rpannier
rpannier's JournalVolunteer Medics Came To Kyrgyzstan To Fight COVID-19. Now They Can't Go Home.
At the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in Kyrgyzstan this summer, dozens of Kyrgyz medics generously came from Russia to help fight the virus, which had overwhelmed the poor Central Asian country's health-care system.
After several weeks of volunteer work in the pandemic's so-called red zones -- the areas with high infection rates -- many of the workers are now unable to return home due to Moscow's lockdown measures.
Russia has closed its borders to foreigners, allowing only those who have a permanent residence permit to enter. Many of the Kyrgyz medics only moved to Russia in recent years and don't have a Russian passport or long-term visa.
"Those who have Russian citizenship returned to Russia, despite having to pay for quite expensive tickets. But we're not allowed to reenter [Russia]," said Gulbahar Koshoeva, one of the medics stuck in Kyrgyzstan.
https://www.rferl.org/a/volunteer-medics-came-to-kyrgyzstan-to-fight-covid-19-now-they-can-t-go-home/30827591.html
The Untouchable Governor Of Uzbekistan's Ferghana Province
Despite what Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev and other top officials say about reforming the system and respecting the rights of all Uzbeks, the governor of the eastern Ferghana Province is busy demonstrating he can do and say anything he wants and get away with it.
Born in the Ferghana city of Margilan in 1968, Shukhrat Ganiev has been in charge of the regional governor's office since 2011, having come to power under authoritarian President Islam Karimov. He previously served three years as first deputy governor.
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Soh is a rich agricultural region in an area that is rocky and largely barren and, unsurprisingly, problems over water rights often break out with the neighboring Kyrgyz villages in the area.
Such a conflict erupted on May 31 when villagers from Soh and nearby Kyrgyz territory got into a huge rock fight. More than 200 people were injured and several homes were also burned down.
Ganiev went to Soh to meet with Kyrgyz officials and try to restore calm.
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Even though he was surrounded by soldiers, residents of Soh threw stones at Ganiev and his delegation, prompting Ganiev to demonstrate a lack of diplomacy by threatening to close the exclave's borders, put some people in jail, and wipe several of the villages there off the map.
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Ganiev appears to be one of those Uzbek officials who for some reason is impossible to fire.
https://www.rferl.org/a/the-untouchable-governor-of-uzbekistan-s-ferghana-province/30826974.html
Five Stories from Europe You May Have Missed
1. Ukrainian Church Leader Who Called COVID 'Punishment For Same-sex Marriage' Has COVID
A senior Orthodox religious leader in Ukraine has been hospitalized with the coronavirus months after calling the COVID-19 pandemic God's punishment for humanity allowing the "evil" of same-sex marriage. Patriarch Filaret, who leads one of the biggest denominations of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine, also said in March that God "will not allow me to get sick, because I have to serve the church."
The Kyiv Patriarchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has split from both the main Russian Orthodox Church and the wider Ukrainian church due to disagreements between Filaret and the other leaders, confirmed in a Facebook post Wednesday that the Patriarch was being treated for COVID-19, but was in "satisfactory" condition.
"We ask for holy prayers for the health and recovery of Patriarch Filaret," the the Kyiv Patriarchy's press service said in its Facebook post.
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In his March interview with Ukraine's Channel 4, Filaret said "the cause of the coronavirus is the sinfulness of humanity. They do not openly defend good, but defend evil. Evil is spreading. I mean, first of all, same-sex marriage — this is the cause of the coronavirus and more. Children are taught to choose their gender. Is this good ?! This is evil."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-church-leader-who-called-coronavirus-punishment-for-evil-of-same-sex-marriage-has-covid-19/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=99205181
2. Flying The Flag: Belarusians Show Their True Colors In Solidarity With Protests
It's red and white and all over Belarus, from clotheslines and hay bales to apartment-building balconies, stairwells and more -- a pervasive symbol of resistance to authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and a simple, striped sign of support for his opponents.
The red and white colors of the opposition -- adopted from Belarus's short-lived bid for democratic independence more than a century ago -- are flying high amid a wave of anger over an election that many voters believe was rigged to hand Lukashenka a sixth term after more than a quarter-century in power.
Despite the authorities' adamant efforts to erase the flag from the public consciousness by enforcing an unofficial ban, the streets -- and balconies -- of Belarus are awash with symbolism.
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Some are just blatantly hanging the flag -- first used by the ill-fated Belarusian National Republic in 1918-19 -- from their balconies or high above the capital.
https://www.rferl.org/a/belarusians-red--white-flag-protests-solidarity/30829635.html
3. Thousands need aid after fire destroys Europe’s largest refugee camp
Thousands of people urgently require emergency shelter and aid after a fire destroyed Europe’s largest refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos.
As the Athens government declared a state of emergency and a delegation of officials rushed to the north-eastern Aegean island, the sheer scale of devastation wrought by the overnight blaze became increasingly evident.
In the mangled wreckage of gutted facilities, incinerated tents and blackened containers, Moria was no more. The camp whose overcrowded and unsanitary conditions had spawned global outrage since its inception in 2015 had been erased.
“At this moment the reception centre has been completely destroyed,” Greece’s alternate migration minister, Giorgos Koumoutsakos, told reporters, saying it was miraculous there had been no deaths or injuries. “As a result, thousands of people are homeless.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/09/thousands-need-aid-after-fire-destroys-europes-largest-refugee-camp
4. Serbia Withdraws From Belarus Military Exercise, Citing EU Pressure
BELGRADE -- The Serbian government has decided to suspend all joint international military exercises for the next six months, just one day ahead of the beginning of the Slavic Brotherhood 2020 exercise to be hosted by Belarus.
Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin said on September 9 that the decision was made under heavy pressure from the European Union not to send forces to Belarus, which has been beset by unrest since last month's disputed presidential election.
The EU "asked us to leave the planned exercise with Belarus or risk losing our European future," Vulin said.
The Slavic Brotherhood 2020 exercise is scheduled to be held in the second half of September at a training ground near the city of Brest and was to include forces from Belarus, Russia, and Serbia.
https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-withdraws-from-belarus-military-exercise-citing-eu-pressure/30829735.html
5. Oxford University vaccine trial halted after participant falls ill
The late-stage COVID-19 candidate vaccine trials run by AstraZeneca have been paused after a participant fell ill.
The company is investigating whether the vaccine recipient's "potentially unexplained” illness is a result of receiving the shot.
In a statement, AstraZeneca said the “standard review process triggered a pause to vaccination to allow review of safety data" without revealing what the potential side effect of the vaccine was.
AstraZeneca is trialling the Oxford University vaccine which was developed using a chimpanzee adenovirus. The adenovirus was then genetically modified so that it cannot grow in humans.
https://www.euronews.com/2020/09/09/oxford-university-vaccine-trial-halted-after-participant-falls-ill
This headline makes me happy: Poll: Voters Think Trump Is More Likely to Win the Debates
If it appears to break even at the debates Biden wins in the eyes of the public.
If Biden bests Trump then it is especially good for Biden
If he stumbles at bit, no one is surprised
USA Today/Suffolk 47% of voters expect Donald Trump to win the debates, and 41% expect Joe Biden to win
Trump pushes another to vote against him
First, some background. This guy that's in our luncheon group is an exceedingly conservative, Libertarian-type. He has never voted for a Democrat.
Over the past four years Trump has slowly been losing this guy. He was at, "I won't for either." when they took the mail boxes. But, what pushed him into the "I'll vote for Biden because Trump has to go." was Trump's call for the Fox News reporter to be fired
We used to have weekly lunches together (a bunch of the expats living in Japan), and have gone to twice a month lunch and twice a month Skype. He is just irate.
I'm good with it. A very conservative Minnesotan for Biden
The guy is pretty big on what he calls the 3 most important freedoms; Speech, Assembly and Press
That makes our group 14 Biden, 1 Trump, 2 Not sure
6 of the Biden voters are Republicans; it took work and patience, but it has paid off
The 1 trumpie is TFG = Too Far Gone. He doesn't say much any more because he's now outgunned.
Forgot to mention, he's not voting for ANY republicans this time
So it's Barnabas Collins that's pulling Biden's strings
or is it the cast: Jonathan Frid, Joan Bennett, Grayson Hall, Nancy Barrett, Alexandra Moltke, Louis Edmunds, and the rest of the cast of the 60's TV series?
Laura Ingraham asked "Who do you think is pulling Biden's strings?"
Trump: People you’ve never heard of. People that are in the dark shadows
Many people have never heard of most of the cast of Dark Shadows
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