rferl--2020-06-06--Kosovo Lifts All Trade Barriers Against Serbia

The new government of Kosovo announced on June 6 that it is lifting all trade barriers imposed on Serbia in a bid to reopen EU-brokered talks on normalizing ties with Belgrade .
Trade sanctions have been in place in some form since November 2018 , when then-Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj imposed them in retaliation for Serbia 's `` de-recognition '' campaign against Kosovo .
Speaking at a press conference in Pristina , Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti stressed that the decision was temporary and could be reversed if Serbia refuses to end the campaign to reduce the number of countries that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We expect Serbia to end the de-recognition campaign against Kosovo , '' he told a news conference , adding that Kosovo also expected its partners , the European Union and the United States , to put pressure on Belgrade .
Serbia has long said it would not negotiate with Kosovo , a breakaway province it still claims as its own , as long as the sanctions were in place .
Lawmakers in Kosovo on June 3 approved a new government led by Hoti by a razor-thin majority , ending months of political turmoil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and former finance minister , secured 61 votes in the 120-seat parliament .
A total of 24 lawmakers voted against , with one abstention .

The new government of Kosovo announced on June 6 that it is lifting all trade barriers imposed on Serbia in a bid to reopen EU-brokered talks on normalizing ties with Belgrade.
Trade sanctions have been in place in some form since November 2018, when then-Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj imposed them in retaliation for Serbia's "de-recognition" campaign against Kosovo.
Speaking at a press conference in Pristina, Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti stressed that the decision was temporary and could be reversed if Serbia refuses to end the campaign to reduce the number of countries that recognize Kosovo as a state.
"We expect Serbia to end the de-recognition campaign against Kosovo," he told a news conference, adding that Kosovo also expected its partners, the European Union and the United States, to put pressure on Belgrade.
Serbia has long said it would not negotiate with Kosovo, a breakaway province it still claims as its own, as long as the sanctions were in place.
The U.S. Embassy in Kosovo said it hoped the lifting of trade barriers would soon lead to renewed dialogue with Serbia.
"Full recognition is in the best interests of Kosovo and the region to secure stability and economic prosperity," it said.
Lawmakers in Kosovo on June 3 approved a new government led by Hoti by a razor-thin majority, ending months of political turmoil.
Hoti, a 44-year-old economics professor and former finance minister, secured 61 votes in the 120-seat parliament. A total of 24 lawmakers voted against, with one abstention.
With reporting by dpa


rferl--2020-06-06--More Than 100 Detained At Kazakh Rallies Demanding Democratic Reforms

ALMATY -- Dozens of opposition activists have been detained by police in Kazakhstan where two opposition parties had planned to hold rallies on June 6 in several cities to demand democratic reforms in the Central Asian nation .
Reports spoke of dozens being detained in Almaty , the country 's commercial capital , as well at least four other cities .
The detentions come despite a more liberal law on demonstrations coming into force .
Human rights groups have criticized President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev with failing to improve respect for human rights after replacing Nursultan Nazarbaev , who stepped down in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The oil-rich nation has also been hit hard by a drop in energy prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic .
In Almaty , police , including riot units , cordoned off several central squares as well as streets near the area where at least 100 activists had gathered .
An RFE/RL correspondent said about a dozen people were detained near Ghandi Park .
They were reported to be supporters of the Koshe party , which is affiliated with the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan ( DVK ) party .
The DVK and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which authorities said breached COVID-19 social-distancing rules .
They also said a new law not requiring groups to obtain permission for rallies would still need a five-day notice period before being applied in practice .
Technically , that law entered into force on June 6 .
In Nur-Sultan , the capital , police were also reported to be out in large numbers .
There were reports of at least 20 activists being detained by police in the cities of Semei , Shymkent , and Qyzylorda .
Some arrests were also reported in Aqtobe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gather amid reports of arrests prior to the planned action .
In Almaty , one group of activists carried a banner that read `` I Ca n't Breathe '' -- a reference to the death of George Floyd , an unarmed African-American man who died in police custody in Minneapolis , which has sparked sometimes violent protests across the United States .
Others chanted `` Old man , go away ! ''
-- a reference to Nazarbaev , who retains power in Kazakhstan as head of the country 's Security Council , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for life .
Others demanded the resignation of Toqaev and a fairer distribution of wealth .
The nation of 19 million people has been hit hard by a drop in crude oil prices as well as the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic .
More than 4 million people lost their sources of income during a two-month lockdown that ended last month , according to official data .
With reporting by AFP and Reuters

ALMATY -- More than 100 opposition activists have been detained by police in Kazakhstan where two opposition parties had planned to hold rallies on June 6 in several cities to demand democratic reforms in the Central Asian nation.
Reports spoke of dozens being detained in Almaty, the country's commercial capital, as detentions were reported in other cities as well, including the capital, Nur-Sultan.
The detentions come despite a more liberal law on demonstrations coming into force.
Human rights groups have criticized President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev with failing to improve respect for human rights after replacing Nursultan Nazarbaev, who stepped down in 2019 after 30 years in power. The oil-rich nation has also been hit hard by a drop in energy prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
In Almaty, police, including riot units, cordoned off several central squares as well as streets near the area where at least 100 activists had gathered.
PHOTO GALLERY (click to view):
An RFE/RL correspondent said about a dozen people were detained near Ghandi Park. They were reported to be supporters of the Koshe party, which is affiliated with the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) party.
In several instances, unknown people holding umbrellas tried to stop journalists from filming.
WATCH: Kazakhstan's Mysterious Media-Blocking Umbrella Men (from October 2019)
The DVK and the Democratic Party had organized the rallies, which authorities said breached COVID-19 social-distancing rules. They also said a new law not requiring groups to obtain permission for rallies would still need a five-day notice period before being applied in practice. Technically, that law entered into force on June 6.
In Nur-Sultan, the capital, an RFE/RL correspondent later reported at least 10 protesters being arrested, with photos showing police hauling people away.
There were reports of at least 20 activists being detained by police in the cities of Semei, Shymkent, and Qyzylorda. Some arrests were also reported in Aqtobe. Later reports said about 30 people were also held by police in Oral. In Taraz, activists did not gather amid reports of arrest prior to the planned action.
Later reports said some had been freed, including those activists detained in Qyzylorda.
In Almaty, one group of activists carried a banner that read "I Can't Breathe" -- a reference to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man who died in police custody in Minneapolis, which has sparked sometimes violent protests across the United States.
Others chanted "Old man, go away!" -- a reference to Nazarbaev, who retains power in Kazakhstan as head of the country's Security Council, a post the 79-year-old is entitled to hold for life.
Others demanded the resignation of Toqaev and a fairer distribution of wealth.
The nation of 19 million people has been hit hard by a drop in crude oil prices as well as the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. More than 4 million people lost their sources of income during a two-month lockdown that ended last month, according to official data.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters


rferl--2020-06-06--Mikhail Kokshenov, Russian Actor Known For Memorable Secondary Roles In Cinema, Dies At 83

MOSCOW -- Russian actor and director , Mikhail Kokshenov , known to millions across the former Soviet Union for his @ @ @ @ @ , has died at the age of 83 .
Kokshenov 's friends and the Guild @ @ @ @ @ said that the actor died on June 5 , without giving any details .
In @ @ @ @ @ stroke and had not appeared in public ever since .
He acted in more than @ @ @ @ @ for his memorable portrayals of simple people in comedies .
He acted in such films @ @ @ @ @ Charming And Attractive , How Tsar Peter The Great Married Off His Moor , Weather @ @ @ @ @ Again On Brighton Beach , and many others .
After the collapse of the Soviet @ @ @ @ @ started directing films , including Russian Business , Hope , Phenomenon , Russian Bill , @ @ @ @

MOSCOW -- Russian actor and director, Mikhail Kokshenov, known to millions across the former Soviet Union for his notable secondary roles in cinema, has died at the age of 83.
Kokshenov's friends and the Guild of Russia's Cinema Actors said that the actor died on June 5, without giving any details.
In 2017, Kokshenov survived a stroke and had not appeared in public ever since.
He acted in more than 100 movies and became popular for his memorable portrayals of simple people in comedies.
He acted in such films as Sportloto-82, The Most Charming And Attractive, How Tsar Peter The Great Married Off His Moor, Weather Is Good On Deribasovskaya-It Rains Again On Brighton Beach, and many others.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kokshenov started directing films, including Russian Business, Hope, Phenomenon, Russian Bill, and Theater Trap.


rferl--2020-06-06--Report: German Neo-Nazis Training At Russian Terrorist Camp

German neo-Nazis are conducting paramilitary training with a Russian ultranationalist group at a camp near St. Petersburg , German magazine Focus reported on June 5 .
Citing German security sources , Focus said members of the far-right National Democratic Party ’ s ( NDP ) youth wing and neo-Nazi The Third Path completed training at the camp run by the Russian Imperial Movement .
In April , the United States designated the Russian Imperial Movement along with three of its leaders as terrorists , marking the first time the classification has been applied to a white supremacist group .
Focus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in using arms , explosives , and hand-to-hand combat at a camp named Partizan near St. Petersburg .
Several German graduates , as well as Swedes and Finns , later joined Russia-backed separatist militias in eastern Ukraine , Focus reported .
German authorities told Focus they are aware of the training but for legal reasons could not prevent right-wing extremists from traveling to Russia .
Focus reported that German security officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is aware of the camps and tolerates them .
The Russian Imperial Movement describes itself as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' that aims to restore an autocratic monarchy in Russia .
The group also seeks the declaration of Russia as a mono-ethnic state centered on what it classifies as the three branches of the Russian people -- Russians , Ukrainians , and Belarusians .
The movement has branches in St. Petersburg , Moscow , and Nizhny Novgorod and its military wing , the Imperial Legion , provides paramilitary style training to neo-Nazis and white supremacists .
In April , Ambassador Nathan Sales , the U.S. State Department 's counterterrorism coordinator , said the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rally like-minded Europeans and Americans into a common front against their perceived enemies . ''

German neo-Nazis are conducting paramilitary training with a Russian ultranationalist group at a camp near St. Petersburg, German magazine Focus reported on June 5.
Citing German security sources, Focus said members of the far-right National Democratic Party’s (NDP) youth wing and neo-Nazi The Third Path completed training at the camp run by the Russian Imperial Movement.
In April, the United States designated the Russian Imperial Movement along with three of its leaders as terrorists, marking the first time the classification has been applied to a white supremacist group.
Focus reported that German neo-Nazis have received training in using arms, explosives, and hand-to-hand combat at a camp named Partizan near St. Petersburg.
Several German graduates, as well as Swedes and Finns, later joined Russia-backed separatist militias in eastern Ukraine, Focus reported.
German authorities told Focus they are aware of the training but for legal reasons could not prevent right-wing extremists from traveling to Russia.
Focus reported that German security officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is aware of the camps and tolerates them.
The Russian Imperial Movement describes itself as a "Russian Orthodox national-patriotic and monarchist organization" that aims to restore an autocratic monarchy in Russia.
The group also seeks the declaration of Russia as a mono-ethnic state centered on what it classifies as the three branches of the Russian people -- Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians.
The movement has branches in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Nizhny Novgorod and its military wing, the Imperial Legion, provides paramilitary style training to neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
In April, Ambassador Nathan Sales, the U.S. State Department's counterterrorism coordinator, said the Russian Imperial Movement seeks to "to rally like-minded Europeans and Americans into a common front against their perceived enemies."
Based on reporting by Focus Magazine


rferl--2020-06-06--Russia Orders Review Of Infrastructure Built On Permafrost In Wake Of Arctic Fuel Disaster

Russia 's Prosecutor-General 's Office on June 5 ordered a review of all hazardous objects built on permafrost in response to a fuel tank leak that has created an ecological disaster in the Arctic linked to climate change .
President Vladimir Putin ordered a state of emergency earlier this week after a holding tank at a thermal power plant in the industrial city of Norilsk spilled at least 20,000 tons of diesel fuel into the soil , two rivers , and a downstream lake .
The power plant is owned by a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel , the world 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said the leak on May 29 was caused when pillars supporting a storage tank sank due to the thawing of permafrost soil .
The Prosecutor-General 's Office said its preliminary findings showed sagging ground helped trigger the disaster and ordered other structures built on permafrost to be examined .
`` To prevent a similar situation on especially hazardous structures on territories prone to melting of permafrost , '' the prosecutor-general has `` ordered a comprehensive review of such objects , '' it said .
Sixty-five percent of Russia is covered by permafrost .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 180,000 people built around Norilsk Nickel , is constructed on permafrost and its infrastructure is threatened by climate change .
The ecological disaster comes as temperatures in Siberia were up to 10 degrees Celsius above average in May and were also higher than normal earlier in the year , the Copernicus Climate Change Service said on June 5 .
The European Union 's climate service said spring in Siberia was marked by “ highly anomalous temperatures , ” in particular over the lower reaches of the Ob and Yenisei rivers .
The Yenisei @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In an online meeting on June 5 , Putin criticized Norilsk Nickel President Vladimir Potanin for not replacing the fuel tank earlier .
`` If you had changed it on time , there would not have been this ecological damage and the company would not have had to foot these [ cleanup ] costs .
Study this as closely as possible inside the company , '' Putin told Potanin during the televised meeting .
Potanin , who is Russia 's richest man with a net worth of nearly $ 20 billion , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will pay for the costs of the cleanup , estimated at 10 billion rubles ( $ 145 million ) .
Norilsk Nickel hushed up and downplayed the scale of the disaster for at least two days after the accident .
The fuel seeped into the ground and then entered the Daldykan and Ambarnaya rivers , which feed into Lake Pyasino .
Russian authorities have arrested the head of one of the units of the thermal power plant for negligence and violating environmental regulations .
Greenpeace Russia has described the disaster as the `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Arctic . ''
Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Ecology Yelena Panova has said it could take at least 10 years for the local environment to recover .
With reporting by AFP , Reuters , and RFE/RL 's Russian Service

Russia's Prosecutor-General's Office on June 5 ordered a review of all hazardous objects built on permafrost in response to a fuel tank leak that has created an ecological disaster in the Arctic linked to climate change.
President Vladimir Putin ordered a state of emergency earlier this week after a holding tank at a thermal power plant in the industrial city of Norilsk spilled at least 20,000 tons of diesel fuel into the soil, two rivers, and a downstream lake.
The power plant is owned by a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, the world's leading nickel and palladium producer, which said the leak on May 29 was caused when pillars supporting a storage tank sank due to the thawing of permafrost soil.
The Prosecutor-General's Office said its preliminary findings showed sagging ground helped trigger the disaster and ordered other structures built on permafrost to be examined.
"To prevent a similar situation on especially hazardous structures on territories prone to melting of permafrost," the prosecutor-general has "ordered a comprehensive review of such objects," it said.
Sixty-five percent of Russia is covered by permafrost. Norilsk, an isolated Arctic city of 180,000 people built around Norilsk Nickel, is constructed on permafrost and its infrastructure is threatened by climate change.
The ecological disaster comes as temperatures in Siberia were up to 10 degrees Celsius above average in May and were also higher than normal earlier in the year, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said on June 5.
The European Union's climate service said spring in Siberia was marked by “highly anomalous temperatures,” in particular over the lower reaches of the Ob and Yenisei rivers. The Yenisei river is located just west of Norilsk.
In an online meeting on June 5, Putin criticized Norilsk Nickel President Vladimir Potanin for not replacing the fuel tank earlier.
"If you had changed it on time, there would not have been this ecological damage and the company would not have had to foot these [cleanup] costs. Study this as closely as possible inside the company," Putin told Potanin during the televised meeting.
Potanin, who is Russia's richest man with a net worth of nearly $20 billion, according to Forbes, said Norilsk Nickel will pay for the costs of the cleanup, estimated at 10 billion rubles ($145 million).
Norilsk Nickel hushed up and downplayed the scale of the disaster for at least two days after the accident. The fuel seeped into the ground and then entered the Daldykan and Ambarnaya rivers, which feed into Lake Pyasino.
Russian authorities have arrested the head of one of the units of the thermal power plant for negligence and violating environmental regulations.
Greenpeace Russia has described the disaster as the "first accident of such a scale in the Arctic."
Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Ecology Yelena Panova has said it could take at least 10 years for the local environment to recover.
With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and RFE/RL's Russian Service


rferl--2020-06-07--Saudi-Russia OPEC+ Alliance Extends Oil Cuts

The OPEC oil cartel and allied countries on June 6 agreed to a one-month extension of record production cuts , in hopes of stabilizing oil markets hit by a coronavirus-induced economic slowdown .
The 13-member cartel led by Saudi Arabia , and other oil producers , notably Russia , signed off on an extension of output cuts of 9.6 million barrels per day ( bpd ) in July .
Under the terms of an April agreement , OPEC and the so-called OPEC+ pledged to cut output by 9.7 million bpd in May until the end of June , then gradually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bpd until December .
Benchmark oil prices have recovered to around $ 40 a barrel as economies gradually emerge from coronavirus lockdowns after an unprecedented price plummet in April that brought oil futures below zero .
The collapse of the oil market was triggered by a supply glut as countries went into lockdowns , combined with a price and market share war between Saudi Arabia and Russia that also threatened U.S. shale producers .
The extension represents a victory for Russia and Saudi Arabia , which have had to pressure reluctant oil-producers facing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cut output .
Saudi Oil Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman , who said he was shocked by the lows in the oil market in April , acknowledged “ we all have made sacrifices to make it where we are today.
” “ There are encouraging signs we are over the worst , ” he said .
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak similarly called April “ the worst month in history ” for the global oil market .
He said the market “ is still in a fragile state and needs support.
” The collapse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. government to take the unprecedented step of getting involved in OPEC negotiations , pressuring members to make cuts and pledging to make cuts that Mexico wouldn ’ t make .
Trump on June 5 took credit for the April deal , which helped protect a U.S. shale oil sector with relatively high production costs and mountains of debt .
“ People said that wasn ’ t possible but we got Saudi Arabia , Russia and others to cut back substantially , ” he said .
“ We appreciate that very much.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 6 welcomed the OPEC+ extension , describing it has an important deal which “ comes at a pivotal time as oil demand continues to recover and economies reopen around the world.
” Despite the extension , much uncertainty looms over the future of the oil market as world economies reopen , and whether some producers such as Iraq and Nigeria will stop cheating on their quotas .
With reporting by AFP , AP , Bloomberg , and Reuters

The OPEC oil cartel and allied countries on June 6 agreed to a one-month extension of record production cuts, in hopes of stabilizing oil markets hit by a coronavirus-induced economic slowdown.
The 13-member cartel led by Saudi Arabia, and other oil producers, notably Russia, signed off on an extension of output cuts of 9.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in July.
Under the terms of an April agreement, OPEC and the so-called OPEC+ pledged to cut output by 9.7 million bpd in May until the end of June, then gradually reduce production from July to 7.7 million bpd until December.
Benchmark oil prices have recovered to around $40 a barrel as economies gradually emerge from coronavirus lockdowns after an unprecedented price plummet in April that brought oil futures below zero.
The collapse of the oil market was triggered by a supply glut as countries went into lockdowns, combined with a price and market share war between Saudi Arabia and Russia that also threatened U.S. shale producers.
The extension represents a victory for Russia and Saudi Arabia, which have had to pressure reluctant oil producers facing steep revenue cuts and budget holes to cut output.
Saudi Oil Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman, who said he was shocked by the lows in the oil market in April, acknowledged “we all have made sacrifices to make it where we are today.”
“There are encouraging signs we are over the worst,” he said.
Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak similarly called April “the worst month in history” for the global oil market. He said the market “is still in a fragile state and needs support.”
The collapse in oil prices in April prompted the U.S. government to take the unprecedented step of getting involved in OPEC negotiations, pressuring members to make cuts and pledging to make cuts that Mexico wouldn’t make.
Trump on June 5 took credit for the April deal, which helped protect a U.S. shale-oil sector with relatively high production costs and mountains of debt.
“People said that wasn’t possible, but we got Saudi Arabia, Russia, and others to cut back substantially,” he said. “We appreciate that very much.”
U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette on June 6 welcomed the OPEC+ extension, describing it as an important deal that “comes at a pivotal time as oil demand continues to recover and economies reopen around the world.”
Despite the extension, much uncertainty looms over the future of the oil market as world economies reopen, and questions linger over whether some producers, such as Iraq and Nigeria, will stop cheating on their quotas.
With reporting by AFP, AP, Bloomberg, and Reuters


rferl--2020-06-06--Kabul Says Iran Accepts Responsibility For Deaths Of Three Migrants In Shooting Incident

Afghanistan ’ s Foreign Ministry says that authorities in Iran ’ s Yazd Province have accepted that their police forces shot a vehicle carrying Afghan migrants earlier this week , killing three people .
The ministry said on June 6 that four others were wounded as the vehicle caught fire after it was shot .
A video showing an Afghan boy escaping from a blazing vehicle with burns on parts of his body has been widely circulating on social media in recent days , causing outrage among Afghans .
The boy can be heard saying , “ Give a bit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The ministry said the video was genuine .
Abdul Ghafoor Lewal , Afghanistan ’ s envoy in Tehran , visited the four Afghan nationals getting treatment in a Yazd hospital .
Photos published by Afghan media show that at least one of the injured is handcuffed to the hospital bed .
Ahmad Tarahomi , deputy governor of Yazd , told Iranian state media that police fired on the vehicle , suspected of carrying drugs and undocumented migrants , after it crashed through a checkpoint .
The Afghan Foreign Ministry said that Yazd officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would hold the perpetrators of the incident accountable .
The ministry added that the Afghan government would take further steps after conducting a probe .
Last month , Afghan officials said Iranian border guards killed 45 Afghan migrant workers by forcing them at gunpoint into a river on the border .
Iran denied the allegation .
According to the United Nations , there are currently close to 1 million registered Afghan refugees living in Iran , while the country hosts another 2 million undocumented Afghans .
Based on reporting by dpa , Reuters @ @ @

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


rferl--2020-06-06--COVID-19: Armenian PM Admits 'Bitter Truth'; Hundreds Attend Book Fair In Moscow

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 393,000 with more than 6.7 million infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Armenian 's prime minister says that nearly 200 people who need hospitalization after being infected with the coronavirus are waiting for hospital beds as the country ’ s health-care system has been overwhelmed by the pandemic .
“ I have an obligation to tell you the whole truth about everything , especially about the situation with the coronavirus , no matter how bitter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , there are about 200 people with coronavirus who are waiting for their turn for hospitalization , ” Nikol Pashinian said during a daily coronavirus briefing on June 6 .
Pashinian said that one COVID-19 patient had died at home while waiting to be hospitalized .
Two patients , meanwhile , died at hospital due to a shortage of intensive-care beds at the facilities where they had been receiving treatment .
The Health Ministry said on June 6 that the number of coronavirus cases in the South Caucasus country of about 3 million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ past 24 hours .
The ministry also reported seven new deaths from COVID-19 , bringing the official death toll to 190 .
That figure does not include the deaths of 69 other people who were also infected with the coronavirus .
The ministry says that the patients ’ deaths were primarily caused by other , preexisting conditions .
The number of COVID-19 infections in Armenia has grown steadily since the government began easing in mid-April a nationwide lockdown imposed in late March .
All sectors of the Armenian economy were allowed to reopen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in coronavirus infections prompted the authorities to make wearing face masks mandatory in all public places .
Pashinian himself has been infected with the virus and continues to run the government from self-isolation .
Hundreds of people attended an outdoor book fair in Moscow ’ s Red Square on June 6 , though some publishing houses decided to stay away , citing health risks amid the coronavirus pandemic .
The city ’ s ban on public gatherings continues , but authorities gave permission to hold the annual book fair under tight restrictions .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 6,000 people a day , divided into five two-hour shifts .
All the shoppers had to apply for permission and receive QR codes for admittance .
Organizers implemented numerous other measures to stem the spread of the virus -- with chairs spaced 1 meter apart and temperature checks at the entrance .
Some independent publishers refused to take part because of heath concerns .
`` We do n't want to put our employees and our authors , as well as our readers , at risk , '' said Pavel Podkosov , director general @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which lost up to 60 percent of its income due to the lockdown compared with the same period last year .
Large public events are still banned in Moscow and most lockdown restrictions will remain in place until at least June 14 .
The state-organized book fair was able to go ahead as Red Square is controlled by the federal government .
Russia has almost 450,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 5,500 official deaths as of June 6 , the world 's third-biggest number after the United States and Brazil .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people last year .
With reporting by RFE/RL ’ s Armenian Service , Reuters , and AP

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 393,000 with more than 6.7 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions.
Armenia
Armenian's prime minister says that nearly 200 people who need hospitalization after being infected with the coronavirus are waiting for hospital beds as the country’s health-care system has been overwhelmed by the pandemic.
“I have an obligation to tell you the whole truth about everything, especially about the situation with the coronavirus, no matter how bitter this truth may be.... Today, there are about 200 people with coronavirus who are waiting for their turn for hospitalization,” Nikol Pashinian said during a daily coronavirus briefing on June 6.
Pashinian said that one COVID-19 patient had died at home while waiting to be hospitalized. Two patients, meanwhile, died at hospital due to a shortage of intensive-care beds at the facilities where they had been receiving treatment.
The Health Ministry said on June 6 that the number of coronavirus cases in the South Caucasus country of about 3 million rose by 547 to 12,364 in the past 24 hours.
The ministry also reported seven new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the official death toll to 190. That figure does not include the deaths of 69 other people who were also infected with the coronavirus. The ministry says that the patients’ deaths were primarily caused by other, preexisting conditions.
The number of COVID-19 infections in Armenia has grown steadily since the government began easing in mid-April a nationwide lockdown imposed in late March.
All sectors of the Armenian economy were allowed to reopen by May 10.
The new spike in coronavirus infections prompted the authorities to make wearing face masks mandatory in all public places.
Pashinian himself has been infected with the virus and continues to run the government from self-isolation.
Russia
Hundreds of people attended an outdoor book fair in Moscow’s Red Square on June 6, though some publishing houses decided to stay away, citing health risks amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The city’s ban on public gatherings continues, but authorities gave permission to hold the annual book fair under tight restrictions.
Visitation to the bookstalls is limited to 6,000 people a day, divided into five two-hour shifts. All the shoppers had to apply for permission and receive QR codes for admittance.
Organizers implemented numerous other measures to stem the spread of the virus -- with chairs spaced 1 meter apart and temperature checks at the entrance.
Some independent publishers refused to take part because of heath concerns.
"We don't want to put our employees and our authors, as well as our readers, at risk," said Pavel Podkosov, director general of the Alpina Non-Fiction publishing house, which lost up to 60 percent of its income due to the lockdown compared with the same period last year.
Large public events are still banned in Moscow and most lockdown restrictions will remain in place until at least June 14. The state-organized book fair was able to go ahead as Red Square is controlled by the federal government.
Russia has almost 450,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 5,500 official deaths as of June 6, the world's third-biggest number after the United States and Brazil.
The annual book fair was attended by 300,000 people last year.
With reporting by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Reuters, and AP


rferl--2020-06-07--Russia's Coronavirus Cases Climb Past 467,000; Death Toll Up To 5,859

Russian officials have reported 8,984 new coronavirus cases , bringing the total number of infections in the country to nearly 470,000 .
The daily tall released on June 7 showed a total of 467,673 cumulative infections , with the daily rate of increase hovering around 2 percent .
The national coronavirus task force also said 134 people had died of the virus over the past 24 hours , bringing the official nationwide death toll to 5,859 .
The apparent plateauing of cases has led government officials to start easing some of the economic restrictions imposed to curtail the spread of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in early April have hammered the Russian economy , which experts say will likely see its sharpest contraction since the 2008 economic crisis .
Russia 's official death toll , meanwhile , has been under intense scrutiny amid criticism that officials are deliberately undercounting fatalities .
Moscow health officials recently revised the toll for April coronavirus fatalities upward , and figures being released later this month are expected to show a similar uptick in deaths for May in the Russian capital .
Russia now ranks third in the world for total infections , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the world .

Russian officials have reported 8,984 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to nearly 470,000.
The daily tall released on June 7 showed a total of 467,673 cumulative infections, with the daily rate of increase hovering around 2 percent.
The national coronavirus task force also said 134 people had died of the virus over the past 24 hours, bringing the official nationwide death toll to 5,859.
The state-run TASS news agency reported that Berel Lazar, chief rabbi of Russia, has been diagnosed with the coronavirus and is undergoing medical treatment.
“His health is out of danger,” Lazar’s press service was quoted as saying.
The apparent plateauing of cases has led government officials to start easing some of the economic restrictions imposed to curtail the spread of the virus.
The restrictions imposed beginning in early April have hammered the Russian economy, which experts say will likely see its sharpest contraction since the 2008 economic crisis.
Russia's official death toll, meanwhile, has been under intense scrutiny amid criticism that officials are deliberately undercounting fatalities.
Moscow health officials recently revised the toll for April coronavirus fatalities upward, and figures being released later this month are expected to show a similar uptick in deaths for May in the Russian capital.
Russia now ranks third in the world for total infections, while the death toll makes it 14th in the world.


rferl--2020-06-07--Serbian President Says Kosovo's Tariff Move 'Opens Possibility' For Resuming Talks

BELGRADE -- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has expressed cautious optimism that talks with Kosovo brokered by the European Union could resume , one day after Kosovo ’ s new government lifted all trade barriers that had been imposed on Serbia .
In an interview on June 7 with RFE/RL ’ s Balkan Service , Vucic said Kosovo ’ s move “ opens the possibility for us to start talking.
” “ It will create a kind of framework so that our business communities can cooperate incomparably better , ” he said .
“ Of course , this will open the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kosovo was formerly a Serbian province that unilaterally declared independence in 2008 .
Belgrade has not recognized that move .
In 2011 , Belgrade and Pristina agreed to EU-brokered talks aimed at normalizing relations .
Kosovo first imposed trade sanctions on Serbia in November 2018 in retaliation for Belgrade ’ s diplomatic efforts to persuade countries to rescind their recognition of Kosovo ’ s independence .
“ We expect Serbia to end the de-recognition campaign against Kosovo , ” Kosovar Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said on June 6 , adding that Kosovo expected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pressure Belgrade on the issue .
Serbia had previously said it would not negotiate with Kosovo as long as the trade sanctions were in place .
Vucic confirmed that EU special envoy Miroslav Lajcak was expected to visit Belgrade and Pristina soon after Serbia ’ s June 21 parliamentary elections .
Vucic , however , said he did not expect the talks to result in Serbian recognition of Kosovo .
“ We talk to everyone , ” he said .
“ My question is…What is the content of the dialogue .
What are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is just , ‘ Come on , Serbs , recognize the independence of Kosovo and let ’ s finish that story , ’ it certainly will not go that way.
” Both Kosovo and Serbia are pursuing a policy of European integration and aspire to membership in the European Union .

BELGRADE -- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has expressed cautious optimism that talks with Kosovo brokered by the European Union could resume, one day after Kosovo’s new government lifted all trade barriers that had been imposed on Serbia.
In an interview on June 7 with RFE/RL’s Balkan Service, Vucic said Kosovo’s move “opens the possibility for us to start talking.”
“It will create a kind of framework so that our business communities can cooperate incomparably better,” he said. “Of course, this will open the possibility for political dialogue between us.”
Kosovo was formerly a Serbian province that unilaterally declared independence in 2008. Belgrade has not recognized that move. In 2011, Belgrade and Pristina agreed to EU-brokered talks aimed at normalizing relations.
Kosovo first imposed trade sanctions on Serbia in November 2018 in retaliation for Belgrade’s diplomatic efforts to persuade countries to rescind their recognition of Kosovo’s independence.
“We expect Serbia to end the de-recognition campaign against Kosovo,” Kosovar Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said on June 6, adding that Kosovo expected the EU and the United States to pressure Belgrade on the issue.
Serbia had previously said it would not negotiate with Kosovo as long as the trade sanctions were in place.
Vucic confirmed that EU special envoy Miroslav Lajcak was expected to visit Belgrade and Pristina soon after Serbia’s June 21 parliamentary elections.
Vucic, however, said he did not expect the talks to result in Serbian recognition of Kosovo.
“We talk to everyone,” he said. “My question is…What is the content of the dialogue. What are we talking about?.… Because if it is just, ‘Come on, Serbs, recognize the independence of Kosovo and let’s finish that story,’ it certainly will not go that way.”
Both Kosovo and Serbia are pursuing a policy of European integration and aspire to membership in the European Union.


rferl--2020-06-07--Russian State Channel RT Files Lawsuit Against Opposition Figure Navalny

MOSCOW -- The Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT has filed a lawsuit against opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Aleksei Navalny , alleging that he damaged the firm ’ s business reputation .
Navalny posted notice of the lawsuit on his Twitter account on June 7 .
Lyubov Sobol , a lawyer for Navalny ’ s Anti-Corruption Foundation , and the Znak.com news website were also named as defendants in the suit .
According to the notice , Moscow ’ s Arbitration Court found unspecified “ errors ” in the lawsuit and gave RT additional time to correct them .
Navalny and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent months about RT and its editor in chief , Margarita Simonyan .
It was unclear which of the reports was the trigger for the lawsuit .
Some of the publications have described various means by which RT , formerly known as Russia Today , boosts the number of views it has on the YouTube platform .
Others , in general , have accused RT of being ineffective and a drain on the Russian state budget .
“ Other propagandists , [ Channel One ’ s Vladimir ] Solovyov or [ Rossia-24 ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , at least have their viewers on state television , ” Sobol said in an interview with RFE/RL in April .
“ But as we have shown , Margarita Simonyan has no audience.
” Navalny ’ s foundation has also accused RT of violating Russian legislation on noncommercial organizations .
In March , the Anti-Corruption Foundation issued a report alleging that Simonyan ; her husband , filmmaker Tigran Keosayan ; and their relatives received tens of millions of rubles from the state budget to produce a patriotic romantic comedy set against the backdrop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Ukrainian region of Crimea , which Russia annexed in 2014 , to Russia .
According to Navalny ’ s Foundation , Simonyan was paid 9.1 million rubles ( $ 138,000 ) and Keosayan received 13.9 million rubles ( $ 211,000 ) for their work on the 2018 film , titled The Crimean Bridge .
Made With Love !

MOSCOW -- The Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT has filed a lawsuit against opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Aleksei Navalny, alleging that he damaged the firm’s business reputation.
Navalny posted notice of the lawsuit on his Twitter account on June 7.
Lyubov Sobol, a lawyer for Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, and the Znak.com news website were also named as defendants in the suit.
According to the notice, Moscow’s Arbitration Court found unspecified “errors” in the lawsuit and gave RT additional time to correct them.
Navalny and his foundation have published several exposés in recent months about RT and its editor in chief, Margarita Simonyan. It was unclear which of the reports was the trigger for the lawsuit.
Some of the publications have described various means by which RT, formerly known as Russia Today, boosts the number of views it has on the YouTube platform. Others, in general, have accused RT of being ineffective and a drain on the Russian state budget.
“Other propagandists, [Channel One’s Vladimir] Solovyov or [Rossia-24’s Dmitry] Kiselyov, for instance, at least have their viewers on state television,” Sobol said in an interview with RFE/RL in April. “But as we have shown, Margarita Simonyan has no audience.”
Navalny’s foundation has also accused RT of violating Russian legislation on noncommercial organizations.
In March, the Anti-Corruption Foundation issued a report alleging that Simonyan; her husband, filmmaker Tigran Keosayan; and their relatives received tens of millions of rubles from the state budget to produce a patriotic romantic comedy set against the backdrop of the construction of a bridge linking the Ukrainian region of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, to Russia.
According to Navalny’s Foundation, Simonyan was paid 9.1 million rubles ($138,000) and Keosayan received 13.9 million rubles ($211,000) for their work on the 2018 film, titled The Crimean Bridge. Made With Love!


rferl--2020-06-07--Russian Journalist, Lawmaker Released After Court Cuts Jail Term

A Russian journalist who also serves on a Moscow district council has been released from jail after serving 10 days @ @ @ @ @ single-person picket .
Ilya Azar walked free from the Moscow jail on June 7 , @ @ @ @ @ court ordered his term shortened .
Azar , who works for the independent Novaya gazeta @ @ @ @ @ May 26 for staging a single-person picket , a form of protest that does not @ @ @ @ @ .
He was protesting the jailing of another activist who has worked to expose violations @ @ @ @ @ agencies .
Police said Azar was detained for violating lockdown orders imposed to stem the @ @ @ @ @ His arrest prompted an outcry among Russian journalists and municipal lawmakers who also staged single-person @ @ @ @ @ August , Azar helped organize a series of anti-government rallies in the Russian capital calling @ @ @ @ @ rallies drew tens of thousands of people .

A Russian journalist who also serves on a Moscow district council has been released from jail after serving 10 days in detention for staging a single-person picket.
Ilya Azar walked free from the Moscow jail on June 7, two days after a Moscow court ordered his term shortened.
Azar, who works for the independent Novaya gazeta newspaper, was detained on May 26 for staging a single-person picket, a form of protest that does not require permission from the authorities.
He was protesting the jailing of another activist who has worked to expose violations within Russia's law enforcement agencies.
Police said Azar was detained for violating lockdown orders imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
His arrest prompted an outcry among Russian journalists and municipal lawmakers who also staged single-person protests in support.
Last August, Azar helped organize a series of anti-government rallies in the Russian capital calling for fair elections. The rallies drew tens of thousands of people.


rferl--2020-06-07--Russia's Coronavirus Cases Climb Past 467,000; Chief Rabbi Being Treated

Russian officials have reported 8,984 new coronavirus cases , bringing the total number of infections in the country to nearly 470,000 .
The daily tall released on June 7 showed a total of 467,673 cumulative infections , with the daily rate of increase hovering around 2 percent .
The national coronavirus task force also said 134 people had died of the virus over the past 24 hours , bringing the official nationwide death toll to 5,859 .
The state-run TASS news agency reported that Berel Lazar , chief rabbi of Russia , has been diagnosed with the coronavirus and is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is out of danger , ” Lazar ’ s press service was quoted as saying .
The apparent plateauing of cases has led government officials to start easing some of the economic restrictions imposed to curtail the spread of the virus .
The restrictions imposed beginning in early April have hammered the Russian economy , which experts say will likely see its sharpest contraction since the 2008 economic crisis .
Russia 's official death toll , meanwhile , has been under intense scrutiny amid criticism that officials are deliberately undercounting fatalities .
Moscow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ April coronavirus fatalities upward , and figures being released later this month are expected to show a similar uptick in deaths for May in the Russian capital .
Russia now ranks third in the world for total infections , while the death toll makes it 14th in the world .


rferl--2020-06-08--U.S. Envoy, Taliban Discuss Afghan Peace Process In Qatar

The U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan , Zalmay Khalilzad , has held a new round of talks in Qatar with the Taliban 's political chief .
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar , a spokesman for the militants , said on Twitter late on June 7 that Khalilzad and Baradar discussed the release of prisoners and the start of intra-Afghan talks .
In February , the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement aimed at ending the 18-year war -- the longest military conflict in U.S. history .
The deal lays out a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Taliban .
It also stipulates that Kabul must free 5,000 Taliban prisoners , while the militants are to release 1,000 captives -- a move expected to lead to intra-Afghan negotiations .
Separately , Khalilzad met with Pakistani Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on June 7 , the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and the Pakistani military said .
Both sides discussed `` steps required for the start of intra-Afghan negotiations , '' the embassy said in a statement on June 8 .
Pakistan and Afghanistan have had strained ties for years .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ safe haven to Taliban militants who launch attacks against international and Afghan forces .
Pakistan last week appointed a new special envoy to Afghanistan in a fresh bid to improve bilateral relations .
Muhammad Sadiq Khan previously served as Pakistan 's ambassador to Afghanistan from 2008 to 2014 .
Khan , a former spokesman for the Foreign Ministry , would play `` an effective role in strengthening ties '' between the two neighbors , according to a statement by Pakistan 's Foreign Ministry .
With reporting by AFP and AP


rferl--2020-06-08--Hearings Set For Detained Belarusian Opposition Supporters

MINSK -- Court hearings for at least 17 supporters of independent presidential candidates detained over the weekend during protests in Belarus are expected to begin on June 8 .
The Minsk-based Vyasna ( Spring ) human rights center said hundreds of activists rallied in the capital and the southeastern city of Homel , collecting the signatures necessary to register alternative presidential candidates for an election scheduled for August 9 .
Prospective candidates need to obtain 100,000 signatures to be considered for registration as a candidate .
Pavel Sevyarynets , the co-chairman of the Belarusian Christian Democratic Party , was detained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and his supporters called a `` people 's picket of freedom and solidarity , '' which lasted more than three hours .
Human Rights Watch warned last month that the authorities in Belarus had intensified their crackdown on protesters , opposition bloggers , journalists , and other government critics with a `` new wave of arbitrary arrests '' ahead of the election .
On May 24 , more than 1,000 demonstrators joined together in Minsk to oppose another term for Lukashenka in one of the biggest protests of the year in the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lukashenka , who has been in power in Belarus for more than 25 years , say his government has shown little tolerance for dissent and independent media .
The country has been the target of U.S. and EU sanctions over its poor rights record and lack of fair elections , but Belarus and the West have recently sought to mend ties to reduce Russia 's influence in the country .

MINSK -- A co-chairman of the non-registered opposition Belarusian Christian Democratic Party, Paval Sevyarynets, has been sentenced to 15 days in jail over weekend rallies in Minsk in support of independent presidential candidates for an election scheduled for this summer.
The Frunze District Court in Minsk on June 8 found Sevyarynets guilty of taking part in an unsanctioned public event and sentenced him to 10 days in jail and gave the politician an additional five days for disobeying the police during the demonstrations.
Sevyarynets pleaded not guilty and called his incarceration illegal, stressing that the rally near Minsk's Kamarouski market on June 7 was organized by initiative groups supporting eight potential presidential candidates, which is allowed by the constitution during the pre-election period.
Sevyarynets is one of dozens of activists and politicians who were detained in Minsk and several other cities across Belarus during the rallies at which hundreds of demonstrators were collecting signatures necessary to register alternative presidential candidates for the election, scheduled for August 9.
Prospective candidates need to obtain 100,000 signatures to be considered for registration as a candidate.
Sevyarynets's trial was just one of many resulting from the weekend protests.
About 40 activists and politicians have faced administrative trials in Minsk and several other cities on June 8, the Vyasna (Spring) human rights center said.
In Minsk, activists Aleh Babrouski, Volha Mikalaychyk, and Valyantsin Fralou were sentenced to jail terms of between 14 and 20 days after courts found them guilty of taking part in an unsanctioned public event.
In the eastern city of Vitsebsk, activist Aleh Paulau was sentenced to five days in jail and his colleague Alena Yanushkouskaya was fined 1,080 rubles ($450) on the same charge.
Trials of others continue, Vyasna said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned last month that authorities in Belarus have intensified their crackdown on protesters, opposition bloggers, journalists, and other government critics with a "new wave of arbitrary arrests"ahead of the election.
On May 24, more than 1,000 demonstrators joined together in Minsk to oppose another term for Lukashenka in one of the biggest protests of the year in the country of around 9 million.
Critics of Lukashenka, who has been in power in Belarus for more than 25 years, say his government has shown little tolerance for dissent and independent media.
The country has been the target of U.S. and EU sanctions over its poor rights record and lack of fair elections, but Belarus and the West have recently sought to mend ties to reduce Russia’s influence in the country.


rferl--2020-06-08--Kazakh Capital Renamed After Nazarbaev Changes Airport Code To NQZ

The airport in the Kazakh capital , Nur-Sultan , has changed its three-letter code to NQZ from TSE , a year after the city 's name was changed from Astana to Nur-Sultan following the sudden resignation of the country 's first president , Nursultan Nazarbaev .
The Kazakh Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development said on June 8 that effective immediately , the new code will be used on all tickets , baggage tags , and information boards .
The airport in the Kazakh capital , Nursultan Nazarbaev International Airport , received its name in 2017 , but preserved the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , TSE , was based on the Soviet-era name of the city -- Tselinograd , which translates to `` the city of virgin lands . ''
The name was given to the city in 1961 during Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev 's Virgin Lands campaign in Kazakhstan .
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union , Kazakh authorities returned the city to its historic name , Aqmola .
Five years later , the capital was moved from the southeastern city of Almaty .
In 1998 , Aqmola was renamed Astana , which means `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March 2019 , the day after Nazarbaev 's sudden resignation , his successor , then-acting President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev , signed a decree renaming the capital Nur-Sultan to honor Nazarbaev , who ruled the oil-rich country for almost 30 years .
The decision to rename the city sparked protests in the capital and other cities of the tightly controlled former Soviet republic that were violently dispersed by police .
Based on reporting by Kazinform and Tengrinews

The airport in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, has changed its three-letter code to NQZ from TSE, a year after the city's name was changed from Astana to Nur-Sultan following the sudden resignation of the country's first president, Nursultan Nazarbaev.
The Kazakh Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development said on June 8 that effective immediately, the new code will be used on all tickets, baggage tags, and information boards.
The airport in the Kazakh capital, Nursultan Nazarbaev International Airport, received its name in 2017, but preserved the old three-letter code.
The previous code, TSE, was based on the Soviet-era name of the city -- Tselinograd, which translates to "the city of virgin lands."
The name was given to the city in 1961 during Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's Virgin Lands campaign in Kazakhstan.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kazakh authorities returned the city to its historic name, Aqmola. Five years later, the capital was moved from the southeastern city of Almaty.
In 1998, Aqmola was renamed Astana, which means "the capital" in Kazakh.
In March 2019, the day after Nazarbaev's sudden resignation, his successor, then-acting President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, signed a decree renaming the capital Nur-Sultan to honor Nazarbaev, who ruled the oil-rich country for almost 30 years.
The decision to rename the city sparked protests in the capital and other cities of the tightly controlled former Soviet republic that were violently dispersed by police.
Based on reporting by Kazinform and Tengrinews


rferl--2020-06-08--Iranian Scientist Freed By U.S. Arrives In Tehran

Iranian scientist Majid Taheri has returned home after his release from prison in the United States as part of a prisoner exchange , semiofficial Iranian news agency ISNA reported .
Taheri , who had been detained in the United States for 16 months , was freed on June 4 as Iran released U.S. Navy veteran Michael White , who had been sentenced to 13 years in prison last year for allegedly insulting Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and posting private information online .
Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari greeted Taheri upon his arrival on June 8 at Tehran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which posted a picture of the pair speaking to reporters .
`` I thank the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and dear officials , including Mr. Zarif , who worked hard , and other officials who took months to help release me , as an Iranian physician accused of circumventing U.S. sanctions on medicine , '' he was quoted as saying .
Taheri , an Iranian-American who had been working at a clinic in Tampa , Florida , was the second scientist to have returned to Iran from the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sirous Asgari flew home on June 3 .
Taheri served 16 months for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and on June 4 a federal judge released him to go see family in Iran .
According to court documents , he pleaded guilty to charges he violated financial reporting requirements by depositing more than $ 277,000 at a bank .
On June 8 , Taheri rejected accusations against him as `` unfair and false , '' according to Iran 's Fars news agency .
`` I was helping the University of Tehran to develop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' he was quoted as saying .
Iran-U.S. tensions have been on the rise in recent years as President Donald Trump has pursued a campaign of `` maximum pressure '' against Tehran .
Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the United States from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers and reimposed crippling sanction on Iran .
With reporting by AFP , AP , and Reuters

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


rferl--2020-06-08--Former World Athletics Chief On Trial Over Russian Doping Coverup

The corruption and money-laundering trial of some of track and field 's top administrators , including the former head of the athletics ' world governing body , has opened in Paris .
Prosecutors allege that Lamine Diack solicited payments totaling more than $ 3.3 million from Russian athletes to cover up allegations of suspected doping and allow the athletes to continue competing .
He is charged with giving and receiving bribes , breach of trust , and organized money laundering and is facing a potential 10-year prison sentence .
The scandal resulted in the Russian team being banned from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Olympics .
Diack , who was present in court on June 8 , has denied wrongdoing , and his lawyers have said the accusations are baseless .
The hearing is set to last until June 18 in the French capital .
The case is being pursued by the French authorities because the alleged money laundering happened in France , where Lamine Diack has been under house arrest since the investigation began .
The Senegalese presided over the International Association of Athletics Federations ( IAAF ) , now World Athletics , for 16 years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ National Financial Prosecutor 's Office describe a web of corruption in world athletics under his leadership .
The trial had been due to start in January but was postponed after new documents containing testimony from his son and co-defendant , Papa Massata Diack , were submitted to the court .
The younger Diack worked as a marketing consultant for the IAAF .
Senegal has refused to extradite Papa Massata Diack , who has refused to cooperate with French authorities .
He also faces charges of money laundering , corruption , and breach of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and will be tried in absentia .
Two Russians are also on trial , but were not present at the June 8 hearing : Valentin Balakhnichev , a former IAAF treasurer , and Aleksei Melnikov , a coach who led Russia 's long-distance running program .
Another co-defendant , Habib Cisse , who served as Diack 's legal adviser at the IAAF , is suspected of having acted as an intermediary between the IAAF and Russian athletics and having received hundreds of thousands of dollars .
Cisse was present in court on June @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Reuters

The corruption and money-laundering trial of some of track and field's top administrators, including the former head of the athletics' world governing body, has opened in Paris.
Prosecutors allege that Lamine Diack solicited payments totaling more than $3.3 million from Russian athletes to cover up allegations of suspected doping and allow the athletes to continue competing.
He is charged with giving and receiving bribes, breach of trust, and organized money laundering and is facing a potential 10-year prison sentence.
The scandal resulted in the Russian team being banned from the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Diack, who was present in court on June 8, has denied wrongdoing, and his lawyers have said the accusations are baseless. The hearing is set to last until June 18 in the French capital.
The case is being pursued by the French authorities because the alleged money laundering happened in France, where Lamine Diack has been under house arrest since the investigation began.
The Senegalese presided over the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), now World Athletics, for 16 years until 2015.
Investigators at the French National Financial Prosecutor's Office describe a web of corruption in world athletics under his leadership.
The trial had been due to start in January but was postponed after new documents containing testimony from his son and co-defendant, Papa Massata Diack, were submitted to the court. The younger Diack worked as a marketing consultant for the IAAF.
Senegal has refused to extradite Papa Massata Diack, who has refused to cooperate with French authorities. He also faces charges of money laundering, corruption, and breach of trust, according to the indictment, and will be tried in absentia.
Two Russians are also on trial, but were not present at the June 8 hearing: Valentin Balakhnichev, a former IAAF treasurer, and Aleksei Melnikov, a coach who led Russia's long-distance running program.
Another co-defendant, Habib Cisse, who served as Diack's legal adviser at the IAAF, is suspected of having acted as an intermediary between the IAAF and Russian athletics and having received hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Cisse was present in court on June 8.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters


rferl--2020-06-08--Trump Envoy: U.S., Russia To Hold Nuclear Arms Talks In June, China Invited

The United States and Russia have agreed on a time and place for nuclear arms negotiations this month and invited China , President Donald Trump ’ s arms negotiator says .
`` Today agreed with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister [ Sergei ] Ryabkov on time and place for nuclear arms negotiations in June , ” U.S. Special Envoy for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea wrote on Twitter on June 8 .
“ China also invited .
Will China show and negotiate in good faith ? ''
he added , without providing further details .
There were no immediate comments from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an unidentified U.S. State Department official as saying that Ryabkov and Billingslea would meet in Vienna on June 22 .
The official didn ’ t rule out that the United States may be willing to extend the New Start nuclear-weapons treaty , if Russia `` commits to three-way arms control with China and helps to bring a resistant Beijing to the table , ” according to Bloomberg .
New START , the last major arms control treaty between the United States and Russia , is scheduled to expire in February 2021 .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and so-called delivery systems held by the two countries .
While Moscow has pushed for a five-year extension , Washington has balked , saying it wants the deal to be broadened to include China .
China , whose nuclear arsenal is a fraction of the size of Moscow ’ s and Washington ’ s , has said it was not interested in participating in such talks .
The Trump administration has pulled out of major international treaties , prompting warnings of an increased possibility of an arms race or accidental military confrontations .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ withdrawing from the 35-nation Open Skies accord , which allows unarmed surveillance flights over member countries , due to what U.S. officials said were Russia ’ s violations .
The United States also cited Russian violations when it exited from of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia .
Moscow has denied the U.S. accusations and said the United States was seeking to undermine international security .

The United States and Russia have agreed on a time and place for nuclear arms negotiations this month and invited China, President Donald Trump’s arms negotiator says.
"Today agreed with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister [Sergei] Ryabkov on time and place for nuclear arms negotiations in June,” U.S. Special Envoy for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea wrote on Twitter on June 8.
“China also invited. Will China show and negotiate in good faith?" he added, without providing further details.
There were no immediate comments from Russian officials.
Earlier, Bloomberg quoted an unidentified U.S. State Department official as saying that Ryabkov and Billingslea would meet in Vienna on June 22.
The official didn’t rule out that the United States may be willing to extend the New Start nuclear-weapons treaty, if Russia "commits to three-way arms control with China and helps to bring a resistant Beijing to the table,” according to Bloomberg.
New START, the last major arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, is scheduled to expire in February 2021.
The accord caps the number of nuclear warheads and so-called delivery systems held by the two countries.
While Moscow has pushed for a five-year extension, Washington has balked, saying it wants the deal to be broadened to include China.
China, whose nuclear arsenal is a fraction of the size of Moscow’s and Washington’s, has said it was not interested in participating in such talks.
The Trump administration has pulled out of major international treaties, prompting warnings of an increased possibility of an arms race or accidental military confrontations.
Last month, Washington gave notice on withdrawing from the 35-nation Open Skies accord, which allows unarmed surveillance flights over member countries, due to what U.S. officials said were Russia’s violations.
The United States also cited Russian violations when it exited from of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia.
Moscow has denied the U.S. accusations and said the United States was seeking to undermine international security.
With reporting by Bloomberg


rferl--2020-06-08--Oil Spill Reported In Russia's Far Northern Nenets Region

Russian state media have reported that an estimated 10 tons of oil have leaked from a depressurized well in the @ @ @ @ @ of the Arctic Circle .
The June 8 leak occurred at the Dyusushevsky oil field @ @ @ @ @ Rostekhnadzor state inspection agency were reportedly able to stop the oil flow .
The cause @ @ @ @ @ specified .
The Interfax news agency reported that bad weather was preventing helicopters from reaching @ @ @ @ @ a cleanup operation .
The incident comes less than two weeks after some 20,000 tons @ @ @ @ @ a thermal power plant near the industrial city of Norilsk , also located above the @ @ @ @ @ The Russian mining conglomerate Norilsk Nickel , which owns the power plant , said the @ @ @ @ @ supporting a storage tank sand due to thawing permafrost .
The fuel has spilled into @ @ @ @ @ , and a downstream lake .
Russia ’ s state fisheries agency , Rosrybolovstvo , @ @ @ @ @ an ecological catastrophe that will “ take decades ” to be corrected .

Russian state media have reported that an estimated 10 tons of oil have leaked from a depressurized well in the Nenets Autonomous Region, north of the Arctic Circle.
The June 8 leak occurred at the Dyusushevsky oil field, and specialists from the Rostekhnadzor state inspection agency were reportedly able to stop the oil flow.
The cause of the leak was not specified.
The Interfax news agency reported that bad weather was preventing helicopters from reaching the accident site to begin a cleanup operation.
The incident comes less than two weeks after some 20,000 tons of diesel fuel spilled from a thermal power plant near the industrial city of Norilsk, also located above the Arctic Circle in Siberia.
The Russian mining conglomerate Norilsk Nickel, which owns the power plant, said the leak was cause when pillars supporting a storage tank sand due to thawing permafrost.
The fuel has spilled into the soil, two rivers, and a downstream lake.
Russia’s state fisheries agency, Rosrybolovstvo, said the Norilsk incident was an ecological catastrophe that will “take decades” to be corrected.
With reporting by Interfax


rferl--2020-06-08--Azerbaijan Rights Activist Accuses Baku Police Of Conducting 'Revenge Operation'

BAKU -- Dozens of police officers raided a Baku neighborhood on June 8 and detained several people in an early morning operation that one rights activist described as a `` revenge operation . ''
The incident occurred in Baku 's Yeni Yasamal neighborhood , where police detained 11 residents of an apartment block .
The Interior Ministry issued a statement alleging that the detainees had thrown garbage at police officers a day earlier as they were detaining another local for `` violating restrictions imposed to slow down the spread of the coronavirus . ''
During the June 8 operation , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , criticized the police , and recorded the proceedings , some of which appeared harsh , on their cell phones .
One of the residents told RFE/RL that police launched the special operation at around 6 a.m. local time .
Human rights activist Baxtiyar Haciyev told RFE/RL that the police raid typifies the increasing gap between law enforcement structures and ordinary citizens .
`` What we saw today looked like a revenge operation , a step by police to intimidate citizens , to break them , '' Haciyev said .
`` Meanwhile , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ done strictly within legal frameworks . ''

BAKU -- Dozens of police officers raided a Baku neighborhood on June 8 and detained several people in an early morning operation that one rights activist described as a "revenge operation."
The incident occurred in Baku's Yeni Yasamal neighborhood, where police detained 11 residents of an apartment block.
The Interior Ministry issued a statement alleging that the detainees had thrown garbage at police officers a day earlier as they were detaining another local for "violating restrictions imposed to slow down the spread of the coronavirus."
During the June 8 operation, apartment block residents shouted from their balconies, criticized the police, and recorded the proceedings, some of which appeared harsh, on their cell phones.
One of the residents told RFE/RL that police launched the special operation at around 6 a.m. local time.
Human rights activist Baxtiyar Haciyev told RFE/RL that the police raid typifies the increasing gap between law enforcement structures and ordinary citizens.
"What we saw today looked like a revenge operation, a step by police to intimidate citizens, to break them," Haciyev said. "Meanwhile, all moves by state entities must be done strictly within legal frameworks."