rferl--2020-07-18--Kosovo’s Thaci Defends War Record, Calls For Unity After Return From Hague Court

PRISTINA -- Kosovar President Hashim Thaci has again defended his actions during Kosovo 's war with Serbia following his return from an international war-crimes court in The Hague and called for unity among the Balkan nation ’ s political forces as it attempts to normalize ties with its bitter rival .
Thaci ’ s televised address and Facebook comments on July 18 were his first public remarks since returning from The Hague following four days of questioning by prosecutors regarding his actions during Kosovo ’ s guerrilla war for independence from Serbia in the late 1990s .
The Kosovo Specialist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 24 that Thaci and other prominent Kosovars were the subject of an indictment on suspicion of serious crimes , including `` nearly 100 murders , '' enforced disappearances , and torture .
Thaci has defended his war record and has denied any wrongdoing .
In his July 18 remarks , he said he had “ full respect ” for the process of determining the truth of what happened during the war years of 1998-99 and said he was confident that his role in “ the liberation struggle for freedom and independence ” would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Serbia in 2008 .
More than 110 countries including the United States now recognize Kosovo , but those who do not accept its independence include -- in addition to Belgrade -- Russia , China , and several EU member states , including Spain , Greece , Slovakia , and Romania .
Many ethnic-Albanian Kosovars still bitterly recall years of armed opposition to policies imposed on them by Belgrade ahead of the 1998-99 war that ended in NATO 's 78-day bombing campaign that drove Serbian forces outside of Kosovo .
Thaci , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Liberation Army ( UCK ) during the war , said all of his actions were focused on the defense of Kosovo .
`` The glorious resistance , survival , and triumph over an invader , which sought to exterminate the Albanian people of Kosovo from the face of the earth with the broom of ethnic fascism , will become once and for all untouchable by anyone , '' Thaci said in his on July 18 broadcast .
Thaci said he underwent some 30 hours of questioning by prosecutors during his four days in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The special court , which is funded by the European Union , was established to deal with alleged crimes committed in the period January 1998 through December 2000 .
It was created by a law passed by Kosovo 's parliament in 2015 under pressure from the EU , the United States , and international organizations .
Although the judges , prosecutors , and other court officials are from various countries , the court is being administered under the laws of Kosovo .
A pretrial judge in the SPO has yet to decide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on trial or throw out the case .
Thaci has told Kosovars that if he is tried , he will immediately resign and face the accusations .
The Kosovar president also called in his July 18 remarks for dialogue between the political forces in Kosovo and for a `` healthy '' debate between the government and the opposition .
He said unity was crucial as the small , Western-backed nation continues to negotiate normalization of ties with larger neighbor Serbia , which has long attempted to balance its ties with the West and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We must speak to the world with one voice and develop the dialogue with Serbia with an exemplary show of unity , '' he said .
Leaders of Serbia and Kosovo met in Brussels on July 16 for their first face-to-face talks in 20 months under a European Union-mediated dialogue process aimed at normalizing relations between the two Balkan neighbors .

PRISTINA -- Kosovar President Hashim Thaci has again defended his actions during Kosovo's war with Serbia following his return from an international war crimes court in The Hague, and called for unity among the country's political forces as it attempts to normalize ties with its bitter rival.
Thaci's televised address and Facebook comments on July 18 were his first public remarks since returning from The Hague following four days of questioning by prosecutors regarding his actions during Kosovo's guerrilla war for independence from Serbia in the late 1990s.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (SPO) announced on June 24 that Thaci and other prominent Kosovars were the subject of an indictment on suspicion of serious crimes, including "nearly 100 murders," enforced disappearances, and torture.
Thaci has defended his war record and has denied any wrongdoing.
In his July 18 remarks, he said he had "full respect" for the process of determining the truth of what happened during the war years of 1998-99 and said he was confident that his role in "the liberation struggle for freedom and independence" would be legally justified.
Pristina declared independence from Serbia in 2008. More than 110 countries including the United States now recognize Kosovo, but those who do not accept its independence include -- in addition to Belgrade -- Russia, China, and several EU member states, including Spain, Greece, Slovakia, and Romania.
Many ethnic Albanian Kosovars still bitterly recall years of armed opposition to policies imposed on them by Belgrade ahead of the 1998-99 war that ended in NATO's 78-day bombing campaign that drove Serbian forces out of Kosovo.
Thaci, who was a top commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) during the war, said all of his actions were focused on the defense of Kosovo.
"The glorious resistance, survival, and triumph over an invader, which sought to exterminate the Albanian people of Kosovo from the face of the Earth with the broom of ethnic fascism, will become once and for all untouchable by anyone," Thaci said in his on July 18 broadcast.
Thaci said he underwent some 30 hours of questioning by prosecutors during his four days in The Hague, ending on July 16.
The SPO, which is funded by the European Union, was established to deal with alleged crimes committed in the period January 1998 through December 2000.
It was created by a law passed by Kosovo's parliament in 2015 under pressure from the EU, the United States, and international organizations.
Although the judges, prosecutors, and other court officials are from various countries, the court is being administered under the laws of Kosovo.
A pretrial judge in the SPO has yet to decide whether to put Thaci and the others on trial or throw out the case.
Thaci has told Kosovars that if he is tried, he will immediately resign and face the accusations.
The Kosovar president also called in his July 18 remarks for dialogue between the political forces in Kosovo and for a "healthy" debate between the government and the opposition.
He said unity was crucial as the small, Western-backed state continues to negotiate normalization of ties with larger neighbor Serbia, which has long attempted to balance its ties with the West and that of traditional ally Russia.
"We must speak to the world with one voice and develop the dialogue with Serbia with an exemplary show of unity," he said.
Leaders of Serbia and Kosovo met in Brussels on July 16 for their first face-to-face talks in 20 months under a EU-mediated dialogue process aimed at normalizing relations between the two Balkan neighbors.


rferl--2020-07-18--Rohani Says An Estimated 25 Million Iranians Infected With Coronavirus

Iranian President Hassan Rohani on July 18 estimated that as many as 25 million Iranians could have been infected with the coronavirus since the beginning of the outbreak , as he urged the public to take the pandemic seriously .
Rohani cited a new study by the Health Ministry in offering the unprecedentedly high number of 25 million coronavirus cases .
Iran ’ s population is around 81 million people .
`` Our estimate is that until now 25 million Iranians have been infected with this virus and about 14,000 have lost their dear lives , '' Rohani said in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that there is the possibility that between 30 and 35 million other people will be at risk , '' he said .
Rohani said more than 200,000 people had been hospitalized while adding that the number was expected to double in the coming months .
Rohani did not say what the report 's estimates were base on .
The study has so far not been made public .
Experts and others have long said that real numbers of coronavirus cases in Iran are higher than the confirmed figures .
A parliamentary report released @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toll is likely nearly double the officially reported figures .
Given insufficient testing , the report said the number of people infected at the time was probably `` eight to 10 times '' higher than the confirmed figures .
According to the latest figures released by the Health Ministry on July 18 , Iran has 271,606 infections while the death toll stands at 13,979 .
In recent weeks , Iran has seen a surge in its daily death toll .
Authorities on July 18 reimposed one-week restrictions in the capital , Tehran , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closing cafes , indoor pools , amusement parks , and zoos in an effort to contain the deadly pandemic .
With reporting by IRNA , 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--2020-07-18--Charges Sought After Rare Buddha Statue Destroyed In Pakistan

Criminal charges are being pursued after a 1,700-year-old statue of Buddha was deliberately destroyed by construction workers in Pakistan 's @ @ @ @ @ Video of workers smashing the life-sized statue with a sledgehammer in the town of Takhbhai @ @ @ @ @ .
The destruction of the statue , which had been discovered on the grounds of @ @ @ @ @ led to widespread condemnation and prompted the regional archeology department to file a criminal report @ @ @ @ @ Samad , general director of the archeology department , told RFE/RL on July 18 that @ @ @ @ @ a local contractor and that five people had been arrested for breaking antiquity laws .
@ @ @ @ @ was completely destroyed .
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province was the the site of the ancient kingdom @ @ @ @ @ , located in the Pashtun tribal region 's Mardan district , is considered a major @ @ @ @ @ .
Afrasiab Khattak , a former parliamentarian , wrote on Twitter on July 18 that @ @ @ @ @ a `` systematic effort to separate Pashtun identity from Buddha . ''

Criminal charges are being pursued after a 1,700-year-old statue of Buddha was deliberately destroyed by construction workers in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
Video of workers smashing the life-sized statue with a sledgehammer in the town of Takhbhai went viral on July 17.
The destruction of the statue, which had been discovered on the grounds of a home construction site, led to widespread condemnation and prompted the regional archeology department to file a criminal report against the perpetrators.
Abdul Samad, general director of the archeology department, told RFE/RL on July 18 that the statue was destroyed by a local contractor and that five people had been arrested for breaking antiquity laws.
Samad added that the statue was completely destroyed.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province was the the site of the ancient kingdom of Gandhara, and Takhbhai, located in the Pashtun tribal region's Mardan district, is considered a major regional site of Buddhist civilization.
Afrasiab Khattak, a former parliamentarian, wrote on Twitter on July 18 that the incident was part of a "systematic effort to separate Pashtun identity from Buddha."


rferl--2020-07-18--Iran Sends Black Boxes Of Downed Ukrainian Airliner To France For Analysis

Iran has sent the black boxes of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 , which crashed shortly after takeoff in Tehran on January 8 after being struck by two missiles , killing 176 people .
`` The black boxes were transferred to Paris yesterday by aviation officials and a judge , and their deciphering will start on Monday ( July 20 ) , '' Foreign Ministry official Mohsen Baharvand was quoted as telling the Etemad newspaper on July 18 .
A source at France 's Bureau for Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety ( BEA ) was quoted by AFP @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and would be at the agency from July 20 .
Flight 752 was struck by two missiles and crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran 's main airport on January 8 .
The Islamic republic admitted in the following days that its forces accidentally shot down the Kyiv-bound passenger plane .
In a recent report , Iranian aviation authorities concluded that a misaligned missile battery and miscommunication between soldiers and superior officers were to blame for incident .
Flight 752 was downed the same night that Iran had launched a ballistic-missile attack that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tehran 's air defenses were on high alert at the time in case of retaliation .
That attack was in response to an American drone strike that had killed the powerful commander of Iran 's Revolutionary Guards Corps , Major General Qasem Soleimani , in Baghdad five days earlier .
Canada and Ukraine had demanded that Iran , which had no means of decoding the crucial information contained in the data recording devices , send the black boxes abroad for analysis .
Based on reporting by AP and AFP


rferl--2020-07-19--Iranian Health Officials Play Down President's '25 Million Infected' Estimate

Iranian health officials have tried to play down President Hassan Rohani 's estimate that as many as 25 million Iranians could have been infected with the coronavirus since the beginning of the outbreak .
Rohani on July 18 cited a new study by the Health Ministry in offering the unprecedentedly high number of 25 million coronavirus cases .
Iran 's population is around 81 million people .
`` Our estimate is that until now 25 million Iranians have been infected with this virus and about 14,000 have lost their dear lives , '' Rohani said in his remarks .
A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on July 19 said the figure given by the president was based on numbers produced by a deputy in the ministry .
The statement said the estimate was based on serological blood tests that measure exposure to the illness .
`` It is not possible to rely on serological tests to diagnose the current state of the disease , '' the statement said .
Serological tests determine if a person has been exposed to a disease by showing their antibody response .
In the coronavirus pandemic , they have been used by countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ estimate overall infection rates -- whether or not people have had severe , mild , or no symptoms of COVID-19 .
Iran has been hardest hit by the pandemic in the Middle East , with infections and deaths rising sharply since restrictions were eased , beginning in mid-April .
Official case numbers rose to 273,788 on July 19 , with 14,188 deaths , Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said .
Authorities on July 18 reimposed one-week restrictions in the capital , Tehran , including banning religious and cultural functions , closing cafes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ zoos , in an effort to contain the deadly pandemic .
In related news , Turkey has suspended flights to Iran because of coronavirus worries , a spokesman for Iran 's Civil Aviation Organization , Reza Jafarzadeh , was quoted as saying on July 19 by the official IRNA news agency .
With reporting by IRNA and Reuters


rferl--2020-07-19--More Protests In Russia's Khabarovsk Over Arrest Of Local Governor

People have taken to the streets of the Far Eastern Russian city of Khabarovsk as protests continue against the arrest of a local governor that have rattled the Kremlin .
The fresh rallies come after tens of thousands peacefully demonstrated in the city of 590,000 on July 18 to demand the release of Khabarovsk region Governor Sergei Furgal .
Furgal , who was arrested in Khabarovsk on July 9 and transferred to Moscow , is charged with attempted murder and ordering two murders in 2004-05 .
On July 16 , the Moscow City Court in a closed-door decision upheld Furgal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who belongs to the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia , denies the charges , and his supporters say they are politically motivated .
Furgal was elected governor of the Khabarovsk region , which borders China , two years ago in an upset for the longtime incumbent , who represented the ruling United Russia party .
The continuing protests , far from the Russian capital , are a rare public show of defiance of the Kremlin and come following a controversial nationwide vote that set the stage for President Vladimir Putin to remain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been unnerved by the protests , with the regional capital 's mayor calling for calm and saying such rallies were illegal and could spread the coronavirus .
Russia 's Federal Security Service ( FSB ) had also warned of an alleged terrorist threat involving explosives , which it claimed to have already foiled .

Mass rallies continue to rock Russia's Far East as the backlash against the arrest of a local governor rattles the Kremlin.
Thousands of people took part in protests across the region, including in Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, and Birobidzhan.
The fresh rallies come after tens of thousands peacefully demonstrated in the city of Khabarovsk on July 18 to demand the release of Khabarovsk region Governor Sergei Furgal. Despite the protests not being given official permission, no detentions were reported.
Organizers put the size of the July 18 protests at some 50,000 people in a city of only 600,000 people.
Furgal, who was arrested in Khabarovsk on July 9 and transferred to Moscow, is charged with attempted murder and ordering two murders in 2004-05. On July 16, the Moscow City Court in a closed-door decision upheld Furgal's pretrial detention.
The 50-year-old Furgal, who belongs to the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, denies the charges, and his supporters say they are politically motivated.
Furgal was elected governor of the Khabarovsk region, which borders China, two years ago in an upset for the longtime incumbent, who represented the ruling United Russia party.
The continuing protests, far from the Russian capital, are a rare public show of defiance of the Kremlin and come following a controversial nationwide vote that set the stage for President Vladimir Putin to remain in power until 2036.
The authorities have been unnerved by the protests, with the regional capital's mayor calling for calm and saying such rallies were illegal and could spread the coronavirus.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) had also warned of an alleged terrorist threat involving explosives, which it claimed to have already foiled.
In addition, authorities in Khabarovsk said they were considering a return to strict quarantine in the region and attributed this to the "difficult situation with the spread of coronavirus infection."
With reporting by dpa


rferl--2020-07-19--Iran Suspends Execution Of Three Protesters

Iran has suspended the execution of three men linked to anti-government protests in November 2019 , one of their lawyers says .
Babak Paknia said in a Twitter post on July 19 that the Iranian judiciary had ordered a retrial for the three .
The lawyer 's announcement comes after a massive social-media campaign calling for Iran to halt state executions .
The online protest has been joined by many Iranians -- including ordinary citizens as well as intellectuals , former politicians , and prominent artists .
Amnesty International recorded 251 executions in Iran during 2019 , making Iran second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Persian-language hashtag # Don't_Execute -- # اعدام_نکنید -- the campaign was launched in response to confirmation on July 14 by Iran 's powerful judiciary that death sentences had been upheld against Amir Hossein Moradi , 25 , Saeed Tamjidi , 27 , and Mohammad Rajabi , 25 .
The three were among many who were arrested in a brutal crackdown against demonstrators who took to the streets in dozens of cities and towns across Iran in November 2019 .
Analysts said the social-media campaign was unprecedented in its scope and the level @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outside Iran .
Many took to Twitter , which is blocked in Iran , and Instagram , the only social-media platform that has not been blocked in the Islamic republic .
The hashtag # Don't_Execute in Persian has trended globally on Twitter , being used more than 7 million times .
Other social-networking platforms also were used to share pictures of the three Iranian men on death row and to call for their executions to be halted .
The protests , sparked by a sudden hike in the price of gasoline , focused @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poverty , and government corruption .
But they quickly turned political with chants against the clerical establishment .
Amnesty International has said at least 304 people were killed in the crackdown .
With reporting by AFP and Reuters


rferl--2020-07-19--Explosion At Iranian Power Plant, No Casualties Reported

The official IRNA news agency has reported an explosion at a power plant in Iran 's central Isfahan Province , but says there were no casualties .
There have been several explosions and fires around Iranian military , nuclear , and industrial facilities since late June .
The managing director of the Isfahan power company told IRNA on July 19 the blast was caused by a worn-out transformer at the plant .
It comes days after several vessels caught fire on July 15 at the Iranian port of Bushehr on the Persian Gulf .
Two explosions rocked the capital , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ near a military site and the other in a health center , the latter killing 19 people .
A fire also broke out at the underground Natanz nuclear facility on July 2 .
Iran 's top security body said on July 3 that the cause of the Natanz fire had been determined but would be announced at a later time .
Some Iranian officials said it could have been a cyberattack , and one warned that Tehran would retaliate against any country carrying out such attacks .
In an article in early July @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possibility of sabotage by enemies such as Israel and the United States , although it stopped short of accusing either directly .
Israel 's defense minister said on July 5 his country was not `` necessarily '' behind every mysterious incident in Iran .


rferl--2020-07-19--Russian-Born Figure Skater Dies After Fall From Moscow Window

Olympic figure skater Yekaterina Alexandrovskaya , a 20-year-old Australian national who was born in Russia , has died after falling out of a window in Moscow , her coach said .
Russian officials did not immediately comment on the cause of death , but coach Andrei Khekalo told AFP news agency that she had fallen from a sixth-floor window in central Moscow .
Russian media said she had left a note reading `` I love '' in Russian , suggesting it could have been a suicide .
The coach said Aexandrovskaya missed a training session in January and was later @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quit the sport .
He said she had earlier suffered from depression .
`` It is enormously sad to lose Katia who was a vibrant and talented person and an incredible athlete , '' AOC Vice President Ian Chesterman , who was the team 's chef de mission in PyeongChang , said in a statement .
Alexandrovskaya , who obtained her Australian citizenship in 2016 , competed in the pairs with Harley Windsor at the 2018 PyeongChang Games in South Korea .
The pair won the 2017 world junior title .
Windsor , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at a Winter Olympics , said he was `` devastated '' by the news of Alexandrovskaya 's death .
Based on reporting by Reuters , AP , and AFP

Olympic figure skater Yekaterina Alexandrovskaya, a 20-year-old Australian national who was born in Russia, has died after falling out of a window in Moscow, her coach said.
Russian officials did not immediately comment on the cause of death, but coach Andrei Khekalo told AFP news agency that she had fallen from a sixth-floor window in central Moscow.
Russian media said she had left a note reading "I love" in Russian, suggesting it could have been a suicide.
The coach said Alexandrovskaya missed a training session in January and was later diagnosed with epilepsy, leading her to quit the sport.
He said she had earlier suffered from depression.
The Australian Olympic Committee confirmed her death.
"It is enormously sad to lose Katia who was a vibrant and talented person and an incredible athlete," AOC Vice President Ian Chesterman, who was the team's chef de mission in PyeongChang, said in a statement.
Alexandrovskaya, who obtained her Australian citizenship in 2016, competed in the pairs with Harley Windsor at the 2018 PyeongChang Games in South Korea. The pair won the 2017 world junior title.
Windsor, Australia's first indigenous athlete to compete at a Winter Olympics, said he was "devastated" by the news of Alexandrovskaya's death.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP


rferl--2020-07-19--Russia's U.K. Envoy Says Allegations Of Vaccine Hacking Make 'No Sense'

Russia 's ambassador to Great Britain has denied Western allegations that Moscow helped hackers target laboratories conducting research on vaccines to fight the coronavirus .
Andrei Kelin told the BBC in an interview to be broadcast on July 19 that `` I do n't believe in this story at all .
There is no sense in it . ''
Britain , Canada , and the United States on July 16 accused Russia of trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine and treatment research from academic and pharmaceutical institutions around the world .
The British National Cybersecurity Center ( NCSC ) said hacking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dukes or Cozy Bear , had targeted organizations involved in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine in the three countries .
APT29 hackers `` almost certainly operate as part of Russian intelligence services , '' the NCSC said , adding that the United States and Canada shared its assessment .
Following the report , Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had `` nothing to do '' with any alleged cyberattacks on pharmaceutical companies and research institutes in the countries .
Kelin told the BBC that the allegations made `` no sense . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ any kind of computer hackers to any country , it is impossible , '' he said .
In its advisory , the NCSC said Cozy Bear exploited software flaws to get access to vulnerable computer systems , and used malware to upload and download files from infected machines .
They also tricked individuals into handing over login credentials with phishing and spear-phishing attacks .
Britain did not say which organizations were targeted , or whether any information had been stolen .
Based on reporting by the BBC and AFP

Russia's ambassador to Great Britain has denied Western allegations that Moscow helped hackers target laboratories conducting research on vaccines to fight the coronavirus.
Andrei Kelin told the BBC in an interview to be broadcast on July 19 that "I don't believe in this story at all. There is no sense in it."
Britain, Canada, and the United States on July 16 accused Russia of trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine and treatment research from academic and pharmaceutical institutions around the world.
The British National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC) said hacking group APT29, also known as the Dukes or Cozy Bear, had targeted organizations involved in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine in the three countries.
APT29 hackers "almost certainly operate as part of Russian intelligence services," the NCSC said, adding that the United States and Canada shared its assessment.
Following the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had "nothing to do" with any alleged cyberattacks on pharmaceutical companies and research institutes in the countries.
Kelin told the BBC that the allegations made "no sense."
"In this world, to attribute any kind of computer hackers to any country, it is impossible," he said.
In its advisory, the NCSC said Cozy Bear exploited software flaws to get access to vulnerable computer systems, and used malware to upload and download files from infected machines.
They also tricked individuals into handing over login credentials with phishing and spear-phishing attacks.
Britain did not say which organizations were targeted, or whether any information had been stolen.
Based on reporting by the BBC and AFP


rferl--2020-07-19--Pakistan To Resume Anti-Polio Campaign Even As Coronavirus Crisis Deepens

Pakistan is set to resume vaccinations against polio on July 20 , months after the effort was halted by attacks on aid workers and as the coronavirus pandemic overwhelmed the country 's health system .
The anti-polio campaign is scheduled to last three days and aims to vaccinate some 800,000 children , officials said .
National authorities have asked police departments to ensure the safety of the polio workers .
Rana Mohammad Safdar , who oversees Pakistan ’ s anti-polio effort , said workers would adhere to social-distancing regulations while conducting their operations .
Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bill Gates in June that despite the challenge presented by COVID-19 , the government planned to restart vaccinations throughout the country .
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has assisted Pakistan and other countries battle the disease .
Polio is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the polio virus .
Pakistan , neighboring Afghanistan , and Nigeria are the only countries in the world where polio is still endemic .
Some experts have blamed new cases in Pakistan on the refusal of parents to allow their children to receive the anti-polio vaccine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ five-day vaccination campaign as the number of people affected by the crippling disease surged to more than 100 in the year .
Even before the coronavirus pandemic overwhelmed hospitals in the country , a series of attacks on anti-polio workers disrupted the aid operation .
The Taliban and other militants regularly stage attacks on polio teams and security forces escorting them .
Militants claim the anti-polio drive is part of a Western conspiracy to sterilize children or collect intelligence .
In February , a roadside bomb targeted a police vehicle in northwestern Pakistan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three others .
The police officers were assigned to escort health workers during an anti-polio vaccination campaign in the region .
In January , unidentified attackers shot dead two female anti-polio workers in northwestern Pakistan .
Late last year , Taliban militants in Pakistan shot and killed two police officers who had been deployed to protect a polio vaccination team in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa .
As it prepares to restart the vaccination program , the country is still battling the coronavirus pandemic , which has infected more than 253,000 people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reporting by AP , Radio Mashaal , Reuters , and Dawn

Pakistan is set to resume vaccinations against polio on July 20, months after the effort was halted by attacks on aid workers and as the coronavirus pandemic overwhelmed the country's health system.
The anti-polio campaign is scheduled to last three days and aims to vaccinate some 800,000 children, officials said.
National authorities have asked police departments to ensure the safety of the polio workers.
Rana Mohammad Safdar, who oversees Pakistan’s anti-polio effort, said workers would adhere to social-distancing regulations while conducting their operations.
Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa told Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates in June that despite the challenge presented by COVID-19, the government planned to restart vaccinations throughout the country.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has assisted Pakistan and other countries to battle the disease.
Polio is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the polio virus. Pakistan, neighboring Afghanistan, and Nigeria are the only countries in the world where polio is still endemic.
Some experts have blamed new cases in Pakistan on the refusal of parents to allow their children to receive the polio vaccine.
Pakistan in December 2019 launched a five-day vaccination campaign as the number of people affected by the crippling disease surged to more than 100 in the year.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic overwhelmed hospitals in the country, a series of attacks on polio workers disrupted the aid operation.
The Taliban and other militants regularly stage attacks on polio teams and security forces escorting them. Militants claim the anti-polio drive is part of a Western conspiracy to sterilize children or collect intelligence.
In February, a roadside bomb targeted a police vehicle in northwestern Pakistan, killing a police officer and wounding three others. The police officers were assigned to escort health workers during an polio vaccination campaign in the region.
In January, unidentified attackers shot dead two female polio workers in northwestern Pakistan.
Late last year, Taliban militants in Pakistan shot and killed two police officers who had been deployed to protect a polio vaccination team in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
As it prepares to restart the vaccination program, the country is still battling the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 253,000 people and killed at least 5,320.
With reporting by AP, Radio Mashaal, Reuters, and Dawn


rferl--2020-07-19--Unified Belarusian Opposition Holds Massive Election Rally Against Strongman Lukashenka

The Belarusian opposition 's main presidential candidate has held two mass rallies as the campaign heats up to unseat authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in next month 's election .
The campaigns of three opposition figures said earlier this week they would unify around presidential candidate Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya to `` defeat '' the `` longtime dictatorial regime . ''
Tsikhanouskaya and representatives of two opposition candidates who were denied registration as presidential candidates , former Belgazprombank head Viktar Babaryka and prominent businessman Valer Tsapkala , appeared at the July 19 rallies in Minsk and the nearby city of Dzyarzhynsk .
Tsikhanouskaya @ @ @ @ @ @ @ authorities did not register Babaryka and Tsapkala because they were scared .
`` They saw a threat to the government , but they did not understand that the threat is not in the candidates , but in the people themselves , who are tired of living in humiliation and fear , '' Tsikhanouskaya said .
Unlike at recent demonstrations , the authorities allowed the gathering and the police did n't intervene .
Lukashenka faces mounting public opposition to his 26 years in power ahead of the August 9 election .
The 65-year-old strongman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than a `` psychosis '' and refused any lockdown measures .
Meanwhile , the already weak economy is expected to contract by 4 percent this year , according to the World Bank .
Hundreds of people , including activists and bloggers , have been arrested as the government cracks down on rallies and demonstrations despite calls for restraint from Western governments and institutions , including the United Nations .
Tsikhanouskaya became a presidential candidate because her jailed husband , well-known vlogger Syarhey Tsikhanouski , was incarcerated after he openly expressed his intention to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaigns are urging all voters to cast ballots for Tsikhanouskaya and to protect the election against possible fraud .
Their program includes the release of all `` political and economic prisoners '' and new trials for each of them , a pledge to hold `` an honest repeat election after August 9 , '' and a desire to cooperate on creating a program to combat electoral fraud and to monitor the presidential poll .
On July 14 , the Central Election Commission registered five candidates for the presidential poll , including Tsikhanouskaya and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a potentially potent rival to Lukashenka , was denied registration .
He was jailed in June on suspicion of money laundering , bribery , and tax evasion .
He denies the charges and says they are politically motivated .
The government also took over Belgazprombank on June 15 .
Amnesty International has proclaimed Babaryka and his son , Eduard , who was arrested with his father on June 18 , to be prisoners of conscience .
Tsapkala 's attempt to register was foiled after election officials disqualified at least 38,000 of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his candidacy .
After the election commission announced the disqualification of candidates , a wave of protests rocked the country and hundreds of people were detained , including at least 17 members of the press covering the demonstrations .
Lukashenka has rejected Western criticism of the government 's violent dispersal of the demonstrations and the disqualification of candidates .
The Belarusian leader has ruled the country since 1994 and is currently serving his fifth term as president .
Belarus abolished presidential term limits in 2004 .

The Belarusian opposition's main presidential candidate has held two mass rallies as the campaign heats up to unseat authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in next month's election.
The campaigns of three opposition figures said earlier this week they would unify around presidential candidate Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya to "defeat" the "longtime dictatorial regime."
Tsikhanouskaya and representatives of two opposition candidates who were denied registration as presidential candidates, former Belgazprombank head Viktar Babaryka and prominent businessman Valer Tsapkala, appeared at the July 19 rallies in Minsk and the nearby city of Dzyarzhynsk.
Tsikhanouskaya told several thousand in attendance that the authorities did not register Babaryka and Tsapkala because they were scared.
"They saw a threat to the government, but they did not understand that the threat is not in the candidates, but in the people themselves, who are tired of living in humiliation and fear," Tsikhanouskaya said.
Unlike at recent demonstrations, the authorities allowed the gathering and the police didn't intervene.
Lukashenka faces mounting public opposition to his 26 years in power ahead of the August 9 election.
The 65-year-old strongman has dismissed the coronavirus as nothing more than a "psychosis" and refused any lockdown measures. Meanwhile, the already weak economy is expected to contract by 4 percent this year, according to the World Bank.
Hundreds of people, including activists and bloggers, have been arrested as the government cracks down on rallies and demonstrations despite calls for restraint from Western governments and international institutions, including the United Nations.
Tsikhanouskaya became a presidential candidate because her jailed husband, well-known vlogger Syarhey Tsikhanouski, was incarcerated after he openly expressed his intention to run for president.
The united opposition campaigns are urging all voters to cast ballots for Tsikhanouskaya and to protect the election against possible fraud.
Their program includes the release of all "political and economic prisoners" and new trials for each of them, a pledge to hold "an honest repeat election after August 9," and a desire to cooperate on creating a program to combat electoral fraud and to monitor the presidential poll.
On July 14, the Central Election Commission registered five candidates for the presidential poll, including Tsikhanouskaya and Lukashenka.
Babaryka, who was viewed as a potentially potent rival to Lukashenka, was denied registration. He was jailed in June on suspicion of money laundering, bribery, and tax evasion. He denies the charges and says they are politically motivated. The government also took over Belgazprombank on June 15.
Amnesty International has proclaimed Babaryka and his son, Eduard, who was arrested with his father on June 18, to be prisoners of conscience.
Tsapkala's attempt to register was foiled after election officials disqualified at least 38,000 of the signatures he had submitted in support of his candidacy.
After the election commission announced the disqualification of candidates, a wave of protests rocked the country and hundreds of people were detained, including at least 17 members of the press covering the demonstrations.
Lukashenka has rejected Western criticism of the government's violent dispersal of the demonstrations and the disqualification of candidates.
The Belarusian leader has ruled the country since 1994 and is currently serving his fifth term as president. Belarus abolished presidential term limits in 2004.


rferl--2020-07-19--Iran's Zarif In Baghdad As Iraq Seeks To Balance Regional Ties

Iran 's foreign minister has held a series of meetings with top officials in Baghdad as Iraq 's new prime minister seeks to balance complex regional ties .
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on July 19 met with his Iraqi counterpart , Fuad Hussein , Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi , President Barham Salih , the head of Iraq 's Supreme Judicial Council , Faeq Zeidan , and the leaders of some parliamentary blocs .
Zarif will also travel to Irbil to meet with officials in the autonomous Kurdish region .
Several hours after Zarif landed in Baghdad , three @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zone , where Iraq 's government and many foreign embassies are located .
No casualties were reported .
The high-level Iranian visit to Baghdad comes as Kadhimi heads to Iran 's regional rival , Saudi Arabia , on July 20 , followed a day later by an official visit to Tehran .
In Saudi Arabia , Kadhimi will meet Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman to work on expanding economic cooperation , while in Iran he is expected to meet Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei .
The trips have heightened speculation that Iraq may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tensions between Tehran and Riyadh in a bid to avoid their rivalry playing out in Iraq .
Iraq is walking a tricky tightrope trying to balance its close economic , political , and security ties with Iran , while expanding relations with Tehran 's rival gulf states , led by Saudi Arabia .
`` Iraq seeks to assert its balanced and positive role in making peace and progress in the region , '' Kadhimi tweeted after the meeting with Zarif .
After meeting with Foreign Minister Hussein , Zarif said a strong and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Iran .
`` For us , a strong Iraq , a peaceful and tranquil Iraq , and an Iraq with good and constructive relations with all of its neighbors is a synonym to our own strength , tranquility , stability , and peace , '' Zarif said .
The former chief of Iraqi intelligence , Kadhimi emerged as a compromise candidate for the premiership in May with the tacit support of Tehran , Washington , and Riyadh .
He came to the premiership after his predecessor was forced to resign under the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ corruption , poor services , and Iranian influence in the country .
Iraq also seeks to avoid becoming a battleground in escalating tensions between Iran and the United States , which has some 5,000 troops based in the country .
The U.S. troops have supported Iraq 's fight against the Islamic State extremist group but are viewed by Iran as a threat .
Iraq 's concerns about becoming a proxy battlefield have been heightened since a U.S. drone strike in January in Baghdad killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hizbullah militia and deputy head of Iraq 's state-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Units .
That drone strike led Iran to retaliate by firing missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops and came close to unleashing a full-blown war between Iran and the United States .
Since taking up office in May , Kadhimi has struggled to fulfill a promise to rein in Iran-backed paramilitary groups , which are accused of carrying out rocket attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic facilities .
In late June , Iraqi security forces detained 14 members of Kataib Hizbullah @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that they were planning attacks on U.S. interests .
Under pressure , the government released all but one of the militia members days later , in a sign of how difficult it will be for the state to control paramilitary groups .
Kadhimi is also set to visit Washington in the coming weeks .
In addition to addressing their security relationship , the United States is urging Iraq to develop its diplomatic and economic ties to its Persian Gulf neighbors .
In particular , the United States has pressured Iraq to end its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ties with Gulf Cooperation Council members .
With reporting by AFP , AP , dpa , and Reuters


rferl--2020-07-19--Wanted Wirecard Executive Traced To Belarus

The wanted former chief operating officer of the collapsed German fintech giant Wirecard is in Belarus or Russia , according to reports .
Jan Marsalek , the shady central figure in the implosion of the German digital-payment-services provider , remains at large with his whereabouts unknown since he was last seen on June 18 .
Using travel information , Der Spiegel and the investigative outfit Bellingcat reported on July 18 that Marsalek arrived by private jet at Minsk airport just after midnight on June 19 .
Der Spiegel reported that a travel database showed no departure from Minsk , indicating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted men is still in Belarus or Russia .
In the aftermath of Wirecard ’ s implosion , there had been speculation Marsalek fled to the Philippines and then onward to China .
However , Bellingcat reported that the trip had been a red herring and had been forged .
Wirecard , a DAX-listed company , plunged into crisis last month when auditors pointed to a massive 1.9 billion-euro ( $ 2.2 billion ) hole in its accounts , sending the once high-flying company into insolvency .
Marsalek , an Austrian national , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on suspicion of embezzlement and fraud .
Since the collapse of Wirecard , interest in Marsalek has expanded beyond his role in Wirecard to include his other business and political interests .
Britain ’ s Financial Times newspaper reported earlier in July that Marsalek is a person of interest to at least three Western intelligence agencies over his association with individuals or networks linked to Russia 's GRU military intelligence .
With reporting by Der Spiegel and Bellingcat

The wanted former chief operating officer of the collapsed German fintech giant Wirecard is in Belarus or Russia, according to reports.
Jan Marsalek, the shady central figure in the implosion of the German digital-payment-services provider, remains at large with his whereabouts unknown since he was last seen on June 18.
Using travel information, Der Spiegel and the investigative outfit Bellingcat reported on July 18 that Marsalek arrived by private jet at Minsk airport just after midnight on June 19.
Der Spiegel reported that a travel database showed no departure from Minsk, indicating that one of the world's most wanted men is still in Belarus or Russia.
The neighboring countries have limited border controls.
In the aftermath of Wirecard’s implosion, there had been speculation Marsalek fled to the Philippines and then onward to China.
However, Bellingcat reported that the trip had been a red herring and had been forged.
Wirecard, a DAX-listed company, plunged into crisis last month when auditors pointed to a massive 1.9 billion-euro ($2.2 billion) hole in its accounts, sending the once high-flying company into insolvency.
Marsalek, an Austrian national, is wanted by German and Austrian authorities on suspicion of embezzlement and fraud.
Since the collapse of Wirecard, interest in Marsalek has expanded beyond his role in Wirecard to include his other business and political interests.
Britain’s Financial Times newspaper reported earlier in July that Marsalek is a person of interest to at least three Western intelligence agencies over his association with individuals or networks linked to Russia's GRU military intelligence.
With reporting by Der Spiegel and Bellingcat


rferl--2020-07-19--Protests Continue In Russia's Far East Over Arrest Of Local Governor

Mass rallies continue to rock the Far Eastern Russian region of Khabarovsk as the backlash against the arrest of a local governor rattles the Kremlin .
Thousands of people took part in protests across the region , including in Khabarovsk , Vladivostok , Komsomolsk-on-Amur , and Birobidzhan .
The fresh rallies come after tens of thousands peacefully demonstrated in the city of Khabarovsk on July 18 to demand the release of Khabarovsk region Governor Sergei Furgal .
Despite the protests not being given official permission , no detentions were reported .
Organizers put the size of the July 18 protests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of only 600,000 people .
Furgal , who was arrested in Khabarovsk on July 9 and transferred to Moscow , is charged with attempted murder and ordering two murders in 2004-05 .
On July 16 , the Moscow City Court in a closed-door decision upheld Furgal 's pretrial detention .
The 50-year-old Furgal , who belongs to the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia , denies the charges , and his supporters say they are politically motivated .
Furgal was elected governor of the Khabarovsk region , which borders China , two years ago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who represented the ruling United Russia party .
The continuing protests , far from the Russian capital , are a rare public show of defiance of the Kremlin and come following a controversial nationwide vote that set the stage for President Vladimir Putin to remain in power until 2036 .
The authorities have been unnerved by the protests , with the regional capital 's mayor calling for calm and saying such rallies were illegal and could spread the coronavirus .
Russia 's Federal Security Service ( FSB ) had also warned of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which it claimed to have already foiled .
In addition , authorities in Khabarovsk said they were considering a return to strict quarantine in the region and attributed this to the `` difficult situation with the spread of coronavirus infection . ''


rferl--2020-07-20--Russian Health Ministry Denies Report That Elites Were Given Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine

MOSCOW -- Russia 's Health Ministry has denied a report by Bloomberg that political and business elites have been given early access to an experimental vaccine against COVID-19 .
On July 19 , Bloomberg cited an unnamed individual close to the work on developing the vaccine at the Moscow-based Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology as saying that several hundred people had received the experimental vaccine since April .
The news agency added that its reporters had also talked to some participants in the experiment who received the vaccine free of charge .
Health Ministry aide Aleksei Kuznetsov @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saying that that the test trials of the vaccine had yet to be finished .
`` After the trial tests , in accordance with the law , the process of the registration of the new vaccine will start .
At this point , the vaccine has not been allowed to circulate to be available for citizens .
Its use beyond clinical research is impossible , '' Kuznetsov said .
Aleksandr Ginzburg , the director of the center , added on July 20 that he was not aware of any early access being given @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bloomberg 's report said that top managers of the Rusal aluminum giant and the chemical holding firm Phosagro were vaccinated as well with the experimental vaccine .
The companies declined to comment .
The head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund , Kirill Dmitriyev told RBK news agency in an interview published on July 19 that he and members of his family also had taken the vaccine .
Dmitriyev said earlier last week that it was his understanding that the third phase of the vaccine 's test trials will start on August 3 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Saudi Arabia , and the United Arab Emirates , adding that the vaccine will start being distributed across Russia as early as September .
Last week , the United States , Canada , and Britain accused Russian government-backed hackers of trying to steal secrets of their COVID-19 vaccine efforts .
Russian officials deny the allegations .
Russia 's health authorities on July 20 reported that the number of coronavirus cases in the country had reached 777,486 , including 12,427 deaths , the world 's fourth-highest number of positive tests .
With reporting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , TASS , and Interfax

MOSCOW -- Russia's Health Ministry has denied a report by Bloomberg that political and business elites have been given early access to an experimental vaccine against COVID-19.
On July 19, Bloomberg cited an unnamed individual close to the work on developing the vaccine at the Moscow-based Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology as saying that several hundred people had received the experimental vaccine since April. The news agency added that its reporters had also talked to some participants in the experiment who received the vaccine free of charge.
Health Ministry aide Aleksei Kuznetsov rejected the report on July 20, saying that that the test trials of the vaccine had yet to be finished.
"After the trial tests, in accordance with the law, the process of the registration of the new vaccine will start. At this point, the vaccine has not been allowed to circulate to be available for citizens. Its use beyond clinical research is impossible," Kuznetsov said.
Aleksandr Ginzburg, the director of the center, added on July 20 that he was not aware of any early access being given to anyone for the experimental vaccine.
Bloomberg's report said that top managers of the Rusal aluminum giant and the chemical holding firm Phosagro were vaccinated as well with the experimental vaccine. The companies declined to comment.
The head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriyev told RBK news agency in an interview published on July 19 that he and members of his family also had taken the vaccine.
Dmitriyev said earlier last week that it was his understanding that the third phase of the vaccine's test trials will start on August 3 and include thousands of people in Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, adding that the vaccine will start being distributed across Russia as early as September.
Last week, the United States, Canada, and Britain accused Russian government-backed hackers of trying to steal secrets of their COVID-19 vaccine efforts. Russian officials deny the allegations.
Russia's health authorities on July 20 reported that the number of coronavirus cases in the country had reached 777,486, including 12,427 deaths, the world's fourth-highest number of positive tests.
With reporting by Bloomberg, RBK, The Bell, TASS, and Interfax


rferl--2020-07-20--Ukraine Welcomes Iranian Handover Of Flight Recorders As Data Extraction Begins

KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has welcomed Iran 's handover to France of the flight recorders from a Ukrainian airliner that was downed shortly after taking off from Tehran on January 8 .
French investigators have begun working on extracting data from the black boxes recovered from the Ukraine International Airlines ( UIA ) jet that was downed by a missile , killing all 176 people on board .
France 's BEA accident investigation bureau said on July 20 that the cockpit voice recorder will be accessed first , and then the flight data recorder , in a process @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Iranian forces say they downed the Boeing 737 on January 8 after mistaking it for an incoming missile at a time of high tensions with the United States .
Iran later called it a `` disastrous mistake '' by forces who were on high alert .
Zelenskiy said Ukrainian experts would take part in decoding the black boxes , alongside air accident investigators from France , the United States , and Canada .
Iran agreed in June to send the black boxes to the BEA for analysis , ending a long dispute @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over access to the data .
Many of the crash victims were Canadian citizens or permanent residents , or had Canada as their final destination .
Iran 's Civil Aviation Organization last week issued an interim report blaming the tragedy on the misalignment of a radar system and lack of communication between the air-defense operator and his commanders .
With reporting by Reuters and AFP

KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has welcomed Iran's handover to France of the flight recorders from a Ukrainian airliner that was downed shortly after taking off from Tehran on January 8.
French investigators have begun working on extracting data from the black boxes recovered from the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) jet that was downed by a missile, killing all 176 people on board.
France's BEA accident investigation bureau said on July 20 that the cockpit voice recorder will be accessed first, and then the flight data recorder, in a process that is expected to take several days.
Iranian forces say they downed the Boeing 737 on January 8 after mistaking it for an incoming missile at a time of high tensions with the United States.
Iran later called it a "disastrous mistake" by forces who were on high alert.
Zelenskiy said Ukrainian experts would take part in decoding the black boxes, alongside air accident investigators from France, the United States, and Canada.
Iran agreed in June to send the black boxes to the BEA for analysis, ending a long dispute with Canada, Ukraine, and France over access to the data.
Many of the crash victims were Canadian citizens or permanent residents, or had Canada as their final destination.
Iran's Civil Aviation Organization last week issued an interim report blaming the tragedy on the misalignment of a radar system and lack of communication between the air-defense operator and his commanders.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP


rferl--2020-07-20--Monument Commemorating Journalist Sheremet Unveiled On Fourth Anniversary Of His Murder

KYIV -- A monument commemorating journalist Pavel Sheremet , a Belarusian-born Russian citizen who had made Kyiv his permanent home , has been unveiled in the Ukrainian capital to commemorate the fourth anniversary of his killing .
Sheremet , who worked for the online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda , was leaving his apartment on July 20 , 2016 , to head to the studio where he hosted a morning radio program when an improvised explosive device planted under his vehicle exploded , killing him .
The monument , by Ukrainian sculptor Nazar Bilyk , depicts a large creased sheet of paper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Sheremet 's friends , colleagues , other journalists , and Kyiv residents attended the July 20 ceremony in the capital .
Hennadiy Chyzhykov , the head of Ukraine 's Chamber of Commerce and Industry , who introduced himself as Sheremet 's friend , described him as `` a man with a big heart , for whom someone else 's pain was a pain of his own . ''
Chyzhykov expressed hope that those responsible for Sheremet 's killing would be brought to justice .
Sheremet 's killing underscored concerns of a climate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ others who challenge the authorities , while the government has faced persistent criticism over a perceived lack of progress in solving the case .
In December , Ukrainian investigators arrested three suspects in Sheremet 's case -- Yana Duhar , Andriy Antonenko , and Yulia Kuzmenko .
Vladyslav and Inna Hryshchenko , a married couple , who were suspected in another unrelated case , have been declared persons of interest in the case .
All five took part in military operations in different capacities in Ukraine 's east , where government forces are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ministry and the National Police said in December that the group 's goal was `` to destabilize the political and social situation in Ukraine '' by killing Sheremet .
In January , Ukraine 's Prosecutor-General 's Office said additional evidence was needed for the case to go to trial .
Sheremet 's mother , Lyudmila Sheremet , told RFE/RL in December that she does not know whether the suspects are guilty or not but that she is afraid `` that innocent people may be hurt '' as officials try to show they 're @ @ @ @ @ @

KYIV -- A monument commemorating journalist Pavel Sheremet, a Belarusian-born Russian citizen who had made Kyiv his permanent home, has been unveiled in the Ukrainian capital to commemorate the fourth anniversary of his killing.
Sheremet, who worked for the online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda, was leaving his apartment on July 20, 2016, to head to the studio where he hosted a morning radio program when an improvised explosive device planted under his vehicle exploded, killing him.
The monument, by Ukrainian sculptor Nazar Bilyk, depicts a large creased sheet of paper with Sheremet's name inscribed on it.
Sheremet's friends, colleagues, other journalists, and Kyiv residents attended the July 20 ceremony in the capital. Hennadiy Chyzhykov, the head of Ukraine's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who introduced himself as Sheremet's friend, described him as "a man with a big heart, for whom someone else's pain was a pain of his own."
Chyzhykov expressed hope that those responsible for Sheremet's killing would be brought to justice.
Sheremet's killing underscored concerns of a climate of impunity for attacks on journalists and others who challenge the authorities, while the government has faced persistent criticism over a perceived lack of progress in solving the case.
In December, Ukrainian investigators arrested three suspects in Sheremet's case -- Yana Duhar, Andriy Antonenko, and Yulia Kuzmenko.
Vladyslav and Inna Hryshchenko, a married couple, who were suspected in another unrelated case, have been declared persons of interest in the case.
All five took part in military operations in different capacities in Ukraine's east, where government forces are fighting against Russia-backed separatists.
The Interior Ministry and the National Police said in December that the group's goal was "to destabilize the political and social situation in Ukraine" by killing Sheremet.
In January, Ukraine's Prosecutor-General's Office said additional evidence was needed for the case to go to trial.
Sheremet's mother, Lyudmila Sheremet, told RFE/RL in December that she does not know whether the suspects are guilty or not but that she is afraid "that innocent people may be hurt" as officials try to show they're making headway in the case.


rferl--2020-07-20--Iran Executes Man Convicted Of Giving U.S. Information On Soleimani

Iran 's judiciary said the country has executed a man convicted of providing information to the United States and Israel about a powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps ( IRGC ) commander later killed by a U.S. drone strike in Iraq .
`` Mahmud Musavi-Majd 's sentence was carried out on Monday morning over the charge of espionage so that the case of his betrayal to his country will be closed forever , '' the judiciary 's Mizan Online website reported on July 20 .
Iranian authorities in June said Musavi-Majd passed on information about the whereabouts of Qasem Soleimani , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Force who was killed in a U.S. air strike near Baghdad in January .
The judiciary said last month that Musavi-Majd ’ s death sentence had been upheld by the Supreme Court and would be carried out “ soon.
” The execution came a day after three men linked to anti-government protests last November received stays from the death penalty amid a massive social-media campaign calling for Iran to halt state executions .
In retaliation for Soleimani 's killing in the early hours of January 3 , an Iranian ballistic-missile strike on an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ troops suffering from traumatic brain injuries .
Hours later , Iranian forces shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner taking off from Tehran , killing all 176 people on board .
Iran blamed a misaligned missile battery and miscommunication between soldiers and superior officers .
Iranian officials did not say whether Musavi-Majd 's case was linked to Iran 's announcement in the summer of 2019 that it had captured 17 spies working for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) .
It said some of them had been sentenced to death .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ announced on July 14 that a former Defense Ministry worker convicted of selling information to the CIA had been executed .
Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said on July 14 that Reza Asgari had been in touch with the CIA during his last years serving at the Defense Ministry and sold the agency information about Iran 's missile program .
Esmaili said Asgari was executed a week earlier , adding that he had worked in the aerospace department of the Defense Ministry and retired four years ago .
A recent online protest against executions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including ordinary citizens as well as intellectuals , former politicians , and prominent artists .
In the face of the protest , Iran 's judiciary ordered a retrial for Amir Hossein Moradi , 25 , Said Tamjidi , 27 , and Mohammad Rajabi , 25 .
The three were among many who were arrested in a brutal crackdown against demonstrators who took to the streets in dozens of cities and towns across Iran in November 2019 .
Analysts said the social-media campaign was unprecedented in its scope and the level of participation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Amnesty International recorded 251 executions in Iran during 2019 , making Iran second to China in state executions .
With reporting by RFE/RL ’ s Radio Farda , dpa , AFP , AP , and Reuters


rferl--2020-07-20--Official In 'Coronavirus-Free' Turkmenistan Dies Of COVID-19 Amid Reports Of Overburdened Hospitals

A district mayor in eastern Turkmenistan has died of the coronavirus , according to sources , as the secretive Central Asian state continues to deny the existence of COVID-19 .
The death of Hasan Metkuliyev , the mayor of Farap district in Lebap Province , comes amid reports that hospitals are filling up with sick patients and deaths from suspected coronavirus cases are soaring across the country .
Sources told RFE/RL on July 20 that the district official 's wife and deputy had also tested positive for COVID-19 and were being treated at the Turkmenabat Infectious Diseases Hospital .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Province are currently required to undergo coronavirus testing .
Turkmenistan insists that the country has no cases of coronavirus , despite ample indications the virus is devastating the country .
A witness at a city hospital in the capital , Ashgabat , told RFE/RL that wards were filled with patients and deaths were mounting .
RFE/RL correspondents report that the capital is in a state of panic , not only because of the virus but because the health-care system is in dire condition and rife with corrupt doctors and officials .
Despite ignoring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unprecedented health measures recently in an apparent attempt to prevent the spread of the disease .
After prohibiting mask wearing up until July 8 , the authorities ordered people to wear face masks in public to protect against `` dust . ''
Movement around the country has been restricted and markets and shopping malls have also been closed .
The sudden reversal came as representatives from the World Health Organization ( WHO ) made a delayed visit to the country in early July to assess the epidemiological situation .
At a July 15 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Smallwood said the team had not seen or heard anything that would contradict the government 's assertion that coronavirus does not exist in Turkmenistan .
However , Smallwood did recommend that the authorities take `` critical public-health measures in Turkmenistan , as if COVID-19 was circulating '' in the country .
She also commented on the `` reports of increased cases of acute respiratory disease or pneumonia of unknown cause . ''
The WHO team visit in early July came after RFE/RL had earlier reported Turkmen authorities were trying to hide the extent @ @ @ @ @ @ @

A district mayor in eastern Turkmenistan has died of the coronavirus, according to sources, as the secretive Central Asian state continues to deny the existence of COVID-19.
The death of Hasan Metkuliyev, the mayor of Farap district in Lebap Province, comes amid reports that hospitals are filling up with sick patients and deaths from suspected coronavirus cases are soaring across the country.
Sources told RFE/RL on July 20 that the district official's wife and deputy had also tested positive for COVID-19 and were being treated at the Turkmenabat Infectious Diseases Hospital.
The source confirmed all district leaders in Lebap Province are currently required to undergo coronavirus testing.
Turkmenistan insists that the country has no cases of coronavirus, despite ample indications the virus is devastating the country.
A witness at a city hospital in the capital, Ashgabat, told RFE/RL that wards were filled with patients and deaths were mounting.
RFE/RL correspondents report that the capital is in a state of panic, not only because of the virus but because the health-care system is in dire condition and rife with corrupt doctors and officials.
Despite ignoring the coronavirus, Turkmen authorities have taken unprecedented health measures recently in an apparent attempt to prevent the spread of the disease.
After prohibiting mask wearing up until July 8, the authorities ordered people to wear face masks in public to protect against "dust." Movement around the country has been restricted and markets and shopping malls have also been closed.
The sudden reversal came as representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) made a delayed visit to the country in early July to assess the epidemiological situation.
At a July 15 press conference, WHO mission chief Catherine Smallwood said the team had not seen or heard anything that would contradict the government's assertion that coronavirus does not exist in Turkmenistan.
However, Smallwood did recommend that the authorities take "critical public-health measures in Turkmenistan, as if COVID-19 was circulating" in the country.
She also commented on the "reports of increased cases of acute respiratory disease or pneumonia of unknown cause."
The WHO team visit in early July came after RFE/RL had earlier reported Turkmen authorities were trying to hide the extent of the pandemic in the country.


rferl--2020-07-20--Suspected Taliban Attacks Kill Over A Dozen Afghan Security Personnel

Over a dozen Afghan security personnel have been killed in suspected Taliban attacks .
The Defense Ministry said a suicide truck bomber struck an army convoy in the central province of Maidan Wardak on July 20 , killing at least eight Afghan soldiers .
The ministry said another nine soldiers were wounded in the attack in Sayed Abad district .
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault , although similar attacks in the past have been blamed on the Taliban and Islamic State ( IS ) extremist group .
Hours earlier , an Afghan official said at least eight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Taliban attack in the country 's north .
Esmatullah Moradi , the spokesman for the governor of Kunduz Province , said Taliban militants stormed two security checkpoints in the early hours of July 20 .
Moradi said five police officers and three government soldiers were killed in the hours-long clashes .
The Taliban has not commented on the attacks .
The attacks came as the Taliban intensify operations across the country , particularly in the country 's north , where Afghan forces are more exposed .
Last week , Taliban fighters stormed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the northern province of Samangan , killing 11 security personnel and wounding dozens of others , mostly civilians .
The Taliban continues to stage regular attacks across Afghanistan despite signing an initial peace deal with the United States in February .
That agreement was intended to pave the way for direct talks between the militants and the Afghan government over a permanent cease-fire and a future power-sharing deal .
Those talks were supposed to begin in March , but the process has stalled over the implementation of a major prisoner release .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ free 5,000 Taliban prisoners in exchange for the Taliban releasing 1,000 government captives .
So far , the government has freed more than 4,200 and the Taliban have let go around 800 prisoners .

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--2020-07-20--International Black Sea Military Drills Commence In Ukraine

KYIV -- Sea Breeze 2020 , a multinational naval exercise , has been launched in the Ukrainian waters of the Black Sea .
The commander of the Ukrainian Navy , Oleksiy Neizhpapa , and Vice Admiral Gene Black , commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet , announced the commencement of the maneuvers via a video statement on July 20 .
Black said that the Sea Breeze maneuvers ' goal is to increase maritime regional security in the Black Sea .
According to him , personnel from nine countries , 27 vessels and 19 aircraft are taking part in the exercises @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entered the Black Sea to participate in the drills the day before .
Additional U.S. Navy P-8 aircraft from Patrol Squadron VP ( 47 ) will be participating in the U.S. and Ukrainian co-hosted drills .
The maneuvers are expected to last until July 26 .
Ukraine 's Defense Ministry said earlier that due to the COVID-19 pandemic , this year Sea Breeze drills will be limited to the marine phase only with the involvement of aviation .
Ships of partner countries will dock at Ukrainian ports only if refueling is necessary .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that has been held since 1997 .

KYIV -- Sea Breeze 2020, a multinational naval exercise, has been launched in the Ukrainian waters of the Black Sea.
The commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Oleksiy Neizhpapa, and Vice Admiral Gene Black, commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet, announced the commencement of the maneuvers via a video statement on July 20.
Black said that the Sea Breeze maneuvers' goal is to increase maritime regional security in the Black Sea. According to him, personnel from nine countries, 27 vessels and 19 aircraft are taking part in the exercises.
The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Porter entered the Black Sea to participate in the drills the day before.
Additional U.S. Navy P-8 aircraft from Patrol Squadron VP (47) will be participating in the U.S. and Ukrainian co-hosted drills.
The maneuvers are expected to last until July 26.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry said earlier that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year Sea Breeze drills will be limited to the marine phase only with the involvement of aviation.
Ships of partner countries will dock at Ukrainian ports only if refueling is necessary.
Sea Breeze is an annual multinational exercise that has been held since 1997.


rferl--2020-07-20--U.S. Adds Sanctions Against Chechen Leader Kadyrov For Rights Abuses

The United States has slapped additional sanctions on Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov `` for numerous gross violations of human rights . ''
The U.S. State Department said on July 20 that for more than a decade the Moscow-backed leader of Russia 's North Caucasus region of Chechnya had been responsible for abuses including torture and extrajudicial killings .
Washington already has multiple layers of sanctions against Kadyrov and his associates .
The latest designation expands those sanctions to Kadyrov 's wife and two daughters , including visa bans .
`` Today 's action serves to notify Mr. Kadyrov that his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has consequences , both for him and his family , and that the United States is committed to using all the tools at our disposal to ensure accountability for those who engage in this abhorrent behavior , '' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement .
Washington urged other countries to take similar action against Kadyrov and his family .
Rights groups and international watchdogs have linked Kadyrov to horrific abuses against LGBTI persons , human rights defenders , the media , and any dissent against the Chechen leader 's authoritarian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said it was also concerned Kadyrov is now using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to inflict further human rights abuses on the people of Chechnya .
Kadyrov responded to the latest sanctions on his Telegram channel .
`` Pompeo , we accept the fight !
This is going to be interesting ! ''
he wrote under a picture of him holding two machine guns in an arms depot .

The United States has slapped additional sanctions on Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov "for numerous gross violations of human rights."
The U.S. State Department said on July 20 that for more than a decade the Moscow-backed leader of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya had been responsible for abuses including torture and extrajudicial killings.
Washington already has multiple layers of sanctions against Kadyrov and his associates. The latest designation expands those sanctions to Kadyrov's wife and two daughters, including visa bans.
"Today's action serves to notify Mr. Kadyrov that his involvement in gross violations of human rights has consequences, both for him and his family, and that the United States is committed to using all the tools at our disposal to ensure accountability for those who engage in this abhorrent behavior," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
Washington urged other countries to take similar action against Kadyrov and his family.
Rights groups and international watchdogs have linked Kadyrov to horrific abuses against LGBTI persons, human rights defenders, the media, and any dissent against the Chechen leader's authoritarian and corrupt rule.
The State Department said it was also concerned Kadyrov is now using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to inflict further human rights abuses on the people of Chechnya.
Kadyrov responded to the latest sanctions on his Telegram channel.
"Pompeo, we accept the fight! This is going to be interesting!" he wrote under a picture of him holding two machine guns in an arms depot.