rferl--2020-01-16--Watchdog: Freedom Of Speech In Ukraine Deteriorates

Ukraine saw an increase in freedom of speech violations in 2019 , local media watchdog Institute of Mass Information ( IMI ) said in a yearly report .
Published on January 16 , the Freedom of Speech Barometer report stated there were 243 such cases in 2019 , eight more than the previous year .
It noted that for the first time in three years , a journalist was killed .
Vadym Komarov died on June 20 following an attack in May in Cherkassy , a city in central Ukraine 192 kilometers south of Kyiv .
Most of the recorded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ physical aggression against journalists , ” the report found .
The reason for the worsening situation , according to Kateryna Dyachuk , the head of IMI ’ s freedom of speech monitoring department , is that investigations of such violations aren ’ t done in a systemic matter .
She also cited “ increased pressure from media owners and politicians , both of whom contribute to discrediting journalism , plus there is not much solidarity in journalistic circles.
” The other categories of violations included obstruction of carrying out professional duties ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , beatings ( 23 ) , failure to receive access to information ( 21 ) , cyberattacks and legal pressure ( 18 each ) , and censorship ( 6 ) .
IMI also said it is virtually impossible for independent journalists to work in Russia-occupied Crimea or the parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that Kyiv doesn ’ t control .
In its yearly report , the Brussels-based European Federation of Journalists said that 49 journalists were killed last year , including two in Europe : Komarov and Lyra McKee , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ covering a riot in Northern Ireland .

Ukraine saw an increase in freedom of speech violations in 2019, local media watchdog Institute of Mass Information (IMI) said in a yearly report.
Published on January 16, the Freedom of Speech Barometer report stated there were 243 such cases in 2019, eight more than the previous year.
It noted that for the first time in three years, a journalist was killed.
Vadym Komarov died on June 20 following an attack in May in Cherkassy, a city in central Ukraine 192 kilometers south of Kyiv.
Most of the recorded freedom-of-speech-violations -- 172 -- were related to “physical aggression against journalists,” the report found.
The reason for the worsening situation, according to Kateryna Dyachuk, the head of IMI’s freedom of speech monitoring department, is that investigations of such violations aren’t done in a systemic matter.
She also cited “increased pressure from media owners and politicians, both of whom contribute to discrediting journalism, plus there is not much solidarity in journalistic circles.”
The other categories of violations included obstruction of carrying out professional duties (99), threats (37), beatings (23), failure to receive access to information (21), cyberattacks and legal pressure (18 each), and censorship (6).
IMI also said it is virtually impossible for independent journalists to work in Russia-occupied Crimea or the parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that Kyiv doesn’t control.
In its yearly report, the Brussels-based European Federation of Journalists said that 49 journalists were killed last year, including two in Europe: Komarov and Lyra McKee, who was shot dead on April 19 while covering a riot in Northern Ireland.


rferl--2020-01-16--Court Rules That Ethnic Kazakh Will Not Be Deported To China

ZHARKENT , Kazakhstan -- A court in Kazakhstan has ruled that an ethnic-Kazakh man from China 's northwestern region of Xinjiang who is on trial for illegally crossing the border will not be deported to China .
The court in the southeastern town of Zharkent announced its decision in the high-profile case on January 16 .
Judge Dinara Quiqabaeva handed a six-month sentence in a labor camp to Tilek Tabarikuly for illegally entering the country , but allowed him to stay in Kazakhstan as his parents are naturalized Kazakh citizens .
The judge added that each day Tabarikuly spent in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days in a labor camp , which makes him eligible to be released in less than two weeks .
Tabarikuly testified at his trial that he obtained a residence permit in Kazakhstan in 2016 and went to Xinjiang the following year for education-related purposes , but was stuck there as Chinese authorities confiscated his travel documents .
According to Tabarikuly , he fled China even though it meant illegally crossing the border because he feared he would be treated harshly by Chinese authorities and because his parents were waiting for him in Kazakhstan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to send him back to China .
In August 2018 , the United Nations said an estimated 1 million Uyghurs and members of other mostly Muslim indigenous ethnic groups in Xinjiang were being held in `` counterextremism centers . ''
The UN said millions more had been forced into reeducation camps .
China denies that the facilities are internment camps .
Those conditions have prompted many ethnic Kazakhs from Xinjiang to cross the border illegally in fear of staying in China .
In December , the same court in Zharkent handed a suspended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Kazakh woman from Xinjiang , Qaisha Aqan , and allowed her to stay in Kazakhstan .
Aqan testified at her trial she had to cross illegally into Kazakhstan in May 2018 because local authorities in Xinjiang threatened to place her in an internment camp for Xinjiang 's indigenous ethnic groups .
Two other ethnic-Kazakh men , Murager Alimuly and Qaster Musakhanuly , are currently on trial in the remote eastern Kazakh town of Zaisan for illegal border crossing .
The two say they fled Xinjiang fearing that they would be placed in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other representatives of Xinjiang 's indigenous peoples .
Also in August 2018 , a Kazakh court refused to extradite Sairagul Sauytbay , an ethnic Kazakh Chinese citizen who was wanted in China for illegal border crossing .
Sauytbay fled China in April and testified that thousands of ethnic Kazakhs , Uyghurs , and other Muslims in Xinjiang were undergoing `` political indoctrination '' at a network of `` reeducation camps . ''
She added that Chinese authorities had forced her to train `` political ideology '' instructors for such reeducation camps .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to secret documents about what she called a state program to `` reeducate '' Muslims from indigenous ethnic communities .
Although she was not extradited to China , Kazakh authorities did not allow Sauytbay to remain in Kazakhstan .
She eventually was granted asylum in Sweden .
Kazakhs are the second-largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang after Uyghurs .
The region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz , Tajiks , and Hui , also known as Dungans .
Han , China 's largest ethnicity , are the second-largest community in Xinjiang .

ZHARKENT, Kazakhstan -- A court in Kazakhstan has ruled that an ethnic-Kazakh man from China's northwestern region of Xinjiang who is on trial for illegally crossing the border will not be deported to China.
The court in the southeastern town of Zharkent announced its decision in the high-profile case on January 16.
Judge Dinara Quiqabaeva handed a six-month sentence in a labor camp to Tilek Tabarikuly for illegally entering the country, but allowed him to stay in Kazakhstan as his parents are naturalized Kazakh citizens.
The judge added that each day Tabarikuly spent in pretrial detention since October counts for two days in a labor camp, which makes him eligible to be released in less than two weeks.
Tabarikuly testified at his trial that he obtained a residence permit in Kazakhstan in 2016 and went to Xinjiang the following year for education-related purposes, but was stuck there as Chinese authorities confiscated his travel documents.
According to Tabarikuly, he fled China even though it meant illegally crossing the border because he feared he would be treated harshly by Chinese authorities and because his parents were waiting for him in Kazakhstan.
He also asked the court not to send him back to China.
In August 2018, the United Nations said an estimated 1 million Uyghurs and members of other mostly Muslim indigenous ethnic groups in Xinjiang were being held in "counterextremism centers."
The UN said millions more had been forced into reeducation camps. China denies that the facilities are internment camps.
Those conditions have prompted many ethnic Kazakhs from Xinjiang to cross the border illegally in fear of staying in China.
In December, the same court in Zharkent handed a suspended six-month prison sentence for illegal border-crossing to a Kazakh woman from Xinjiang, Qaisha Aqan, and allowed her to stay in Kazakhstan.
Aqan testified at her trial she had to cross illegally into Kazakhstan in May 2018 because local authorities in Xinjiang threatened to place her in an internment camp for Xinjiang's indigenous ethnic groups.
Two other ethnic-Kazakh men, Murager Alimuly and Qaster Musakhanuly, are currently on trial in the remote eastern Kazakh town of Zaisan for illegal border crossing.
The two say they fled Xinjiang fearing that they would be placed in so-called "reeducation camps" like many other representatives of Xinjiang's indigenous peoples.
Also in August 2018, a Kazakh court refused to extradite Sairagul Sauytbay, an ethnic Kazakh Chinese citizen who was wanted in China for illegal border crossing.
Sauytbay fled China in April and testified that thousands of ethnic Kazakhs, Uyghurs, and other Muslims in Xinjiang were undergoing "political indoctrination" at a network of "reeducation camps."
She added that Chinese authorities had forced her to train "political ideology" instructors for such reeducation camps. This, Sauytbay said, gave her access to secret documents about what she called a state program to "reeducate" Muslims from indigenous ethnic communities.
Although she was not extradited to China, Kazakh authorities did not allow Sauytbay to remain in Kazakhstan. She eventually was granted asylum in Sweden.
Kazakhs are the second-largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang after Uyghurs. The region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans. Han, China's largest ethnicity, are the second-largest community in Xinjiang.


rferl--2020-01-17--Trump Ridicules Khamenei, Urges Tehran To ‘Make Iran Great Again’

U.S. President Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to warn Iran 's supreme leader , Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , to be `` very careful with his words '' after the Iranian called the U.S. leader a “ clown ” during a Tehran sermon .
`` The so-called 'Supreme Leader ' of Iran , who has not been so Supreme lately , had some nasty things to say about the United States and Europe , '' Trump tweeted on January 17 .
`` Their economy is crashing , and their people are suffering .
He should be very careful with his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also wrote that “ the noble people of Iran—who love America—deserve a government that 's more interested in helping them achieve their dreams than killing them for demanding respect .
Instead of leading Iran toward ruin , its leaders should abandon terror and Make Iran Great Again !
” Trump ’ s comments came hours after Khamenei called for national unity and defended the country 's armed forces in the wake of angry protests over the downing of a Ukrainian passenger airliner by Iran 's air defenses last week .
In a sermon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Khamenei -- the highest authority in Iran -- said those who took to the streets had been victims of deception by foreign media and would not change the opinion of most Iranians .
https : //www.radiofarda.com/a/iran-khamenei-friday-prayers-after-plane-crash-irgc/30382648.html `` The Iranian people love and want resistance to the world powers and no capitulation , ” the 80-year-old leader said as he addressed Friday Prayers for the first time in eight years .
Khamenei accused Iran 's enemies of using the plane crash to question the Islamic republic , the armed forces , including the elite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which he said `` maintained the security '' of Iran .
He also called Iran ’ s missile attack on bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq earlier this month “ a slap to a world power ” and described U.S. President Donald Trump as a `` clown '' who only pretends to support the Iranian people .
The Ukraine International Airlines ( UIA ) Boeing 737-800 had just taken off from Tehran en route to Kyiv on January 8 when it crashed , killing all 176 people on board .
Most of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with smaller numbers of Ukrainians , Afghans , Swedes , Britons , and Germans .
Iranian authorities initially denied any responsibility , but three days after the tragedy the IRGC admitted the plane was shot down `` unintentionally . ''
The tragedy occurred hours after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq , in response to the targeted killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. air strike earlier this month .
Iran ’ s January 11 admission it had downed the Ukrainian plane led @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other Iranian cities , with demonstrators chanting slogans against Iran ’ s clerical leadership .
Referring to Khamenei , mourners shouted `` death to the dictator '' as they buried victims of the plane disaster in the western Iranian city of Sanandaj on January 16 , videos posted online showed .
In his sermon , Khamenei said the downing of the Ukrainian plane was a “ bitter accident ” that `` burned through our heart . ''
But he added that the tragedy should not overshadow the `` great martyrdom and sacrifice '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ IRGC 's foreign operations arm .
Iran 's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on January 17 that he had met his Canadian counterpart , Francois-Philippe Champagne , in Oman to discuss cooperation among nations affected by the disaster -- along with Canada , Iran , Ukraine , Afghanistan , Sweden , Britain , and Germany had passengers aboard the doomed flight .
`` Politicization of this tragedy must be rejected .
Focus on victims ' families , '' Zarif tweeted Khamenei , in his sermon , also said Soleimani ’ s assassination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made its enemies happy .
But the supreme leader told thousands of Iranians who chanted `` Death to America '' that Western countries are too weak to “ bring Iranians to their knees.
” Khamenei also blasted Britain , France , and Germany , which launched a dispute mechanism over Iran 's violations of the 2015 landmark nuclear agreement , starting a process that could lead to reimposing UN sanctions against Tehran .
Trump pulled out of the deal , but the three European nations had been trying to salvage the accord before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ countries can not be trusted .
Even their negotiations with Iran are full of deceit , '' Khamenei said Meanwhile , police were out in force ahead of the prayers , which follow several days of protests over the downing of the Ukrainian plane , AFP reported .
It said authorities have called for rallies across the country after the prayers to show support for Iran 's armed forces and the IRGC .
Amnesty International has accused Iranian security personnel of using `` unlawful force '' -- including rubber bullets , tear gas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ -- against peaceful protesters who had gathered in Tehran and other cities on January on 11-12 .
With reporting by the BBC , AFP , Reuters , AP , TASS , and dpa

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


rferl--2020-01-17--Moscow Court Awards Compensation To Mother Of Man Shot By Drunk Police Officer

The Moscow City Court on January 17 awarded 500,000 rubles ( $ 8,120 ) to the mother of a man @ @ @ @ @ in a Moscow police station in November 2015 .
Natalya Zvereva initially sought 4 million @ @ @ @ @ from the Moscow branch of the Interior Ministry in `` moral damages '' for the @ @ @ @ @ 37-year-old Dmitry Demidov .
In January 2019 , the Zamoskvoretsky District Court awarded her 150,000 @ @ @ @ @ , a sum that Zvereva dismissed as `` miserly . ''
After appeals , the @ @ @ @ @ amount to not be in line with the practice of the European Court of Human @ @ @ @ @ City Court to review the case .
Demidov was shot in the mouth in November @ @ @ @ @ station by police officer Andrei Artemev .
A police investigation determined that Artemev was drunk @ @ @ @ @ was convicted of reckless homicide and sentenced to one year and nine months in prison @ @ @ @ @ January 2018 .

The Moscow City Court on January 17 awarded 500,000 rubles ($8,120) to the mother of a man who was shot to death in a Moscow police station in November 2015.
Natalya Zvereva initially sought 4 million rubles ($65,000) from the Moscow branch of the Interior Ministry in "moral damages" for the death of her son, 37-year-old Dmitry Demidov.
In January 2019, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court awarded her 150,000 rubles ($2,440), a sum that Zvereva dismissed as "miserly."
After appeals, the Russian Supreme Court found the amount to not be in line with the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and ordered the Moscow City Court to review the case.
Demidov was shot in the mouth in November 2015 in a Moscow police station by police officer Andrei Artemev. A police investigation determined that Artemev was drunk at the time.
He was convicted of reckless homicide and sentenced to one year and nine months in prison. He was released in January 2018.
With reporting by Zona Prava


rferl--2020-01-17--U.S. Slaps Sanctions On Iranian General Over Protest Crackdown

The United States has imposed sanctions on a senior military Iranian official over a crackdown on anti-government protesters , the State Department announced on January 17 .
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Brigadier General Hassan Shahvarpour was banned from entering the United States for his role in crushing protests in November in the southwestern city of Mahshahr .
“ General Shahvarpour was in command of units responsible for the violent crackdown and lethal repression around Mahshahr , '' U.S. special envoy for Iran Brian Hook said , adding that Shahvarpour 's designation was the result of photographic and video tips submitted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He oversaw the massacre of 148 helpless Iranians in the Mahshahr region , '' Hook told a news conference .
The department has received more than 88,000 such tips since it appealed for Iranians to report evidence of repression and gross human rights abuses , Hook said .
Tehran has denied accusations by the United States and human rights watchdogs of widespread repression but has acknowledged confronting separatists in Mahshahr that it said were armed .
Mahshahr , home to many from Iran 's Arab minority , was a hotbed of protests that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fuel prices .
Despite a fiery sermon on January 17 by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , Hook said that Iran did not appear to be escalating the military conflict following the killing earlier this month of Major General Qasem Soleimani , the powerful head of Iran 's elite Quds Forces in a U.S. air strike in Baghdad .
`` They appear to be standing down for now , '' Hook said .
`` But we have a combination of maximum economic pressure and restoring deterrence by the credible threat of military force @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by AP and AFP


rferl--2020-01-17--Opposition Politician Urges Muscovites To Protest Putin's Proposed Constitution Changes

Liberal Moscow City Duma Deputy Yulia Galyamina has called on Muscovites to rally on January 19 against Russian President Vladimir Putin 's proposed sweeping constitutional reforms .
Galyamina wrote in a post on the VK social-media site on January 17 that the changes Putin proposed in his January 15 state-of-the-nation address amount to a `` state coup . ''
She urged the public to attend a previously scheduled rally that will mark the anniversary of the January 2009 murder of liberal lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Novaya Gazeta journalist Anastasia Baburova .
Also on January 17 , the Moscow mayor 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ constitutional reforms for February 1 on Sakharov Avenue .
It was not clear who was organizing the demonstration .
Opposition leader Aleksei Navalny posted on Twitter that the current Russian Constitution is `` disgusting . ''
`` It contains within it the mechanism for usurping power , '' he wrote .
`` According to this constitution they took everything away from us – from elections to our pensions .
And they want to take more .
There 's no point in defending it . ''
During his speech , Putin proposed numerous revisions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen as preparation for a power transition after his current term as president ends in 2024 .
Under the current constitution , he is not allowed to seek a third consecutive term .
Based on reporting by AP and Meduza

Liberal Moscow City Duma Deputy Yulia Galyamina has called on Muscovites to rally on January 19 against Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposed sweeping constitutional reforms.
Galyamina wrote in a post on the VK social-media site on January 17 that the changes Putin proposed in his January 15 state-of-the-nation address amount to a "state coup."
She urged the public to attend a previously scheduled rally that will mark the anniversary of the January 2009 murder of liberal lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Novaya Gazeta journalist Anastasia Baburova.
Also on January 17, the Moscow mayor's office approved a 10,000-person rally against the constitutional reforms for February 1 on Sakharov Avenue. It was not clear who was organizing the demonstration.
Opposition leader Aleksei Navalny posted on Twitter that the current Russian Constitution is "disgusting."
"It contains within it the mechanism for usurping power," he wrote. "According to this constitution they took everything away from us – from elections to our pensions. And they want to take more. There's no point in defending it."
During his speech, Putin proposed numerous revisions to the constitution in what analysts have seen as preparation for a power transition after his current term as president ends in 2024. Under the current constitution, he is not allowed to seek a third consecutive term.
Based on reporting by AP and Meduza


rferl--2020-01-17--Iran Banned From Hosting International Soccer

Iranian teams have been banned from playing international matches on Iranian soil , the Islamic republic 's football federation said on January 17 .
It said the decision was made by the Asian Football Confederation ( AFC ) and announced in a letter .
Iranian football officials did not say if the decision was related to the accidental shoot-down of a Ukrainian jetliner last week , which killed all 176 people on board .
The AFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment .
The semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted federation spokesman Amirmahdi Alavi as saying , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ teams as it has repeatedly proven during the past several years . ''
Alavi gave as an example Iran 's hosting of the 2018 AFC Champions League final at Azadi Stadium in the capital , Tehran , and added that the country 's Sports Ministry has provided the required security guarantees to the AFC .
The federation said it would meet with AFC officials to express its opposition to the decision .
Iran has four teams in the AFC Champions League .
Last season , Saudi teams did not travel to Iran because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2016 .
The games between Saudi and Iranian teams were played in the United Arab Emirates .


rferl--2020-01-17--Pompeo Says U.S. Will Look Into Claims Former Ukraine Ambassador Was Followed

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the State Department will investigate whether former U.S .
Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was in any danger while she was in Ukraine .
Pompeo made the statement on January 17 , just days after documents were released indicating that Yovanovitch , who was recalled in May 2019 , may have been under surveillance in Kyiv .
The documents indicated that Lev Parnas , a Ukraine-born U.S. citizen who has been indicted on campaign-finance charges , helped U.S. President Donald Trump 's personal lawyer , Rudy Giuliani , try to find incriminating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden and his son , Hunter Biden .
The documents also show Connecticut Republican congressional candidate Robert Hyde disparaging Yovanovitch in messages to Parnas and giving him updates on her location and mobile-phone use , raising concerns about possible surveillance .
Trump is now facing an impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate on charges of illegally withholding aid to Ukraine to pressure Kyiv to investigate the Bidens and of obstructing the congressional investigation into the Ukraine matter .
Some of the documents that Parnas released suggested that Yovanovitch may have been under threat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to do to evaluate whether there was something that took place , '' Pompeo said during a radio interview .
`` I suspect that much of what has been reported will ultimately prove wrong , but our obligation -- my obligation as secretary of state -- is to make sure that we evaluate , investigate .
Any time there is someone who posits that there may have been a risk to one of our officers , we 'll obviously do that . ''
Pompeo said he did not know and had never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last spring after being told by the State Department that she was in unspecified danger , according to testimony she gave during the U.S. House investigation into the matter in November .
Her recall came after a months-long effort by Trump 's allies to have Yovanovitch , who was seen as blocking a possible Biden investigation , removed .
On January 16 , officials in Ukraine announced they would launch a criminal investigation into the information that Yovanovitch may have been under surveillance .
With reporting by AP , Reuters , and The @ @ @

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the State Department will investigate whether former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was in any danger while she was in Ukraine.
Pompeo made the statement on January 17, just days after documents were released indicating that Yovanovitch, who was recalled in May 2019, may have been under surveillance in Kyiv.
The documents indicated that Lev Parnas, a Ukraine-born U.S. citizen who has been indicted on campaign-finance charges, helped U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, try to find incriminating material against former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
The documents also show Connecticut Republican congressional candidate Robert Hyde disparaging Yovanovitch in messages to Parnas and giving him updates on her location and mobile-phone use, raising concerns about possible surveillance.
Trump is now facing an impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate on charges of illegally withholding aid to Ukraine to pressure Kyiv to investigate the Bidens and of obstructing the congressional investigation into the Ukraine matter.
Some of the documents that Parnas released suggested that Yovanovitch may have been under threat.
"We will do everything we need to do to evaluate whether there was something that took place," Pompeo said during a radio interview. "I suspect that much of what has been reported will ultimately prove wrong, but our obligation -- my obligation as secretary of state -- is to make sure that we evaluate, investigate. Any time there is someone who posits that there may have been a risk to one of our officers, we'll obviously do that."
Pompeo said he did not know and had never met Parnas.
Yovanovitch was abruptly recalled last spring after being told by the State Department that she was in unspecified danger, according to testimony she gave during the U.S. House investigation into the matter in November.
Her recall came after a months-long effort by Trump's allies to have Yovanovitch, who was seen as blocking a possible Biden investigation, removed.
On January 16, officials in Ukraine announced they would launch a criminal investigation into the information that Yovanovitch may have been under surveillance.
With reporting by AP, Reuters, and The New York Times


rferl--2020-01-17--Ukrainian President Refuses Prime Minister's Resignation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he does not accept the resignation of Prime Minister Oleksei Honcharuk , which was submitted earlier on January 17 .
`` I received your resignation notice today , '' Zelenskiy said during a meeting with Honcharuk .
`` You know I made up my mind to give a chance both to you and your government . ''
Honcharuk submitted his resignation amid a scandal surrounding an audio recording in which he allegedly disparages the economic knowledge and competence of both himself and Zelenskiy .
In a Facebook post on January 17 , Honcharuk wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have all witnessed ongoing events around files leaked to social networks that had been mounted from fragments of records from the government 's meetings . ''
Zelenskiy 's office acknowledged receiving Honcharuk 's resignation letter , but said it will comment later on how it will react to the situation .
`` In order to prevent any doubts about our respect and trust to the president , I have submitted my resignation to the president with the right to bring the issue to the parliament , '' Honcharuk wrote .
`` [ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ idea that I and my team do not respect the president , who is our political leader , '' Honcharuk added , saying that he and his cabinet respect Zelenskiy as the leader of Ukraine .
The veracity of the audio recording remains unclear .
On the clip , a voice that sounds like Honcharuk 's says that Zelenskiy and he are “ incompetent in economic matters.
” Honcharuk has said audio is a compilation of “ fragments of recorded government meetings.
” Honcharuk posted a video statement on Facebook accusing unnamed individuals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` people , who would want us to fail . ''
In the video , he vowed to continue what he called `` our fight against corruption . ''
`` I address those who are fighting against us : you will never frighten us !
We will eradicate corruption even with more vigor , '' Honcharuk said , adding that `` the massive attacks on social networks and media against our team prove that we are on the right path . ''
He did not elaborate .
A 35-year-old former lawyer and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minister in August .

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he does not accept the resignation of Prime Minister Oleksei Honcharuk, which was submitted earlier on January 17.
"I received your resignation notice today," Zelenskiy said during a meeting with Honcharuk. "You know I made up my mind to give a chance both to you and your government."
Honcharuk submitted his resignation amid a scandal surrounding an audio recording in which he allegedly disparages the economic knowledge and competence of both himself and Zelenskiy.
In a Facebook post on January 17, Honcharuk wrote that "in recent days, you have all witnessed ongoing events around files leaked to social networks that had been mounted from fragments of records from the government's meetings."
Zelenskiy's office acknowledged receiving Honcharuk's resignation letter, but said it will comment later on how it will react to the situation.
"In order to prevent any doubts about our respect and trust to the president, I have submitted my resignation to the president with the right to bring the issue to the parliament," Honcharuk wrote.
"[The files'] contents artificially create the idea that I and my team do not respect the president, who is our political leader," Honcharuk added, saying that he and his cabinet respect Zelenskiy as the leader of Ukraine.
The veracity of the audio recording remains unclear. On the clip, a voice that sounds like Honcharuk's says that Zelenskiy and he are “incompetent in economic matters.”
Honcharuk has said audio is a compilation of “fragments of recorded government meetings.”
Honcharuk posted a video statement on Facebook accusing unnamed individuals of leaking the audio, calling them "people, who would want us to fail." In the video, he vowed to continue what he called "our fight against corruption."
"I address those who are fighting against us: you will never frighten us! We will eradicate corruption even with more vigor," Honcharuk said, adding that "the massive attacks on social networks and media against our team prove that we are on the right path."
He did not elaborate.
A 35-year-old former lawyer and a political newcomer, Honcharuk was named prime minister in August.


rferl--2020-01-18--Two Demonstrators Killed In New Flare-Up Of Iraqi Antigovernment Protests

At least two demonstrators were killed and 24 others hurt during clashes with security forces in central Baghdad in a new flare-up of protests against the country ’ s political elite and widespread corruption .
Security sources told Western news agencies that one protester was killed on January 17 as demonstrators attempted to cross the strategic Sinek Bridge in the center of the capital .
Security forces fired tear gas as they sought to prevent protesters from crossing the bridge , with one canister hitting a demonstrator in the chest and killing him .
Iraq late last year was shaken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and anti-Iranian protests that led to the deaths of hundreds of people and injuries to some 25,000 amid a violent crackdown by authorities .
Protesters have demanded sweeping political reform , better job opportunities , improved public services , and the elimination of foreign influence in the country , along with the resignation of the governmental leaders .
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi was forced out by the public pressure , although he has said he will remain on in a caretaker capacity .
In recent days , the protests have been overshadowed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ senior Iranian commander , Major General Qasem Soleimani , in a U.S. air strike in Baghdad , sparking concerns that Iraq could become the battle ground in a conflict between Washington and Tehran .
Iran on January 8 fired a series of ballistic missiles at Iraqi military bases that were hosting U.S. and other international troops , further raising tensions .
Iraq 's top Shi'ite cleric , Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani , has blamed the government for the `` bloodshed '' during the recent unrest on Iraqi streets .
Based on reporting by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dpa

A former top FBI counterintelligence agent pleaded guilty to charges related to his work for notorious Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, changing his plea after federal prosecutors filed new, reduced charges of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Russia by working for the billionaire industrialist.
The move by Charles McGonigal, made on August 15 before a federal judge in New York City, ends a prosecution that had stunned the FBI, where McGonigal had investigated Russian influence operations for years while climbing the bureau’s ranks.
The 55-year-old also still faces a separate set of foreign agent charges in Washington, D.C., related to work he did for Albanian officials.
McGonigal, who retired as head counterintelligence in the FBI's New York bureau in 2018, was originally indicted in January by a grand jury on more serious charges of money laundering and violating U.S. sanctions.
Prosecutors alleged that McGonigal and a former Russian diplomat with whom he was associated, were paid more than $200,000 to do work for Deripaska, a wealthy Russian metals tycoon who has long been seen as a Kremlin insider. Deripaska was hit with sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018.
U.S. authorities said McGonigal was hired to dig up negative information on Vladimir Potanin, a rival oligarch to Deripaska. McGonigal and the former diplomat, Sergei Shestakov, also worked to try and get Deripaska removed from U.S. sanctions lists.
Shestakov has pleaded not guilty to the more serious charges than had been originally filed against McGonigal.
They "attempted to conceal Deripaska's involvement by, among other means, not directly naming Deripaska in electronic communications, using shell companies as counterparties in the contract that outlined the services to be performed, using a forged signature on that contract, and using the same shell companies to send and receive payment from Deripaska," the Justice Department said in a press release after McGonigal entered his plea.
McGonigal could receive up to five years in prison when he is sentenced in December.
The separate case filed in Washington, D.C., by federal prosecutors centers on work McGonigal allegedly did on behalf of a former Albanian intelligence officer, for which he was paid $225,000.
McGonigal also allegedly lied to the FBI about his contacts with foreign nationals and foreign travel while he was still employed by the bureau.
Deripaska also faces charges of violating U.S. sanctions through real estate deals and a complicated scheme under which he allegedly arranged for his girlfriend to travel to the United States to give birth to two of their children.


rferl--2020-01-18--Erdogan Says Europe Should Support Turkish Effort If It Wants To End Libyan Conflict

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has called on Europe to support his country 's efforts in Libya , where it is providing military support to the internationally-recognised government , if it wants to end the conflict there .
Erdogan made his remarks in a column published on the Politico website on January 18 , ahead of a summit in Berlin on Sunday that will try to stabilise the country .
At the meeting , Germany and the United Nations will push rival Libyan camps fighting over the capital , Tripoli , to agree to a truce and monitoring mechanism as first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ draft communique said .
Turkey supports the government of Fayez al-Serraj in Tripoli and describes Khalifa Haftar , who heads the eastern Libyan National Army ( LNA ) , as a coup plotter .
`` Keeping in mind that Europe is less interested in providing military support to Libya , the obvious choice is to work with Turkey , which has already promised military assistance , '' Erdogan wrote .
`` We will train Libya 's security forces and help them combat terrorism , human trafficking , and other serious threats against international @ @ @ @ @ @ @ summit on January 19 will put pressure on Haftar and the LNA to halt a nine-month offensive against Tripoli after a week-long lull in fighting .
But it will not try to broker power-sharing between the two sides , said diplomats briefed on preparations .
Haftar and Serraj are both due in Berlin -- along with Erdogan and the leaders of Russia , Egypt and other Western and Arab powers .
Libya has been in turmoil since the fall of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011 .
Erdogan said that , if Libya 's legitimate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ groups such as Islamic State and Al Qaeda `` will find a fertile ground to get back on their feet '' .
Haftar is backed by the United Arab Emirates , Egypt , Jordan , Sudanese and Chadian fighters , and most recently Russian mercenaries .
France has also given some support .
With reporting by Reuters , AFP , and Politico

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has called on Europe to support his country's efforts in Libya, where it is providing military support to the internationally-recognized government, if it wants to end the conflict there.
Erdogan made his remarks in a column published on the Politico website on January 18, one day ahead of a UN-sponsored summit in Berlin that will try to stabilize the country.
Representatives of more than 10 countries, including Erdogan, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and others are expected to attend the January 19 conference. China, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Egypt, Algeria, and the United Arab Emirates are expected to send representatives as well.
The European Union and the Arab League will also participate.
At the meeting, Germany and the United Nations will push rival Libyan camps fighting over the capital, Tripoli, to agree to a truce and monitoring mechanism as first steps toward peace, diplomats and a draft communique said.
Turkey supports the government of Fayez al-Serraj in Tripoli and describes Khalifa Haftar, who heads the eastern Libyan National Army (LNA), as a coup plotter.
"Keeping in mind that Europe is less interested in providing military support to Libya, the obvious choice is to work with Turkey, which has already promised military assistance," Erdogan wrote.
"We will train Libya's security forces and help them combat terrorism, human trafficking, and other serious threats against international security," he added.
In an article published in Tripoli on January 18, the UN's special envoy for Libya, Ghassan Salame, called for "all foreign fighters" to leave Libya.
Salame also said ending illegal weapons smuggling into the country will be on the agenda in Berlin.
The summit on January 19 will put pressure on Haftar and the LNA to halt a nine-month offensive against Tripoli after a week-long lull in fighting. But it will not try to broker power-sharing between the two sides, said diplomats briefed on preparations.
Haftar and Serraj are both due in Berlin -- along with Erdogan and the leaders of Russia, Egypt and other Western and Arab powers. Libya has been in turmoil since the fall of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
Erdogan said that, if Libya's legitimate government were to fall, Islamist militant groups such as Islamic State and Al Qaeda "will find a fertile ground to get back on their feet".
Haftar is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Sudanese and Chadian fighters, and most recently Russian mercenaries. France has also given some support.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and Politico


rferl--2020-01-18--Taliban Hopes For Afghan Peace Deal By End Of January

A spokesman for the Taliban has told a Pakistani newspaper that the militant group is hoping to reach an Afghan peace deal with U.S negotiators by the end of January .
The comments by Suhail Shaheen on January 18 to the Dawn newspaper come after negotiators from the Taliban and the United States met for two days of talks in Qatar .
Shaheen said in a post on Twitter on January 17 that the meetings on January 16 and 17 had been `` useful . ''
He said the discussions had focused on the signing of a joint agreement and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. team , led by Zalmay Khalilzad , has not spoken publicly about the negotiations .
But Reuters quoted two sources as saying the Taliban was ready to agree to a 10-day truce with U.S. forces , as well as a reduction in violence with Afghan forces and talks with Afghan officials if a deal is reached .
Shaheen on January 18 said Taliban militants were ready to scale back militant attacks ahead of the anticipated signing of the deal with U.S. negotiators .
`` We have agreed to scale down military operations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the peace agreement with the United States , '' Shaheen told Dawn .
He added that the Taliban was `` optimistic '' a deal with Washington could be signed before the end of the month and that the reduction in fighting across the country would also include the targeting of Afghan forces .
`` It 's now a matter of days , '' said the spokesman .
Analysts say that , if an agreement is clinched , it could revive hopes for a long-term solution to the conflict in Afghanistan .
U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2001 invasion to drive out the Taliban following the September 11 terror attacks in the United States .
The Taliban controlled Afghanistan at the time and harbored Osama bin Laden , the mastermind behind the attacks .
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his desire to remove the estimated 13,000 U.S. troops remaining in Afghanistan in America ’ s longest war .
Over the past year , neighboring Pakistan has helped facilitate talks between Khalilzad and the Taliban in Qatar , where the militants have a political office .
But the talks have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the group to reduce violence , among other things .
An Afghan presidency spokesman said a ceasefire was the only way to achieve a sustainable and dignified peace .
`` To achieve lasting peace , which is the demand of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the people , is the only way to achieve a cease-fire , '' Sediq Sediqqi said in a post on Twitter .
`` Any cease-fire that is proposed as a fundamental step will be acceptable to the people and the government , '' he added .
With @ @ @ @ @

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--2020-01-18--Canada To Help Victims' Families With Funds, Still Expects Compensation From Iran

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will provide quick funds to the families of 57 citizens and 29 permanent residents of the country who died when a Ukrainian jetliner was shot down in Iran last week .
Trudeau on January 17 said that , although Canada will provide C $ 25,000 ( US $ 19,122 ) to the Canadian-tied victims ’ families , he still expects Iran to compensate these relatives .
He said the immediate funds will help families pay for funerals , travel to Iran , and other costs .
Any funds later provided by Tehran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ families , he said .
`` I want to be clear , we expect Iran to compensate these families , '' Trudeau said .
`` But I have met them .
They ca n't wait weeks .
They need support now . ''
After initially denying responsibility , Iran admitted that its military `` unintentionally '' shot down the Ukrainian airliner on January 8 after it departed the Tehran airport , killing all 176 people aboard .
Iranian officials said the plane was accidentally shot down after it veered toward a sensitive military @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the aircraft was a `` Canadian tragedy '' because 138 of the passengers were headed for Canada .
It had previously been reported that 57 of the victims were Canadian citizens , mainly from the country ’ s large Canadian-Iranian community .
Trudeau 's remarks for the first time also confirmed that 29 permanent residents of Canada were also among the fatalities .
Citizens of Iran , Afghanistan , Ukraine , Sweden , Britain , and Germany were also aboard the plane .
Canada in 2012 suspended diplomatic relations with Tehran , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have had contacts with their Iranian counterparts in the wake of the shoot-down .
Trudeau also said the Boeing 737-800 passenger jet ’ s “ black boxes ” had been badly damaged , and he called on Tehran to turn them over to France as part of the probe into the international investigation .
`` Iran does not have the level of technical expertise and mostly the equipment necessary to be able to analyze these damaged black boxes quickly , '' Trudeau said .
`` The right place to send those black boxes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a rapid way '' is France , he said , adding `` that is what we 're encouraging the Iranian authorities to agree to . ''
The spokesman for BEA , the French accident investigating agency , said it has not been informed about whether it will eventually receive the plane ’ s black boxes and its voice and data recorders as part of the investigation .
With reporting by Reuters , AFP , and dpa


rferl--2020-01-18--Belgrade Protesters Demand Action As Smog Wave Covers Balkans

Protesters took to the streets of Belgrade to demand that the Serbian government enact measures to “ protect the population ” from the smog and pollution affecting the Western Balkan nation .
Many of the protesters on January 17 wore surgical masks as they demonstrated in the center of the capital .
Serbian cities , along with many in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina , Kosovo , and North Macedonia , have been covered in dense smog above the levels normally seen in some of the world ’ s most polluted cities -- Delhi , Calcutta , Lahore , and Beijing .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government has been dealing with the problem , '' organizers from the `` Do n't Strangle Belgrade '' group said .
`` We are all breathing the same air ... it does n't matter if you are a member of the [ ruling ] Progressive Party ... or you are one of the people gathered here , so let 's do something to fix this , '' Reuters quoted protest leader Radomir Lazovic as saying .
Experts have pointed to Serbia 's heavy use of aging coal-fired plants for electricity generation as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Natural-gas prices remain prohibitive for much of the population .
Many critics attacked a January 16 government statement -- which told kindergartens and primary schools to monitor the situation and shut down at their own discretion -- as a late and half-hearted measure .
However , the government appeared to downplay the crisis .
`` The situation is not worse than in the past .
It is worst in some cities due to the weather and fog , because there was no snow and Kosava , '' Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ often lasts several days and clears away some of the smog , which has been infrequent this winter .
President Aleksandar Vucic vowed on January 17 that the government would take long-term measures to deal with the pollution but said the effects would not be felt for another six or seven years at the earliest .
The Global Alliance on Health and Pollution , an international watchdog , said that as many as 175 per 100,000 deaths in Serbia are directly linked to pollution , ranking the European country as the ninth-worst in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
8 , Somalia , but worse than 10th-ranked India .
Skopje in North Macedonia ; Sarajevo and Tuzla in Bosnia ; and Podgorica in Montenegro have all been hit by a wave of high air pollution levels , according to the AirVisual World Air Quality Index .
With reporting by RFE/RL ’ s Balkan Service , Reuters , dpa , AFP , and AP

Protesters took to the streets of Belgrade to demand that the Serbian government enact measures to “protect the population” from the smog and pollution affecting the Western Balkan nation.
Many of the protesters on January 17 wore surgical masks as they demonstrated in the center of the capital.
Serbian cities, along with many in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and North Macedonia, have been covered in dense smog above the levels normally seen in some of the world’s most polluted cities -- Delhi, Calcutta, Lahore, and Beijing.
"We are outraged with the way the government has been dealing with the problem," organizers from the "Don't Strangle Belgrade" group said.
"We are all breathing the same air...it doesn't matter if you are a member of the [ruling] Progressive Party...or you are one of the people gathered here, so let's do something to fix this," Reuters quoted protest leader Radomir Lazovic as saying.
Experts have pointed to Serbia's heavy use of aging coal-fired plants for electricity generation as a key cause of the air-quality crisis. Natural-gas prices remain prohibitive for much of the population.
Many critics attacked a January 16 government statement -- which told kindergartens and primary schools to monitor the situation and shut down at their own discretion -- as a late and half-hearted measure.
However, the government appeared to downplay the crisis.
"The situation is not worse than in the past. It is worst in some cities due to the weather and fog, because there was no snow and Kosava," Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said, referring to a strong eastern wind that often lasts several days and clears away some of the smog, which has been infrequent this winter.
President Aleksandar Vucic vowed on January 17 that the government would take long-term measures to deal with the pollution but said the effects would not be felt for another six or seven years at the earliest.
The Global Alliance on Health and Pollution, an international watchdog, said that as many as 175 per 100,000 deaths in Serbia are directly linked to pollution, ranking the European country as the ninth-worst in the world, just better than No. 8, Somalia, but worse than 10th-ranked India.
Skopje in North Macedonia; Sarajevo and Tuzla in Bosnia; and Podgorica in Montenegro have all been hit by a wave of high air pollution levels, according to the AirVisual World Air Quality Index.
With reporting by RFE/RL’s Balkan Service, Reuters, dpa, AFP, and AP


rferl--2020-01-17--Trump Ridicules Khamenei, Urges Tehran To 'Make Iran Great Again'

U.S. President Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to warn Iran 's supreme leader , Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , to be `` very careful with his words '' after the Iranian called the U.S. leader a `` clown '' during a Tehran sermon .
`` The so-called 'Supreme Leader ' of Iran , who has not been so Supreme lately , had some nasty things to say about the United States and Europe , '' Trump tweeted on January 17 .
`` Their economy is crashing , and their people are suffering .
He should be very careful with his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also wrote that `` the noble people of Iran -- who love America -- deserve a government that 's more interested in helping them achieve their dreams than killing them for demanding respect .
Instead of leading Iran toward ruin , its leaders should abandon terror and Make Iran Great Again ! ''
Trump ’ s comments came hours after Khamenei called for national unity and defended the country 's armed forces in the wake of angry protests over the downing of a Ukrainian passenger airliner by Iran 's air defenses last week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mosalla Mosque , Khamenei -- the highest authority in Iran -- said those who took to the streets had been victims of deception by foreign media and would not change the opinion of most Iranians .
`` The Iranian people love and want resistance to the world powers and no capitulation , '' the 80-year-old leader said as he addressed Friday Prayers for the first time in eight years .
Khamenei accused Iran 's enemies of using the plane crash to question the Islamic republic , the armed forces , including the elite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which he said `` maintained the security '' of Iran .
He also called Iran 's missile attack on bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq earlier this month `` a slap to a world power '' and described U.S. President Donald Trump as a `` clown '' who only pretends to support the Iranian people .
The Ukraine International Airlines ( UIA ) Boeing 737-800 had just taken off from Tehran en route to Kyiv on January 8 when it crashed , killing all 176 people on board .
Most of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with smaller numbers of Ukrainians , Afghans , Swedes , Britons , and Germans .
Iranian authorities initially denied any responsibility , but three days after the tragedy the IRGC admitted the plane was shot down `` unintentionally . ''
The tragedy occurred hours after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq , in response to the targeted killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. air strike earlier this month .
Iran ’ s January 11 admission that it had downed the Ukrainian plane led @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other Iranian cities , with demonstrators chanting slogans against Iran ’ s clerical leadership .
Referring to Khamenei , mourners shouted `` death to the dictator '' as they buried victims of the plane disaster in the western Iranian city of Sanandaj on January 16 , videos posted online showed .
In his sermon , Khamenei said the downing of the Ukrainian plane was a `` bitter accident '' that `` burned through our heart . ''
But he added that the tragedy should not overshadow the `` great martyrdom and sacrifice '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ IRGC 's foreign operations arm .
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on January 17 that he had met his Canadian counterpart , Francois-Philippe Champagne , in Oman to discuss cooperation among nations affected by the disaster -- along with Canada , Iran , Ukraine , Afghanistan , Sweden , Britain , and Germany had passengers aboard the doomed flight .
`` Politicization of this tragedy must be rejected .
Focus on victims ' families , '' Zarif tweeted Khamenei , in his sermon , also said Soleimani ’ s assassination had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its enemies happy .
But the supreme leader told thousands of Iranians who chanted `` Death to America '' that Western countries are too weak to `` bring Iranians to their knees . ''
Khamenei also blasted Britain , France , and Germany , which launched a dispute mechanism over Iran 's violations of the 2015 landmark nuclear agreement , starting a process that could lead to reimposing UN sanctions against Tehran .
Trump pulled out of the deal , but the three European nations had been trying to salvage the accord before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ countries can not be trusted .
Even their negotiations with Iran are full of deceit , '' Khamenei said Meanwhile , police were out in force ahead of the prayers , which follow several days of protests over the downing of the Ukrainian plane , AFP reported .
It said authorities had called for rallies across the country after the prayers to show support for Iran 's armed forces and the IRGC .
Amnesty International has accused Iranian security personnel of using `` unlawful force '' -- including rubber bullets , tear gas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ -- against peaceful protesters who had gathered in Tehran and other cities on January on 11-12 .
With reporting by the BBC , AFP , Reuters , AP , TASS , and dpa


rferl--2020-01-18--Putin Says He Rejects Soviet-Style Leaders For Life

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would not like to see his country return to the Soviet practice of having lifelong rulers who died without a clear succession procedure .
Speaking to a group of World War II veterans in St. Petersburg on January 18 , Putin was asked if it would be desirable to remove the term limit for presidents .
`` It would be very worrying to return to the situation we had in the mid-1980s when state leaders stayed in power , one by one , until the end of their days and left office without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of power , '' Putin said .
`` I think it would be better not to return to that situation . ''
Putin , who has held power in Russia either as president or prime minister since 2000 , is currently serving his fourth term as president .
Russia is in the midst of a fevered discussion of what will happen when his current term ends in 2024 because he is not eligible to run again under the current constitution , which limits presidents to two consecutive terms .
In his state-of-the-nation address @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , proposed a raft of constitutional changes that , if adopted , could offer him various strategies for retaining power after his term ends , including by heading an enhanced State Council .
Putin also told the veterans that Russia plans to open an archival center devoted to the history of World War II .
`` We will put a sock in the rotten mouths that some people abroad keep opening to achieve immediate political goals , '' he said .
`` We will shut them up with true , basic information .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the mouths of all those who are trying to twist history , to misrepresent it , to belittle the role of our fathers and grandfathers , of our heroes who fell dead defending their motherland and actually the whole world from the brown plague , '' he said , referring to the danger of fascism .
`` We will shut those rotten mouths forever with those documents in order to teach them a lesson , '' he concluded .
Russia has been locked in a war of words in recent weeks with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including Soviet actions under the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the Soviet occupation of Poland and much of Central Europe after the war .
`` We respect soldiers ' blood sacrifice in the fight vs. Nazism , '' Poland 's Foreign Ministry posted on Twitter on January 18 .
`` But in '45 Stalin 's regime brought [ Poland ] terror , atrocities , and economic exploitation . ''
The ministry also said that `` unless [ Russia ] accepts its own difficult history , Europe would be under threat .
Whitewashing Soviet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for today . ''

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would not like to see his country return to the Soviet practice of having lifelong rulers who died without a clear succession procedure.
Speaking to a group of World War II veterans in St. Petersburg on January 18, Putin was asked if it would be desirable to remove the term limit for presidents.
"It would be very worrying to return to the situation we had in the mid-1980s when state leaders stayed in power, one by one, until the end of their days and left office without ensuring the necessary conditions for a transition of power," Putin said. "I think it would be better not to return to that situation."
Putin, who has held power in Russia either as president or prime minister since 2000, is currently serving his fourth term as president. Russia is in the midst of a fevered discussion of what will happen when his current term ends in 2024 because he is not eligible to run again under the current constitution, which limits presidents to two consecutive terms.
In his state-of-the-nation address on January 15, Putin, 67, proposed a raft of constitutional changes that, if adopted, could offer him various strategies for retaining power after his term ends, including by heading an enhanced State Council.
Putin also told the veterans that Russia plans to open an archival center devoted to the history of World War II.
"We will put a sock in the rotten mouths that some people abroad keep opening to achieve immediate political goals," he said. "We will shut them up with true, basic information."
"We will put a sock in the mouths of all those who are trying to twist history, to misrepresent it, to belittle the role of our fathers and grandfathers, of our heroes who fell dead defending their motherland and actually the whole world from the brown plague," he said, referring to the danger of fascism.
"We will shut those rotten mouths forever with those documents in order to teach them a lesson," he concluded.
Russia has been locked in a war of words in recent weeks with Poland over the history of the war, including Soviet actions under the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the Soviet occupation of Poland and much of Central Europe after the war.
"We respect soldiers' blood sacrifice in the fight vs. Nazism," Poland's Foreign Ministry posted on Twitter on January 18. "But in '45 Stalin's regime brought [Poland] terror, atrocities, and economic exploitation."
The ministry also said that "unless [Russia] accepts its own difficult history, Europe would be under threat. Whitewashing Soviet crimes of the past is a threat for today."


rferl--2020-01-18--Iran Confirms Sending Downed Ukrainian Airliner's Black Boxes To Kyiv

Iran has confirmed it will send the black-box flight recorders recovered from a Ukrainian passenger jet that was shot down over Tehran on January 8 to Kyiv .
Hassan Rezaifer , head of the accident investigations unit of Iran 's civil aviation authority , told the Tasnim news agency on January 18 that it had not been possible to read the black boxes in Iran .
He said French , American , and Canadian experts will work with the equipment after it arrives in Kyiv .
`` If this effort is unsuccessful , then the black box will be sent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On January 15 , Oleksandr Ruvin of the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Studies said the international team would begin studying the black boxes on January 20 .
Air-defense forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps ( IRGC ) shot down Ukrainian Airlines Flight PS752 shortly after takeoff , killing all 176 people on board .
Iran has said the downing was an accident .
The incident came shortly after Iran launched missiles at military bases in Iraq that hosted U.S. forces in response to an earlier U.S. airstrike that killed top Iranian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Based on reporting by AP , Reuters , and TASS


rferl--2020-01-18--Russia Bans Ukrainian Journalist From Entering Russian-Occupied Crimea Until 2054

Russia 's Border Guard Service , a branch of the Federal Security Service ( FSB ) , has banned Ukrainian journalist Taras Ibrahimov from entering Russia and the Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea until the middle of 2054 .
Ibrahimov , who works with the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL 's Ukrainian Service , told RFE/RL on January 18 that he had been handed the order in person without explanation .
`` I definitely believe this is connected with my journalism and my work for publications that actively cover the cases of Crimean Tatars in Crimea and in Russia , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was also photographed and fingerprinted at the administrative line between Crimea , which Moscow annexed in 2014 , and the rest of Ukraine .
In February 2019 , photographer Alina Smutko , who also worked with the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL 's Ukrainian Service , was banned from entering Crimea and Russia until 2028 .
In November 2018 , another Ukrainian journalist who also works with the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL 's Ukrainian Service , Alena Savchuk , was also banned from entering Crimea and Russia until 2028 .
Rights groups and Western @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a campaign of repression by the Russian-imposed authorities against Crimean Tatars and others who have spoken out against Moscow 's military seizure and occupation of the peninsula .
In its annual global report on freedom of religion in 2019 , the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom ( USCIRF ) said that `` Russian authorities continued to kidnap , torture , and imprison Crimean Tatar Muslims at will '' in Russia-occupied Crimea .

Russia's Border Guard Service, a branch of the Federal Security Service (FSB), has banned Ukrainian journalist Taras Ibrahimov from entering Russia and the Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea until the middle of 2054.
Ibrahimov, who works with the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, told RFE/RL on January 18 that he had been handed the order in person without explanation.
"I definitely believe this is connected with my journalism and my work for publications that actively cover the cases of Crimean Tatars in Crimea and in Russia," Ibrahimov said.
He said that he was also photographed and fingerprinted at the administrative line between Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and the rest of Ukraine.
In February 2019, photographer Alina Smutko, who also worked with the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, was banned from entering Crimea and Russia until 2028.
In November 2018, another Ukrainian journalist who also works with the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, Alena Savchuk, was also banned from entering Crimea and Russia until 2028.
Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they describe as a campaign of repression by the Russian-imposed authorities against Crimean Tatars and others who have spoken out against Moscow's military seizure and occupation of the peninsula.
In its annual global report on freedom of religion in 2019, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said that "Russian authorities continued to kidnap, torture, and imprison Crimean Tatar Muslims at will" in Russia-occupied Crimea.


rferl--2020-01-18--Two Demonstrators Killed In New Flare-Up Of Iraqi Anti-Government Protests


rferl--2020-01-19--As Victims' Bodies Arrive In Kyiv, Tehran Clouds Plans For Flight PS752's Black Boxes

The coffins of 11 Ukrainians killed when Iran 's military mistakenly shot down a passenger airliner after takeoff from Tehran international airport arrived in Kyiv on January 19 as new questions emerged over Iranian officials ' cooperation in ongoing investigations into the tragedy .
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy , Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk , and other senior Ukrainian officials participated in a solemn ceremony after the 11 flag-draped coffins arrived in the Ukrainian capital carrying the bodies of nine Ukrainian International Airlines crew members and two passengers killed along with 165 other people when Flight PS752 went down on January 8 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defenses on high alert during heightened tensions after Iranian missile strikes made an error and fired antiaircraft defenses at the Boeing 737-800 .
Ukrainians and officials from the four other countries that lost nationals in the disaster have demanded a `` thorough , independent , and transparent '' investigation .
Now , the Iranian official who is leading the investigation for Tehran has appeared to backtrack on a pledge to share the crucial black boxes that were collecting flight data aboard the aircraft .
Hassan Rezaifer , head of the accident investigations unit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was quoted on January 19 by the state-run IRNA news agency as saying `` the flight recorders from the Ukrainian Boeing are in Iranian hands and we have no plans to send them out , ” AP reported .
Work to read the data was ongoing , he was quoted as saying , “ But as of yet , we have made no decision '' on transferring the black boxes outside the country .
Rezaifer had been quoted by the Tasnim news agency as saying French , American , and Canadian experts would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sent to Kyiv because Iranian authorities had been unable to read the black-box data .
`` If this effort is unsuccessful , then the black box will be sent to France , '' he had added , according to Tasnim .
Senior Iranian officials called for the punishment of those responsible after air-defense forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps ( IRGC ) shot down the plane .
The foreign ministers of Afghanistan , Britain , Canada , Sweden , and Ukraine issued a joint statement after a meeting in London on January @ @ @ @ @ @ @ full accounting .
Most of the victims on the flight were Iranians or dual citizens , many of them students returning to studies abroad or families returning home after visiting relatives in Iran .
Meanwhile , Ukrainians gathered at Boryspil International Airport outside Kyiv for a ceremony on January 19 to honor the flight 's casualties as their bodies arrived home for burial .
The incident came shortly after Iran launched missiles at military bases in Iraq that hosted U.S. forces , in an attack that was a response to a January 3 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ military commander Major General Qasem Soleimani near Baghdad 's international airport .
After initially denying it shot down the plane , Tehran eventually admitted that its forces `` unintentionally '' struck the airliner with a missile after it said it veered toward a sensitive military site .
Thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest their government 's actions , prompting public calls for punishment of the individuals responsible for the mistake .
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for national unity and defended the country 's armed forces in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mosque on January 17 .
He accused Iran 's enemies of using the plane crash to question the Islamic republic , the armed forces , and the IRGC , which he said `` maintained the security '' of Iran .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Ukrainian Service , AP , and AFP

As the coffins of the 11 Ukrainians who were killed when Iran's military mistakenly shot down a passenger airliner in Tehran arrived in Kyiv on January 19, the lead Iranian investigator into the tragedy said Iran wouldn't send the flight recorders abroad for analysis.
Hassan Rezaifer was quoted by the state-run IRNA news agency as saying “the flight recorders from the Ukrainian Boeing are in Iranian hands and we have no plans to send them out.”
Meanwhile, Canada on January 19 made another request for Tehran to immediately transfer the black boxes to either France or Ukraine.
“I repeated Canada’s position that the black boxes be sent as quickly as possible either to Ukraine or France so it can be done somewhere [where] the expertise exists and it can be done in a transparent manner,” Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said after he spoke with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.
However, Rezaifer said Iran is still working with the flight recorders and that they may be sent to Ukraine or France.
“But as of yet, we have made no decision,” he said.
In the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, and other senior Ukrainian officials participated in a solemn ceremony after the 11 flag-draped coffins arrived carrying the bodies of nine Ukraine International Airlines crew members and two passengers killed along with 165 other people when Flight PS752 went down on January 8.
Iranian officials have said that air defenses on high alert during heightened tensions after Iranian missile strikes made an error and fired antiaircraft missiles at the Boeing 737-800.
Ukrainians and officials from the four other countries that lost nationals in the disaster have demanded a "thorough, independent, and transparent" investigation.
Rezaifer had been quoted by the Tasnim news agency as saying on January 18 that French, American, and Canadian experts would work with the equipment after it was sent to Kyiv because Iranian authorities had been unable to read the black-box data.
"If this effort is unsuccessful, then the black box will be sent to France," he had added, according to Tasnim.
Senior Iranian officials called for punishment of those responsible after air-defense forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) shot down the plane.
Joint Statement
The foreign ministers of Afghanistan, Britain, Canada, Sweden, and Ukraine issued a joint statement after a meeting in London on January 17 to pressure Iran to give a full accounting.
Most of the victims on the flight were Iranians or dual citizens, many of them students returning to studies abroad or families returning home after visiting relatives in Iran.
The incident came shortly after Iran launched missiles at military bases in Iraq that hosted U.S. forces, in an attack that was a response to a January 3 U.S. air strike that killed top Iranian military commander Major General Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad's international airport.
After initially denying it shot down the plane, Tehran eventually admitted that its forces “unintentionally” struck the airliner with a missile after it said it veered toward a sensitive military site.
Thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest their government's actions, prompting public calls for punishment of the individuals responsible for the mistake.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for national unity and defended the country's armed forces in a rare sermon at Tehran’s Mosalla Mosque on January 17.
He accused Iran's enemies of using the plane crash to question the Islamic republic, the armed forces, and the IRGC, which he said "maintained the security" of Iran.
Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, AP, Reuters, and AFP


rferl--2020-01-19--Iran May Review IAEA Cooperation If European Pressure Mounts

The influential speaker of Iran 's parliament said on January 19 that , if European powers `` for any reason '' take an `` unfair '' approach to the dispute mechanism in the 4-year-old nuclear deal that has been in the balance since a U.S. pullout in 2018 , Tehran will `` seriously reconsider '' its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) .
`` What the three European countries did regarding Iran 's nuclear issue ... is unfortunate , '' the speaker , Ali Larijani , who is also a former chief nuclear negotiator for Tehran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ TV .
Germany , Britain , and France announced last week that they had triggered the dispute mechanism in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ( JCPOA ) , which exchanged curbs on Iran 's nuclear program for relief from international sanctions .
`` We clearly announce that if Europe , for any reason , uses Article 37 of the nuclear agreement unfairly , then Iran will make a serious decision regarding cooperation with the agency , '' Larijani said , according to the AFP news agency .
The European states -- signatories @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russia , the European Union , and , formerly , the United States -- said that , while the mechanism could lead to UN sanctions against Iran , they were not joining Washington 's yearlong `` maximum pressure '' campaign designed to change Tehran 's behavior .
Since the U.S. withdrawal from the deal , Iran has breached its main limitations , exceeding the stockpiles of heavy water and uranium allowed , the number and types of centrifuges it can operate to enrich uranium , and the purity of uranium .
With reporting @ @ @ @


rferl--2020-01-19--Orthodox Christians Mark Epiphany With Freezing Plunges

Many Orthodox Christians around the world have been marking Epiphany , one of the faith 's three biggest celebrations .
The event -- on January 19 on the Orthodox calendar -- is frequently marked with a dip in icy waters to symbolize the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan .
But in addition to washing away their sins , many worshipers also welcome the midwinter submersion as a test of hardiness and good health .
The Russian Orthodox Church , with around 90 million members , traditionally carries out the blessing of the waters twice , on the eve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill celebrated Epiphany Eve with a ceremony at the Church of Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow , the church said .
Thousands of Musovites had already plunged into outdoor rivers , ponds , or other pools well before midnight on January 18 , according to emergency authorities quoted by TASS , with temperatures remaining unseasonably warm at just a few degrees below zero and thousands more expected to turn out overnight and on January 19 .
Based on reporting by Orthodox Times , the BBC , and TASS

Many Orthodox Christians around the world have been marking Epiphany, one of the faith's three biggest celebrations.
The event -- on January 19 on the Orthodox calendar -- is frequently marked with a dip in icy waters to symbolize the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan.
But in addition to washing away their sins, many worshipers also welcome the midwinter submersion as a test of hardiness and good health.
The Russian Orthodox Church, with around 90 million members, traditionally carries out the blessing of the waters twice, on the eve of Epiphany and again on the holiday.
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill celebrated Epiphany Eve with a ceremony at the Church of Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, the church said.
Thousands of Musovites had already plunged into outdoor rivers, ponds, or other pools well before midnight on January 18, according to emergency authorities quoted by TASS, with temperatures remaining unseasonably warm at just a few degrees below zero and thousands more expected to turn out overnight and on January 19.
Based on reporting by Orthodox Times, the BBC, and TASS