rferl--2020-03-23--COVID-19: Cases In Romania, Russia Jump; Montenegro Records Its First Death

The global death toll from the coronavirus has topped 16,000 with more than 367,000 infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Romania on March 23 reported a steep increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths during the previous 24 hours , as President Klaus Iohannis implored the public to observe self-isolation to slow the spread of the outbreak .
Romania 's Strategic Communication Group , the crisis body that deals with the outbreak , said 143 new cases have been confirmed , bringing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent single-day increase -- with three new deaths inside the country , bringing the total to five .
All those who died were elderly people who had previous health conditions .
Seven Romanians have so far been killed by the infection abroad -- six in Italy and one in Spain .
In a live televised address on March 23 , Iohannis appealed to Romanians to avoid leaving their homes unless absolutely necessary .
Romania has been under a state of emergency due to the outbreak since March 16 .
However , on March @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other cities largely ignored the authorities ' guidelines and took advantage of the warm weather to stroll in parks and have barbecues in forests .
`` It 's a cruel irony , but today and in the coming weeks , helping others means staying away from them , '' Iohannis said , adding that `` social distancing is the way out of this incredibly difficult situation . ''
Tens of thousands of Romanians have been returning over the past week from Italy and Spain , the European countries worst affected by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Romania 's already overstretched social and health systems .
Russia confirmed 71 new coronavirus infections on March 23 , bringing the country ’ s official number of cases up to 438 , as the country widened its ban on international flights .
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on March 23 that the government is monitoring data coming from the ministries , agencies , and regions and is taking measures to prevent the coronavirus spread .
`` I have ordered Roszdravnadzor ( Russia ’ s health watchdog ) jointly with regions to provide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March 24 on local medical facilities ’ readiness to treat coronavirus patients , '' Mishustin said .
As of March 23 , Russian airlines will only service foreign capitals or large cities like New York and only from Moscow airports , state agency Rosavia said .
Russia will continue to permit charter flights exclusively for the evacuation of citizens stuck overseas , it said .
Nearly 20,000 Russian citizens have been evacuated from countries suffering from a high number of coronavirus cases .
However , Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the Russian capital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ step three Ukrainian cities , including Kyiv , took where subways operate .
The Moscow metro transports several million people a day to work and its closure would have severe consequences for the city 's economy .
The Culture Ministry has recommended that all movie theaters be closed as of March 23 .
Earlier in the month , the ministry closed all theaters , philharmonics , circuses , and movie theaters that belong to it .
Russia , the world ’ s ninth-most populous nation , has registered relatively few cases of COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its European neighbors , raising questions about the accuracy of the tally .
Moscow , Europe 's second-largest city with about 12 million inhabitants , has registered just 137 cases of COVID-19 .
New York City , which has just over 8 million people , has registered more than 8,000 cases .
Russia also shares one of the world ’ s largest borders with China , where the new coronavirus originated .
China has registered more than 81,000 cases .
Montenegro has confirmed its first coronavirus-related death after a 65-year-old man died in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Jevto Erakovic , director of the Clinical Center of Montenegro , said on March 22 that the man , who suffered from chronic lung disease , had been brought to the facility a day earlier .
Montenegro , a former Yugoslav republic on the Adriatic coast with around 620,000 people , was the last European country to report a confirmed case of the coronavirus when it did so on March 17 .
It now has 22 reported cases even though the government had sealed its borders , halted public transport , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to stem the spread of the outbreak .
Iran has again rejected the United States ' offer of humanitarian assistance , with President Hassan Rohani saying that Washington should lift sanctions if it wants to help Tehran fight the coronavirus outbreak .
`` American leaders are lying ... .
If they want to help Iran , all they need to do is to lift sanctions ... .
Then we can deal with the coronavirus outbreak , '' Rohani said in a televised speech on March 23 .
Iran is the Middle Eastern nation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Health Ministry announced on March 23 that another 127 Iranians had died from the virus , bring the death toll to 1,812 , with more than 23,000 confirmed cases , an increase of over 1,400 cases from the previous day .
Washington has offered humanitarian assistance to its longtime foe .
But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected the offer on March 22 .
Tensions between Iran and the United States have been running high since 2018 , when President Donald Trump abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal Tehran reached with six world powers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crippled the Iranian economy .
Iranian authorities have blamed U.S. sanctions for hampering its efforts to curb the outbreak .
`` You have blocked Iran 's oil exports , you have stopped Iran 's banking transactions ... .
Your offer of help is the biggest lie in history , '' Rohani said .
The United States has said the spread of the coronavirus will not save Iran from U.S. sanctions that are curbing its oil revenues and putting huge pressure on its economy .
Uzbekistan closed its borders on March 23 and announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Tashkent , from March 24 to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
Uzbekistan has at least 46 confirmed coronavirus cases , all but one in Tashkent , a city of more than 2.5 million .
The government has already shut down public transit in the capital and ordered most businesses to switch to remote working .
It also closed borders as of midnight , allowing only foreign nationals to leave .
In neighboring Kazakhstan , President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev ordered state-owned companies on March 23 to start selling part of their foreign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The measure is meant to support the local tenge currency , which has continued to weaken sharply amid the coronavirus outbreak and the drastic global drop in the price of oil , the country 's main export .
In a meeting with his cabinet , Toqaev also ordered state-owned companies to start converting their foreign-currency deposits into tenge and pay out up to 100 percent of last year 's profits in dividends .
Toqaev also ordered a freeze on bank loan repayments by individuals and small- and medium-sized businesses for the duration of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus outbreak , which is set to last until at least mid-April but may be extended .
Another Central Asian country , Kyrgyzstan , declared a state of emergency on March 22 over the outbreak .
There have been 14 officially confirmed cases in Kyrgyzstan .
Foreigners have been banned from entering the country , while air and railway service has been suspended with an exception of weekly flights from Moscow to the capital , Bishkek , and Osh .
Schools , universities , and kindergartens will stay closed until at least April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus cases rise to 73 as the capital , Kyiv , on March 23 is closing all public transportation for noncritical personnel .
The Health Ministry ’ s Center for Public Health said that as of 10:50 p.m. local time on March 22 , there were 26 new cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19 in nine regions and the city of Kyiv .
The ministry says it is further monitoring more than 360 suspected cases , including over 239 patients in hospitals .
Health Minister Illya Yemets said on March 22 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of emergency .
“ I have been talking about this since the first day of my work in the government .
It had to be done from the beginning .
If it were to succeed , there would be no such [ virus ] spread , which is now developing geometrically , ” Yemets told 112 TV in an interview .
Meanwhile , one of several planned medical supply flights from China has arrived in Kyiv , the Ukrainian presidential office said on March 23 .
It brought an unspecified number of polymerase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well as 250,000 express tests including different kind of protective medical masks , disinfectants , and “ artificial ventilation apparatus and other means necessary to combat the spread of COVID-19 , ” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ’ s office said .
Each regional laboratory on March 23 will receive the PCR tests .
The procurement was made with the assistance of large Ukrainian business owners .
“ This is only the first batch of medical cargo from China .
Several more flights are planned for this week , ” the presidential office said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus in Ukraine as schools have remained closed nationwide .
Eateries , bars , gyms , theaters , shopping malls , as well as subways operating in three cities , have been also been kept closed .
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov the previous day called for a nationwide quarantine to slow the spread of the coronavirus as Ukraine 's capital and largest city , Kyiv , said it would shut all public transportation for noncritical personnel .
Avakov , one of the most powerful officials in Ukraine , said the measures already put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be “ significantly toughened ” in the coming days .
He said only “ critical ” industries should remain open and everyone else sent home .
“ A total , full quarantine is my position , which I want to ask of each of you .
And I will insist on it , according to the power of my position , ” Avakov said in a Facebook post on March 21 .
Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said in a March 21 video post that only people whose work is vital to the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The new measure goes into effect on March 23 , he said .
Armenia ’ s parliament has backed a government proposal to introduce prison sentences for people found guilty of defying quarantine or self-isolation orders issued by health authorities in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus infections .
The bill passed in its second and final reading on March 23 , three days after it was initially approved by the National Assembly .
The government moved to impose penalties last week following the declaration of a one-month state of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far reported 194 coronavirus cases but no deaths .
About 600 people in the country are being kept in quarantine and hundreds of others are in self-isolation , according to the authorities .
The legislation calls for prison sentences ranging from one year to five years and fines of up to 1 million drams ( $ 2,026 ) for violating confinement orders .
It also envisages financial penalties for TV , radio , print , and online media outlets disseminating unauthorized information about the deadly virus .
The bill initially stipulated that all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ must reflect information provided by government sources .
Opposition politicians , civic activists , and journalists have decried this provision , saying that it would legalize censorship and puts unnecessary curbs on press freedom .
At least two Armenian media outlets have been ordered to delete coronavirus-related stories from their websites in recent days .
The authorities have also forced several Facebook users to delete posts critical of the government ’ s handling of the outbreak .
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak , another sporting blow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One motor car race was to be held at the Baku City Circuit on June 7 .
`` The postponement was agreed upon after extensive discussions with Formula 1 as well as the FIA ( the international racing-events governing body ) and the government of the Azerbaijan Republic , ” organizers of the Baku race said in a statement .
`` This comes as a direct result of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and has been based entirely on the expert guidance provided to us by the relevant authorities , '' they added @ @ @ @ @ @ @ racing has now postponed or canceled eight races this season , meaning the earliest the circuit can start is in mid-June .
The postponement comes on the heels of another disappointing sporting decision for Azerbaijanis caused by the global coronavirus outbreak .
Baku was to host four soccer games including one of the quarterfinals of the Euro 2020 championship over the summer .
UEFA , European football ’ s governing body , has postponed the tournament until 2021 .
Azerbaijan has reported 65 confirmed cases of the coronavirus , with one death , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Coronavirus Resource Center .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Ukrainian , Balkan , Uzbek , Kazakh , Romanian , and Kyrgyz services , RIA Novosti , RBK news agency , TASS , Reuters , Interfax , AFP , g4media.ro , and digi24.ro


rferl--2020-03-24--COVID-19: Iranian Virus Deaths Near 2,000 , Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan Put Capitals In Lockdown

The global death toll from the coronavirus has topped 16,000 with more than 380,000 infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Iran has reported reported 122 new coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours , raising the toll to 1,934 , as President Hassan Rohani announced that half of all government employees were staying at home in a bid to slow the outbreak .
Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said on state TV on March 24 that the total number of people diagnosed with the disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hours , to 24,811 .
Iran is one of the countries.that has been hardest hit by the virus .
According to the state-run IRNA news agency , the dead included the mother-in-law of the son of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei .
Rohani also said on state TV on March 24 that another measure , the temporary release of prisoners , will be extended until the end of the current Iranian month of Farvardin , about April 18 .
Iranian authorities on March 9 temporarily released about 70,000 prisoners because of the new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iran again rejected the United States ' offer of humanitarian assistance , with Rohani saying that Washington should lift sanctions if it wants to help Tehran fight the coronavirus outbreak .
Tensions between Iran and the United States have been running high since 2018 , when President Donald Trump abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal Tehran reached with six world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy .
Kyrgyzstan has imposed a state of emergency in the capital and several other cities and regions to slow the spread of the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ announced on March 24 .
`` President Sooronbai Jeenbekov has signed decrees to enact a state of emergency in the cities of Bishkek , Osh , and Jalal-Abad , as well as the Nookat and Kara-Suu districts of the Osh region and the Suzak district of the Jalal-Abad region .
The decrees have been sent to parliament , '' it said .
The decrees were immediately sent to parliament , which unanimously approved them in an emergency session .
Kyrgyzstan 's Security Council first recommended the state of emergency on March 22 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and took some measures such as placing checkpoints in every region and city .
In the southern district of Nookat , regional officials already declared a local state of emergency on March 21 after three coronavirus cases were reported there .
Under the state of emergency which , after parliament 's approval , will come into force on March 25 and will last until April 15 , a curfew will be enacted and measures to maintain public order and security at strategic facilities will be stepped up , the statement said .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other mass events as well as strikes , rallies , meetings , street marches , demonstrations , and pickets .
Kyrgyzstan 's Health Ministry reported 26 more confirmed cases on March 23 , bringing the total number to 42 .
In neighboring Uzbekistan , the capital , Tashkent , went into lockdown on March 24 to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak .
Uzbekistan has 49 confirmed coronavirus cases , all but one in Tashkent , a city of more than 2.5 million .
Uzbekistan closed its borders on March 23 and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the capital and ordered most businesses to switch to remote working .
Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Chicu has imposed further freedom-of-movement restrictions , banning people from visiting parks and other recreation sites in an effort to stem the spread ofthe coronavirus .
`` Starting from March 24 , city residents are prohibited from visiting parks and other public zones where people gather .
This measure is tough , but is necessary for containing the coronavirus .
The Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry will be responsible for enforcing these measures , '' Chicu @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commission late on March 23 .
Additional measures include shutting down public transportation , outdoor food markets , mail delivery , and the closing of all commercial shops except for grocery stores and pharmacies .
Residents were instructed to stay at home and can only leave for work or to shop for food .
Moldova reported 15 new cases of COVID-19 on March 23 , bringing the total number of infections to 109 .
A national emergency is in place until May 15 .
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says there is no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of emergency even as a leading health official announced 10 more cases of coronavirus .
`` At the moment , there is no need to introduce a state of emergency in Ukraine .
A state of emergency is introduced when there are extreme events .
Today , the development of the coronavirus in Ukraine is quite moderate compared to many European countries , '' Shmyhal told local television late on March 23 .
He added that measures the government is currently taking are ample for the time being , though the situation may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the spread of the coronavirus .
Chief Medical Officer Viktor Lyashko said on March 23 that preliminary tests show 10 more people have been infected with COVID-19 , the disease caused by the coronavirus .
Confirmation of their tests is expected on March 24 and could raise the number of confirmed cases to 83 .
Three deaths have been recorded linked to the virus .
According to the Interior Ministry , more than 72,000 Ukrainians have returned from abroad , including from some of the hardest hit European countries , since a nationwide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ April 3 .
Among those diagnosed with the coronavirus are several members of parliament , including Ruslan Horbenko , a member of the ruling party .
Meanwhile , President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged the heads of church confessions to conduct prayer services online and without the presence of people at places of worship .
`` I thank those church leaders who understand the danger and conduct divine service online , without people .
I am sure other leaders will join these forced measures .
After all , today people really need faith , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' he said .
Since March 17 , all aviation , rail and bus services with foreign countries and within the country have been shut down .
Shopping centers , cafes , restaurants , gyms , and other nonessential facilities have been shuttered .
Only grocery stores , pharmacies , gas stations , and banks are still open .
The previous day , Kyiv further closed public transportation , allowing only critical personnel to take buses , trolleybuses , and trams .
Metro systems were closed in Kyiv , Odesa , and Dnipro @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including Kyiv , have declared states of emergency .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Kyrgyz , Uzbek , Moldovan , and Ukrainian services , Reuters , IRNA , TASS , and Interfax

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach have agreed to put off the Tokyo 2020 games for one year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The move, unprecedented in peacetime, was requested "taking into consideration the current circumstances," Abe said, noting that all parties want a secure and safe environment for the athletes and crowds.
The Olympics, which have been held every four years since 1948, is to date the highest-profile event affected by the virus, which has killed more nearly 19,000 and infected over 422,000 people, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try and slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of other coronavirus developments in RFE/RL's broadcast countries.
Iran
Iran, one of the hardest-hit countries in the world by the coronavirus, has rejected an offer from a Geneva-based medical charity to set up a 50-bed inflatable hospital in the central city of Isfahan to deal with the epidemic.
The total number of people diagnosed with the disease increased by 1,762 during the previous 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on March 24, raising the total figure to 24,811.
The ministry also announced 122 new deaths from the virus, putting the official toll at 1,934.
"We are surprised to learn that the deployment of our treatment unit is canceled," Michel-Olivier Lacharite, who is in charge of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) crisis-response team, said in a statement on March 24.
Lacharite said the organization had been ready to set up the unit at the end of the week after being given prior approval from the authorities.
Alireza Vahabzadeh, adviser to Iran's health minister, tweeted that "it is not necessary for now for hospital beds to be set up by foreign forces, and their presence is ruled out."
Vahabzadeh cited Iran's "national mobilization against the virus and the full use of the medical capacity of the armed forces" as the reasons for the refusal.
On March 22, MSF said it was sending a 50-bed inflatable hospital and an emergency team to Isfahan to treat patients critically ill with COVID-19.
An MSF team comprised of nine emergency and intensive-care unit doctors and logisticians was to run the unit to be set up in the compound of the city’s Amin hospital, the organization said.
The announcement stirred opposition from Iranian hard-liners, who alleged that MSF staff would serve as "spies."
Iranian officials have previously rejected the United States' offer of humanitarian assistance, saying that Washington should lift sanctions if it wants to help Tehran fight the epidemic.
Iran has been under crippling U.S. sanctions in connection with its nuclear and missile program.
On March 24, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called for any sanctions imposed on countries like Iran to be "urgently reevaluated" to avoid pushing strained medical systems into collapse.
"At this crucial time, both for global public-health reasons, and to support the rights and lives of millions of people in these countries, sectoral sanctions should be eased or suspended," Bachelet said.
More than 50 Iranian medics have died since the first coronavirus case was detected in the country five weeks ago, according to her office.
Iranian President Hassan Rohani on March 24 announced that about half of all government employees were staying at home in a bid to slow the coronavirus outbreak.
Rohani also said the temporary release of prisoners will be extended until the end of the current Iranian month of Farvardin, about April 18.
Iranian authorities say they have temporarily released tens of thousands of prisoners because of the epidemic.
Russia
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has warned President Vladimir Putin that the number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Russia is likely to rise sharply in the days ahead as health officials dramatically increase the number of tests they are carrying out.
Sobyanin, who heads a coronavirus task force at Russia's State Council, told Putin on March 24 that the number of tests performed in Moscow will increase from about 3,000 a day to 13,000 per day by the end of this week.
"The problem is that the volume of testing is very low and no one has a clear picture" of the situation in Russia and the world, Sobyanin told Putin.
"The picture that is unfolding is serious," he said, warning that the number of infected people in Russia was "significantly" higher than official figures.
Russia has registered 495 cases of the coronavirus and maintains that there have not been any deaths from the disease in the country.
One patient with coronavirus died in a Russian hospital, but the authorities are not counting the woman's death as part of its coronavirus toll -- saying she died from a blood clot.
However, a global database maintained by Johns Hopkins University is including that patient in its coronavirus death toll.
Some experts say Russia's relatively low number of confirmed coronavirus infections could be attributed to its slow pace of screening.
Until recently, just one lab in Novosibirsk was analyzing tests from all over Russia.
Russia is now taking steps to open new labs and increase the number of tests being carried out for coronavirus.
Putin, meanwhile, visited a Moscow hospital for coronavirus patients on March 24 -- donning a yellow hazmat suit with a protective mask within an area where patients were being treated.
During his visit to a hospital in the Moscow suburb of Kommunarka, Putin praised doctors for their efforts in treating infected patients, saying they were working "like clockwork, a well-oiled machine."
"I could see how well the seriously ill patients are being cared for with three specialists working on one patient at once," Putin said in comments published on the Kremlin website.
Armenia
Armenia has ordered nearly all people in the country to remain at home except to buy food, receive medical care, or to exercise, with only "vitally" necessary workers allowed to go to their jobs as the government steps up measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision announced on March 24 by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian came hours after a government task force ordered a partial closure of virtually all state agencies, allowing only a limited number of employees to show up for work.
Armenia, a South Caucasus country of just under 3 million people, has reported 249 coronavirus cases, a rise of 14 over the past 24 hours.
Pashinian said in a nationally televised address that one of the persons infected, a 77-year-old man, was in "extremely grave" condition and that four others were in "grave" condition.
The prime minister added that 868 Armenians remained in quarantine and more than 2,400 others were in self-isolation.
At least 37 people were released from a two-week quarantine on March 24 after testing negative for the virus.
In his address, Pashinian said that the lockdown "means the work of thousands of enterprises will be halted and only vitally necessary entities will be allowed to operate."
He said the measures would be in effect "for at least a week."
"Our fellow citizens taking to the streets will have to clearly explain where they are going and those explanations must fit into the logic of people's vital movements," Pashinian warned.
He said that only people over the age of 65 would be allowed to go shopping between 10 a.m. and noon each day.
As part of the measures, the government earlier ordered the temporary closure of all cafes and restaurants as well as most businesses in the country.
Pashinian urged Armenians to, if possible, use online services provided by state and private entities.
He also stressed that food stores, pharmacies, and bank offices will remain open and that no restrictions will be placed on agricultural work.
"We are overcoming coronavirus step by step...rest assured that we will defeat this evil," Pashinian said.
The government on March 16 declared a one-month state of emergency to slow the spread of the disease.
It had previously closed its border with Iran -- one of the hardest-hit countries in the world by the virus -- and Georgia.
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Kyrgyzstan has imposed a state of emergency in the capital and several other cities and regions to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, the country's presidential service announced on March 24.
"President Sooronbai Jeenbekov has signed decrees to enact a state of emergency in the cities of Bishkek, Osh, and Jalal-Abad, as well as the Nookat and Kara-Suu districts of the Osh region and the Suzak district of the Jalal-Abad region. The decrees have been sent to parliament," it said.
The decrees were immediately sent to parliament, which unanimously approved them in an emergency session.
Kyrgyzstan's Security Council first recommended the state of emergency on March 22, and the government subsequently imposed some restrictions and took some measures such as placing checkpoints in every region and city.
In the southern district of Nookat, regional officials already declared a local state of emergency on March 21 after three coronavirus cases were reported there.
Under the state of emergency which, after parliament's approval, will come into force on March 25 and will last until April 15, a curfew will be enacted and measures to maintain public order and security at strategic facilities will be stepped up, the statement said.
The decree bans artistic, sports, and other mass events as well as strikes, rallies, meetings, street marches, demonstrations, and pickets.
In line with the presidential decree declaring a state of emergency, the government said all internal flights will be suspended in Kyrgyzstan from March 25.
Exceptions will be made for special flights upon agreement with the country's headquarters for coronavirus actions, according to Deputy Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov.
Kyrgyzstan's Health Ministry reported 26 more confirmed cases on March 23, bringing the total number to 42.
Tajikistan, which has not reported any coronavirus cases so far, decided to close its border with Kyrgyzstan starting on March 24 "until the situation stabilizes," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The decision does not apply to Tajik citizens returning to their home country, foreigners departing from Tajikistan, drivers of goods vehicles, diplomats and their families, and members of government delegations.
In neighboring Uzbekistan, the capital, Tashkent, went into lockdown on March 24 to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
Uzbekistan has 50 confirmed coronavirus cases, all but one in Tashkent, a city of more than 2.5 million.
Uzbekistan closed its borders on March 23 and has already shut down public transit in the capital and ordered most businesses to switch to remote working.
Pakistan
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says the media in Pakistan should temporarily close their bureaus to lower health risks after three TV journalists working in the field tested positive for the coronavirus.
"You cannot rule out the possibility that the three journalists who have tested positive for COVID-19 caught it while reporting in the field," Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk, said in a statement on March 23, a day after it emerged that two journalists with News 24 HD TV and one with AbbTakk TV had tested positive.
The journalists are based in Lahore, the capital of the eastern province of Punjab.
"We ask all of the country's media executives and owners to put their reporters' health first and not send large numbers of them into the field," Bastard said. "Everything must be put in place so that they can work from home and avoid any potential source of infection."
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Pakistan has passed 950, with seven deaths.
Romania
President Klaus Iohannis has said that Romania will deploy the military to help impose a "total quarantine" to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak amid a spike in the number of confirmed cases.
Romania declared a state of emergency on March 16, but the number of cases has continued to rise sharply as many people have been ignoring the government's recommendations to remain indoors.
On March 24, authorities reported 186 more infections -- the highest day-to-day increase so far -- and one more death, bringing the total to 762 confirmed cases and eight fatalities.
Iohannis said in a live televised address that starting from March 25, people will only be allowed to leave home to buy food or medicine, to go to work, or for emergencies. Those over 65 will be completely banned from leaving their homes.
Those who have been placed in self-quarantine will be monitored electronically, Iohannis said. He did not elaborate.
Iohannis said previous recommendations will become mandatory and the army will be deployed to help police the streets.
"The restrictions, dear Romanians, will come into force from tomorrow," Iohannis said.
Moldova
Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Chicu has imposed further freedom-of-movement restrictions, banning people from visiting parks and other recreation sites in an effort to stem the spread ofthe coronavirus.
"Starting from March 24, city residents are prohibited from visiting parks and other public zones where people gather. This measure is tough, but is necessary for containing the coronavirus. The Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry will be responsible for enforcing these measures," Chicu told a session of the emergency situations commission late on March 23.
Additional measures include shutting down public transportation, outdoor food markets, mail delivery, and the closing of all commercial shops except for grocery stores and pharmacies.
Residents were instructed to stay at home and can only leave for work or to shop for food.
Moldova reported 15 new cases of COVID-19 on March 23, bringing the total number of infections to 109.
A national emergency is in place until May 15.
Ukraine
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says there is no need yet to declare a national state of emergency even as a leading health official announced 10 more cases of coronavirus.
"At the moment, there is no need to introduce a state of emergency in Ukraine. A state of emergency is introduced when there are extreme events. Today, the development of the coronavirus in Ukraine is quite moderate compared to many European countries," Shmyhal told local television late on March 23.
He added that measures the government is currently taking are ample for the time being, though the situation may change in the coming weeks due to the spread of the coronavirus.
Chief Medical Officer Viktor Lyashko said on March 23 that preliminary tests showed 10 more people have been infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Confirmation of their tests is expected on March 24 and could raise the number of confirmed cases to 83. Three deaths have been recorded linked to the virus.
According to the Interior Ministry, more than 72,000 Ukrainians have returned from abroad, including from some of the hardest-hit European countries, since a nationwide quarantine was imposed from March 12 to April 3.
Among those diagnosed with the coronavirus are several members of parliament, including Ruslan Horbenko, a member of the ruling party.
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged the heads of church confessions to conduct prayer services online and without the presence of people at places of worship.
"I thank those church leaders who understand the danger and conduct divine service online, without people. I am sure other leaders will join these forced measures. After all, today people really need faith, but they equally need basic security," he said.
Since March 17, all aviation, rail, and bus services with foreign countries and within the country have been shut down. Shopping centers, cafes, restaurants, gyms, and other nonessential facilities have been shuttered. Only grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, and banks are still open.
The previous day, Kyiv further closed public transportation, allowing only critical personnel to take buses, trolleybuses, and trams. Subway systems were closed in Kyiv, Odesa, and Dnipro on March 17.
Several cities, including Kyiv, have declared states of emergency.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Armenian, Kyrgyz, Moldovan, Romanian, Tajik, Ukrainian, and Uzbek services, Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, IRNA, TASS, Interfax, Digi24.ro, G4media.ro, and Hotnews.ro


rferl--2020-03-24--Polish Court Convicts Three Men For Torching Hungarian Center In Ukraine

A court in Krakow has found three Polish men with right-wing , pro-Russian leanings guilty of committing terrorist acts for their roles in firebombing a Hungarian cultural center in western Ukraine last year .
They were convicted on March 23 of torching a Hungarian-funded cultural center in Ukraine ’ s westernmost Zakarpattya region where more than 100,000 ethnic Hungarians reside .
The mastermind , 29-year-old Michal Prokopowicz , was sentenced to three years in prison .
His accomplice , Tomasz Rafal Szymkowiak , 23 , was given two years .
A third suspect , 26-year-old Adrian Marglewski , who cooperated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years of supervised release and ordered to do community service .
The center was attacked on February 4 , 2019 when a Molotov cocktail was thrown through its window .
Later that month , another was thrown , causing a fire that destroyed most of the ground floor .
Poland ’ s domestic security agency , ABW , detained the three suspects the same month .
Ukrainian authorities had given Polish authorities evidence and closed-caption video footage of the men staying at a hostel in the regional capital of Uzhhorod , where they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They were also shown purchasing gasoline at a local gas station .
`` This attack was in line with the course of Russia 's actions against Ukraine : the purpose was to weaken Ukraine internally and destabilize the situation in this country , ” Mariusz Sadlo , a national prosecutor in Warsaw ’ s department of Organized Crime and Corruption , said in the courtroom .
The incident prompted Hungary to summon the Ukrainian ambassador to warn against rising `` extremism '' in the country .
It further strained relations between the neighboring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was enacted in 2017 , elevating the status of the Ukrainian language and which Budapest said restricted the right of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine to be educated in their native language .
Prokopowicz is a member of the ultraright , pro-Russian Zmiana party , whose founder -- Mateusz Piskorski -- was arrested in 2016 on suspicion of spying for Russia and China .
Szymkowiak and Marglewski are members of the neofascist Falanga group whose members have been known to have participated in the war in Ukraine ’ s east on the side of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pleaded not guilty .
During the trial on January 14 , Prokopowicz told the court that he received instructions and money for the arson attack from a German journalist who has worked as a consultant for a German member of parliament with the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany ( AfD ) party .
Prokopowicz named Manuel Oschsenreiter , who has denied the allegation as `` false . ''
Oschsenreiter is known to have ties to Zmiana and is editor of the right-wing German magazine Zuerst !
( First ! )
.
He has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over the past six years , voicing support for Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and denouncing what he calls the Western media ’ s anti-Moscow bias .
With additional reporting by The Ukrainian Week magazine

A court in Krakow has found three Polish men with right-wing, pro-Russian leanings guilty of committing terrorist acts for their roles in firebombing a Hungarian cultural center in western Ukraine last year.
They were convicted on March 23 of torching a Hungarian-funded cultural center in Ukraine’s westernmost Zakarpattya region where more than 100,000 ethnic Hungarians reside.
The mastermind, 29-year-old Michal Prokopowicz, was sentenced to three years in prison.
His accomplice, Tomasz Rafal Szymkowiak, 23, was given two years.
A third suspect, 26-year-old Adrian Marglewski, who cooperated with investigators, was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to do community service.
The center was attacked on February 4, 2019 when a Molotov cocktail was thrown through its window. Later that month, another was thrown, causing a fire that destroyed most of the ground floor.
Poland’s domestic security agency, ABW, detained the three suspects the same month.
Ukrainian authorities had given Polish authorities evidence and closed-caption video footage of the men staying at a hostel in the regional capital of Uzhhorod, where they had registered in their real names. They were also shown purchasing gasoline at a local gas station.
"This attack was in line with the course of Russia's actions against Ukraine: the purpose was to weaken Ukraine internally and destabilize the situation in this country,” Mariusz Sadlo, a national prosecutor in Warsaw’s department of Organized Crime and Corruption, said in the courtroom.
The incident prompted Hungary to summon the Ukrainian ambassador to warn against rising "extremism" in the country.
It further strained relations between the neighboring countries over a Ukrainian education law that was enacted in 2017, elevating the status of the Ukrainian language and which Budapest said restricted the right of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine to be educated in their native language.
Prokopowicz is a member of the ultraright, pro-Russian Zmiana party, whose founder -- Mateusz Piskorski -- was arrested in 2016 on suspicion of spying for Russia and China.
Szymkowiak and Marglewski are members of the neofascist Falanga group whose members have been known to have participated in the war in Ukraine’s east on the side of Russian-backed separatists.
Prokopowicz and Szymkowiak had pleaded not guilty.
During the trial on January 14, Prokopowicz told the court that he received instructions and money for the arson attack from a German journalist who has worked as a consultant for a German member of parliament with the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Prokopowicz named Manuel Oschsenreiter, who has denied the allegation as "false."
Oschsenreiter is known to have ties to Zmiana and is editor of the right-wing German magazine Zuerst! (First!).
He has been a frequent commentator in Russian state media over the past six years, voicing support for Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and denouncing what he calls the Western media’s anti-Moscow bias.
With additional reporting by The Ukrainian Week magazine


rferl--2020-03-23--Pompeo Announces Slashing Of U.S. Aid to Afghanistan After Visit To Kabul

The U.S. State Department has announced a $ 1 billion reduction in aid to Afghanistan and a review of the scope of its cooperation with the country .
The announcement came on March 23 after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on a visit to Kabul failed to convince President Ashraf Ghani and former Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah to end a feud that has jeopardized a peace deal signed last month .
Pompeo announced the slashing of aid in a statement released late on March 23 .
It said Pompeo went to Kabul with an urgent message and `` spoke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impress upon them the need to compromise for the sake of the Afghan people . ''
Pompeo ’ s harshly worded statement said the United States deeply regrets that Ghani and Abdullah have been unable to agree on an inclusive government .
Pompeo said the United States was disappointed in them , adding that their failure has harmed U.S.-Afghan relations and dishonors the Afghan , Americans , and coalition partners who died in the struggle to build a new future for the country .
The reduction in aid is immediate along with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also prepared to reduce assistance next year by an additional $ 1 billion , he said .
After departing Kabul , Pompeo made a stop in Doha , for a meeting with three top Taliban leaders .
State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said he met with the Taliban 's chief negotiator , Mullah Baradar , and two other Taliban leaders .
The meeting in the Qatari capital -- the highest-level ever held between U.S. and Taliban representatives -- was meant to press the Taliban to continue to comply with a peace deal that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ February 29 , Ortagus said .
Pompeo was hoping to advance progress on the peace deal that could lead to the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan and an end to the country 's 18-year conflict .
Since the signing of the deal with the Taliban , political turmoil has complicated the peace process , which has ground to a halt , with both Ghani and Abdullah arguing they had won the presidency through a contested election in September .
After his talks with the Taliban leaders , Pompeo told reporters that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coalition were moving forward with a planned withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan .
“ We have a commitment that has a timeline , ” he said .
“ We are moving down that timeline.
” The Taliban has not given up its campaign of violence against the Afghan government or gone ahead with promised talks with Kabul .
But Pompeo said that the reduction in violence had been `` real '' and that he Taliban had abided by its promise not to attack U.S. forces .
`` They committed to reducing violence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Pompeo said .
With reporting by AP 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--2020-03-23--COVID-19: Georgia Bans Passenger Rail Traffic, Russia Says Can Contain Virus Without Lockdown

The global death toll from the coronavirus has topped 16,000 with more than 370,000 infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Georgia has banned passenger traffic on its domestic railway in an additional move to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus .
Government spokesman Irakli Chikovani said the ban would be in force until a state of emergency ends on April 21 .
Georgia declared the state of emergency on March 21 , banning gatherings of more than 10 people .
The South Caucasus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closed its borders , imposed a ban on all foreign citizens entering the country , and halted air traffic with other countries .
All educational institutions , restaurants , nightclubs and gyms have also been closed , although grocery stores , pharmacies , and gas stations remain open .
The move to ban passenger railway traffic came as a lockdown took effect in the two southern regions of Marneuli and Bolnisi .
Georgia has reported 61 cases of COVID-19 , the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus , with no deaths. Authorities in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on March 23 , bringing the country ’ s official number of cases up to 61 .
Kosovar authorities reported the country 's first death from COVID-19 on March 22 .
The victim , an 82-year-old man , had underlying health issues .
The country has closed its borders along with all schools , shops , and restaurants .
Grocery stores and pharmacies remain open .
Romania on March 23 reported a steep increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths during the previous 24 hours , as President Klaus Iohannis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ slow the spread of the outbreak .
Romania 's Strategic Communication Group , the crisis body that deals with the outbreak , said 143 new cases have been confirmed , bringing the total to 576 -- a 45 percent single-day increase -- with three new deaths inside the country , bringing the total to five .
All those who died were elderly people who had previous health conditions .
Seven Romanians have so far been killed by the infection abroad -- six in Italy and one in Spain .
In a live televised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Romanians to avoid leaving their homes unless absolutely necessary .
Romania has been under a state of emergency due to the outbreak since March 16 .
However , on March 22 , hundreds of Romanians in Bucharest and other cities largely ignored the authorities ' guidelines and took advantage of the warm weather to stroll in parks and have barbecues in forests .
`` It 's a cruel irony , but today and in the coming weeks , helping others means staying away from them , '' Iohannis said , adding that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this incredibly difficult situation . ''
Tens of thousands of Romanians have been returning over the past week from Italy and Spain , the European countries worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic , putting huge pressure on Romania 's already overstretched social and health systems .
Russia ’ s Far East region of Primorye has registered its first two cases of coronavirus as the nation ’ s chief medical officer said containing its spread is possible without imposing a total lockdown .
`` The effectiveness of lockdown as a potential solution is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ introduced it and some did not .
There was no lockdown in Japan or Singapore , but their quarantine measures produced a result , too , '' Anna Popova , head of the country ’ s consumer-protection agency Rospotrebnadzor , told Channel One on March 24 .
She added that strict quarantine measures in Russia ’ s capital , Moscow , aren ’ t being discussed .
As Europe ’ s second most populous city with 12 million inhabitants , Moscow had 137 registered cases of COVID-19 as of March 23 and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has said he won ’ t close the metro , a step three cities took in neighboring Ukraine .
Meanwhile , the local administration in the Primorye region confirmed its first two cases on March 24 , bringing the nationwide total to 440 .
Both patients had recently returned from overseas and were placed under medical supervision at an infectious disease hospital .
Russia the previous day widened its ban on international flights .
Russian airlines are only servicing foreign capitals or large cities like New York and only from Moscow airports , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continue to permit charter flights exclusively for the evacuation of citizens stuck overseas , it said .
Nearly 20,000 Russian citizens have been evacuated from countries suffering from a high number of coronavirus cases .
Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Chicu has further imposed freedom-of-movement restrictions , banning people from visiting parks and other recreation sites in an effort to stem the spread of a new form of coronavirus .
“ Starting from March 24 , city residents are prohibited from visiting parks and other public zones where people gather .
This measure is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus .
The Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry will be responsible for enforcing those measures , '' Chicu told a session of the emergency situations commission late on March 23 .
Additional measures include shutting down public transportation , outdoor food markets , mail delivery , and the closing of all commercial shops except for grocery stores and pharmacies .
Residents were instructed to stay at home and can only leave only for work or to shop for food .
Moldova reported 15 new cases of COVID-19 on March 23 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 109 .
A national emergency is in place until May 15. Montenegro has confirmed its first coronavirus-related death after a 65-year-old man died in a hospital in the capital , Podgorica .
Jevto Erakovic , director of the Clinical Center of Montenegro , said on March 22 that the man , who suffered from chronic lung disease , had been brought to the facility a day earlier .
Montenegro , a former Yugoslav republic on the Adriatic coast with around 620,000 people , was the last European country to report a confirmed case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on March 17 .
It now has 22 reported cases even though the government had sealed its borders , halted public transport , and closed schools and restaurants in an effort to stem the spread of the outbreak .
Iran has again rejected the United States ' offer of humanitarian assistance , with President Hassan Rohani saying that Washington should lift sanctions if it wants to help Tehran fight the coronavirus outbreak .
`` American leaders are lying ... .
If they want to help Iran , all they need to do is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can deal with the coronavirus outbreak , '' Rohani said in a televised speech on March 23 .
Iran is the Middle Eastern nation worst hit by the coronavirus .
The Health Ministry announced on March 23 that another 127 Iranians had died from the virus , bring the death toll to 1,812 , with more than 23,000 confirmed cases , an increase of over 1,400 cases from the previous day .
Washington has offered humanitarian assistance to its longtime foe .
But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected the offer on March @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States have been running high since 2018 , when President Donald Trump abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal Tehran reached with six world powers in 2015 and reimposed sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy .
Iranian authorities have blamed U.S. sanctions for hampering their efforts to curb the outbreak .
`` You have blocked Iran 's oil exports , you have stopped Iran 's banking transactions ... .
Your offer of help is the biggest lie in history , '' Rohani said .
On March 22 , Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neighboring Iran so that Tehran can better deal with the coronavirus crisis .
“ Humanity must unite to fight this pandemic , ” Khan tweeted .
Similar calls have been made in the past days by China and Russia , both signatories of the 2015 nuclear accord , as well as more than two dozen organizations and aid groups in the United States .
In a joint statement on March 20 , Oxfam America , the National Iranian American Council ( NIAC ) , and other groups called on the United States to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Sanctions have harmed the public health sector in Iran by slowing or entirely blocking the sale of medicine , respirators , and hygienic supplies needed to mitigate the epidemic , and broad sectoral sanctions continue to negatively impact ordinary Iranians by shuttering civilian-owned businesses and decimating the value of the rial , making it harder to procure food , medicine , and other basic needs , ” they said .
U.S. officials have said that the coronavirus outbreak will not save Iran from sanctions that have curbed the country ’ s oil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economy .
`` Our policy of maximum pressure on the regime continues , '' Brian Hook , the U.S. special representative for Iran , told reporters last week , adding that U.S. sanctions were `` not preventing aid from getting to Iran . ''
Uzbekistan closed its borders on March 23 and announced that it will effectively lock down its capital , Tashkent , from March 24 to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
Uzbekistan has at least 46 confirmed coronavirus cases , all but one in Tashkent , a city of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has already shut down public transit in the capital and ordered most businesses to switch to remote working .
It has also closed its borders , allowing only foreign nationals to leave .
In neighboring Kazakhstan , President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev ordered state-owned companies on March 23 to start selling part of their foreign-currency revenue on the domestic market .
The measure is meant to support the local tenge currency , which has continued to weaken sharply amid the coronavirus outbreak and the drastic global drop in the price of oil , the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with his cabinet , Toqaev also ordered state-owned companies to start converting their foreign-currency deposits into tenge and pay out up to 100 percent of last year 's profits in dividends .
Toqaev also ordered a freeze on bank loan repayments by individuals and small- and medium-sized businesses for the duration of the state of emergency caused by the coronavirus outbreak , which is set to last until at least mid-April but may be extended .
The International Monetary Fund will consider a request from Kyrgyzstan for emergency financing to help its economy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Central Asian republic is likely to be the first country to receive funds from the Washington-based lender since the coronavirus outbreak began , the IMF said in a blog post .
The blog did not specify the amount of the request .
A dozen Central Asian and Middle Eastern countries have approached the IMF for financial support , and work is ongoing to expedite approval of the requests .
The IMF Executive Board will consider the request from Kyrgyzstan later this week .
A few other requests will be considered in the coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at its disposal to help member countries overcome the crisis and limit its human and economic cost , the IMF said .
The financial institution is considered the world 's lender of last resort .
Earlier this week , the IMF said it `` stands ready '' to loan up to $ 1 trillion to help countries that are struggling with the economic impact of the coronavirus .
`` Nearly 80 countries are requesting our help , '' IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement on March 23 .
Kyrgyzstan has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the capital , Bishkek , and several other regions and districts in response to the spread of the coronavirus .
In addition to Bishkek , the state of emergency applies to Osh and Jalal-Abad , the southern districts of Nookat and Kara-Suu in the Osh region , and the Suzak district of the Jalal-Abad region , the presidential press service said , according to TASS .
The move will clear the way for authorities to lock the cities down by imposing curfews and other measures .
Foreigners have been banned from entering the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been suspended with the exception of weekly flights from Moscow to the capital , Bishkek , and Osh .
Schools , universities , and kindergartens will stay closed until at least April 8 .
Kyrgyzstan ’ s security council recommended on March 21 that Prime Minister Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev declare a nationwide state of emergency due to the pandemic .
Local officials in Kyrgyzstan already had declared a state of emergency in the Nookat and Suzak districts .
Kyrgyzstan has 16 confirmed cases and no deaths , according to data compiled by Johns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Shmyhal has said there is no need yet to declare a national emergency as a leading health official announced 10 more cases of coronavirus .
`` At the moment , there is no need to introduce a state of emergency in Ukraine .
A state of emergency is introduced when there are extreme events .
Today , the development of the coronavirus in Ukraine is quite moderate compared to many European countries , '' Shmyhal told local television late on March 23 .
He added that measures the government is currently taking are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ noted also that in the next few weeks the situation may change due to the spread of the coronavirus .
The same evening on television , Chief Medical Officer Viktor Lyashko said 10 more people on a preliminary basis have been infected with COVID-19 .
Confirmation of their tests is expected on March 24 and could raise the number of sickened people to 83 .
Three deaths have been recorded linked to the virus .
According to the Interior Ministry , more than 72,000 Ukrainians have returned from abroad , including from some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since a nationwide quarantine was imposed from March 12 to April 3 .
Among those diagnosed with coronavirus are several members of parliament , including Ruslan Horbenko , a member of the ruling pro-presidential party .
Meanwhile , President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged the heads of church confessions to conduct prayer services online and without the presence of people at places of worship .
“ Thank you to all leaders of churches who the understand danger [ at hand ] and are conducting prayer services without people and online [ instead ] , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statement .
“ I believe that other heads of churches will join in the necessary practice.
” Since March 17 , all aviation , railway , and bus services with foreign countries and within the country have been shut down .
Shopping centers , cafes , restaurants , gyms and other nonessential facilities have been shuttered .
Only grocery stores , pharmacies , gas stations , and banks are still open .
The previous day , Kyiv further closed public transportation , allowing only critical personnel to take buses , trolleybuses , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kyiv , Odesa , and Dnipro on March 17 .
Several cities , including Kyiv , have declared states of emergency .
Armenia ’ s parliament has backed a government proposal to introduce prison sentences for people found guilty of defying quarantine or self-isolation orders issued by health authorities in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus infections .
The bill passed in its second and final reading on March 23 , three days after it was initially approved by the National Assembly .
The government moved to impose penalties last week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of emergency in Armenia , which has so far reported 194 coronavirus cases but no deaths .
About 600 people in the country are being kept in quarantine and hundreds of others are in self-isolation , according to the authorities .
The legislation calls for prison sentences ranging from one year to five years and fines of up to 1 million drams ( $ 2,026 ) for violating confinement orders .
It also envisages financial penalties for TV , radio , print , and online media outlets disseminating unauthorized information about the deadly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all media reports and social-media posts regarding the coronavirus must reflect information provided by government sources .
Opposition politicians , civic activists , and journalists have decried this provision , saying that it would legalize censorship and puts unnecessary curbs on press freedom .
At least two Armenian media outlets have been ordered to delete coronavirus-related stories from their websites in recent days .
The authorities have also forced several Facebook users to delete posts critical of the government ’ s handling of the outbreak .
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been postponed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sporting blow to the Caucasus nation .
The Formula One motor race was to be held at the Baku City Circuit on June 7 .
`` The postponement was agreed upon after extensive discussions with Formula 1 as well as the FIA [ the international racing-events governing body ] and the government of the Azerbaijan Republic , ” organizers of the Baku race said in a statement .
`` This comes as a direct result of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and has been based entirely on the expert guidance provided to us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ added .
With the move , Formula One racing has now postponed or canceled eight races this season , meaning the earliest the circuit can restart is in mid-June .
The postponement comes on the heels of another disappointing sporting decision for Azerbaijanis caused by the global coronavirus outbreak .
Baku was to host four soccer games including one of the quarterfinals of the Euro 2020 championship over the summer .
UEFA , European football ’ s governing body , has postponed the tournament until 2021 .
Azerbaijan has reported 65 confirmed cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Ukrainian , Balkan , Uzbek , Kazakh , Romanian , and Kyrgyz services , RIA Novosti , RBK news agency , TASS , Reuters , Interfax , AFP , g4media.ro , and digi24.ro

The global death toll from the coronavirus has topped 16,000 with more than 370,000 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.
Georgia
Georgia has banned passenger traffic on its domestic railway in an additional move to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Government spokesman Irakli Chikovani said the ban would be in force until a state of emergency ends on April 21.
Georgia declared the state of emergency on March 21, banning gatherings of more than 10 people.
The South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people has also closed its borders, imposed a ban on all foreign citizens entering the country, and halted air traffic with other countries.
All educational institutions, restaurants, nightclubs and gyms have also been closed, although grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations remain open.
The move to ban passenger railway traffic came as a lockdown took effect in the two southern regions of Marneuli and Bolnisi.
Georgia has reported 61 cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, with no deaths.
Kosovo
Authorities in Kosovo confirmed 26 new coronavirus infections late on March 23, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 61.
Kosovar authorities reported the country's first death from COVID-19 on March 22. The victim, an 82-year-old man, had underlying health issues.
The country has closed its borders along with all schools, shops, and restaurants. Grocery stores and pharmacies remain open.
Romania
Romania on March 23 reported a steep increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths during the previous 24 hours, as President Klaus Iohannis implored the public to observe self-isolation to slow the spread of the outbreak.
Romania's Strategic Communication Group, the crisis body that deals with the outbreak, said 143 new cases have been confirmed, bringing the total to 576 -- a 45 percent single-day increase -- with three new deaths inside the country, bringing the total to five.
All those who died were elderly people who had previous health conditions.
Seven Romanians have so far been killed by the infection abroad -- six in Italy and one in Spain.
In a live televised address on March 23, Iohannis appealed to Romanians to avoid leaving their homes unless absolutely necessary.
Romania has been under a state of emergency due to the outbreak since March 16.
However, on March 22, hundreds of Romanians in Bucharest and other cities largely ignored the authorities' guidelines and took advantage of the warm weather to stroll in parks and have barbecues in forests.
"It's a cruel irony, but today and in the coming weeks, helping others means staying away from them," Iohannis said, adding that "social distancing is the way out of this incredibly difficult situation."
Tens of thousands of Romanians have been returning over the past week from Italy and Spain, the European countries worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic, putting huge pressure on Romania's already overstretched social and health systems.
Russia
Russia’s Far East region of Primorye has registered its first two cases of coronavirus as the nation’s chief medical officer said containing its spread is possible without imposing a total lockdown.
"The effectiveness of lockdown as a potential solution is now being discussed worldwide because some countries introduced it and some did not. There was no lockdown in Japan or Singapore, but their quarantine measures produced a result, too," Anna Popova, head of the country’s consumer-protection agency Rospotrebnadzor, told Channel One on March 24.
She added that strict quarantine measures in Russia’s capital, Moscow, aren’t being discussed.
As Europe’s second most populous city with 12 million inhabitants, Moscow had 137 registered cases of COVID-19 as of March 23 and the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin has said he won’t close the metro, a step three cities took in neighboring Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the local administration in the Primorye region confirmed its first two cases on March 24, bringing the nationwide total to 440.
Both patients had recently returned from overseas and were placed under medical supervision at an infectious disease hospital.
Russia the previous day widened its ban on international flights.
Russian airlines are only servicing foreign capitals or large cities like New York and only from Moscow airports, state agency Rosavia said. Russia will continue to permit charter flights exclusively for the evacuation of citizens stuck overseas, it said.
Nearly 20,000 Russian citizens have been evacuated from countries suffering from a high number of coronavirus cases.
Moldova
Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Chicu has further imposed freedom-of-movement restrictions, banning people from visiting parks and other recreation sites in an effort to stem the spread of a new form of coronavirus.
“Starting from March 24, city residents are prohibited from visiting parks and other public zones where people gather. This measure is tough, but is necessary for containing the coronavirus. The Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry will be responsible for enforcing those measures," Chicu told a session of the emergency situations commission late on March 23.
Additional measures include shutting down public transportation, outdoor food markets, mail delivery, and the closing of all commercial shops except for grocery stores and pharmacies.
Residents were instructed to stay at home and can only leave only for work or to shop for food.
Moldova reported 15 new cases of COVID-19 on March 23, bringing the total number of infections to 109.
A national emergency is in place until May 15.
Montenegro
Montenegro has confirmed its first coronavirus-related death after a 65-year-old man died in a hospital in the capital, Podgorica.
Jevto Erakovic, director of the Clinical Center of Montenegro, said on March 22 that the man, who suffered from chronic lung disease, had been brought to the facility a day earlier.
Montenegro, a former Yugoslav republic on the Adriatic coast with around 620,000 people, was the last European country to report a confirmed case of the coronavirus when it did so on March 17.
It now has 22 reported cases even though the government had sealed its borders, halted public transport, and closed schools and restaurants in an effort to stem the spread of the outbreak.
Iran
Iran has again rejected the United States' offer of humanitarian assistance, with President Hassan Rohani saying that Washington should lift sanctions if it wants to help Tehran fight the coronavirus outbreak.
"American leaders are lying.... If they want to help Iran, all they need to do is to lift sanctions.... Then we can deal with the coronavirus outbreak," Rohani said in a televised speech on March 23.
Iran is the Middle Eastern nation worst hit by the coronavirus.
The Health Ministry announced on March 23 that another 127 Iranians had died from the virus, bring the death toll to 1,812, with more than 23,000 confirmed cases, an increase of over 1,400 cases from the previous day.
Infographic: How COVID-19 Compares To Other Infectious Diseases
Washington has offered humanitarian assistance to its longtime foe. But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected the offer on March 22.
Tensions between Iran and the United States have been running high since 2018, when President Donald Trump abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal Tehran reached with six world powers in 2015 and reimposed sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy.
Iranian authorities have blamed U.S. sanctions for hampering their efforts to curb the outbreak.
"You have blocked Iran's oil exports, you have stopped Iran's banking transactions.... Your offer of help is the biggest lie in history," Rohani said.
On March 22, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called for the lifting of sanctions on neighboring Iran so that Tehran can better deal with the coronavirus crisis.
“Humanity must unite to fight this pandemic,” Khan tweeted.
Similar calls have been made in the past days by China and Russia, both signatories of the 2015 nuclear accord, as well as more than two dozen organizations and aid groups in the United States.
In a joint statement on March 20, Oxfam America, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), and other groups called on the United States to lift the sanctions for 120 days.
“Sanctions have harmed the public health sector in Iran by slowing or entirely blocking the sale of medicine, respirators, and hygienic supplies needed to mitigate the epidemic, and broad sectoral sanctions continue to negatively impact ordinary Iranians by shuttering civilian-owned businesses and decimating the value of the rial, making it harder to procure food, medicine, and other basic needs,” they said.
U.S. officials have said that the coronavirus outbreak will not save Iran from sanctions that have curbed the country’s oil revenues and put huge pressure on its economy.
"Our policy of maximum pressure on the regime continues," Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran, told reporters last week, adding that U.S. sanctions were "not preventing aid from getting to Iran."
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan closed its borders on March 23 and announced that it will effectively lock down its capital, Tashkent, from March 24 to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Uzbekistan has at least 46 confirmed coronavirus cases, all but one in Tashkent, a city of more than 2.5 million.
The government has already shut down public transit in the capital and ordered most businesses to switch to remote working. It has also closed its borders, allowing only foreign nationals to leave.
Kazakhstan
In neighboring Kazakhstan, President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev ordered state-owned companies on March 23 to start selling part of their foreign-currency revenue on the domestic market.
The measure is meant to support the local tenge currency, which has continued to weaken sharply amid the coronavirus outbreak and the drastic global drop in the price of oil, the country's main export.
In a meeting with his cabinet, Toqaev also ordered state-owned companies to start converting their foreign-currency deposits into tenge and pay out up to 100 percent of last year's profits in dividends.
Toqaev also ordered a freeze on bank loan repayments by individuals and small- and medium-sized businesses for the duration of the state of emergency caused by the coronavirus outbreak, which is set to last until at least mid-April but may be extended.
Kazakhstan currently has 62 confirmed coronavirus cases.
Kyrgyzstan
The International Monetary Fund will consider a request from Kyrgyzstan for emergency financing to help its economy cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Central Asian republic is likely to be the first country to receive funds from the Washington-based lender since the coronavirus outbreak began, the IMF said in a blog post.
The blog did not specify the amount of the request.
A dozen Central Asian and Middle Eastern countries have approached the IMF for financial support, and work is ongoing to expedite approval of the requests.
The IMF Executive Board will consider the request from Kyrgyzstan later this week. A few other requests will be considered in the coming days.
The IMF has several tools at its disposal to help member countries overcome the crisis and limit its human and economic cost, the IMF said. The financial institution is considered the world's lender of last resort.
Earlier this week, the IMF said it "stands ready" to loan up to $1 trillion to help countries that are struggling with the economic impact of the coronavirus.
"Nearly 80 countries are requesting our help," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement on March 23.
Kyrgyzstan has now declared a state of emergency in the capital, Bishkek, and several other regions and districts in response to the spread of the coronavirus.
In addition to Bishkek, the state of emergency applies to Osh and Jalal-Abad, the southern districts of Nookat and Kara-Suu in the Osh region, and the Suzak district of the Jalal-Abad region, the presidential press service said, according to TASS.
The move will clear the way for authorities to lock the cities down by imposing curfews and other measures.
Foreigners have been banned from entering the country, while air and railway services have been suspended with the exception of weekly flights from Moscow to the capital, Bishkek, and Osh.
Schools, universities, and kindergartens will stay closed until at least April 8.
Kyrgyzstan’s security council recommended on March 21 that Prime Minister Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev declare a nationwide state of emergency due to the pandemic.
Local officials in Kyrgyzstan already had declared a state of emergency in the Nookat and Suzak districts.
Kyrgyzstan has 16 confirmed cases and no deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Ukraine
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said there is no need yet to declare a national emergency as a leading health official announced 10 more cases of coronavirus.
"At the moment, there is no need to introduce a state of emergency in Ukraine. A state of emergency is introduced when there are extreme events. Today, the development of the coronavirus in Ukraine is quite moderate compared to many European countries," Shmyhal told local television late on March 23.
He added that measures the government is currently taking are ample for the time being.
Shmyhal noted also that in the next few weeks the situation may change due to the spread of the coronavirus.
The same evening on television, Chief Medical Officer Viktor Lyashko said 10 more people on a preliminary basis have been infected with COVID-19.
Confirmation of their tests is expected on March 24 and could raise the number of sickened people to 83. Three deaths have been recorded linked to the virus.
According to the Interior Ministry, more than 72,000 Ukrainians have returned from abroad, including from some of the hardest hit European countries, since a nationwide quarantine was imposed from March 12 to April 3.
Among those diagnosed with coronavirus are several members of parliament, including Ruslan Horbenko, a member of the ruling pro-presidential party.
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged the heads of church confessions to conduct prayer services online and without the presence of people at places of worship.
“Thank you to all leaders of churches who the understand danger [at hand] and are conducting prayer services without people and online [instead],” the presidential office said in a statement. “I believe that other heads of churches will join in the necessary practice.”
Since March 17, all aviation, railway, and bus services with foreign countries and within the country have been shut down. Shopping centers, cafes, restaurants, gyms and other nonessential facilities have been shuttered. Only grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, and banks are still open.
The previous day, Kyiv further closed public transportation, allowing only critical personnel to take buses, trolleybuses, and trams. Metro systems were closed in Kyiv, Odesa, and Dnipro on March 17.
Several cities, including Kyiv, have declared states of emergency.
Armenia
Armenia’s parliament has backed a government proposal to introduce prison sentences for people found guilty of defying quarantine or self-isolation orders issued by health authorities in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus infections.
The bill passed in its second and final reading on March 23, three days after it was initially approved by the National Assembly.
The government moved to impose penalties last week following the declaration of a one-month state of emergency in Armenia, which has so far reported 194 coronavirus cases but no deaths.
About 600 people in the country are being kept in quarantine and hundreds of others are in self-isolation, according to the authorities.
The legislation calls for prison sentences ranging from one year to five years and fines of up to 1 million drams ($2,026) for violating confinement orders.
It also envisages financial penalties for TV, radio, print, and online media outlets disseminating unauthorized information about the deadly virus.
The bill initially stipulated that all media reports and social-media posts regarding the coronavirus must reflect information provided by government sources.
Opposition politicians, civic activists, and journalists have decried this provision, saying that it would legalize censorship and puts unnecessary curbs on press freedom.
At least two Armenian media outlets have been ordered to delete coronavirus-related stories from their websites in recent days.
The authorities have also forced several Facebook users to delete posts critical of the government’s handling of the outbreak.
Azerbaijan
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak, another sporting blow to the Caucasus nation.
The Formula One motor race was to be held at the Baku City Circuit on June 7.
"The postponement was agreed upon after extensive discussions with Formula 1 as well as the FIA [the international racing-events governing body] and the government of the Azerbaijan Republic,” organizers of the Baku race said in a statement.
"This comes as a direct result of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and has been based entirely on the expert guidance provided to us by the relevant authorities," they added.
With the move, Formula One racing has now postponed or canceled eight races this season, meaning the earliest the circuit can restart is in mid-June.
The postponement comes on the heels of another disappointing sporting decision for Azerbaijanis caused by the global coronavirus outbreak.
Baku was to host four soccer games including one of the quarterfinals of the Euro 2020 championship over the summer.
UEFA, European football’s governing body, has postponed the tournament until 2021.
Azerbaijan has reported 65 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with one death, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian, Balkan, Uzbek, Kazakh, Romanian, and Kyrgyz services, RIA Novosti, RBK news agency, TASS, Reuters, Interfax, AFP, g4media.ro, and digi24.ro


rferl--2020-03-24--Kosovo Parliament To Vote On No-Confidence Motion Against Government

PRISTINA -- Kosovo 's parliament is set to vote on a no-confidence motion against the government pushed by the Democratic League of Kosovo ( LDK ) , a member of the ruling coalition headed by Prime Minister Albin Kurti .
The vote , if it proceeds as scheduled at 11 a.m. on March 25 , could potentially engulf the nation into a political crisis even as it battles along with the rest of the world to curtail the coronavirus pandemic .
LDK leader Isa Mustafa filed the motion after Kurti on March 18 fired Interior Minister Agim Veliu , purportedly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ backed a presidential call for a state of emergency over the epidemic .
Although a member of the ruling coalition , the LDK has opposed Kurti ’ s Self-Determination party on several issues , including the declaration of a state of emergency and the imposition of 100 percent tariffs on Serbian imports .
It has also boiled down to a battle for power between Kurti and President Hashim Thaci , observers say .
Thaci late on March 17 called for the state of emergency .
But Kurti rejected the move , saying it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fired Veliu hours after Veliu said he supported the emergency call .
A state of emergency would grant expanded powers to the president , which now is mainly a ceremonial post .
Adding to the confusion , Thaci on March 24 told citizens not to respect coronavirus-related curfews announced by Kurti ’ s government .
Thaci said the curfews are unconstitutional and can only be declared under a state of emergency .
`` Citizens are not obliged to respect this decision .
Neither the police nor the security authorities should enforce this decision @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who has asked the Constitutional Court to rule on the matter .
Authorities in Kosovo have confirmed 63 coronavirus infections and at least one death , that of an 82-year-old man with underlying health issues .
The country has closed its borders along with all schools , shops , and restaurants .
Grocery stores and pharmacies remain open .

PRISTINA -- Kosovo's parliament is set to vote on a no-confidence motion that could engulf the Balkan country in a political crisis even as it battles the coronavirus pandemic along with the rest of the world.
The vote of no confidence, pushed by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), is scheduled to take place at 11 a.m. local time on March 25.
LDK leader Isa Mustafa filed the motion after Prime Minister Albin Kurti on March 18 dismissed Interior Minister Agim Veliu, purportedly for spreading "panic" after he backed a call for a state of emergency.
President Hashim Thaci late on March 17 called for the state of emergency, which would grant him expanded powers beyond the mainly ceremonial role of president.
Kurti rejected the move, saying it would cause “unnecessary panic” and fired Veliu hours after the interior minister said he supported the call for a state of emergency.
Although the LDK is a member of the ruling coalition, it has opposed Kurti’s Self-Determination Party on several issues, including the declaration of a state of emergency and the imposition of 100 percent tariffs on Serbian imports.
Adding to the confusion, Thaci on March 24 told citizens not to respect coronavirus-related curfews announced by Kurti’s government.
Thaci said the curfews are unconstitutional and can only be declared under a state of emergency.
"Citizens are not obliged to respect this decision. Neither the police nor the security authorities should enforce this decision of the government," said Thaci, who has asked the Constitutional Court to rule on the matter.
The government has said that the situation is under control and has opposed declaring a state of emergency, Balkan Insider reported.
U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Philip S. Kosnett said he was pleased that the parliament will hold a session on the no-confidence vote.
Kosnett said on Twitter on March 24 that he told Kurti it is important for the assembly and all Kosovar institutions to respect the constitution.
Germany’s ambassador to Kosovo, meanwhile, voiced the concerns of Germany and France in saying the two countries are at the side of Kosovo’s people in crisis.
Christian Heldt said on Twitter on March 24 that the LDK should reconsider the call for a no-confidence vote to maintain a trusted and stable government to face Kosovo’s challenges.
Authorities in Kosovo have confirmed 63 coronavirus infections and at least one death, that of an 82-year-old man with underlying health issues.
The country has closed its borders along with all schools, shops, and restaurants. Grocery stores and pharmacies remain open.
With reporting by AFP and Balkan Insider


rferl--2020-03-24--Pakistan Cuts Interest Rates, Sets $6 Billion To Offset Economic Impact Of Virus

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan has announced a financial-relief package of some $ 6 billion and cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time in a week in an effort to counter the divesting effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy .
Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 24 said up to 200 billion rupees ( $ 1.26 billion ) of the aid would go as payments to laborers to help families to counter the adverse effects caused by COVID-19 .
Funds will also go to food and energy subsidies and on measures to boost agriculture , Khan said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ announced it was slashing its key interest rate from 12.5 percent to 11 percent , a week after the rate was reduced from 13.25 percent .
The moves come as countries around the world intensify measures to rescue their economics in the face of dramatically reduced demand due to the coronavirus epidemic .
Khan also told reporters that there would be a 15-rupee ( about $ 0.10 ) decline per liter in the price of gasoline and diesel .
Other measures included a 100 billion-rupee ( $ 630 million ) tax rebate for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amount to be set aside to aid small and midsize businesses and the agriculture sector .
Low-income families will receive cash payments of 3,000 rupees ( $ 19 ) a month for the next four months .
Taxes on items such as sugar and wheat will be reduced or eliminated , and the government will also provide assistance to users of electricity and to medical workers .
`` We will have to protect poor and make sure they have food on the table , '' Khan told the news conference .
The prime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( $ 6.3 billion ) will be taken from the government 's coffers to fund the aid and stimulus packages .
The government has confirmed 906 cases of coronavirus infection with seven deaths , although most experts caution that the true number of cases in any country is impossible to determine because of a lack of testing .
Hospitals in the capital and other cities have reported long lines of people attempting to get tested for the potentially deadly disease .
Pakistan has suspended all international flights to and from the country , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ several cities in a bid to stem the spread of the virus .
Even before the crisis , Pakistan 's finances had been in a precarious situation .
In July 2019 , Islamabad turned to the International Monetary Fund for a $ 6 billion bailout package and has since been attempting to exhibit more disciplined financial policies to satisfy the Washington-based lender 's requirements .
With reporting by Reuters and dpa

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan has announced a financial-relief package of some $6 billion and cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time in a week in an effort to counter the divesting effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 24 said up to 200 billion rupees ($1.26 billion) of the aid would go as payments to laborers to help families to counter the adverse effects caused by COVID-19.
Funds will also go to food and energy subsidies and on measures to boost agriculture, Khan said.
Separately, the State Bank of Pakistan announced it was slashing its key interest rate from 12.5 percent to 11 percent, a week after the rate was reduced from 13.25 percent.
The moves come as countries around the world intensify measures to rescue their economics in the face of dramatically reduced demand due to the coronavirus epidemic.
Khan also told reporters that there would be a 15-rupee (about $0.10) decline per liter in the price of gasoline and diesel.
Other measures included a 100 billion-rupee ($630 million) tax rebate for the export sector, with a similar amount to be set aside to aid small and midsize businesses and the agriculture sector.
Low-income families will receive cash payments of 3,000 rupees ($19) a month for the next four months.
Taxes on items such as sugar and wheat will be reduced or eliminated, and the government will also provide assistance to users of electricity and to medical workers.
"We will have to protect poor and make sure they have food on the table," Khan told the news conference.
The prime minister said more than 1 trillion rupees ($6.3 billion) will be taken from the government's coffers to fund the aid and stimulus packages.
The government has confirmed 906 cases of coronavirus infection with seven deaths, although most experts caution that the true number of cases in any country is impossible to determine because of a lack of testing.
Hospitals in the capital and other cities have reported long lines of people attempting to get tested for the potentially deadly disease.
Pakistan has suspended all international flights to and from the country, while provincial governments have imposed lockdowns in several cities in a bid to stem the spread of the virus.
Even before the crisis, Pakistan's finances had been in a precarious situation.
In July 2019, Islamabad turned to the International Monetary Fund for a $6 billion bailout package and has since been attempting to exhibit more disciplined financial policies to satisfy the Washington-based lender's requirements.
With reporting by Reuters and dpa