U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged more defense cooperation among Black Sea allies as he visited Romania on October 20 as part of a three-country tour of the region amid ongoing tensions with Russia.

During talks in Bucharest with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and Defense Minister Nicolae Ciuca, Austin said action was needed by littoral states of the Black Sea amid Russia's "militarization" of the region.

"The security and stability of the Black Sea are in the U.S.'s national interest and critical for the security of NATO's eastern flank," Austin told reporters.

"The region is vulnerable to Russian aggression and we've seen evidence of that by ongoing actions in eastern Ukraine, the occupations of parts of Georgia, and the militarization of the Black Sea and provocative actions in the air and at sea," he said.

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Pentagon Chief Says U.S. Will Continue To Support Ukraine Against Russian 'Aggression'

Austin was in Bucharest on the third leg of a tour of the region to build confidence among allies, including Georgia and Ukraine, both of which are striving to join NATO, and to promote greater cooperation among military forces.

Austin also visited Romania's eastern Mihail Kogalniceanu air base and met with members of U.S. forces stationed there.

The Pentagon said Austin’s tour is a way to “reassure allies and partners of America’s commitment to their sovereignty in the face of Russian aggression.”

Austin will join a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels in the coming days.

With reporting by AFP and AP

Lawmakers in Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity that makes up part of Bosnia-Herzegovina, have passed a new law which potentially undermines the country’s constitution.

The Law on Medical Equipment and Drugs -- adopted by the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska on October 20 -- foresees the formation of the region’s Agency for Medical Equipment and Drugs as an “independent administrative organization” with the “status of a legal entity.”

The new body would essentially take over the powers and responsibilities of the country’s Agency for Medical Equipment and Drugs, a federal agency created in 2009.

Bosnia-Herzegovina as a state consists of two entities formed after the 1992-95 war -- the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with mostly Muslims and Croats and Republika Srpska with mostly Bosnian Serbs.

The constitution of Bosnia-Herzegovina bars any of the country’s two entities from creating an agency that undermines federal bodies.

The parliament’s move comes as federal prosecutors launched a probe of Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik for "undermining the constitutional order" after he announced that Republika Srpska will soon pull out of the country’s joint military, its top judiciary body, and tax administration.

He said several expert groups have been working on drafting the Serb entity’s new constitution and laws on defense, judiciary, and finances.

Dodik has repeatedly called for the secession of Bosnian Serb lands from the rest of Bosnia, which he labeled an "experiment by the international community" and an "impossible, imposed country."

The Kremlin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not fly to Scotland for the COP26 climate summit at the end of the month.

No reason was given for the decision, which is being seen as a blow to efforts to get world leaders to negotiate a new deal to stall rising global temperatures.

COP26, which starts on October 31, is the biggest climate change conference since landmark talks in Paris in 2015.

Around 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut emissions by 2030 and many will be watching to see how far Russia and other major fossil fuel producers are willing to go in order to reduce their dependence on them.

Speaking at an international energy forum in Moscow earlier this month, Putin had cited the coronavirus pandemic as a factor in deciding whether he would travel to the summit in Glasgow, which is being billed as key to the viability of the Paris Agreement’s temperature goals.

"I am not sure yet if I will attend [COP26] in person, but I will certainly take part in it," he said on October 13.

The announcement on October 20 that the Russian president will not go to the Glasgow summit comes on the same day that a UN-backed study said the world needs to cut by more than half its production of coal, oil, and gas in the coming decade to maintain a chance of keeping global warming from reaching dangerous levels.

Based on reporting by the BBC, AFP, and Reuters

SARAJEVO – Bosnia-Herzegovina’s top judicial body has confirmed the dismissal of the Balkan country’s chief prosecutor, Gordana Tadic.

The Disciplinary Commission of Bosnia’s High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) announced in July that it had ruled to remove Tadic from the chief prosecutor’s post, citing professional “negligence,” among other issues.

The Second Instance Disciplinary Commission confirmed the ruling in September before the October 20 ruling by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council.

Tadic will now perform the function of a prosecutor.

She was appointed chief prosecutor in January 2019 after serving as acting chief prosecutor from September 2016.

A disciplinary lawsuit was filed against Tadic in April, blaming her for failing to assign cases to prosecutors through the automatic distribution system.

She was also charged with failing to ensure the initiation of personal data protection procedures by applying the Law on the Protection of Classified Information, as well as security checks of staff at the Prosecutor’s Office that handle classified information, among other things.

The defense claimed Tadic had committed no violation.

The HJPC is now set to appoint an acting chief prosecutor to replace Tadic.

The chief prosecutor heads the Task Force on Combating Terrorism and Strengthening Counterterrorism Capacities, as well as the Task Force on Combating Trafficking in Persons and Organized Illegal Immigration, both established by Bosnia’s Council of Ministers.

The Olympic flame has arrived in China for the Beijing 2022 Winter Games as protests over China's human rights record continue to mar the run-up to the Olympics.

State media reported on October 20 that the flame arrived and was expected to go on display at the Beijing Olympic Tower before going on tour.

The flame was lit at a ceremony in Olympia, Greece, on October 18 and transferred the following day to the organizers of the Beijing Games, which begin on February 4, 2022.

Protesters disrupted the lighting ceremony, demanding that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) postpone the event.

The protest was the latest to put pressure on the IOC to postpone the Olympics and relocate it unless China ends gross human rights abuses, including what Washington deems an ongoing genocide of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of Xinjiang's other indigenous, mostly Muslim, ethnic groups in Xinjiang.

The U.S. State Department has said that as many as 2 million Uyghurs and other minorities have been incarcerated in detention camps in the Xinjiang region. Exiles say the Chinese central government practices religious repression, torture, and forced sterilization at the camps.

China has vehemently denied human rights abuses in the region and says the camps are vocational training centers aimed at reducing the appeal of Islamic extremism.

IOC Chairman Thomas Bach has brushed off talks of a boycott, citing the IOC’s political neutrality and saying it is up to governments to live up to their responsibilities.

Some veteran U.S. Olympians on October 19 denounced China's track record on human rights but stopped short of endorsing a boycott.

"Every human deserves to be treated equally with respect and dignity and fairness,” said two-time Olympic luger Tucker West at a media summit held by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC).

Regarding the boycott, West said it was not his job to decide where the Olympics are held.

Three-time Olympic ice dancer Evan Bates offered a strong denunciation of China’s human rights record.

"I have no problem speaking for the athletes and saying that what's happening there is terrible and we're human beings too and when we read and hear about the things that are happening there, we absolutely hate that. We hate what's going on there," he said but added that celebrating "what the Olympic movement stands for" is also important.

Figure skater Nathan Chen, who won a bronze medal in the team event at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, said for change to occur “there must be power that is beyond the Olympics. It has to be change at a remarkable scale.”

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

Jailed Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has been chosen as the winner of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the European Parliament's annual human rights prize, for his work to expose corruption and efforts to restrict freedoms in Russia.

Navalny was chosen by European lawmakers as the recipient of the award on October 20, the European People's Party Group said, after being shortlisted along with a group of Afghan women and a jailed Bolivian opposition politician.

“He has campaigned consistently against the corruption of Vladimir Putin’s regime, and through his social-media accounts and political campaigns, Navalny has helped expose abuses and mobilize the support of millions of people across Russia. For this, he was poisoned and thrown in jail,” European Parliament President David Sassoli said in a statement announcing the award.

SEE ALSO:

In And Out And In Again: All The Times Aleksei Navalny Has Been In Jail

Navalny, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critics, was jailed in January after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was treated for a poisoning he said was ordered by the Kremlin, a charge Moscow denies.

The EU has imposed sanctions on Russian officials over Navalny's poisoning and imprisonment.

The 45-year-old lawyer was subsequently sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on a parole violation charge that he denounces as politically motivated.

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“This is a very strong message from Free Europe to Putin. And delivered at exactly the right time, right place. No doubt Putin got the message, and is now raging mad in his bunker,” said political analyst Vladimir Milov.

Putin and other Russian authorities have ratcheted up pressure on Navalny, as well as his movement in recent months. The anti-corruption crusader has been designated by prison authorities as an extremist and a terrorist, he says.

Meanwhile in June, a court ruled the activities of his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) to be extremist.

Since then, many of his allies have had their homes raided or their freedom of movement restricted, prompting some to flee the country, while others have been jailed on dubious charges.

Last month, Russia opened a new criminal case against Navalny that could keep him in jail for a further decade.

"Putin calls Navalny a criminal blogger, but he is alone in this. Aleksei Navalny is a politician who fights for justice despite all the threats and assassination attempts," Navalny's team said on its Telegram channel. "And we are certain that Putin is not pleased to hear about this."

Last year, the prize was awarded to Belarus's democratic opposition, which staged weeks of protests against Alyaksandr Lukashenka following a disputed presidential election that the strongman claimed to have won, but which the opposition and the West said was heavily rigged in his favor.

Other previous winners of the 50,000 euro ($59,000) award, named after Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, include South African president Nelson Mandela, Venezuela's democratic opposition and Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai.

With reporting by Rikard Jowziak

MINSK -- Anton Furs, a veteran activist for Belarus's independence and a member of the Union of Belarusian Patriots, a post-World War 2 underground Belarusian youth organization, has died at the age of 94.

Furs' son, Yuras Furs, wrote on Facebook early on October 20 that his father died at his home in the northern town of Pastavy. He did not reveal the cause of death.

While studying in the mid-1940s to become a teacher, Furs and his friends created the underground youth organization with the goal of promoting Belarusian language and culture.

In February 1947, Furs was arrested and charged with anti-Soviet activities. He was sentenced to death for his offences, though the sentence was later reduced to 25 years in prison.

He served his prison term in Russia’s Urals city of Turin and in Karlag -- a system of notorious Soviet prisons near the city of Qaraghandy in Central Kazakhstan.

In 1955, Furs took part in a famous inmate riot that spread through several prisons of Karlag. He served nine years in the brutal Soviet prison system before being granted an early release.

After that, Furs married Alesya Umpirovich, a Belarusian activist who also served prison time for her beliefs.

Until 1982, the couple lived in Kazakhstan. They then moved to Belarus, where in 1992, Furs and other members of the youth organization were exonerated by a state commission that ruled the Union of Belarusian Patriots did not commit any crimes.

His wife -- whom he met through the youth organization -- was exonerated in 1993. She died in August 2017 at the age of 92.

BUCHAREST -- Romania's Prime Minister-designate Dacian Ciolos has failed in his bid to form the next government after his centrist minority cabinet was rejected in a confidence vote, extending the country's political crisis.

The defeat was widely expected. Ciolos's proposed cabinet received only 88 votes from lawmakers on October 20, well short of the 234 needed to be approved.

The political turmoil comes as one of the European Union's poorest states struggles with a huge spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths, a sputtering economy, and rising energy prices.

“Regardless of the result of the vote, regardless of the political struggle, we share the good or bad results with the citizens. We are in a time of deep crisis,” said the 52-year-old Ciolos, a former prime minister and EU commissioner who is currently the leader of center-right Save Romania Union (USR).

Romanian lawmakers from across the political spectrum on October 5 voted overwhelmingly to topple liberal Prime Minister Florin Citu's center-right minority government.

SEE ALSO:

Romanian Government Falls Amid Scandals, Pandemic Woes

The move came after the USR withdrew from Citu's National Liberal Party (PNL)-led government last month, complaining about his "dictatorial attitude" after he sacked several USR members of the government, including the justice and health ministers.

The ongoing crisis threatens to further hamper Romania’s efforts to tackle an alarming surge of COVID-19 infections in the nation of 19 million.

SEE ALSO:

Romanian President Calls Meeting To Seek 'Urgent Action' As COVID Infections Soar

The country on October 20 confirmed more than 17,000 new coronavirus infections and 423 deaths, a day after a pandemic-high of 18,863 cases and 574 fatalities.

The explosion in infections and deaths prompted President Klaus Iohannis on October 20 to announce a night curfew for all those unvaccinated, the reintroduction of masks both indoors and outdoors, and the requirement of the EU-wide COVID-19 pass for virtually all events.

Iohannis also said all primary, secondary, and high schools are going on an extended two-week vacation from October 25.

Iohannis also said he wants increases in vaccinations and tried to give assurances to skeptical Romanians that the vaccines available are safe and effective.

The measures and the time frame announced by Iohannis came under immediate criticism by medical experts as too mild and bordering on procrastination since they are only going to come into force next week.

• RFE/RL

New photos from the intensive-care units of several Bucharest hospitals capture the scale of the health crisis now gripping Romania.

Critics and the social-democratic opposition have pointed fingers at both Iohannis and Citu for what they say was a chaotic management of the pandemic over the summer, when they all but declared it "defeated" and dropped mask-wearing regulations while being overly involved in political infighting.

A lackluster vaccination campaign insufficiently pushed forward by authorities has seen Romania rank at the bottom of the EU, together with Bulgaria, with just 34 percent of adults fully inoculated. That compares with the bloc's average of 74 percent.

Romania has also been struggling with a wave of anti-vaccination fake news aggressively promoted by members of the extreme-right AUR party that unexpectedly stormed into parliament in the latest parliamentary elections in December and even by some senior Orthodox church officials.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a nationwide week of "nonworking" starting on October 30 as the country reels from a surge in coronavirus cases and deaths.

Putin said on October 20 that regions with the most dramatic COVID-19 situation can bring the period forward to start as early as October 23, adding that the plan may also be prolonged depending on the situation.

A government task force on October 20 reported 1,028 COVID-19-related deaths over the previous day, the highest number since the start of the pandemic.

"Right now, it is particularly important to subdue the peak of a new wave of the pandemic," Putin said in a video call with the cabinet, adding that workers should be paid for the period.

Russia has by far the largest official death toll in Europe -- 226,353 -- and the fourth-highest in the world after the United States, Brazil, and India.

The country recorded 34,074 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours.

Coronavirus cases and mortality numbers have been soaring in Russia for weeks -- with the daily death count topping 1,000 for the first time over the weekend -- amid low vaccination rates.

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Only 35 percent of the country’s nearly 146 million people are fully vaccinated, despite the Russia-developed Sputnik V vaccine being widely available.

Putin said he "can't understand" the hesitancy given "we have a reliable and efficient vaccine."

Putin, however, has been criticized often for muddling the message on vaccinations.

RFE/RL's Coronavirus Coverage

Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region.

Russia was the first country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, but it took four months after the jab became widely available for the Kremlin to announce that Putin had been vaccinated. Even then, it did not say which shot he took, nor did it provide video evidence to prove it. Only weeks later did Putin finally confirm he had received Sputnik V.

Observers said he also undermined the vaccination message by declining to strongly support vaccine mandates for some Russians, by suggesting without evidence that Western-made vaccines are dangerous and by underplaying the scale of the vaccination problem more broadly.

The Kremlin has been reluctant to impose a new nationwide lockdown like the one introduced early on in the pandemic that sapped the economy and Putin’s popularity, empowering instead regional authorities across the country to decide on local restrictions.

On October 19, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said unvaccinated people over 60 will be required to stay home, and mandatory vaccinations will be extended for service workers.

Sobyanin also told businesses to keep at least one-third of their staff working remotely.

Those measures take effect next week.

With reporting by Meduza, TASS, AFP and AP

The wife of a Turkmen activist being held in Turkey and facing deportation says the government in Ashgabat has handed Ankara a list of more than two dozen people it wants arrested and sent back for their activism.

The Turkmen Helsinki Foundation (THF) said in a report that two more Turkmen opposition activists residing in Turkey -- Ahmet Rahmanov and Kamil Abulov -- had been detained, with Abulov's wife saying police told her they had a list of 28 Turkmen citizens residing in Turkey whom the Turkmen government has asked Ankara to arrest and deport.

According to the Bulgaria-based THF, the 47-year-old Rahmanov went incommunicado on October 18 after he visited a migration office in the southwestern Turkish city of Antalya to prolong his residence permit.

A day later, Rahmanov's friends were informed that he had been placed in a deportation center. Rahmanov has been a longtime administrator of the opposition Democratic Choice of Turkmenistan movement's online chat page.

He also has been critical of authoritarian President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and his government on YouTube and programs aired by RFE/RL's Turkmen Service.

The THF said Abulov's wife informed it her 35-year-old husband had also been detained and placed in a deportation center, where police revealed the list of those Ashgabat is seeking.

Abulov was detained briefly in early August after Turkmen activists tried to hold a protest in front of the Turkmen Consulate in Istanbul.

Turkmen activists residing in Turkey have faced increased pressure from Turkish law enforcement officials in recent months, while their families at home have also come close scrutiny from local authorities.

SEE ALSO:

Pressure Builds On Turkmen Activists In Turkey

On October 16, police in the eastern Turkmen city of Turkmenabat summoned 51-year-old Tazegul Ovezova for questioning about the activities of her son, Azat Hayitbaev, a noted opposition activist residing in Turkey.

Ovezova refused to go to the police station, citing poor health after a recent heart attack. According to the THF, Hayitbaev's name is included on the list of the 28 Turkmen Ashgabat is seeking in Turkey.

Another activist residing in Turkey, Merdan Joraev, told the THF that police had recently visited his relatives in Turkmenistan's eastern region of Lebap to ask about his whereabouts.

Since last year, protests against Berdymukhammedov have been held by Turkmen citizens residing in Turkey, the United States, and Northern Cyprus.

Government critics and human rights groups say Berdymukhammedov has suppressed dissent and made few changes in the restrictive country since he came to power after the death of autocrat Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006.

Russia is hosting a high-level Taliban delegation for talks attended by officials from China, Pakistan, and eight other countries, as Moscow seeks to assert its influence on Central Asia amid worries about instability or violence spilling from Afghanistan into neighboring countries.

The October 20 conference in Moscow is one of the Taliban's most significant international meetings since the militants seized control of Kabul from the internationally recognized government in mid-August.

Addressing the gathering, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia recognized the Taliban's "efforts to stabilize the military and political situation and set up work of the state apparatus," as extremist groups such as Islamic State and Al-Qaeda were trying to "take advantage" of instability.

Moscow considers the formation of a "truly inclusive" government in Kabul as the only way to bring "stable peace" to the country, Lavrov also said.

The Taliban delegation at the talks, in which the United States is not participating, is headed by the group's acting Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi and also includes acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has said one of the aims of the meeting was to consolidate the "efforts of the international community to prevent a humanitarian crisis" in the aftermath of the Taliban's takeover.

The formation of an "inclusive government" in Kabul would be on the agenda, it said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group would ask the participants for economic assistance and political support.

"Naturally, the conference will focus on economic and political issues, as well as on the problems of security in the region and in Afghanistan," Mujahid said.

The Russian ambassador to Kabul, Dmitry Zhirnov, told journalists that the issue of recognizing the Taliban-led government won’t be discussed at the meeting.

Moscow moved to engage with the Taliban, hosting its representatives in Moscow several times in recent years, but has stopped short of recognizing the group, which is considered a banned terrorist organization within Russia.

Russia and Afghanistan’s Central Asian neighbors have been wary of an increase of drug trafficking and other security threats emanating from the war-torn country, and the potential for tens of thousands of refugees to pour over the border.

In response, Russia staged military drills alongside ex-Soviet countries neighboring Afghanistan, and reinforced equipment at a military base in Tajikistan.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the Islamic State (IS) extremist group had about 2,000 militants in northern Afghanistan, and claimed that the alleged IS fighters planned to move between ex-Soviet Central Asian countries disguised as refugees in order to stir up religious and ethnic discord.

Moscow fought a disastrous war in Afghanistan in the 1980s that killed up to 2 million Afghans, forced 7 million more from their homes, and led to the deaths of more than 14,000 Soviet troops.

With reporting by AFP and TASS

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Dissident Kazakh poet Aron Atabek, who was recently released from prison after spending 15 years behind bars on charges he denied, has been hospitalized and is currently in an intensive care unit.

Atabek's sister, Razia Nutysheva, told RFE/RL on October 20 that her brother was hospitalized over the weekend after his condition worsened.

"His current state of health is worrisome. He is unable to eat. The illness is progressing. After his release from prison, he refused to stay in a medical institution and we treated him at home for some time, but his health state worsened dramatically in recent days," Nutysheva said, adding that Atabek is currently connected to a lung ventilation system. She did not provide any other details and did not say whether Atabek has COVID-19.

Atabek (aka Edigeev), who was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2007 after being convicted of helping organize protests that resulted in the death of a police officer, has maintained his innocence since his arrest in 2006.

He rejected a government pardon offer in 2012 that would have required him to admit guilt.

He was released from a prison in Kazakhstan’s northern region of Pavlodar in early October amid long-standing concerns over his health. Relatives and friends say he suffers from heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis.

For years, Kazakh and international rights organizations demanded that the government release the poet saying that, along with his innocence, he was tortured in prison with guards intentionally splashing water with high concentrations of chlorine on the floor of his cell to damage his health.

Last month, a photograph taken by activists who visited him in prison appeared to show Atabek exhausted and in poor health. The photograph caused a public outcry and put added pressure on officials to release him.

In December 2012, Atabek was transferred to solitary confinement after he wrote an article critical of then-President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his government, and the article was published online.

In 2014, his relatives accused prison guards of breaking his leg, which authorities have denied.

UFA, Russia -- An opposition activist in Russia's Republic of Bashkortostan has been found alive after going missing for days.

Ilham Yanberdin went missing on October 11.

He issued a video statement overnight after he left a police station in Bashkortostan’s capital, Ufa, on October 19, thanking all those who were concerned about his fate.

"The situation is complex. As for the rest, I will tell you about it later...I will place [a post] on the Internet and everything will then be clear," he said.

It remains unclear where and how Yanberdin was found.

The Investigative Committee said shortly before his online statement that the activist was found alive but did not give any details.

Late on October 19, Yanberdin's wife, Rasima Manayeva, said police had informed her that he had been found alive "and soon will be transferred to Ufa."

Yanberdin's colleagues, friends, and relatives became increasingly worried about his fate after some of the activist’s belongings were found in a forest in Ufa on October 17.

Yanberdin, 41, has been known for his opposition activism for years. He has been fined several times, sentenced to community work, and handed several multiday jail terms for taking part in unsanctioned rallies in recent years.

On October 15, while he was missing, a court in Ufa ordered Yanberdin and two other opposition activists to pay hefty fines to compensate police for working during a weekend in January, when the activists organized unsanctioned rallies to support jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.

South Africa's drug regulator has rejected Russian's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, citing safety concerns that the manufacturer wasn't able to address.

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) said in a statement that the request for Sputnik V to be authorized could “not be approved at this time.”

The statement on October 18 referred to past failed HIV vaccines that used a technology similar to that used to produce Sputnik V. But the review process continues, the regulator said, adding that it is still open to receiving further safety data from the Russian manufacturer.

Peer-reviewed results of a study published earlier this year in the medical journal The Lancet showed Sputnik V to be safe and 91.6 percent effective in preventing people from becoming severely ill with COVID-19. The shot has been given the green light in more than 70 countries, and to date no significant safety problems have been identified.

Sputnik V uses two types of harmless viruses known as adenoviruses to carry the spike protein into the body, which then primes the immune system to produce antibodies against COVID-19. SAHPRA said concerns have been raised about the safety of Adenovirus Type 5, the specific harmless virus used in one of the Sputnik V doses. The other dose contains Adenovirus Type 26, which is also used by Johnson & Johnson.

South African officials pointed to two failed research studies testing an HIV vaccine that also uses Adenovirus Type 5, which found men who were vaccinated had a higher risk of being infected with HIV.

The regulators said they had asked the Russian makers of Sputnik V to provide data proving the vaccine's safety in a country with high rates of HIV but that "the applicant was not able to adequately address (their) request."

The Gamaleya Center, Sputnik V's manufacturer, called the concerns about the vaccine “completely unfounded.” It said speculation about the link between Adenovirus Type 5 and HIV transmission in high-risk populations was based on “small-scale inconclusive studies among volunteers with highly probable risky behavior.”

With reporting by AP

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has called a meeting of government officials on October 20 to "establish clear, restrictive measures" to reduce the spread of COVID-19 infections after the country hit daily records in both coronavirus infections and deaths.

"I decided to convene a meeting tomorrow with all those responsible for establishing clear, restrictive measures…that can reduce the spread of infections," Iohannis said in a press statement on October 19.

He said the "lack of concrete action on the part of the authorities is alarming" and called the situation a "national drama of terrible proportions" as he urged Romanians to get vaccinated, wear a mask, avoid crowds, and practice social distancing.

"Whether we are talking about the green certificate or other measures to reduce mobility and human interaction, we must not waste any more time…no matter how unpopular it may seem," he said, referring to the so-called green pass that some countries have implemented as proof of inoculation for entry into restaurants, gyms, and other indoor places.

He avoided identifying those responsible for the failure of the vaccination program in Romania but said it has moved too slowly and preparations were poor.

Romania on October 19 confirmed a record high of 18,863 new COVID-19 infections and 574 deaths in one day. It was the first time the country of 19 million surpassed 500 deaths in a single day.

• RFE/RL

New photos from the intensive-care units of several Bucharest hospitals capture the scale of the health crisis now gripping Romania.

The number of newly infected "is not a simple number," he said. "There are 18,863 hearts of Romanians who today beat with the fear of the unknown. Each of them with families and loved ones who may have contracted the disease."

The number of deaths represents 574 hearts of Romanians that stopped beating because they lost the fight with this deadly virus, he told a news conference.

"People who, just a few weeks ago, enjoyed life, dreamed and made plans for the future, now leave behind the tears and despair of those who mourn their death," he said.

He also noted the more than 1,800 coronavirus patients in intensive care, adding that the lives of millions of Romanians have changed, often irreversibly, due to the pandemic.

SEE ALSO:

Their COVID Certificates Were Fake But Now They Want To Get Vaccinated: Forgery And Regret In Romania And Bulgaria

Iohannis called for increases in vaccinations, saying it is the only thing that has worked in all countries where the pandemic has slowed, and he gave assurances that the vaccines available are safe and effective.

Romania has the second-lowest vaccination rate in the European Union behind Bulgaria. Just 34 percent of adults are fully inoculated, compared to the bloc average of 74 percent.

In response to the disaster, the World Health Organization (WHO) will send a senior expert to Romania to help strengthen the country's pandemic response and will facilitate the distribution of 34,000 rapid COVID-19 diagnostic tests and 200 oxygen concentrators to treat virus patients.

"An urgent priority is to boost vaccination among vulnerable groups, reduce the risk of hospitalization and death, and relieve pressure on the health system," Heather Papowitz, a WHO expert, said in a statement.

With reporting by AP

TBILISI -- Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been on a hunger strike in prison for nearly three weeks, has consented to medical intervention while vowing to continue his protest.

Saakashvili's lawyer, Dito Sadzaglishvili, read out a letter from his client to reporters on October 20, in which Saakashvili said he was "ready to die" for his cause.

"But I want to preserve my consciousness and ability to work to the end, and therefore I agree to allow medical intervention by physicians which will help me keep my sanity and at least, in a limited way, participate in ongoing developments," the letter said.

A day earlier, a group of doctors recommended that prison administrators transfer Saakashvili to a hospital for observation after visiting him.

Saakashvili was arrested on October 1 hours after he announced he had returned to Georgia following an eight-year absence. He immediately went on a hunger strike, while his arrest triggered a protest by tens of thousands of his supporters in Tbilisi last week.

The 53-year-old has said his arrest for what Georgian law enforcement agencies called illegally crossing the border was politically motivated.

Saakashvili’s detention in a prison in Rustavi has deepened a protracted political crisis in Georgia. Dozens of European lawmakers and other current and former politicians have called for his release.

Saakashvili served as the South Caucasus country's president from 2004 to 2013.

He was sentenced in 2018 in absentia to a total of nine years in prison after being convicted of abuse of power in two separate cases. The ex-president has rejected all charges as politically motivated.

Staff members of RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, known in Uzbekistan as Ozodlik, have received numerous online death threats in recent days as Central Asia's most populous nation gets ready for presidential elections next week.

On a single day, October 16, dozens of posts threatening RFE/RL's journalists appeared in the Uzbek Service's Telegram channel in just 30 minutes.

The vulgar posts carried threats of beheadings and sexual assaults and were accompanied by images with pornographic elements and an identical caption reading: "Ozodlik's real goal is to marshal a mutiny in Uzbekistan, to disrupt peace, to discredit our president." The posts also hurled insults at RFE/RL's Uzbek Service staff members and their mothers.

Most of the posts came from anonymous accounts. However, the Uzbek Service's Telegram communication managers found out that at least two threats came from accounts associated with users promoting the Uzbek government’s policies related to armed forces.

RFE/RL President Jamie Fly called the threats "disgusting" and urged the Tashkent government to immediately end its intimidating tactics against independent media.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has positioned himself as a democratic reformer after he took over the country of some 34 million people following the death of his authoritarian predecessor, Islam Karimov, in September 2016.

However, in the run-up to presidential elections scheduled for October 24, arrests and attacks on bloggers and journalists have been on rise across the country.

Also, the website of RFE/RL's Uzbek Service was blocked several times and RFE/RL's requests for official accreditation of its correspondents in the country have remained unanswered.

Uzbekistan ranked 157th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders' 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

FBI agents have been conducting "court-authorized law enforcement activity" at properties in Washington and New York linked to Oleg Deripaska, a U.S.-blacklisted Russian oligarch with ties to the Kremlin, news agencies reported on October 19, citing a spokesperson for the law enforcement agency.

FBI agents were seen carrying boxes out of a house that had yellow police tape across the front yard in one of the U.S. capital's wealthiest districts. They were also seen towing away a vehicle.

The FBI, however, didn’t confirm whether the residence on 30th Street in the U.S. capital was Deripaska's home. A 2017 Washington Post report tied a property on that street to Deripaska, who has been subjected to U.S. sanctions since 2018.

A spokesperson for the FBI's New York office confirmed that "law enforcement activity" at a property in the Greenwich Village neighborhood situated in the New York borough of Manhattan but did not give further details.

Deripaska's representative told Reuters that the FBI was conducting searches at two houses belonging to relatives of the tycoon in New York and Washington, adding that Deripaska was not the owner of the houses.

The representative said the searches were being carried out based on two court warrants related to U.S. sanctions.

The United States sanctioned Deripaska and six other Russian oligarchs in 2018 for supporting Russia’s "malign activity around the globe," including the Kremlin's aggression against Ukraine and because of their ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin afterMoscow's alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections.

The U.S. Treasury Department also sanctioned three companies -- Russian aluminum giant Rusal, its parent company En+, and power firm EuroSibEnergo -- which are linked to Deripaska. Given Rusal's size and importance, the sanctions roiled global metal markets, unnerving businesses in the United States and Europe.

The U.S. administration later reached a deal with the three Russian firms to end Deripaska's control in return for the lifting of the sanctions, forcing the oligarch to divest much of his holdings.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and TASS

KAZAN, Russia -- Several men in police uniforms have forcibly entered a shelter in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan, taking away two young women from the North Caucasus region of Daghestan.

Aliya Bainazarova, the head of the charity foundation Good Deeds in Tatarstan’s capital, Kazan, said on October 18 that the men did not introduce themselves as they entered the Mother's House shelter in the city, nor did they give any information as to where the two women were being taken.

Bainazarova said the two women, one of whom had a two-year-old daughter, had recently arrived at the shelter.

"They had to flee their city. They had a plan to start a new life. We know that the father of one of the girls is an Islamic preacher. The girls asked us to help them. They were forced to marry at home," Bainazarova said.

Daghestan-based human rights activist Svetlana Anokhina told the Novaya Gazeta newspaper that the two young women contacted her about one hour after they were taken away from the shelter and asked her "not to make a fuss" as they are doing fine.

"I do not believe at all that the girls' statements were made of their own free will. We have been in contact with them for one year and the whole year they have confirmed their intention to seek assistance," Anokhina said.

Tatarstan's Interior Ministry told Novaya Gazeta that it does not have any information concerning the situation.

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Disturbing Video Shows Police Seizing Chechen Woman From Shelter​

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In July, a police officer rushed into a shelter in the capital of Daghestan, Makhachkala, and forcibly took away a young Chechen woman who had fled Chechnya with the intention of living with her girlfriend.

Later, Chechen authorities issued a video in which Khalimat Taramova says that she is doing fine. Anokhina said at the time that Taramova was most likely forced to record the video. Taramova's current situation remains unknown.

Rights groups have accused predominantly Muslim Chechnya of targeting sexual minorities, including the use of abductions, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

Chechen authorities have rejected the accusations.

With reporting by Novaya Gazeta

The French-based founder and leader of the Gulagu.net human rights group, Vladimir Osechkin, has identified the man who handed him part of a video archive of alleged torture and sexual assaults in Russian prisons earlier this month.

In an interview with Dozhd TV that aired late on October 18, Osechkin identified the informer as Belarusian IT engineer Syarhey Savelyeu, who also is currently in France, where he plans to ask for political asylum.

According to Osechkin, he could not reveal Savelyeu's name before he managed to leave Russia and arrived in Paris.

Osechkin added that Savelyeu brought with him more than 2 terabytes of video materials with images of torture in Russian penitentiaries, which will be made public at some point in the future.

He said that Savelyeu was incarcerated in a prison in the Russian city of Saratov where he also faced abuse. Savelyeu arrived at Charles De Gaulle Airport on October 16 on a flight from an unspecified country in northern Africa.

On October 4, Gulagu.net began publishing the first batch of videos that it claimed show prison inmates being tortured by agents of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN).

SEE ALSO:

'Torture Machine': Russian Rights Defender Shares Shocking Prison Videos

Osechkin wrote on Facebook on October 4 that the videos "prove" that FSB and FSIN members are using rape and other forms of torture to force inmates to cooperate with them and that they "themselves become part of the torture machine" by snitching on other inmates or by signing false testimonies prepared by investigators.

Russian prosecutors said on October 5 that they had launched a preliminary investigation into the videos already released by Osechkin’s Gulagu.net, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov promised a "serious" probe if the incidents depicted in the clips turn out to be genuine.

One of the videos posted on the Vot-tak.tv website shows several people using a large stick to rape a naked man who is tied to a bed.

According to Osechkin, that video was shot in a Russian prison in February 2020.

The Mediazona website published three other videos purportedly showing inmates being tortured in a prison hospital in the city of Saratov.

According to Osechkin, Savelyeu had access to videos stored in the prison's computers that were shot in several penitentiaries in the Vladimir, Saratov, and Irkutsk regions between 2018 and 2020.

Osechkin alleged that some 200 inmates have been tortured and raped by FSB and FSIN agents in these penitentiaries during that period, and the videos he has obtained document the ill-treatment of 40 of them.

A spokesman for the Prosecutor-General's Office, Andrei Ivanov, told reporters on October 5 that all correctional facilities in Saratov will be checked as part of a preliminary investigation to see if inmates there were being abused.

A day later on October 6, the FSIN said it had fired five senior prison officials, including the director of the prison where the alleged abuse took place and the head of the regional prison service.

With reporting by Dozhd

KYIV -- Ukrainian lawmakers have approved a bill to strengthen the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), a move that will move it toward securing more loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under a $5 billion loan deal.

In the vote on October 19, 304 members of the country's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, supported the bill that regulates leadership appointments at NABU, while 12 were against and 23 abstained.

The legislation must now be signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to take effect.

Ukraine's government established NABU in 2015 in the wake of pro-European political and economic reforms with the intention of fighting corruption among Ukrainian officials and political groups.

The country has long been plagued by graft, ranking 117th out of 180 countries globally in the 2020 Corruption Perception Index published by watchdog Transparency International.

The European Union's ambassador to Ukraine, Matti Maasikas, hailed the approval of the bill, calling it "a positive step on Ukraine's anti-corruption reform agenda."

"[The EU delegation to Ukraine] stands ready to support a transparent, merit-based selection process for a new NABU director," Maasikas wrote on Twitter.

According to the bill, a commission consisting of three government delegates and three people nominated by international donors will select two candidates to lead NABU. The government would appoint the other candidate to the post.

A day earlier, Ukraine secured a provisional agreement with the IMF that could pave the way for a $700 million loan disbursement.

With reporting by Reuters

DUSHANBE -- The Dushanbe City Court has sentenced well-known Tajik human rights defender, Izzat Amon, to nine years in prison on fraud charges.

Amon's lawyer, Saiburhon Sharifov, told RFE/RL that his client was handed the sentence on October 19.

Sharifov called the court's decision illegal, adding that his client was eligible for a pardon under the recent mass amnesty devoted to the 30th anniversary of the Central Asian nation's independence.

Sharif said the sentence will be appealed.

For years Amon led the Center for Tajiks in Moscow before he was deprived of Russian citizenship and forced to return to Dushanbe in March at the request of Tajik authorities, who accused the activist of financial fraud.

Amon's supporters and relatives have dismissed the charges as politically motivated.

Amon’s nonprofit organization in Moscow has helped Tajik migrant workers find jobs, obtain work and residency permits, and get legal advice.

KYIV -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has reiterated Washington's "unwavering" support for Ukraine's territorial integrity during a visit to Kyiv as Russia continues to be an "obstacle" to the peaceful resolution of the deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Austin made the comments on October 19 on the second leg of his three-nation tour to the Black Sea region aimed at underlining the White House's support for allies and partner states in the face of what he called Russia's “aggression.”

The visit comes amid continued fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in a conflict that has claimed more than 13,200 lives since April 2014.

The war in eastern Ukraine erupted after Moscow's annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 -- a move condemned by the international community.

"Russia started this war and Russia is the obstacle to a peaceful resolution," Austin said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Taran, adding: "We will continue to do everything we can to support Ukraine's efforts to develop a capability to defend itself and protect its sovereign territory."

Asked about Moscow's fierce objections to Ukraine's entry into NATO, Austin said "no third country has a veto over NATO's membership decisions."

Ukraine “has a right to decide its own future foreign policy and we expect that they will be able to do that without any outside interference," he added.

Taran said that Kyiv expects the United States will "continue to support our independence, our territorial integrity, and will prevent Russia from further aggression with all possible means."

Earlier in the day, Austin said he and Taran discussed "how we plan to implement the U.S.-Ukraine Strategic Defense Framework" signed when the defense minister and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy traveled to Washington less than two months ago.

The Biden administration also pledged to provide Ukraine with an additional $60 million in military aid, which would bring the total U.S. aid for this year alone to more than $400 million.

Austin's visit aims at underlining Washington's support of Kyiv in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and will also serve as "an opportunity to discuss Ukraine’s progress with the implementation of defense and defense industry reforms needed to advance its Euro-Atlantic aspirations," according to the Pentagon.

We are encouraging their defense reforms to enable their resilience in the face of this Russian aggression," a senior U.S. defense official said, according to AFP.

"We need to enhance Ukraine's civilian control of the military," the official also said.

On October 18 in Tbilisi, Austin signed a preliminary agreement to continue U.S. backing for Georgia’s military.

SEE ALSO:

U.S. Defense Chief Inks Cooperation Deal With Georgia On First Leg Of Visit To Black Sea Allies

The current support agreement started in May 2018 and is to expire at the end of the year.

Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in 2008 and Russian troops have remained in Georgia's regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Moscow opposes any effort to increase Georgia’s status within NATO.

After Ukraine, Austin will travel to Romania before heading to the NATO defense ministerial meeting in Brussels on October 21-22.

DUSHANBE -- The jailed deputy chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan, Mahmurod Odinaev, has refused to sign papers that would shorten his prison term under a mass amnesty, saying he will only accept his immediate release and full exoneration.

Odinaev's son, Habibullo Rizoev, told RFE/RL on October 18 that the mass amnesty marking the 30th anniversary of the Central Asian nation's independence meant his father would see his 14-year prison term cut by three years.

"My father refused to sign papers offered to him by the state commission for the implementation of the law on amnesty. He stated that he is innocent and demanded to be released at once. By signing the paper, my father would indirectly accept the guilt. But he said earlier that he will never plead guilty to an act he never committed," Rizoev said.

Meanwhile, an official of Tajikistan's State Penitentiary Service told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity that Odinaev's prison term will be shortened by three years, even if he refuses to sign the papers.

Odinaev, 59, was sentenced in January to 14 years in prison on charges of hooliganism and "calling for extremism," which he and his supporters have denied.

He went missing in November 2020 after he asked Dushanbe Mayor Rustam Emomali in a Facebook post to allow him and supporters of the Social Democratic Party -- the only opposition party functioning in Tajikistan -- to stage a demonstration over food-price hikes.

On December 5, the Tajik Prosecutor-General's Office acknowledged that Odinaev had been arrested in Dushanbe.

In February, one of Odinaev's sons, Shaikhmuslihiddin Rizoev, was sentenced to six years in prison after he was found guilty of hooliganism and attempted rape, charges Rizoev, his relatives, and friends have rejected as politically motivated.

SARATOV, Russia -- A Russian court has sentenced a member of an outlawed nationalist opposition group from the city of Saratov to six years in prison after finding him guilty of plotting a terrorist act and the illegal possession of explosives in a case linked to rallies ahead of the centennial of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

The Central District Military Court in Samara, sentenced Sergei Ryzhov on October 19, falling short of the prosecutor's call for 10 1/2 years in prison

Ryzhov, a supporter of the Artpodgotovka (Artillery Bombardment) movement, reiterated his innocence during the trial, insisting that explosives found on his property and used as evidence against him were planted there by police.

Hundreds of members of the movement were detained on November 5, 2017, at demonstrations in Moscow and other Russian cities ahead of the 100th anniversary of the revolution.

Vyacheslav Maltsev, an outspoken Kremlin critic and leader of the group, said at the time that the day would mark the start of a "new revolution" to topple President Vladimir Putin's government.

Maltsev, who has described himself as a nationalist and an anarchist, told RFE/RL in November 2018 that he had received political asylum in France.

In May 2017, Maltsev was charged in absentia with publicly calling for extremist activities. Artpodgotovka was banned in October 2017 by court order.