Armenia has received its first batch of 24,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine under the UN-backed COVAX facility as the country braces for a third wave of infections from the virus.

The AstraZeneca shot, which has been authorized in more than 70 countries, is a pillar of the COVAX scheme, backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) with the aim of providing 2 billion vaccine doses for low-income countries by the end of this year.

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The Armenian Health Ministry said it will use the first tranche of doses, which arrived by plane on March 28, to inoculate medical workers, nursing home employees, persons aged 65 and older, as well as the chronically ill.

The vaccine is used widely in Britain, Europe, and in other countries, but its rollout was marred by initial questions about its effectiveness.

Several European countries this month suspended using the vaccine over concerns it could cause blood clots, but they since resumed administering it after the EU’s drug regulator and the WHO confirmed the vaccine was safe.

The British-Swedish company has said its vaccine is “highly effective in adults," with 76 percent efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 in a U.S. trial. More importantly, the vaccine was 100 percent effective against severe or critical disease and hospitalization.

"The vaccine is quite effective in preventing serious cases, almost 100 percent of hospitalizations and deaths," said Gayane Sahakian, the deputy director of Armenia’s National Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Armenia already started a vaccination drive with a limited supply of the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine.

The number of COVID-19 infections recorded by Armenian health authorities has surged over the past month after falling significantly since November 2020. The resurgence of the virus has forced the authorities to set up hundreds of new hospital beds for COVID-19 patients.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 190,000 recorded coronavirus infections in Armenia and more than 3,400 related deaths, according to a tally run by Johns Hopkins University.

Belarusian prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation against opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the latest move from authorities trying to quash opposition groups after months of anti-government protests.

Tsikhanouskaya, who fled Belarus in the aftermath of last August's disputed presidential election, had no immediate reaction to the move, which was announced on March 29 by Prosecutor-General Andrey Shved.

In a statement, Shved alleged that Tsikhanouskaya and several other people plotted to plant explosives and arson attacks in Minsk and other cities several days ago.

Crisis In Belarus

Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.

There were no other details in the statement, although its announcement came days after officials said they arrested a person accused of attempting to stage explosions in Minsk and the nearby city of Barysau.

Belarus has been engulfed by protests ever since the August 9 vote, when Alyaksandr Lukashenka claimed a sixth term as president.

Opposition groups and some poll workers have said the election was rigged; the European Union, the United States, and other nations have refused to recognize the declared results.

In the wake of the vote, thousands of Belarusians took to the streets, in what became the largest and most persistent show of opposition in Lukashenka's nearly three decades in power.

More than 33,000 people were arrested over weeks of demonstrations. Many of them were beaten by police and some have alleged being tortured while in custody.

In response to the repression, the West has slapped sanctions on top officials.

Last week, Tsikhanouskaya called for a new wave of anti-Lukashenka rallies. Police flooded Minsk and cracked down on opposition supporters who tried to launch rallies last week, arresting hundreds.

SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine -- A Moscow-imposed court in the Russian-annexed Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea has sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to a lengthy prison term amid an ongoing crackdown against the religious group.

The Gagarin district court in the city of Sevastopol said on March 29 that it had sentenced a local resident to 6 1/2 years in prison after finding him guilty of organizing activities of the group that was labeled as extremist and banned in Russia in 2017, but is legal in Ukraine.

The court did not mention the man's name, but the Crimean Human Rights Group identified him as Viktor Stashevsky. Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence Stashevsky to seven years in prison.

Last week, Russia's Investigative Committee said that a 30-year-old resident of another Crimean city, Kerch, was detained on suspicion of being a member of the group.

Since the faith was outlawed in Russia, many Jehovah's Witnesses have been imprisoned in Russia and Russian-annexed Crimea.

The United States has condemned Russia's ongoing crackdown on Jehovah's Witnesses and other peaceful religious minorities.

For decades, the Jehovah's Witnesses have been viewed with suspicion in Russia, where the dominant Orthodox Church is championed by President Vladimir Putin.

The Christian group is known for door-to-door preaching, close Bible study, rejecting military service, and not celebrating national and religious holidays or birthdays.

According to the group, dozens of Jehovah's Witnesses were either convicted of extremism or are being held in pretrial detention.

The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center has recognized dozens of Jehovah’s Witnesses who've been charged with or convicted of extremism as political prisoners.

Turkmenistan’s authoritarian leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has been elected as a member of a newly established senate, in a vote in which there was no opposition and only indirect suffrage.

State media in the tightly controlled and isolated Central Asian state reported Berdymukhammedov received "100 percent" of the vote in the March 29 election, giving him a new position as a lawmaker in the upper chamber.

The 63-year-old is already president and head of government of a state built around his cult of personality.

State media said the election was “clear evidence of Turkmenistan's democratic progress and the triumph of decisive reforms carried out by our national leader.”

The election was the first for the upper chamber, or People's Council, since constitutional amendments in September 2020 made parliament bicameral.

State media reported 112 registered candidates vied for the 48 seats available in the upper chamber, stressing the elections were "fair" and monitored by "independent" domestic observers. Eight members of the upper house will also be appointed by Berdymukhamedov.

The elections were held by secret ballot through indirect suffrage, with 231 electors from the provinces and capital, Ashgabat, able to vote.

“The elections were held on a competitive basis -- each of the 48 candidates was nominated by 2-3 people who deserved the special respect of our compatriots,” state media reported.

Foreign observers were not allowed to monitor the vote and no opposition candidates were on the ballot in the former Soviet republic, which is considered one of the most repressive countries in the world.

With the exception of turning the parliament into a two-chamber institution, other details of the constitutional changes that Berdymukhammedov signed into the law in September remain largely unknown.

Critics have said that Berdymukhammedov plans to use the constitutional amendments to secure his lifetime presidency and for the eventual succession of his son and grandchildren.

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.

Like his late predecessor, Berdymukhammedov has relied on subsidized prices for basic goods and utilities to help maintain his grip on power.

Despite being rich in natural gas resources, the country has faced shortages of everything from cash and food to basic necessities in recent years.

The father of Ivan Zhdanov, the director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) of jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, has been detained on a charge of abuse of office.

Zhdanov wrote on social media on March 29 that his 66-year-old father Yury Zhdanov was sent to pretrial detention over the weekend after police searched his home in the city of Rostov-on-Don on March 26.

"I have no doubts that the criminal case was launched because of me and my activities," Zhdanov wrote, adding that his father's arrest was "absolutely a new level of villainy and turpitude from the presidential administration."

According to Zhdanov, before retirement last summer his father worked as an official in a remote town for several years.

Investigators now accuse Yury Zhdanov of recommending the town’s administration provide a local woman with a subsidized apartment though it later turned out that the woman's family had previously received housing allocations.

The apartment was later returned to municipal ownership in accordance with a court decision and no one among those who made the decision were held responsible.

"I do not know if the situation was intentionally organized to frame him. The events took place in July 2019, during the peak of the campaign in the Moscow municipal elections," Zhdanov wrote.

In late-July 2019, the younger Zhdanov was serving a 15-day jail term for taking part in an unsanctioned rally to protest against a decision by election officials to refuse to register him and several other opposition figures as candidates to the Moscow City Council.

Navalny's FBK is known for publishing investigative reports about corruption among Russia's top officials, including President Vladimir Putin.

The latest report focused on a lavish Black Sea mansion which Navalny's team called "a palace for Putin," capturing worldwide attention with more than 115 million views on YouTube.

The report showcases the luxurious, 100 billion-ruble ($1.32 billion) estate near the popular holiday town of Gelendzhik. It said Putin effectively owns this palace via a complex trail of companies.

The Kremlin has denied the report saying "one or several [businessmen] directly or indirectly own" the property, adding that it "has no right to reveal the names of these owners."

MOSCOW -- Jailed Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny says he fears the possibility of solitary confinement in a punishment cell after being accused of minor infractions.

Navalny said in an Instagram post on March 29 that he had been given six reprimands within two weeks at the correctional colony where he is being held.

"You get two reprimands and you go to punitive isolation, which is an unpleasant place, conditions there are close to torture," he said.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic, is currently incarcerated in Correctional Colony No. 2, about 100 kilometers from Moscow, which is known as one of the toughest penitentiaries in Russia.

Navalny said his infractions include "getting out of bed 10 minutes before the 'wake up' command" and wearing a T-shirt during a meeting with his lawyers.

"I'm waiting for a reprimand with the wording 'grinning though the routine of the day said it was time to suffer,'" Navalny said in the post, adding that the situation reminded him of grade school, when students were told not to argue with the teacher because they knew "everything better."

Navalny's health condition became an issue last week after allies said they were concerned over his deteriorating health and called on prison authorities to clarify his condition.

Navalny said he was suffering from severe back pain and that "nothing" was being done by prison authorities to solve the problem.

He said in a message on Instagram on March 26 that "getting out of bed is hard and very painful" and that the prison doctor prescribed two tablets of ibuprofen a day.

Members of the Public Oversight Commission in the Vladimir region visited the colony and met with Navalny "in order to learn about problems with his health and the provision of medical treatment," according to the commission.

Commission Chairman Vyacheslav Kulikov said on March 28 that Navalny "complained about pain in his leg and asked for assistance in getting injections to treat this pain."

"We asked doctors to pay attention to this and, in case it is necessary, to carry out an additional medical checkup," Kulikov said.

Navalny was detained at a Moscow airport in January immediately upon returning from Berlin, where he had been recovering from what several Western laboratories determined was a poisoning attempt using a Novichok-type nerve agent that saw him fall seriously ill on a flight in Siberia in August 2020.

Navalny has said it was an assassination attempt ordered by Putin -- an allegation rejected by the Kremlin.

A Moscow court in February ruled that while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an older embezzlement case that is widely considered to be politically motivated.

His suspended 3 1/2-year sentence was converted into jail time, though the court reduced that amount to 2 1/2 years for time already served in detention.

Navalny's incarceration set off a wave of national protests and a crackdown on his supporters.

The European Union, the United States, and Canada have imposed a series of sanctions against Russia over the Navalny case.

With reporting by Reuters

The Czech Republic's richest man, Petr Kellner, whose financial group has deep roots across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, has died in a helicopter crash in Alaska.

"With great sadness, PPF announces that on March 27, 2021, majority shareholder of PPF Mr. Petr Kellner tragically passed away in a helicopter accident in the Alaskan mountains," the group said in a short statement on March 29.

It said that the crash, which claimed five lives, was under investigation. Alaska State Troopers said one survivor was listed in serious but stable condition.

U.S. media has reported that the accident occurred when the helicopter, which was taking the group on a heli-skiing excursion, crashed near the Knik Glacier in Alaska.

The 56-year-old Kellner, the world's 68th-wealthiest person according to Forbes, died along with another guest of the Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, Benjamin Larochaix, also of the Czech Republic, two of the lodge's guides, and the pilot of the helicopter, the reports said, citing officials.

Kellner, whose wealth was estimated by Forbes magazine at $17.5 billion, started his business selling copy machines and founded the PPF Group investment company with partners in 1991, two years after the fall of communism in the former Czechoslovakia, to take part in the country's scheme to privatize state-owned firms.

PPF Group went on to grow in finance, telecommunications, manufacturing, media, and engineering in businesses spanning mainly Europe, Asia, and the United States. Its assets amounted to nearly $52 billion by mid-2020.

The group includes Home Credit International, the world's largest nonbanking consumer lender with extensive activities on the Russian and Chinese markets.

PPF last year acquired the CME media group operating TV companies in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2018, it became the sole owner of Telenor's telecommunications assets in Hungary, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Serbia.

The group has donated millions of respirators and masks and thousands of coronavirus testing kits to help countries in the coronavirus pandemic, according to Czech media reports.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis offered his condolences to Kellner's family, saying on Twitter: "Unbelievable tragedy. I am very sorry."

Kellner's daughter Anna Kellnerova, a two-time Czech junior equestrian show-jumping champion, said his funeral will be held "with only close family members."

With reporting by The New York Times, AP, Reuters, and AFP

TASHKENT -- Uzbek rights activist Miraziz Bazarov has been hospitalized after he was attacked by unknown men hours after his public event was disrupted by dozens of aggressive men in Tashkent.

Physicians at the Tashkent Traumatology Hospital told RFE/RL on March 29 that the 29-year-old blogger, known for his criticism of the government and support for decriminalizing same-sex relations, sustained multiple injuries to his internal organs and legs, including an open fracture of the left leg and a concussion, adding that he was brought to the medical institution the previous night.

According to the doctors, Bazarov's situation was very serious and he will be moved to another hospital, where he may need to undergo brain surgery.

One of Bazarov's neighbors, who said he witnessed the assault, told RFE/RL that the blogger was attacked in the evening on March 28 near his apartment block by three masked men, one of whom had a baseball bat.

According to the witness, the attack lasted only about three minutes.

The director of the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch (HRW), Hugh Williamson, condemned the attack, calling it "totally awful."

"Uzbekistan has committed at UN Human Rights Council this month -- in theory -- to uphold int’l human rights standards. It should do so!" Williamson tweeted on March 28.

WATCH: Uzbek Rights Campaigner And Government Critic Severely Beaten

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Daniel Rosenblum, the U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan, also expressed concern over Bazarov's beating, calling it "disturbing."

"I urge the [government] of Uzbekistan to investigate the beating of blogger Miraziz Bazarov, who exercised his #FreedomofExpression in support of the LGBTI community," Rosenblum tweeted on March 29.

Earlier on March 28, Bazarov told journalists that a weekly public event for fans of Japanese anime and Korean pop music, which he organizes each Sunday, had been disrupted by dozens of aggressive men who chanted "Allah Akbar!" or "God is great."

Bazarov is known for his criticism of the Uzbek government on his Telegram channel.

The Reporters Without Borders journalism watchdog called on the Uzbek government "to assess the threats [Bazarov] received and to shed light on this intolerable attack!"

Among other issues, Bazarov has also publicly urged the government to decriminalize same-sex sexual conduct, which remains to be legally considered as a crime in Uzbekistan.

Bazarov has openly said he is not an LGBT activisor t, but believes that being gay is a personal issue and therefore no laws should consider it a crime.

Last week, HRW said in a statement that gay men in Uzbekistan face arbitrary detention, prosecution, and imprisonment and called on Tashkent to guarantee lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights and decriminalize same-sex sexual conduct.

Bazarov also criticized President Shavkat Mirziyoev for insufficient anti-corruption efforts, and questioned the efficiency of ongoing restrictions to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

Last summer, Bazarov was questioned by State Security Service investigators after he called on the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank on Facebook not to provide loans to Uzbekistan without strict control over how the funds are used.

Bazarov earlier told RFE/RL that in recent weeks he had received many online threats, of which he had informed the police, but they had not taken any action.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Belarusian authorities have "escalated" repression against independent media over the past five months, arbitrarily detaining and beating journalists, imposing fines and prison sentences on politically motivated charges, revoking their media credentials, and raiding their homes and offices.

The crackdown "is part of the government's efforts to silence media reporting on human rights violations and peaceful, countrywide protests" that have rocked the country in the wake of an August election, the New York-based human rights watchdog said in a report published on March 29.

The Belarusian opposition and the West say the vote that authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka claimed extended his iron-fisted rule for a sixth term was rigged, and are demanding fair elections and justice for abuses since the vote.

Since protests erupted, more than 30,000 people have been detained, hundreds beaten, several killed, and there have been widespread reports of torture, while most the opposition leadership has been arrested or forced into exile.

"Instead of ensuring justice for sweeping police brutality and other abuses, Belarusian authorities are prosecuting journalists reporting on sensitive issues," said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at HRW.

"The authorities should guarantee that all journalists in Belarus are able to carry out their work without fear of reprisals and without abusive restrictions," Williamson added.

Crisis In Belarus

Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.

Between September and March, the authorities opened at least 18 criminal cases against journalists, "apparently in reprisal for their work," HRW said.

Three of them were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to two years, while seven others are awaiting trial behind bars on criminal charges of violating public order, tax evasion, and interfering with police work. One journalist accused of insulting the president is under house arrest.

The authorities "coerced lawyers representing many of these journalists into signing vaguely worded nondisclosure agreements, barring them from sharing any information about their clients' cases," HRW said, adding that several lawyers who refused to sign have faced disbarment.

In some criminal cases involving "bogus" charges, the authorities have designated journalists as witnesses and subjected them to "police and judicial harassment," according to the watchdog.

"The journalists reported being summoned for police questioning, threatened with criminal charges, and subjected to home and office searches and seizure of their equipment," HRW said, adding that at least one newspaper "had to temporarily close due to a threat of criminal prosecution, raids, and confiscated equipment."

Belarusian authorities "wrongly equate reporting on unauthorized demonstrations with participation in them, particularly if the reporter works for an outlet that the authorities refuse to grant accreditation," HRW said.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists said that about 400 journalists had been detained on administrative charges since August.

At least 100 of them were given short administrative jail terms since December, while others were fined on administrative charges of "violating the rules on mass gatherings," "disobeying the police," and "violating the laws on mass media."

HRW quoted several journalists as saying they were brutally beaten during their detention, denied medical assistance, and held in poor conditions. Some had their equipment destroyed.

It said the authorities deported at least two journalists with Russian citizenship in recent months, apparently in retaliation for their work in Belarus, and at least three journalists who were threatened with having custody of their children taken away fled the country with their families.

At least one media outlet was "unjustly" stripped of its media credentials for violating the media law, and state-owned printing houses refused to print at least five independent newspapers according to HRW.

In October, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry adopted new rules on foreign media accreditation in the country, "canceling all existing accreditations and making the accreditation process significantly more complicated," it said.

OMSK, Russia -- The head of the trauma and orthopedics department at the Russian hospital where opposition politician Aleksei Navalny was treated for poisoning last summer has died.

The Omsk emergency hospital No. 1 said in a statement that Rustam Agishev passed away on March 26.

"In December last year, Rustam Agishev suffered a stroke and was unable to get over that illness," according to the statement, which did not mention foul play as a possible cause of death.

Navalny was admitted to the acute-poisoning unit of the hospital on August 20 after he became ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow.

Initially, doctors at the hospital publicly admitted that the cause of Navalny's illness was poisoning, but then denied that it was.

Agishev's death comes two months after the death of the deputy chief physician for anesthesiology and resuscitation at the hospital.

Sergei Maksimishin died in his ward from a heart attack, the press service of the regional Health Ministry said on February 4. He was 55.

In October, another deputy chief physician at the hospital, Anatoly Kalinichenko, quit his job, saying that he moved to a private clinic because of his "love of surgery more than to be an administrator."

When Navalny was rushed to the clinic with poisoning symptoms in August 2020, Kalinichenko, who was initially responsible for his medical care, communicated with the media and doctors in Germany, where Navalny was later transferred.

However, the hospital's chief physician, Aleksandr Murakhovsky, a member of the ruling United Russia party, soon took over communication with media and announced that Navalny's grave health condition was caused by a "metabolic disorder."

Murakhovsky, who also delayed Navalny's transfer to Berlin for two days, was later appointed health minister for the Omsk region.

Navalny was put into a medically induced coma and evacuated to Germany, where he spent five months recovering from the poisoning. Tests in Europe determined that the toxin was from the Novichok family of Soviet-era nerve agents.

Navalny, who returned to Russia from Germany in January, is currently incarcerated in Correctional Colony No. 2, about 100 kilometers from Moscow.

A Moscow court in February ruled that while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an older embezzlement case that is widely considered to be politically motivated.

His suspended 3 1/2-year sentence was converted into jail time, though the court reduced that amount to 2 1/2 years for time already served in detention.

Navalny's allies said on March 24 they were concerned over his deteriorating health and called on prison authorities to clarify his condition.

Members of the Public Oversight Commission in the Vladimir region met with Navalny on March 28, and Vyacheslav Kulikov, the chairman of the commission, said in a statement that Navalny complained about pain in his leg during the meeting and asked for assistance in getting injections to treat it.

Kulikov also said Navalny was able to walk and did not voice any other complaints. He said Navalny's request for injections had been officially registered.

"We asked doctors to pay attention to this and, in case it is necessary, to carry out an additional medical checkup," Kulikov said.

Correctional Colony No. 2 is known as one of the toughest penitentiaries in Russia.

Kosovo became the last European country to kick off a COVID-19 inoculation campaign when Prime Minister Albin Kurti was vaccinated live on television on March 29 after the country received a batch of 24,000 AstraZeneca vaccines through the COVAX sharing scheme.

Kurti said he wanted to set an example that would encourage people to take part in the campaign as health workers lined up after him in a sports hall in the capital Pristina to get the jab.

With the first batch, Kosovo aims to vaccinate around 11,000 doctors and nurses and people aged 80 years and older.

"With my example here I want to say and encourage all the citizens to get vaccinated and get rid of the dilemmas on the benefits of the vaccine," Kurti told reporters. "Vaccines are necessary because we are facing a difficult pandemic.”

WATCH: Kosovo PM Receives COVID-19 Vaccine

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Kosovo, one of Europe’s poorest countries, registered 88,754 cases of coronavirus infection and 1,844 deaths since the start of the pandemic. In the past 24 hours it reported four deaths and 774 new infections.

The Balkan nation of 1.8 million people will receive a total of 100,800 doses of the vaccine through the COVAX scheme.

Washington and Brussels are the main contributors to the COVAX program.

A few hundred Kosovar health workers were vaccinated last week in Albania.

Kosovo is in negotiations with Pfizer to acquire doses of its drug against COVID-19, but no agreement has been reached.

The European Union announced on March 27 that the Western Balkans will receive 650,000 dosages of the Pfizer vaccine from the European Union.

With reporting by Reuters

Chinese companies have been sending more goods by rail through Russia and Central Asia in recent months as the cost of shipping by sea increases.

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China sent more than 2,000 freight trains to Europe during the first two months of 2021, double the rate a year earlier when the coronavirus first hit, the Financial Times reported.

An equipment manufacturer in the Yiwu in eastern China told the paper that prices for sea transport have "skyrocketed" since last year as the coronavirus spurred demand in Europe for electronics and other home appliances.

Meanwhile, sea transportation times have doubled, the manufacturer said.

An agent providing export services in Shenzhen said that between 20 and 30 percent of her clients had switched from sea to rail.

Sea transport has become the focus of international attention after a ship became stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking all traffic. The Suez Canal offers the shortest route by sea from Asia to Europe.

Despite the jump in the use of rail transport, it still accounts for a small fraction of total goods exported from China to Europe. And it may not last.

The Shenzhen agent said she expected clients to return to shipping routes when the pandemic eased.

Based on reporting by the Financial Times

Turkmenistan held its first elections to a newly created senate on March 28 with 112 candidates contesting 48 senate seats.

There were no opposition candidates on the ballot in the Central Asian former Soviet republic, which is considered one of the most repressive countries in the world.

With a cult of personality around the 63-year-old authoritarian ruler, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, dissent is not tolerated in Turkmenistan and all media is under strict state control.

Voters on March 28 had only two hours to cast ballots, between the hours of 10 a.m. and noon local time, at one of six polling stations across the country -- one in the capital Ashgabat and five in other regions.

Turkmen authorities declared within hours of the vote that turnout in the country of 5.8 million people was 98.7 percent of eligible voters.

Foreign observers were not allowed to monitor the polling stations.

Profiles of candidates published by the government newspaper, Netralny Turkmenistan, indicated that most of the candidates in the March 28 vote were civil servants.

Turkmenistan's new two-chamber parliament, known as the Milli Genes, or National Council, will be made up of 56 senators and 125 deputies.

In addition to the 48 candidates to be declared as the winners of senate seats during the next week, Berdymukhammedov also will designate his own choices for eight other senate seats.

With reporting by AFP

Members of the Public Oversight Commission in the Vladimir Region have met with jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny following his complaints about his declining health and poor medical treatment in Correctional Colony No. 2.

The commission's chairman Vyacheslav Kulikov said in a statement on March 28 that the team "visited the colony and met with Aleksei Navalny in order to learn about problems with his health and the provision of medical treatment."

"During the discussion, Navalny complained about pain in his leg and asked for assistance in getting injections to treat this pain," Kulikov said.

Kulikov also said Navalny was able to walk and did not voice any other complaints. He said Navalny's request for injections had been officially registered.

"We asked doctors to pay attention to this and, in case it is necessary, to carry out an additional medical checkup," Kulikov said.

Meanwhile, a statement issued on Navalny's Twitter page on March 28 said the visit by the team from the Public Oversight Commission had taken place on the morning of March 26.

"What prevented them from telling about this immediately after the visit, and not being silent for two days?" the Twitter statement on Navalny's page said.

The United States and the European Union have called for Russia to immediately release Navalny after he said he was suffering from severe back pains and that "nothing" was being done by prison authorities to solve the problem.

In a message posted on his Instagram account on March 26, Navalny also said he had been warned by prominent past prisoners that getting sick in prison was potentially fatal.

SEE ALSO:

Navalny's Prison Ordeal Revives Grim Memories Of Magnitsky's Death In 2009

Correctional Colony No. 2, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Moscow, is known as one of the toughest penitentiaries in Russia.

"We have seen the disturbing reports about Aleksei Navalny's worsening health in prison. We urge continued access for his lawyers and that he receive medical care," U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price tweeted on March 26, adding: "We reiterate our call for Russia to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Navalny."

'Personal Revenge'

Nabila Massrali, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, has issued a similar call, saying Russian authorities "must give @navalny access to medical care & give his lawyers access to him."

Navalny's health became an issue on March 24 after his allies said they were concerned about his deteriorating condition and called on prison authorities to clarify the situation.

On March 25, Navalny’s wife issued a plea to the Kremlin to free her husband so that he could be treated by doctors "he trusts" and called his imprisonment the "personal revenge" of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The same day Navalny's lawyers were finally able to see him and reported that the anti-corruption campaigner was in an "extremely unfavorable" condition, suffering from back pains and issues with his right leg that has made it "practically nonfunctional."

The message on Instagram said that "getting out of bed is hard and very painful" but that "a week ago, the prison doctor examined me and prescribed two tablets of ibuprofen [a day], but I still don't know the diagnosis."

"Apparently a nerve was pinched from constantly sitting in police wagons and in 'pencil cases' crookedly," he said in reference to the cramped cages defendants are placed in during court hearings.

'Deliberate Strategy'

Putin’s spokesman has said the Kremlin would not react to appeals for Navalny's release because the Kremlin "has no role in the matter."

"At the moment, in a situation when a citizen is a convict incarcerated in a penal colony, the address for such appeals is the FSIN (Federal Penitentiary Service)," Dmitry Peskov said.

Lawyer Vadim Kobzev said that, after "finally" getting to see Navalny, the situation quickly became clear that he was not only not being treated properly, "but a deliberate strategy is under way to undermine his health."

In a statement on his website, Navalny also accused the prison of torturing him through sleep deprivation.

Peskov rejected the allegation saying Navalny, like other prisoners, is woken up every hour as a way "of maintaining order and discipline in penitentiaries" and that stricter measures are often used in prisons abroad.

Such comments show "these people are the enemies of our own country," Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) said on Twitter in response to Peskov's statements.

Navalny was detained at a Moscow airport in January immediately upon returning from Berlin, where he was recovering from what several Western laboratories determined was a poisoning attempt using a Novichok-type nerve agent that saw him fall seriously ill on a flight in Siberia in August 2020.

Navalny has said the assassination attempt was ordered by Putin -- an allegation rejected by the Kremlin.

A Moscow court in February ruled that while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an older embezzlement case, which is widely considered to be politically motivated.

His suspended 3 1/2-year sentence was converted into jail time, though the court reduced that amount to 2 1/2 years for time already served in detention.

Navalny’s incarceration set off a wave of national protests and a crackdown against his supporters.

The European Union, the United States, and Canada have imposed a series of sanctions against Russia over the Navalny case.

With reporting by AFP, Interfax, and TASS

Beijing has announced sanctions against two Americans, a Canadian, and a rights advocacy group over their criticism of China's treatment of Uyghurs in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China's tit-for-tat measure would only focus more attention on "genocide" and rights abuses against ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim groups in Xinjiang.

"Beijing's attempts to intimidate and silence those speaking out for human rights and fundamental freedoms only contribute to the growing international scrutiny of the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang," Blinken said.

China's action comes after the European Union, Britain, Canada and the United States sanctioned several members of Xinjiang's political and economic hierarchy last week over rights abuses in the region.

China has retaliated in recent days by announcing its own sanctions against public officials and citizens of the EU, Britain, Canada, and the United States who have been critical of Beijing's policies.

China's Foreign Ministry has accused the United States and Canada of imposing sanctions "based on rumors and disinformation."

Those named on March 27 as the latest targets of Chinese sanctions include two members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Gayle Manchin and Tony Perkins, Canadian member of parliament Michael Chong, and a Canadian parliamentary committee on human rights.

They are prohibited from entering mainland China, Hong Kong, and Chinese-administered Macau.

'Badge Of Honor'

Chong said being sanctioned by Beijing was a "badge of honor."

"We've got a duty to call out China for its crackdown in #HongKong & its genocide of #Uyghurs," Chong tweeted.

"We who live freely in democracies under the rule of law must speak for the voiceless."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the measures as "an attack on transparency and freedom of expression."

International human rights groups says at least one million Uyghurs and people from other mostly Muslim groups have been held in camps in Xinjiang.

Rights groups also accuse Chinese authorities of forcibly sterilizing women and imposing forced labor.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has dismissed two judges from the Constitutional Court, deepening a feud with the top court over anti-graft reform.

In a March 27 decree, Zelenskiy removed Constitutional Court Chairman Oleksandr Tupytskiy and another judge, Oleksandr Kasminin, for continuing to “threaten Ukraine’s independence and national security.”

Both judges were appointed by pro-Russia former President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in 2014 following the Euromaidan protests.

The decree comes after the Constitutional Court in October struck down some anti-corruption legislation and curbed the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Agency (NAZK). The court decision dealt a blow to reforms demanded by the West and threatened to impact lending from the International Monetary Fund.

SEE ALSO:

Ukraine's Top Court Deals Critical Blow To Anti-Corruption Agency

In response to the court ruling, Zelenskiy vowed to reverse its decision and continue with his anti-graft reform agenda.

In the decree, Zelenskiy invoked a parliamentary decision calling Yanukovych’s rule from 2010 to 2014 a “usurpation of power.”

“Certain judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine appointed by Viktor Yanukovych, by continuing to exercise their powers, threaten Ukraine’s independence and national security, which violates the constitution, human and civil rights, and freedoms,” the decree states.

It’s unclear if Zelenskiy’s decree is valid, potentially setting off a fresh dispute with the powerful court.

In December, Zelenskiy issued a decree suspending Tupytskiy, who is facing a preliminary investigation over suspected witness tampering and bribery.

The Constitutional Court then ruled that the president had exceeded his powers, in what Tupytskiy called an attempted “constitutional coup” against the judges.

According to Ukraine’s constitution, constitutional judges can only be dismissed by a vote of two-thirds of its 18 members.

With reporting by AFP, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, and the Kyiv Post

Police in Belarus detained more than 200 people and cordoned off streets in the capital, Minsk, to prevent fresh protests on March 27, as the opposition vowed to breathe new life into the pro-democracy movement after braving months of repression.

Belarus was rocked by massive protests in the wake of an August election that authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka claimed extended his iron-fisted rule for a sixth term, despite the opposition and West saying the vote was rigged.

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets for weeks to protest the election, but harsh winter weather and a brutal crackdown slowed the protest movement’s momentum in recent months.

The opposition Telegram channel Nexta, which helps mobilize and coordinate protests, told its 1.4 million followers that the events on March 27 would be the “first mass exit” of Belarusians this year.

“We’re back to the streets,” Nexta wrote, signaling that the opposition is prepared for a new wave of protests in the form of scattered rallies across the country. “We have prepared a new scenario. This tactic is designed to exhaust and disorient the security forces. It is also important for us to protect people."

The Viasna human rights center reported police had detained at least 240 people, including five journalists. Nearly all the detentions were in Minsk.

Protest organizers had planned for protests in the city center, but due to a heavy security presence and cordoned off streets they called for supporters to gather in courtyards and adjacent streets near Yakub Kolas Square.

Photos and video from central Minsk showed military vehicles, police vans, and blocked off streets, with security forces reportedly randomly detaining people and throwing them into minivans. Pro-government protesters waving flags from cars were also observed.

The Interior Ministry said that, across the country, “not a single unauthorized mass event was recorded.”

“Small groups with unregistered symbols were seen in Minsk. Some protesters were taken in for investigation,” the Interior Ministry said.

Viasna reported that police were carrying out “spot detentions” and looking at people’s phones in central parts of the city and in side streets near to where protesters were to gather.

SEE ALSO:

Freedom Day March Highlights Challenges Facing Belarusian Opposition

Among those detained were two editors of the independent Tut.by news website, Galina Ulasik and her colleague Anna Kaltygina.

Another outlet, Nasha Niva, with 90,000 Telegram followers, said its editor in chief, Yahor Martsinovich, a photographer, and a reporter were detained.

By evening, all five journalists had been released.

The relatively muted protests came days after scattered demonstrations in Minsk on March 25 to mark Freedom Day, commemorating the founding of a short-lived democratic Belarusian republic more than 100 years ago. Viasna reported police detained at least 176 people on that day.

Since protests erupted last summer, more than 30,000 people have been detained, hundreds beaten, several killed, and there have been widespread reports of torture.

Most the opposition leadership has been arrested or forced into exile, including Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who has been rallying international support for the pro-democracy movement since relocating to Lithuania.

In response to the repression, the West has slapped sanctions on top officials and refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of the former Soviet republic.

Kazakh authorities detained at least 20 people as demonstrators staged anti-China protests in towns and cities across the Central Asian nation on March 27.

The protesters rallied against China’s increasing influence and economic power in the former Soviet republic.

Activists also denounced the mass incarceration of members of indigenous Turkic-speaking communities in China’s Xinjiang region, including ethnic Kazakhs and Uyghurs.

Protests were held in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, and in the capital, Nur-Sultan, as well as Oral, Shymkent, and Aqtobe.

In Almaty, several hundred people gathered in a square to denounce what they said was “Chinese expansion” in Kazakhstan. At least seven protesters were detained on their way to the rally.

In Nur-Sultan, several people were detained on their way to a rally. Police cordoned off a square where protesters were expected to gather.

The protests were called by the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) and the unregistered Democratic Party of Kazakhstan (DPK).

In recent months, many activists across Kazakhstan have been handed parole-like sentences for their involvement in the activities of the DVK, as well as for taking part in rallies organized by the group.

The DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government.

Human rights groups have said Kazakhstan’s law on public gatherings violates international standards as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies and envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies, even though the nation’s constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.

Kazakh authorities have insisted that there are no political prisoners in the country.

Iran and China signed a controversial long-term bilateral deal during a ceremony in Tehran on March 27.

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The details of the agreement have not been disclosed, but it is believed to include Chinese investments in Iran’s energy and infrastructure sectors.

China is Iran's top trading partner and a key market for Iranian crude exports, which have been severely curtailed by U.S. sanctions.

The deal was signed by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, who arrived in Tehran a day earlier.

State television described the agreement as a "25-year strategic cooperation pact."

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Said Khatibzadeh said earlier on March 27 that the pact includes "political, strategic, and economic" components.

The deal also includes increased military and security cooperation between the two countries, according to a leaked draft of the deal.

Iranian officials have said that the pact was proposed in a January 2016 trip to Iran by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has publicly backed the deal.

Iranians have accused officials of hiding details of the deal amid fears that Tehran may be giving too much away to Beijing.

Iran has in recent years increasingly reached out to China in the face of growing U.S. pressure to isolate Tehran.

The United States unilaterally pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018 under former President Donald Trump.

Trump pursued a policy of "maximum pressure" on Tehran over its nuclear and missile programs, as well as its support for regional proxies.

SEE ALSO:

Explainer: Why Are Iranians Angry Over A Long-Term Deal With China?

The deal was meant to provide relief for Iran from international sanctions in exchange for limitations on its nuclear program, which Iran says is strictly for civilian energy purposes.

U.S. President Joe Biden has signaled his readiness to revive the deal.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

A group of lawmakers in the U.S. Congress has condemned the “unjust and illegitimate detainment” of Ihar Losik, a popular blogger and RFE/RL consultant jailed in Belarus, calling for his immediate release in the latest show of support from the highest echelons of government.

In a letter addressed to Losik on March 26, a bipartisan group of lawmakers said they stand “shoulder to shoulder” with him, his family, and all other Belarusians struggling in the country’s pro-democracy movement amid a violent government crackdown following a presidential election last August that authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka claimed to win and which the opposition says was rigged.

“We join the international community in strongly condemning your unjust and illegitimate detainment by the Belarusian authorities,” the seven lawmakers said in the letter. “We stand ready to hold those complicit in your illegitimate detention to account through targeted sanctions working with our friends and allies in the European Union.”

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The letter was signed by Representatives Marcy Kaptur (Democrat-Ohio), Bill Keating (Democrat-Massachusetts), David Cicilline (Democrat-Rhode Island), Tom Malinowski (Democrat-New Jersey), James McGovern (Democrat-Massachusetts), Brian Fitzpatrick (Republican-Pennsylvania), and Chris Smith (Republican-New Jersey).

Lukashenka, who has ruled the country since 1994, has directed a brutal postelection crackdown in which almost 30,000 people have been detained, hundreds beaten, several killed, and the media targeted.

Losik is among nearly 300 political prisoners caught up in the crackdown.

In response to the suppression of protesters, the West has slapped sanctions on top officials and refuses to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of the former Soviet republic.

The 28-year-old Losik has been in pretrial detention since June 2020 on charges widely considered trumped up.

He was initially charged with allegedly using his popular Telegram channel to "prepare to disrupt public order" ahead of a presidential election last August.

SEE ALSO:

U.S. Calls For Release Of All Political Prisoners in Belarus

Earlier this month, he tried to slit his wrists and launched a four-day hunger strike after being informed of new, unspecified charges. He had previously launched a six-week hunger strike to protest the original charges.

On March 22, 11 days after he was informed of the new charges, a court extended Losik's pretrial detention to May 25.

RFE/RL President Jamie Fly condemned the move and the new charges, saying the father of a 2-year-old daughter should be released immediately so he can be reunited with his family.

“Journalism is not a crime and Ihar has been unjustly detained for far too long. Ihar and his family should not be tortured in this way,” Fly wrote, adding that RFE/RL was "deeply distressed" by the new charges and Losik's deteriorating health situation.

The oversight agency for RFE/RL and other U.S. international broadcasters has also condemned the Belarusian authorities' decision to heap further charges on Losik and has demanded his release.

The U.S. State Department and other members of Congress have previously condemned the wrongful detention of Losik and other political prisoners.

Belarus has been excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest after failing to submit an entry that complies with the nonpolitical nature of the competition, with Minsk denouncing the decision as "politically motivated."

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in a March 26 statement that a second entry submitted by the Belarus state broadcasting authority “was in breach of the rules that ensure the contest is not instrumentalized or brought into disrepute.”

The first song submitted by the band Galasy ZMesta was rejected earlier this month. That entry -- titled I’ll Teach You -- had lyrics such as, "I'll teach you how to dance to the tune.”

There had been complaints that the lyrics mocked the mass protest movement against authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

The EBU extended the deadline to give Belarus's national broadcaster, BTRC, a chance to submit another entry.

The EBU’s statement on March 26 said the BTRC had now missed the deadline to submit an eligible entry and “regrettably, Belarus will not be participating in the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in May.”

It did not provide details about the second entry but said that the EBU and the Eurovision Song Contest's governing board had "carefully scrutinized the new entry submitted by BTRC to assess its eligibility to compete."

Galasy ZMesta band leader Dmitry Butakov told Belarusian state television in an interview broadcast on March 21 that the band had prepared two new songs for the contest, including one about bunnies.

SEE ALSO:

Eurovision Disqualifies Belarus's Pro-Lukashenka Entry

The band’s repertoire includes songs that ridicule the European Union and distort the Belarusian language. Members of the band are known for their participation in pro-government rallies, RFE/RL's Belarus Service report, and on their website state: "We cannot remain indifferent" when "under the guise of" political struggle "they try to destroy the country we love and live in."

Belarus's national broadcaster criticized Eurovision on its Telegram channel late on March 26.

"For Europe to be scared to allow a song on stage about rabbits -- this is the final and absolute disgrace," it wrote.

"The decision to disqualify us is politically motivated," Ivan Eismont, who heads Belarus’s Eurovision selection committee, was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

It is not the first time that politics has mixed in to affect performers or their songs.

After Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in 2009, the Georgian band Stephane & 3G was to compete with the song We Don't Wanna Put In. The EBU objected to the lyrics and gave the band a chance to replace them, but both the band and the Georgian broadcaster GPB refused to participate in the contest.

Armenia’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015 had to change its title after it was seen as referring to the World War I-era mass killings of ethnic Armenians by Ottoman Turkey.

In 2017, when the contest was held in Kyiv, controversy swirled around Russia’s contestant, Yulia Samoilova, who was barred from entering Ukraine because she had performed in the Russia-annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2015. Russia, in response, decided not to allow her to participate by video or to send another contestant.

The Eurovision Song Contest is to take place May 18-22 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

With reporting by dpa and AFP

The leader of Burma's ruling junta called Russia a "true friend" during a speech marking Armed Forces Day, as security forces in the Southeast Asian country reportedly killed scores of people in the bloodiest day of protests since last month’s coup.

The lethal crackdown, which took place on March 27 as Russia's deputy defense minister visited the country to improve relations, drew swift international condemnation.

The United Nations said it had received reports of “scores killed,” including children, in what it described as “shocking violence.” It said there were mass arrests and hundreds were also injured in at least 40 towns and cities. The Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, which documents deaths and arrests, put the number of deaths by late evening at 91, spread over many cities and towns.

U.S. Ambassador Thomas Vajda in a statement said "security forces are murdering unarmed civilians, including children.”

“This bloodshed is horrifying. These are not the actions of a professional military or police force," he said.

“Myanmar’s people have spoken clearly: they do not want to live under military rule,” he said, using another name for Burma.

The European Union’s delegation to the Southeast Asian country described the day as one of “terror and dishonor.”

The European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions on Burmese officials linked to the coup and the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

The bloodletting came as Russian Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin attended the Armed Forces Day military parade after meeting the junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the day before.

During a March 26 meeting, Russia offered support for the military regime, according to Interfax.

Defense ties between Russia and Burma have grown in recent years, with Moscow providing training and selling arms.

Fomin called Burma a reliable ally and strategic partner of Russia in Asia, Interfax said.

"The Russian Federation is committed to a strategy aimed at bolstering relations between the two countries," the Defense Ministry quoted Fomin as saying, according to Interfax.

Fomin said his visit to Burma was reciprocal after Min Aung Hlaing attended Russia’s parade commemorating the 75th anniversary of victory in the World War II last year.

Armed Forces Day in Burma commemorates the start of the military's resistance to Japanese occupation in 1945.

Diplomats said eight countries -- Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand -- sent representatives, but Russia was the only one to send a minister to the parade.

Burma’s military seized power on February 1 in a coup that ousted the elected government of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained along with other figures from her National League for Democracy party. The coup reversed years of the country gradually emerging from a half-century of military rule.

The junta leaders say last November’s elections, won by Suu Kyi’s party in a landslide, were fraudulent.

Widespread protests against the junta have been met with a harsh crackdown, with more than 2,600 people arrested and the latest violence set to bring the number of deaths to over 400 since the coup.

With reporting by AFP, AP, dpa, Interfax, and Reuters