina's demand that Belgrade recognize its sovereignty and end its diplomatic campaign to encourage some of the 110-plus countries that have recognized Kosovo since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008 to reverse their position.
The tariff, imposed in November 2018, has been divisive internally, leading to the collapse of Kurti’s government, and has angered Kosovo’s backers in the West, especially close allies the United States and the European Union.
Since taking power, Kurti has resisted removing the tariff and instead has suggested a partial lifting -- something rejected by Kosovar President Hashim Thaci, a rival of Kurti's.
In his March 31 news conference, Kurti said Serbia should lift all barriers, such as the banning of vehicles with Kosovar license plates and the blocking of foreign travelers coming from Kosovo, or face the return of the 100 percent tariff.
“This decision shall remain in force until June 15, and after that we will make a comprehensive assessment of how well this decision has progressed in terms of implementation,” Kurti said.
“Periodically, but at least once a month, this decision will be reviewed by collecting data from our customs officials in terms of how reciprocity is functioning.”
But Serbia did not accept the move of its bitter rival and former province.
"Kurti did not abolish fees. Don't get caught up in fake news," government spokesman Marko Djuric said.
The actions announced by Kurti, he said, was only a suspension of taxes and was conditional, "while introducing new punitive measures for our citizens and the economy, which he calls reciprocity."
"This does not de-escalate the situation and does not return to the situation before the introduction" of the taxes," Djuric added. "Pristina continues to play with this issue and...this decision is a play intended for the international community."
The U.S. government has opposed a partial or conditional lifting of the tariff and has demanded it be dropped entirely. In a statement last week, it linked the battle against the coronavirus with the tariffs.
“We believe the tariffs are harming the people of Kosovo by hindering regional cooperation against COVID-19 -- including by delaying the entry into Kosovo of needed supplies -- and hindering economic growth,” it said.
Meanwhile, Kurti also said that similar import fees will be lifted on goods from Bosnia-Herzegovina and that “there will be a complete removal of tariffs” from that neighboring country.
“We do not want to treat Bosnia-Herzegovina in the same manner as we do Serbia," Kurti said, although he called on the Bosnian leadership to lift the visa regime for Kosovar citizens. He added that Bosnia had also been a "victim" of Serbia.
With reporting by AP


rferl--2020-04-01--COVID-19: Outbreak Delays Russian Army Conscription; Bulgarian Deputies To Be Tested

The global death toll has surpassed 42,000 with over 855,000 infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Thousands of new conscripts who were to begin their conscription into Russia 's armed forces have been told to stay home and wait because of the coronavirus outbreak .
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered a delay to the regular spring armed forces draft that was to start on April 1 , telling the draft commission to send new conscripts to military units no earlier than May 20 .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from April 1 to July 15 .
A 12-month stint in the armed forces is mandatory for all male Russian citizens -- with few exceptions -- between 18 and 27 years of age .
Conscription occurs twice a year , in spring and autumn .
Avoiding the draft is a felony offense under Russia 's Criminal Code and punishable by up to two years in prison .
Neighboring Kazakhstan and Ukraine postponed their spring drafts to the armed forces last month .
All Bulgarian lawmakers will undergo coronavirus tests on April 1 after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the COVID-19 disease , National Assembly Speaker Tsveta Karayancheva has told an emergency briefing .
The lawmaker who has tested positive is Hasan Ademov , a member of the center-right Movement for Rights and Freedoms ( MRF ) , Karayancheva told the briefing in the parliament building late on March 31 .
General Ventsislav Mutafchiiski , the chief of Bulgaria 's National Operations Headquarters , said on April 1 that Ademov was in hospital , but did not provide any other details .
The 240-member parliament is scheduled to hold a session on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was not immediately clear if the meeting will go ahead as planned .
On March 31 , the Bulgarian government rescinded an order requiring people to wear medical masks in public places to protect against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic , just one day after it issued the order .
Health Minister Kiril Ananiev canceled the requirement on March 31 after hundreds of people filed a lawsuit against the order , claiming there are not enough medical masks available for the public .
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government could issue enough masks to the population .
Ananiev said in a statement that he still supported the mandatory use of a face covering “ as another means of preventing the spread of the virus.
” He added , however , “ As I do not have full agreement , I have just signed an order canceling [ the order ] until consensus is reached in our society . ''
On March 30 , the Health Ministry had ordered that `` all persons , when in indoor or outdoor public places , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on.
” The moves come as Bulgaria , along with the rest of the world , struggles to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus .
As of late March 31 , Bulgaria had confirmed nearly 400 cases of coronaviirus infections and eight deaths .
However , experts caution that it is impossible to determine the actual number of infections in any country because of the lack of testing .
Bulgaria , the poorest member of the European Union , has closed schools , restaurants , and bars , restricted intercity travel and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ domestic and foreign holidays and trips until at least April 13 to contain the spread of the outbreak .
Other countries , including Slovakia and the Czech Republic , have ordered the use of masks in public , either at all times or when shopping and conducting other actions .
Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov has sacked Deputy Prime Minister Altynai Omurbekova and Health Minister Kosmosbek Cholponbaev for their `` failure '' to adequately respond to the coronavirus outbreak .
The April 1 move comes after Jeenbekov sharply criticized official efforts to stem the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases of the coronavirus , including 11 children .
Jeenbekov was critical of preparations to deal with the outbreak , saying the number of infections was the result of `` unsatisfactory efforts to take preventive measures . ''
In Kazakhstan , the country officially registered its third death due to the coronavirus .
The Health Ministry in Nur-Sultan said on April 1 that a coronavirus patient died in the central Qaraghandy region .
It had previously reported that coronavirus patients had died in Nur-Sultan and the Aqmola region that surrounds the capital .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ said that , as of April 1 , the number of coronavirus cases in the Central Asian nation had reached 369 .
In another Central Asian nation , Uzbekistan , a probe was launched against a local lawmaker on suspicion of spreading false information about the coronavirus in the eastern city of Qoqon .
The Uzbek Prosecutor-General 's Office said on April 1 that a member of the Qoqon city council , whose identity was not disclosed , is accused of placing an audio file on a social network , in which he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diagnosed with the virus .
As of April 1 , the number of confirmed cases reported by health authorities in Uzbekistan was 173 , including two deaths .
No coronavirus cases have been reported by authorities in two other Central Asian nations , Tajikistan and Turkmenistan , which are very tightly controlled .
.
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Bulgarian , Kyrgyz , Kazakh , and Uzbek services , dpa , Reuters , The Sofia Globe , Novaya Gazeta , Krasnaya Zvezda , and TASS

The global death toll has surpassed 45,000 with over 900,000 infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of developments in RFE/RL's broadcast countries.
Russia
Moscow authorities say they have developed a smartphone application to help control the movement of residents during the coronavirus lockdown.
The head of the Moscow city IT department, Eduard Lysenko, said on April 1 that the program, which is still being tested, won't be mandatory for all residents, just those who have been confirmed with the coronavirus.
The app will collect user data from smartphones and then forward it without encryption to the servers of the app's developers.
While the developers claim the app will help ensure public safety, some critics are concerned about how much private data and access it will give on private individuals to officials.
Vladislav Zdolnikov, the author of the Telegram channel "IT and Sorm," said he studied the app's code and found that it transmits all data to the Moscow city administration without encryption, meaning it could potentially be used to collect personal data -- including access to a phone's camera, photo gallery, Internet usage, call history, and messaging -- on individuals who have nothing to do with city officials.
The daily Kommersant said earlier that Moscow authorities may oblige residents to receive QR codes anytime they wish to exit their homes.
As of April 1, Russia had officially recorded 2,777 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 440 cases over the previous day. A total of 24 people have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Some critics have accused the government of underreporting figures on the outbreak.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said Putin had decided to handle his duties remotely after the head of Moscow's Kommunarka hospital tested positive for coronavirus following a meeting with the president last week, during which the two shook hands.
"These days distance work will be used by the president to the maximum extent," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, adding that Putin was at a presidential residence outside Moscow.
Peskov has said the president is healthy and being regularly tested for the virus.
Earlier on April 1, Putin signed legislation that allows the government to declare a state of national emergency as it battles to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The law was approved by parliament's lower chamber, the State Duma, the day before.
The legislation allows the government to declare an emergency situation across the country and to establish mandatory rules of conduct during a state of emergency.
Officials have been tightening restrictions on the movement of people in recent days amid a spike in the number of reported coronavirus cases in Russia, especially in the capital, Moscow, which has all but confined its 12 million residents to their homes.
St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, and more than 20 other regions from the westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad to the Arctic region of Murmansk and Tatarstan on the Volga River, have followed Moscow's example by introducing compulsory self-isolation regimes.
Earlier, thousands of new conscripts who were to begin their conscription into Russia's armed forces were told to stay home and wait because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered a delay to the regular spring armed-forces draft that was to start on April 1, telling the draft commission to send new conscripts to military units no earlier than May 20.
The draft process was originally scheduled to run from April 1 to July 15.
A 12-month stint in the armed forces is mandatory for all male Russian citizens -- with few exceptions -- between 18 and 27 years of age.
Conscription occurs twice a year, in spring and autumn.
Avoiding the draft is a felony offense under Russia's Criminal Code and punishable by up to two years in prison.
Neighboring Kazakhstan and Ukraine postponed their spring drafts to the armed forces last month.
Belarus
Belarusian authorities say the death of a man who died on March 30 in the eastern city of Vitsebsk was not because of the coronavirus, discounting what had appeared to be the country's first fatality from the outbreak.
Relatives of Viktar Dashkevich received autopsy papers and a death certificate late on March 31 which put the cause of death for the 75-year-old actor from the National Drama Theater in Vitsebsk as "unspecified pneumonia."
Dashkevich was hospitalized with pneumonia and chronic lung disease on March 21. One of two coronavirus tests performed on him had come back as positive.
Belarus's approach to the outbreak has been criticized by some for lacking transparency, especially with regard to the reporting of cases.
A Belarusian news-website editor who published an article on the coronavirus was arrested on March 25 and charged with “receiving a bribe,” which carries a possible 10-year prison sentence.
The arrest of Syarhey Satsuk, director and editor in chief of the online news outlet Ej.by has been questioned by rights activists since it came three days after he published an editorial criticizing Lukashenka's approach to the coronavirus epidemic and casting doubt on official infection figures.
Satsuk is also known for his previous reporting on corruption issues in the health sector.
Jeanne Cavelier, the head of Reporters Without Border’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, has called the arrest “a warning to media that question the Belarusian government’s health-care policies.”
Bulgaria
All Bulgarian lawmakers will undergo coronavirus tests on April 1 after one member of parliament tested positive for the COVID-19 disease, National Assembly Speaker Tsveta Karayancheva has told an emergency briefing.
The lawmaker who has tested positive is Hasan Ademov, a member of the center-right Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), Karayancheva told the briefing in the parliament building late on March 31.
General Ventsislav Mutafchiiski, the chief of Bulgaria's National Operations Headquarters, said on April 1 that Ademov was in hospital, but did not provide any other details.
The 240-member parliament is scheduled to hold a session on budget updates on April 2. It was not immediately clear if the meeting will go ahead as planned.
Why Numbers Don’t Tell The Full Story A daily compilation of global coronavirus cases by Johns Hopkins University is currently the most comprehensive in the world, but it relies on information provided by governments. In many countries, there are restrictions on releasing such information or reasons why the full story might not want to be told. The methodology, immediacy, transparency, and quality of this data can vary dramatically country by country.
On March 31, the Bulgarian government rescinded an order requiring people to wear medical masks in public places to protect against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, just one day after it issued the order.
Health Minister Kiril Ananiev canceled the requirement on March 31 after hundreds of people filed a lawsuit against the order, claiming there are not enough medical masks available for the public.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the law should not be in place until the government could issue enough masks to the population.
Ananiev said in a statement that he still supported the mandatory use of a face covering “as another means of preventing the spread of the virus.”
He added, however, “As I do not have full agreement, I have just signed an order canceling [the order] until consensus is reached in our society."
On March 30, the Health Ministry had ordered that "all persons, when in indoor or outdoor public places, are required to have a face mask on.”
The moves come as Bulgaria, along with the rest of the world, struggles to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
As of late March 31, Bulgaria had confirmed nearly 400 cases of coronaviirus infections and eight deaths. However, experts caution that it is impossible to determine the actual number of infections in any country because of the lack of testing.
Bulgaria, the poorest member of the European Union, has closed schools, restaurants, and bars, restricted intercity travel and access to parks, and banned all domestic and foreign holidays and trips until at least April 13 to contain the spread of the outbreak.
Other countries, including Slovakia and the Czech Republic, have ordered the use of masks in public, either at all times or when shopping and conducting other actions.
Romania
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to grow in Romania, where the death toll has reached 85.
The government's crisis group on April 1 reported seven more fatalities and 215 more infections, bringing the number of those infected to 2,460, with 34 patients in serious condition.
Almost 120,000 people are in self-isolation, while more than 12,000 others are under quarantine.
Critics say that the number of tests has been insufficient. With a population of 19.5 million, Romania has performed some 26,600 tests, while fellow EU member the Czech Republic, a country of 10.6 million, has tested more than 55,000 people.
A total of 196 Romanians have been confirmed positive abroad, most of them in Spain and Italy -- two of the countries most affected by the pandemic -- while 24 others have died of COVID-19 in Italy, France, and other Western countries.
The northeastern city of Suceava, where more than a quarter of all cases were registered, has been in lockdown since March 31.
With a population of just over 100,000, Suceava had more than 600 cases and one-third of all Romania's fatalities. More than half of the country's 285 infected doctors, nurses, and other medical staff were in Suceava, officials said.
Authorities say the spread was caused by poor management and corruption at the Suceava hospital, where infected medical personnel were allowed to mingle with healthy colleagues, while people with connections to the local elite jumped the line to be tested even when that was not apparently necessary.
The quarantine will last until mid-April, when a 30-day nationwide state of emergency declared on March 16 is set to end.
The growing number of medical personnel confirmed positive has prompted many doctors, paramedics, nurses, and auxiliary personnel to leave their jobs, either in frustration at the lack of medical supplies or because of fatigue or sheer panic.
Armenia
Armenia has suspended public transport in the capital, Yerevan, as the authorities announced the death of a fourth patient infected with the novel coronavirus.
The 89-year-old patient suffered from multiple medical conditions, including arterial hypertension and diabetes, officials said on April 1.
Earlier in the day, the Health Ministry said the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had risen by 39 to 571 in the previous 24 hours, the highest number in the South Caucasus region.
Meanwhile, all subway and bus services were suspended in Yerevan in an effort to slow the spread of the respiratory illness.
People can use taxis or their cars, but they must be able to prove that they left their homes for work or another urgent reason.
Law enforcement officers set up checkpoints on highways outside Yerevan and other cities and towns, checking every vehicle leaving or entering these communities.
On March 31, existing curbs on people's movement and the closure of most businesses in the country were extended until April 13.
Bus services between the capital and the rest of the country were halted last week.
Some Yerevan residents expressed anger over the temporary ban on public transport, saying they have to work and cannot afford taxis on a daily basis.
"I work in a hospital and also provide home care to a sick person," said Liana Babayan. "Working people should be able to use public transport. Let them just show their documents or have their temperature checked."
Iran
Iran's death toll from the coronavirus has passed 3,000, officials say, as President Hassan Rohani accused the United States of missing a "historic opportunity" to lift sanctions.
Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur on April 1 reported 138 fatalities in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total to 3,036.
The number of confirmed cases increased by 2,987 to 47,593, Jahanpur said.
Iran is one of the world's worst-hit countries, and there are concerns that the actual figures are much higher.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Rohani said Iranians had done "great work" and that the epidemic appeared to be receding in all provinces.
He also asserted the United States had missed a "historic opportunity" to lift the sanctions against Iran and "for once to say to the Iranian nation that they are not an anti-Iranian people."
Washington has insisted that medicines and medical equipment are exempt from its sanctions, but restrictions on Iran's banking system and an embargo on its oil exports have limited Iran's ability to purchase items.
Earlier this week, Britain, France and Germany used a special trading mechanism for the first time to send medical supplies to Iran in a way that does not violate U.S. sanctions.
The U.S. sanctions were imposed after President Donald Trump in 2018 withdrew the United States from a landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov has dismissed Deputy Prime Minister Altynai Omurbekova and Health Minister Kosmosbek Cholponbaev for their "failure" to adequately respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
The April 1 move comes after Jeenbekov sharply criticized official efforts to stem the outbreak, which has seen 111 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 11 children.
Jeenbekov was critical of preparations to deal with the outbreak, saying the number of infections was the result of "unsatisfactory efforts to take preventive measures."
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan has officially registered its third death due to the coronavirus.
The Health Ministry in Nur-Sultan said on April 1 that a coronavirus patient died in the central Qaraghandy region. It had previously reported that coronavirus patients had died in Nur-Sultan and the Aqmola region that surrounds the capital.
In a separate statement, the ministry said that, as of April 1, the number of coronavirus cases in the Central Asian nation had reached 369.
Uzbekistan
In Uzbekistan, a probe has been launched into a local lawmaker on suspicion of spreading false information about the coronavirus in the eastern city of Qoqon.
The Uzbek Prosecutor-General's Office said on April 1 that a member of the Qoqon city council, whose identity was not disclosed, is accused of placing an audio file on a social network, in which he gave false information regarding two individuals allegedly diagnosed with the virus.
As of April 1, the number of confirmed cases reported by health authorities in Uzbekistan was 173, including two deaths.
Turkmenistan
In neighboring Turkmenistan, which has not yet declared any cases of the coronavirus, authorities suspended the movement of freight transport through the country until May 1.
A Turkmen Foreign Ministry document on the suspension was made public by a Kazakh businessman and confirmed by two Turkmen diplomatic sources to the Reuters news agency.
Tajikistan
In Tajikistan, state penitentiary service chief Mansurjon Umarov told RFE/RL that all visits to inmates held in prisons and detention centers had been suspended as of March 31.
Tajikistan has also not declared any cases of the coronavirus.
Georgia
Police have set up checkpoints on roads into the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, to screen motorist for the coronavirus.
The new measures took effect on March 31. Medical personnel took the temperature of drivers and passengers, though not all infected people have a fever
With reporting by RFE/RL's Armenian, Belarus, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Romanian, Russian, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek services, dpa, Reuters, Dii24.ro, Hotnews.ro, The Sofia Globe, Radio Racyja, Novaya gazeta, Krasnaya zvezda, Kommersant, Ekho Moskvy, and TASS


rferl--2020-04-01--Trump Warns Iran Of 'Heavy Price' If U.S. Attacked In Iraq

President Donald Trump has warned Iran of a `` heavy price '' if it or its allies in Iraq attack U.S. troops or assets in Iraq .
`` Upon information and belief , Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq , '' Trump tweeted on April 1 .
`` If this happens , Iran will pay a very heavy price , indeed ! ''
he added .
It was not immediately clear if Trump meant the United States actually has intelligence of such a plan .
Over the past year , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of attacks on Iraqi military bases hosting coalition forces and on foreign embassies , particularly the U.S. mission .
Hours before Trump 's tweet , a top military aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cautioned the United States of consequences of `` provocative actions '' in Iraq .
`` Any U.S. action will mark an even larger strategic failure in the current president 's record , '' General Yahya Rahim Safavi said , according to the semiofficial news agency Tasnim .
On March 11 , a rocket attack on an Iraqi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ British soldier , heightening tensions in the region .
No one claimed responsibility for the attack , which was followed by deadly U.S. air strikes on the pro-Iranian Kataib Hezbollah militia group .
In December , Washington blamed Kataib Hezbollah for a strike that killed a U.S. contractor and triggered a round of violence that led Trump to order the killing of a top Iranian general , Qasem Soleimani , in a drone strike in Baghdad the following month .
In retaliation , an Iranian ballistic-missile strike on an Iraqi air base left @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brain injuries .

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--2020-04-01--With Eye On Russia, NATO Stresses Readiness During Coronavirus Crisis

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance must not allow the coronavirus pandemic to become a security threat , warning that adversaries like Russia and terrorist groups could try to exploit the situation and conduct hostile activities .
Stoltenberg made the comments during a video news conference on April 1 , on the eve of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers to be held by video conference for the first time in the organization 's 70-year history .
The allies are set to discuss their response to the COVID-19 epidemic , which has infected more than 880,000 people across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to a database maintained by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University .
`` Our primary objective is to ensure that this health crisis does not become a security crisis , '' Stoltenberg said .
Measures to try to slow the spread of the virus have forced NATO allies to scale down war games , but Stoltenberg insisted that NATO 's `` operational readiness is maintained . ''
The allies `` continue to patrol the skies and to defend our borders and we continue our missions and operations not least in the fight against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exist , '' he said , adding that increased Russian military activity showed NATO needs to remain on its guard during the coronavirus crisis .
`` We see significant military activities close to NATO borders with a new exercise in the western military districts of Russia ... and we have seen significant Russian presence in the North Sea , '' Stoltenberg said .
Last week , Russia conducted large-scale exercises involving its two military districts geographically closest to NATO 's Eastern European member states .
Russia 's Defense Ministry said the drills , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intended to check troop readiness to deal with any contagion .
Meanwhile , Britain 's navy said its vessels had been shadowing Russian warships after `` unusually high levels of activity '' in the English Channel and North Sea , and Lithuania reported that NATO had intercepted five Russian military overflights .
On April 2 , NATO foreign ministers are expected to reiterate unity , as well as resolve and readiness to respond to threats .
The ministers are also due to address developments in Afghanistan , while welcoming their 30th ally , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Western alliance last week .
With reporting by AFP , dpa , Reuters , and AP

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance must not allow the coronavirus pandemic to become a security threat, warning that adversaries like Russia and terrorist groups could try to exploit the situation and conduct hostile activities.
Stoltenberg made the comments during a video news conference on April 1, on the eve of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers to be held by video conference for the first time in the organization's 70-year history.
The allies are set to discuss their response to the COVID-19 epidemic, which has infected more than 880,000 people across the world, killing over 44,100, according to a database maintained by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.
"Our primary objective is to ensure that this health crisis does not become a security crisis," Stoltenberg said.
Measures to try to slow the spread of the virus have forced NATO allies to scale down war games, but Stoltenberg insisted that NATO's "operational readiness is maintained."
The allies "continue to patrol the skies and to defend our borders and we continue our missions and operations not least in the fight against terrorism, because these threats continue to exist," he said, adding that increased Russian military activity showed NATO needs to remain on its guard during the coronavirus crisis.
"We see significant military activities close to NATO borders with a new exercise in the western military districts of Russia...and we have seen significant Russian presence in the North Sea," Stoltenberg said.
Last week, Russia conducted large-scale exercises involving its two military districts geographically closest to NATO's Eastern European member states. Russia's Defense Ministry said the drills, which involved strategic missile forces, was intended to check troop readiness to deal with any contagion.
Meanwhile, Britain's navy said its vessels had been shadowing Russian warships after "unusually high levels of activity" in the English Channel and North Sea, and Lithuania reported that NATO had intercepted five Russian military overflights.
On April 2, NATO foreign ministers are expected to reiterate unity, as well as resolve and readiness to respond to threats.
The ministers are also due to address developments in Afghanistan, while welcoming their 30th ally, North Macedonia, which officially joined the Western alliance last week.
With reporting by AFP, dpa, Reuters, and AP


rferl--2020-04-01--Afghan Government, Taliban Team Discuss Prisoner Swap In Kabul

KABUL -- Afghan government representatives have met with a three-member Taliban team in Kabul to discuss a prisoner swap as part of a peace deal signed by the Taliban and the United States in late February .
It is the first time an official Taliban delegation has been in the Afghan capital since the group was driven from power by U.S.-led forces in November 2001 .
The two sides held `` face-to-face '' talks on March 31 and will meet again on April 1 for further discussions being observed by the International Committee of the Red Cross , Afghan National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the delegation was holding technical talks with government officials related to the prisoner release and the provision for medical checkup for those being freed .
Mujahid said that 100 captured Taliban fighters `` will be released in [ the ] first batch . ''
`` Then both sides will assess whether releasing 100 per day is working out well or not , '' he added .
Afghan officials and Taliban representatives had spoken previously in video conferences to discuss the planned prisoner exchange , which is part of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the Taliban in Doha on February 29 .
It calls for the Afghan government to release 5,000 detained Taliban fighters as a confidence-building measure ahead of formal peace talks .
The Taliban has vowed to release 1,000 Afghan government troops and civilian workers it is holding .
Under the U.S.-Taliban agreement , Taliban representatives also agreed to commit to direct talks with the Afghan government aimed at ending the country 's 18-year conflict .
In return for the start of talks and a series of security commitments from the Taliban , all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are meant to withdraw from Afghanistan within 14 months .
With reporting by Reuters and AFP

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--2020-04-01--EU Monitor: Russia, China Sow Distrust In West Through Coronavirus Disinformation

Russia and China continue to deploy a campaign of disinformation around the coronavirus outbreak that could have `` harmful consequences '' for public health around the world , according to a report published by the EU 's foreign-policy arm .
The document , published on April 1 , was written by the Strategic Communications and Information Analysis Division of the European External Action Service ( EEAS ) .
It says both state and state-backed actors `` seek to exploit the public health crisis to advance geopolitical interests , often by directly challenging the credibility of the European Union and its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ danger to effective crisis communication and public health , it says .
Claims that the coronavirus outbreak is leading to the EU 's disintegration are trending on social media , the new report says .
It adds that among COVID-19-related content published by the Russian government-funded RT and Sputnik , `` articles covering conspiracy narratives such as that 'the virus was man-made ' or intentionally spread , typically received more social engagement than other stories . ''
The document is a follow-up to a report published last month by the EEAS that said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in spreading disinformation about the coronavirus , with the aim to aggravate the public health crisis in Western countries , specifically by undermining public trust in national health-care systems . ''
The new report says that more than 150 cases of pro-Kremlin disinformation on COVID-19 have been recorded by the EU watchdog EUvsDisinfo since January 22 .
It says that in the EU and other parts of the world `` coordinated disinformation messaging '' aims to undermine public trust in the democratic institutions ' ability to respond to the crisis effectively , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , blaming them for the pandemic .
Domestically , the report notes , state-controlled media outlets `` have shifted their focus to highlight Russia ’ s preparedness to tackle the outbreak , while Russian aid to Italy was extensively covered . ''
Social media continue to abound in false health advice on the pandemic that comes in direct contradiction to the World Health Organization 's official guidance , the document says , giving the example of Sputnik Deutschland , which has been promoting on Facebook and Twitter the claim that `` washing hands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , state media aggressively highlight displays of gratitude by some European leaders in response to Chinese aid , while promoting unproven theories by government officials about the origin of the coronavirus , the EU report says .
In the Western Balkans region , conspiracy theories continue trending , some suggesting the virus is a U.S.-made bio-weapon , others that it is a pretext for a foreign invasion .
At the same time , the coronavirus crisis is linked to the existing narrative that the EU is `` turning its back '' on the @ @ @ @ @ @

Russia and China continue to deploy a campaign of disinformation around the coronavirus outbreak that could have "harmful consequences" for public health around the world, according to a report published by the EU's foreign-policy arm.
The document, published on April 1, was written by the Strategic Communications and Information Analysis Division of the European External Action Service (EEAS).
It says both state and state-backed actors "seek to exploit the public health crisis to advance geopolitical interests, often by directly challenging the credibility of the European Union and its partners."
The campaign poses a danger to effective crisis communication and public health, it says.
Claims that the coronavirus outbreak is leading to the EU's disintegration are trending on social media, the new report says.
It adds that among COVID-19-related content published by the Russian government-funded RT and Sputnik, "articles covering conspiracy narratives such as that 'the virus was man-made' or intentionally spread, typically received more social engagement than other stories."
The document is a follow-up to a report published last month by the EEAS that said pro-Kremlin media outlets "have been prominent in spreading disinformation about the coronavirus, with the aim to aggravate the public health crisis in Western countries, specifically by undermining public trust in national health-care systems."
The new report says that more than 150 cases of pro-Kremlin disinformation on COVID-19 have been recorded by the EU watchdog EUvsDisinfo since January 22.
It says that in the EU and other parts of the world "coordinated disinformation messaging" aims to undermine public trust in the democratic institutions' ability to respond to the crisis effectively, and is pointing the finger toward vulnerable minorities, blaming them for the pandemic.
Domestically, the report notes, state-controlled media outlets "have shifted their focus to highlight Russia’s preparedness to tackle the outbreak, while Russian aid to Italy was extensively covered."
Social media continue to abound in false health advice on the pandemic that comes in direct contradiction to the World Health Organization's official guidance, the document says, giving the example of Sputnik Deutschland, which has been promoting on Facebook and Twitter the claim that "washing hands does not help."
In China, state media aggressively highlight displays of gratitude by some European leaders in response to Chinese aid, while promoting unproven theories by government officials about the origin of the coronavirus, the EU report says.
In the Western Balkans region, conspiracy theories continue trending, some suggesting the virus is a U.S.-made bio-weapon, others that it is a pretext for a foreign invasion.
At the same time, the coronavirus crisis is linked to the existing narrative that the EU is "turning its back" on the Balkans, the report says.


rferl--2020-04-01--COVID-19: Moscow Has App To Monitor Quarantine; Belarus Denies First Fatality

The global death toll has surpassed 45,000 with over 900,000 infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Moscow authorities say they have developed a smartphone application to help control the movement of residents during the coronavirus lockdown .
The head of the Moscow city IT department , Eduard Lysenko , said on April 1 that the program , which is still being tested , wo n't be mandatory for all residents , just those who have been confirmed with the coronavirus .
The app will collect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it without encryption to the servers of the app 's developers .
While the developers claim the app will help ensure public safety , some critics are concerned about how much private data and access it will give on private individuals to officials .
Vladislav Zdolnikov , the author of the Telegram channel `` IT and Sorm , '' said he studied the app 's code and found that it transmits all data to the Moscow city administration without encryption , meaning it could potentially be used to collect personal data -- including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ photo gallery , Internet usage , call history , and messaging -- on individuals who have nothing to do with city officials .
The daily Kommersant said earlier that Moscow authorities may oblige residents to receive QR codes anytime they wish to exit their homes .
As of April 1 , Russia had officially recorded 2,777 cases of the coronavirus , an increase of 440 cases over the previous day .
A total of 24 people have died from COVID-19 , the disease caused by the virus .
Some critics have accused the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Meanwhile , the Kremlin said Putin had decided to handle his duties remotely after the head of Moscow 's Kommunarka hospital tested positive for coronavirus following a meeting with the president last week , during which the two shook hands .
`` These days distance work will be used by the president to the maximum extent , '' Putin 's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists , adding that Putin was at a presidential residence outside Moscow .
Peskov has said the president is healthy and being regularly tested for the virus .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ legislation that allows the government to declare a state of national emergency as it battles to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
The law was approved by parliament 's lower chamber , the State Duma , the day before .
The legislation allows the government to declare an emergency situation across the country and to establish mandatory rules of conduct during a state of emergency .
Officials have been tightening restrictions on the movement of people in recent days amid a spike in the number of reported coronavirus cases in Russia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which has all but confined its 12 million residents to their homes .
St. Petersburg , Russia 's second-largest city , and more than 20 other regions from the westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad to the Arctic region of Murmansk and Tatarstan on the Volga River , have followed Moscow 's example by introducing compulsory self-isolation regimes .
Earlier , thousands of new conscripts who were to begin their conscription into Russia 's armed forces were told to stay home and wait because of the coronavirus outbreak .
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that was to start on April 1 , telling the draft commission to send new conscripts to military units no earlier than May 20 .
The draft process was originally scheduled to run from April 1 to July 15 .
A 12-month stint in the armed forces is mandatory for all male Russian citizens -- with few exceptions -- between 18 and 27 years of age .
Conscription occurs twice a year , in spring and autumn .
Avoiding the draft is a felony offense under Russia 's Criminal Code and punishable by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Neighboring Kazakhstan and Ukraine postponed their spring drafts to the armed forces last month .
Belarusian authorities say the death of a man who died on March 30 in the eastern city of Vitsebsk was not because of the coronavirus , discounting what had appeared to be the country 's first fatality from the outbreak .
Relatives of Viktar Dashkevich received autopsy papers and a death certificate late on March 31 which put the cause of death for the 75-year-old actor from the National Drama Theater in Vitsebsk as `` unspecified pneumonia .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ chronic lung disease on March 21 .
One of two coronavirus tests performed on him had come back as positive .
Belarus 's approach to the outbreak has been criticized by some for lacking transparency , especially with regard to the reporting of cases .
A Belarusian news-website editor who published an article on the coronavirus was arrested on March 25 and charged with “ receiving a bribe , ” which carries a possible 10-year prison sentence .
The arrest of Syarhey Satsuk , director and editor in chief of the online news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activists since it came three days after he published an editorial criticizing Lukashenka 's approach to the coronavirus epidemic and casting doubt on official infection figures .
Satsuk is also known for his previous reporting on corruption issues in the health sector .
Jeanne Cavelier , the head of Reporters Without Border ’ s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk , has called the arrest “ a warning to media that question the Belarusian government ’ s health-care policies.
” All Bulgarian lawmakers will undergo coronavirus tests on April 1 after one member @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disease , National Assembly Speaker Tsveta Karayancheva has told an emergency briefing .
The lawmaker who has tested positive is Hasan Ademov , a member of the center-right Movement for Rights and Freedoms ( MRF ) , Karayancheva told the briefing in the parliament building late on March 31 .
General Ventsislav Mutafchiiski , the chief of Bulgaria 's National Operations Headquarters , said on April 1 that Ademov was in hospital , but did not provide any other details .
The 240-member parliament is scheduled to hold a session on budget updates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immediately clear if the meeting will go ahead as planned .
On March 31 , the Bulgarian government rescinded an order requiring people to wear medical masks in public places to protect against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic , just one day after it issued the order .
Health Minister Kiril Ananiev canceled the requirement on March 31 after hundreds of people filed a lawsuit against the order , claiming there are not enough medical masks available for the public .
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the law should not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issue enough masks to the population .
Ananiev said in a statement that he still supported the mandatory use of a face covering “ as another means of preventing the spread of the virus.
” He added , however , “ As I do not have full agreement , I have just signed an order canceling [ the order ] until consensus is reached in our society . ''
On March 30 , the Health Ministry had ordered that `` all persons , when in indoor or outdoor public places , are required @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The moves come as Bulgaria , along with the rest of the world , struggles to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus .
As of late March 31 , Bulgaria had confirmed nearly 400 cases of coronaviirus infections and eight deaths .
However , experts caution that it is impossible to determine the actual number of infections in any country because of the lack of testing .
Bulgaria , the poorest member of the European Union , has closed schools , restaurants , and bars , restricted intercity travel and access to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ foreign holidays and trips until at least April 13 to contain the spread of the outbreak .
Other countries , including Slovakia and the Czech Republic , have ordered the use of masks in public , either at all times or when shopping and conducting other actions .
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to grow in Romania , where the death toll has reached 85 .
The government 's crisis group on April 1 reported seven more fatalities and 215 more infections , bringing the number of those infected to 2,460 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Almost 120,000 people are in self-isolation , while more than 12,000 others are under quarantine .
Critics say that the number of tests has been insufficient .
With a population of 19.5 million , Romania has performed some 26,600 tests , while fellow EU member the Czech Republic , a country of 10.6 million , has tested more than 55,000 people .
A total of 196 Romanians have been confirmed positive abroad , most of them in Spain and Italy -- two of the countries most affected by the pandemic -- while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Italy , France , and other Western countries .
The northeastern city of Suceava , where more than a quarter of all cases were registered , has been in lockdown since March 31 .
With a population of just over 100,000 , Suceava had more than 600 cases and one-third of all Romania 's fatalities .
More than half of the country 's 285 infected doctors , nurses , and other medical staff were in Suceava , officials said .
Authorities say the spread was caused by poor management and corruption at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were allowed to mingle with healthy colleagues , while people with connections to the local elite jumped the line to be tested even when that was not apparently necessary .
The quarantine will last until mid-April , when a 30-day nationwide state of emergency declared on March 16 is set to end .
The growing number of medical personnel confirmed positive has prompted many doctors , paramedics , nurses , and auxiliary personnel to leave their jobs , either in frustration at the lack of medical supplies or because of fatigue or sheer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the capital , Yerevan , as the authorities announced the death of a fourth patient infected with the novel coronavirus .
The 89-year-old patient suffered from multiple medical conditions , including arterial hypertension and diabetes , officials said on April 1 .
Earlier in the day , the Health Ministry said the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had risen by 39 to 571 in the previous 24 hours , the highest number in the South Caucasus region .
Meanwhile , all subway and bus services were suspended in Yerevan in an effort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ illness .
People can use taxis or their cars , but they must be able to prove that they left their homes for work or another urgent reason .
Law enforcement officers set up checkpoints on highways outside Yerevan and other cities and towns , checking every vehicle leaving or entering these communities .
On March 31 , existing curbs on people 's movement and the closure of most businesses in the country were extended until April 13 .
Bus services between the capital and the rest of the country were halted last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over the temporary ban on public transport , saying they have to work and can not afford taxis on a daily basis .
`` I work in a hospital and also provide home care to a sick person , '' said Liana Babayan .
`` Working people should be able to use public transport .
Let them just show their documents or have their temperature checked . ''
Iran 's death toll from the coronavirus has passed 3,000 , officials say , as President Hassan Rohani accused the United States of missing a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur on April 1 reported 138 fatalities in the previous 24 hours , bringing the total to 3,036 .
The number of confirmed cases increased by 2,987 to 47,593 , Jahanpur said .
Iran is one of the world 's worst-hit countries , and there are concerns that the actual figures are much higher .
Speaking at a cabinet meeting , Rohani said Iranians had done `` great work '' and that the epidemic appeared to be receding in all provinces .
He also asserted the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to lift the sanctions against Iran and `` for once to say to the Iranian nation that they are not an anti-Iranian people . ''
Washington has insisted that medicines and medical equipment are exempt from its sanctions , but restrictions on Iran 's banking system and an embargo on its oil exports have limited Iran 's ability to purchase items .
Earlier this week , Britain , France and Germany used a special trading mechanism for the first time to send medical supplies to Iran in a way that does not violate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imposed after President Donald Trump in 2018 withdrew the United States from a landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers .
Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov has dismissed Deputy Prime Minister Altynai Omurbekova and Health Minister Kosmosbek Cholponbaev for their `` failure '' to adequately respond to the coronavirus outbreak .
The April 1 move comes after Jeenbekov sharply criticized official efforts to stem the outbreak , which has seen 111 confirmed cases of the coronavirus , including 11 children .
Jeenbekov was critical of preparations to deal with the outbreak , saying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of `` unsatisfactory efforts to take preventive measures . ''
Kazakhstan has officially registered its third death due to the coronavirus .
The Health Ministry in Nur-Sultan said on April 1 that a coronavirus patient died in the central Qaraghandy region .
It had previously reported that coronavirus patients had died in Nur-Sultan and the Aqmola region that surrounds the capital .
In a separate statement , the ministry said that , as of April 1 , the number of coronavirus cases in the Central Asian nation had reached 369 .
In Uzbekistan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a local lawmaker on suspicion of spreading false information about the coronavirus in the eastern city of Qoqon .
The Uzbek Prosecutor-General 's Office said on April 1 that a member of the Qoqon city council , whose identity was not disclosed , is accused of placing an audio file on a social network , in which he gave false information regarding two individuals allegedly diagnosed with the virus .
As of April 1 , the number of confirmed cases reported by health authorities in Uzbekistan was 173 , including two deaths .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ yet declared any cases of the coronavirus , authorities suspended the movement of freight transport through the country until May 1 .
A Turkmen Foreign Ministry document on the suspension was made public by a Kazakh businessman and confirmed by two Turkmen diplomatic sources to the Reuters news agency .
In Tajikistan , state penitentiary service chief Mansurjon Umarov told RFE/RL that all visits to inmates held in prisons and detention centers had been suspended as of March 31 .
Tajikistan has also not declared any cases of the coronavirus .
Police have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Georgian capital , Tbilisi , to screen motorist for the coronavirus .
The new measures took effect on March 31 .
Medical personnel took the temperature of drivers and passengers , though not all infected people have a fever With reporting by RFE/RL 's Armenian , Belarus , Bulgarian , Kazakh , Kyrgyz , Romanian , Russian , Tajik , Turkmen , and Uzbek services , dpa , Reuters , Dii24.ro , Hotnews.ro , The Sofia Globe , Radio Racyja , Novaya gazeta , Krasnaya zvezda , Kommersant , Ekho Moskvy , and @


rferl--2020-04-02--COVID-19: Pakistan Urged To Give Workers Better Protection

The global death toll has surpassed 47,000 with over 940,000 infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
A human rights group has called on Pakistan 's government to take rapid measures to offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its most vulnerable workers .
`` Social distancing , quarantines , and the closure of businesses will have enormous economic consequences for garment and textile workers , domestic workers , home-based workers , and other workers in low-income households , '' Human Rights Watch ( HRW @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has almost 2,300 confirmed coronavirus cases of COVID-19 , with at least 31 fatalities , according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University in the United States .
However , HRW says the real number of infections may be much higher since little testing is available .
`` Pakistani authorities should take urgent steps to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19 on its most vulnerable workers , '' the New York-based rights group said .
Central and regional authorities have imposed partial or complete lockdowns , and all businesses not producing essential supplies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million and 18.5 million people in various sectors may lose their jobs , according to estimates .
In Punjab Province alone , at least half a million textile and garment-industry workers had lost their jobs as of March 28 , according to the Pakistan Workers ’ Federation .
HRW said the government should find ways to protect those affected `` from suffering loss of income that would push them further into poverty and deter them from self-isolating to contain the spread of the virus . ''
“ The Pakistan government should take measures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ income doesn ’ t compound the threats workers face to their health , ” said Brad Adams , Asia director at Human Rights Watch .
“ The economically marginalized are among the most vulnerable groups affected by COVID-19 , and the government should urgently find ways to protect them , ” Adams said .
Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to address the nation today amid a spike in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases .
`` In the afternoon he [ Putin ] will broadcast another appeal .
The president is working on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow , adding the speech would be aired sometime around 4 p.m. local time .
The coronavirus crisis center in Moscow said on April 2 that 771 cases were registered over the last 24 hours across the country , bringing the total number of cases to 3,548 .
According to the center , six more coronavirus patients died in the past 24 hours , including four in Moscow , one in the Perm region , and one in the North Caucasus region of Chechnya .
The total @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus now stands at 30 , though the accuracy of official data has been questioned by critics who say the number of cases and deaths appears low compared with other European nations .
Putin addressed the country just last week to announce a weeklong paid work furlough as part of government efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
On April 1 , he signed legislation allowing the government to declare an emergency situation across the country and to establish mandatory rules of conduct during a state of emergency .
Officials have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people in recent days as the number of reported coronavirus cases jumped , especially in the capital , Moscow , which has all but confined its 12 million residents to their homes .
In the North Caucasus region of Chechnya , Kremlin-backed Ramzan Kadyrov , who has ruled the volatile region since 2007 , said administrative boundaries with other parts of the Russian Federation will be closed off to slow the spread of the virus .
Kadyrov called on residents of Chechnya , who are currently travelling abroad or across Russia and plan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before April 5 as all forms of transport , including trains and planes , will be suspended from that day .
Only vehicles and planes transporting food , medicine and essential items will be allowed to operate , Kadyrov said .

The global death toll has surpassed 51,000 with over 1 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of developments in RFE/RL's broadcast countries.
Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended the non-working period in the country to April 30 amid a spike in the official number of coronavirus cases.
In a televised address to the nation on April 2, his second in eight days, Putin said people will continue to receive their monthly wages during the break, but he did not explain how they will be paid or by whom.
Putin said most Russians should continue to stay away from their workplace because “the peak of the epidemic has not been passed in the world, including in our country."
Russia, which has officially reported 3,548 cases and 30 deaths -- critics have questioned the authenticity of the government's data -- has already imposed a partial lockdown on many regions, including Moscow, its capital of more than 12.5 million people.
RFE/RL's Coverage Of COVID-19 Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region.
Putin said exceptions for essential industries will keep operating, and grocery stores and pharmacies will remain open. He said that it would be up to regional authorities to decide which sectors in their region should keep working, "depending on the situation, what kind of regime is enforced, and what organizations could continue working.”
“An efficient and stable economy is key to solving our tasks, including in the health-care system,” he added.
Minutes after Putin's speech, the Kremlin announced Putin had signed a decree to prolong the non-working period.
On March 25, Putin announced a non-working week between March 28 to April 5 -- essentially a weeklong holiday in Russia.
The official death toll now stands at 30, though the accuracy of official data has been questioned by critics.
On April 1, Putin signed legislation that allows the government to declare an emergency situation across the country and to establish mandatory rules of conduct during a state of emergency.
Officials have been tightening restrictions on the movement of people in recent days as the number of reported coronavirus cases jumped, especially in the capital, Moscow, which has all but confined its 12 million residents to their homes.
In the North Caucasus region of Chechnya, Kremlin-backed Ramzan Kadyrov, who has ruled the volatile region since 2007, said administrative boundaries with other parts of the Russian Federation will be closed off to slow the spread of the virus.
Kadyrov called on residents of Chechnya, who are currently travelling abroad or across Russia and plan to return home, to do so before April 5 as all forms of transport, including trains and planes, will be suspended from that day.
Only vehicles and planes transporting food, medicine, and essential items will be allowed to operate, Kadyrov said.
Pakistan
A human rights group has called on Pakistan's government to take rapid measures to offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its most vulnerable workers.
"Social distancing, quarantines, and the closure of businesses will have enormous economic consequences for garment and textile workers, domestic workers, home-based workers, and other workers in low-income households," Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on April 2.
Pakistan has almost 2,300 confirmed coronavirus cases of COVID-19, with at least 31 fatalities, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
However, HRW says the real number of infections may be much higher since little testing is available.
"Pakistani authorities should take urgent steps to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19 on its most vulnerable workers," the New York-based rights group said.
Central and regional authorities have imposed partial or complete lockdowns, and all businesses not producing essential supplies have been shut down.
Between 12.3 million and 18.5 million people in various sectors may lose their jobs, according to estimates.
In Punjab Province alone, at least half a million textile and garment-industry workers had lost their jobs as of March 28, according to the Pakistan Workers’ Federation.
HRW said the government should find ways to protect those affected "from suffering loss of income that would push them further into poverty and deter them from self-isolating to contain the spread of the virus."
“The Pakistan government should take measures so that the loss of livelihood and income doesn’t compound the threats workers face to their health,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“The economically marginalized are among the most vulnerable groups affected by COVID-19, and the government should urgently find ways to protect them,” Adams said.
Belarus
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka vowed transparency in the reporting of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, as the health authorities reported a total of four fatalities due to the respiratory illness.
The Health Ministry on April 2 reported a total of 304 coronavirus cases, adding that four elderly patients suffering from “numerous chronic illnesses” have died.
Belarus's approach to the outbreak has been criticized by some for lacking transparency, especially with regard to the reporting of cases.
But Lukashenka on April 2 insisted that the authorities “do not hide anything"
On April 7, the government “will discuss a number of issues," the Belarusian leader said, adding: "I will prepare the information, all the statistics” on the epidemic.
Lukashenka's comments come a day after Belarusian authorities said they did not attribute the death of a well-known actor on March 30 to the coronavirus.
The actor, Viktar Dashkevich, had tested positive to the virus, but the death certificate only mentions pneumonia.
Unlike its neighbors, Belarus has kept its borders open and has not imposed any restrictions of movement inside the country.
Meanwhile, a Belarusian news website editor was arrested on March 25 and charged with “receiving a bribe” after he published an editorial criticizing Lukashenka’s approach to the coronavirus epidemic and casting doubt on official infection figures.
Reporters Without Borders called the case against Syarhey Satsuk “a warning to media that question the Belarusian government’s health-care policies.”
The charge against Satsuk, director and editor in chief of the online newspaper ej.by, carries a possible 10-year prison sentence.
Romania
Romania's death toll from the coronavirus reached 94 on April 2 with nine more fatalities during the previous 24 hours, the government's crisis group said.
During the same period, 278 people tested positive for the virus, bringing Romania's total number of infections to 2,738.
Meanwhile, President Klaus Iohannis said he had asked the government to “reroute” European Union funding to give doctors, nurses, and other personnel dealing with the epidemic a monthly bonus of about 500 euros ($543.10) a month.
The growing number of infected medical personnel has prompted many doctors, paramedics, nurses, and auxiliary personnel to resign -- either in frustration at the lack of medical supplies or because of fatigue.
A total of 357 Romanian doctors, nurses, and other medical staff are among those who have tested positive, according to Romania's crisis group.
Bucharest and Romania's northeastern city of Suceava, which has been under a lockdown since March 31, have the highest number of confirmed cases -- more than 500 and, 700, respectively, the crisis group said. Officials said 217 people with the virus have recovered.
Romania has been under a state of emergency since March 16.
In other countries, there are 217 Romanians known to have tested positive for the respiratory illness -- including 25 people who have died while abroad.
Tajikistan
The head of the World Health Organization's office in Tajikistan, Galina Perfilyeva, says no coronavirus cases have been registered in the Central Asian nation.
In a televised statement on April 1, Perfilyeva said coronavirus tests had been carried out on more than 700 people in Tajikistan: all came back negative.
While the country’s strong-armed leadership insists there are no cases of coronavirus, critics beg to differ given Tajikistan’s border with China, where the virus was first detected, and the growing number of positive tests and COVID-19-related deaths in the region.
They point out that not having any registered cases does not mean the virus isn’t there -- especially since authorities have not imposed a quarantine or restricted public events and the fact that thousands of migrant workers have returned from abroad -- but it could just be issues with testing.
The government’s transparency on the issue has also been questioned given it has not disclosed any information discussed at daily meetings of a crisis group that is led by Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda.
In a letter on March 31, RFE/RL President Jamie Fly criticized the government for obstructing the efforts of the broadcaster's journalists to cover the coronavirus pandemic in the Central Asian nation.
Fly expressed frustration at the government’s attempts to interfere with the operations of the service, known locally as Radio Ozodi, at a time when information "is needed more than ever.”
The Tajik Foreign Ministry is set to decide on long-standing accreditation requests from Radio Ozodi journalists in the coming days.
It has been reluctant since late October to fully grant one-year accreditations to 18 RFE/RL journalists and staff members of RFE/RL’s Tajik Service whose credentials have been withheld by the ministry or which expired on November 1.
Armenia
Armenian health authorities have reported two more coronavirus-related deaths, raising the national death toll from the epidemic to six.
The total number of coronavirus cases declared by the Health Ministry on April 2 was 663, an increase of 92 infections during the previous 24 hours. That is Armenia's highest single-day increase.
Three of those infected were said to be in a critical condition.
Armenia on March 16 declared a state of emergency through April 14. The movement of citizens has been restricted in the country since March 25.
Self-isolation rules and travel restrictions were tightened and extended on March 31 for "at least 10 days."
Armenia’s legislature also has granted authorities the power to track citizens’ mobile phone data in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.
Justice Minister Rustam Badasian has said the extraordinary measure would not infringe on privacy and civil rights or be used for eavesdropping on opposition figures.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, Zvyazda, BelTA, and MIR


rferl--2020-04-02--Pakistani Court Overturns Conviction, Death Sentence In Daniel Pearl Murder

A Pakistani court has overturned a death sentence and murder conviction imposed on a British-born militant over the 2002 killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl .
Defense lawyer Khawja Naveed said that , in handing down the decision , a two-member bench of the High Court of Sindh Province reduced Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh 's sentence to seven years in prison for kidnapping .
Since Sheikh has been in prison since 2002 , he was expected to be released , but the court had yet to issue such an order , Naveed added .
Pearl , 38 , was The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chief when he was abducted and beheaded in Karachi in 2002 , while researching a story about Islamist militants .
A video showing Pearl 's decapitation was delivered to the U.S. consulate in Karachi nearly a month later .
Sheikh , a former student at the London School of Economics , was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court , while three other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment .
Naveed said those three had been acquitted by the court in its new ruling .
Faiz Shah , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appeal the ruling .
`` We will go through the court order once it is issued , we will probably file an appeal , '' Shah told Reuters .
In January 2011 , a report released by the Pearl Project , an investigative journalism team at Georgetown University in Washington , claimed that the wrong men were convicted for Pearl 's murder .
The investigation claimed the reporter was murdered by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , the alleged mastermind of the September 11 , 2001 , attacks .
Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba .
Based on reporting by AFP , Reuters , and AP

A Pakistani court has overturned a death sentence and murder conviction imposed on a British-born militant over the 2002 killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl.
Defense lawyer Khawja Naveed said that, in handing down the decision, a two-member bench of the High Court of Sindh Province reduced Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh's sentence to seven years in prison for kidnapping, in what international media freedom watchdogs called a "denial of justice."
The United States said the decision was an "affront to victims of terrorism."
Since Sheikh has been in prison since 2002, he was expected to be released, but the court had yet to issue such an order, Naveed added.
Pearl, 38, was The Wall Street Journal's South Asia bureau chief when he was abducted and beheaded in Karachi in 2002, while researching a story about Islamist militants.
A video showing Pearl's decapitation was delivered to the U.S. consulate in Karachi nearly a month later.
Sheikh, a former student at the London School of Economics, was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court, while three other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Naveed said those three had been acquitted by the court in its new ruling.
Faiz Shah, the provincial prosecutor-general, said he intends to appeal the ruling.
"We will go through the court order once it is issued, we will probably file an appeal," Shah told Reuters.
Alice Wells, principal deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asian affairs at the U.S. State Department, said on Twitter that the overturning of the convictions was "an affront to victims of terrorism everywhere."
"We welcome Pakistan’s decision to appeal the verdict," Wells added. "Those responsible for Daniel's heinous kidnapping and murder must face the full measure of justice."
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it was “deeply disappointed to see justice in the murder case of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl denied by a Pakistani court today."
Reporters Without Borders condemned the court's "incoherent" ruling, which the watchdog called "a shocking denial of justice" for Pearl’s family and "a symbol of impunity for crimes of violence against journalists in Pakistan.”
In January 2011, a report released by the Pearl Project, an investigative journalism team at Georgetown University in Washington, claimed that the wrong men were convicted for Pearl's murder.
The investigation claimed the reporter was murdered by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and is being held in the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP


rferl--2020-04-02--Report: Iran 'Directly Involved' In Killing Of Iranian Dissident In Turkey, U.S. Believes

A senior U.S. official has told Reuters that Washington believes agents under the direction of Tehran were `` directly involved '' in the killing of an Iranian dissident in November in Turkey .
Masud Molavi Vardanjani , a former intelligence operative for Iran before he began exposing corruption involving Iranian officials , was shot and killed in Istanbul on November 14 .
`` Given Iran 's history of targeted assassinations of Iranian dissidents and the methods used in Turkey , the United States government believes that Iran 's Ministry of Intelligence and Security ( MOIS ) was directly involved in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. administration official told Reuters on condition of anonymity .
Reuters last week quoted two Turkish officials as saying that two intelligence officers in Iran 's consulate in Istanbul had instigated his killing .
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted late on April 1 that he was disturbed by reports that Iranian diplomats were involved in the killing of a dissident .
Pompeo , who did not name Vardanjani , said the reports are `` fully consistent '' with the diplomats ' assignments .
Pompeo in November had previously described Vardanjani 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a long string of suspected Iran-backed assassination attempts '' of Iranian dissidents .
He had not elaborated further .
Vardanjani fled Iran to Istanbul in June 2018 after being put under investigation by Iranian authorities .
A Turkish police report published last month said Vardanjani had an “ unusual profile , ” and that he had worked in cybersecurity at Iran ’ s Defense Ministry before becoming a vocal critic of the country 's regime .
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have been running high in recent years after President Donald Trump pulled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deal with other global powers that aimed to curb Iran 's nuclear program .