Mobile apps and data collection deployed to help contain the coronavirus have a troubling side effect — the potential for long-term government invasions of privacy and surveillance that could be used against independent journalists.  In China, residents currently entering buildings, stores and transit systems must use an app that determines their health status and tracks their location, In Honduras, the government imposed a state of emergency that revokes articles of the country’s constitution, including the right to free expression, and South Africa passed a law criminalizing disinformation about the virus or the government’s response to it, CPJ reported.   CPJ’s Radsch told VOA that laws around false news were providing cover for governments to restrict independent reporting. She said CPJ has seen incidents in recent weeks of governments in China, Thailand and Iran retaliating against journalists for their coverage of the virus.   In Egypt, at least 21 journalists were jailed on false news charges at the time of CPJ’s annual prison census in December. Imprisoned journalists are at further risk because of poor conditions in overcrowded prisons.  Authorities in Egypt suspended prison visits for 10 days, cutting off vital food supplies for prisoners whose relatives provide meals.  Egyptian authorities this week arrested a writer, Ahdaf Soueif, and several activists who protested conditions for political prisoners, PEN America, a free speech group, reported.  Karin Deutsch Karlekar, director of Free Expression at Risk Programs at PEN America, said in a statement, “[The arrests] shows the Egyptian government’s reflexive response to the coronavirus pandemic is to silence dissident voices to protect the state’s national image, disregarding both public health and fundamental rights.”  Elsewhere, journalists have questioned whether newsgathering is considered essential work during lockdowns. The U.K. based Press Gazette reported that foreign journalists in Italy were questioning whether they are exempt from the regulations during the lockdown.
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Almost a week since the Afghan Taliban trumpeted the defeat of the Islamic State in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, U.S. officials remain wary, though they concede the terror group’s grip on territory in rural areas appears to be slipping.The latest assessment is consistent with U.S. appraisals of previous claims by both Taliban and Afghan government officials, which they say, while based in fact, have at times overstated gains against one of the Islamic State’s most resilient and dangerous affiliates.“The Taliban’s campaign against ISIS-Khorasan in Kunar province is consistent with Taliban public statements to rout the group from Afghanistan,” a U.S. counterterrorism official told VOA, using an acronym for the terror group.“ISIS-Khorasan has continued to face pressure from the Taliban in Kunar province this year,” the official said, cautioning, “Recent attacks in Kabul claimed by ISIS-Khorasan indicate the group is still active and capable of conducting attacks in urban centers.”Map of Kunar province, AfghanistanTaliban officials first started sharing word of the Islamic State’s defeat in Kunar on March 14, saying it was the result of a 14-day operation that took advantage of better weather across the mountainous, northeastern Afghan province.“The entire province of Kunar was cleared of Daesh criminals and the people were rescued through this victory,” the Taliban said in a statement, using the Arabic acronym for the terror group.The statement also claimed 114 IS-Khorasan members surrendered to Taliban forces, while more than 100 others fled.But U.S. officials have pushed back against the idea that the Taliban alone were responsible for the recent gains.“Several dozen ISIS-Khorasan fighters have also surrendered to Afghan forces over the past few weeks,” the counterterrorism official said, noting ongoing operations by both the Afghan government and the U.S.-led coalition.Top U.S. military officials also argue the Taliban’s efforts against IS-Khorasan, also known as IS-K or ISIS-K, have benefited from “very limited” U.S. support.”We suspended actively pursuing Taliban units engaged with ISIS-K,” a military official said on the condition of anonymity, pointing to fighting late last year in Nangarhar province.“We also conducted some strikes on known ISIS-K locations,” the official said. “However, those strikes were not coordinated with the Taliban.”‘A bloody mess’But top U.S. officials admit that Taliban efforts against IS-Khorasan have proven effective.”We’ve watched the Taliban compress and crush ISIS’s presence on the ground in southern Nangarhar province,” U.S. Central Command’s General Kenneth McKenzie told lawmakers earlier this month.“That’s some of the worst terrain in the world,” he said. “It was a bloody mess, but they did it.”Yet questions persist about just how debilitating defeats in Nangarhar province and elsewhere have been for IS-Khorasan.Recent U.S. estimates on the number of IS-Khorasan fighters have varied between 1,000 and as many as 5,000. Just last month, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan said it was possible IS-Khorasan had “lost up to half its force” because of pressure from coalition, Afghan and Taliban operations.Still, U.S. military official caution they have “low confidence” in the lower estimates. They note that IS-Khorasan has been repeatedly pushed to the brink, losing key leaders while seeing its numbers whittled to the low hundreds, only to bounce back.“Losing territory does not equate to the end of ISIS and its affiliates,” a Defense Department inspector general’s report concluded last month. “Even when ISIS-K was based in Nangarhar, it had established cells in other parts of the country and demonstrated the ability to spread and recruit.”Looking aheadSome analysts also caution that the leaders of IS-Khorasan, like their counterparts in Iraq and Syria, may be less focused on holding territory, instead looking to lay the groundwork for a larger resurgence after U.S. forces leave Afghanistan.U.S. intelligence indicates that despite having lost territory in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, IS-Khorasan still has strongholds in Herat province and parts of Kabul, while maintaining smaller cells in Helmand, Kapisa and Baghlan provinces.There are also indications that IS-Khorasan is focusing on more global ambitions.”Of all of the branches and networks of ISIS, ISIS-K is certainly one of those of most concern,” Russell Travers, former acting director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center,  told lawmakers last November.”They have attempted, certainly, to inspire attacks outside of Afghanistan,” he said, adding “they certainly have got the desire” to carry out the attacks themselves.
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The coronavirus threat is hardly South Africa’s first crisis. For months, the nation has struggled to keep a reliable electricity supply. Youth unemployment is in the double digits. Gender-based violence is an everyday occurrence. And, hanging over everything, is the specter of the racist apartheid system. In the face of such tough times, many South Africans’ first instinct is to crack a joke. Anita Powell has more from Johannesburg.
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On this episode of Red Carpet, more and more entertainment and sporting events around the world continue to be impacted by the spread of the Coronavirus. We also take a look at how Botswana’s first female boxer is preparing for this summer’s Olympics, and a special surprise from Childish Gambino. These stories and more on this week’s show. 
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MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE/LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — Two thousand “Vote for Tulsi” door hangers will arrive soon at Eileen Tepper’s Bronx, New York apartment.  But she’s not sure what to do with them. Her candidate, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on March 19. Tepper made eleven road trips, driving 400 miles north from New York to New Hampshire during the campaign, in support of Gabbard.  She stood for hours at a booth inside a New Hampshire sports arena, her hands resting on a stack of navy hoodies reading “Tulsi 2020.”
 
“I’ve never really done anything like this before in my life,” the energetic curly-haired blonde, told VOA in the midst of Gabbard’s campaign.Her candidate’s polling in the low single digits did not faze Tepper. During the campaign, Gabbard won just two delegates, both from American Samoa, of the nearly 4,000 available nationwide.   ‘I dreamed a Tulsi dream’Tepper is a Broadway performer, who took a hiatus during America’s 2020 campaign season. Her YouTube contribution to the campaign #WhyTulsi was a Eileen Tepper (L) and other supporters greet a voter asking about issues supported by now former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard dropped out of the race March 19. (Carolyn Presutti/VOA)Effects of coronavirusOnce COVID-19 curtailed travel, Tepper moved to campaigning through social media. But with Gabbard’s run ending, she says she mourns the loss of her online campaign community, “especially at a time where online community is all so many of us have.”COVID-19 has disrupted America’s presidential primary process, and some former contenders are reaching out to their supporters – not just to channel their political activism but also to urge them to heed health warnings and help block the spread of the virus.“In any other kind of national disaster, we would rush to gather together,” former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Macaulay Kong holds up a campaign sign in support of then-Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, at a primary polling site. The “Yang Gang” continued to campaign for him even after he dropped out of the race. (Carolyn Presutti/VOA)Just one problem. Yang dropped out of the race Feb. 11 and became a CNN political commentator.  He has endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden, who now has a commanding lead in the delegate race over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
 
Yet some of Yang’s most fervent supporters continued to campaign for him and his idea of a $1,000 a month universal basic income handout.  Kong had never voted before and chose Yang even after he suspended his candidacy.  “I’m a registered Republican all my life…and I switched to Democrat to vote for Andrew Yang,” Kong says.
 Protest vote“When a candidate has already dropped out, [residual support is] essentially a protest vote,” says political science professor Justin Buchler of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, adding that voters who cling to candidates no longer in the running usually are unhappy with the remaining candidates still in the race. 
 
Even so, Buchler predicts passionate voters who spent weeks or months serving as grassroots organizers for their favored candidate will continue to work as activists for the Democratic party and will vote for the eventual nominee in November.
 
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Національний банк днями затвердить стандартні правила кредитних канікул в Україні для всіх без винятку, заявила заступник голови Нацбанку Катерина Рожкова під час онлайн-брифінгу.

«Найближчими днями ми фіналізуємо правила пільгового користування кредитами. Це стосуватиметься всіх позичальників – і великих компаній, і малого та середнього бізнесу, і фізичних осіб», – сказала Рожкова.

Вона додала, що правила затвердить правління регулятора, після чого вони будуть впроваджені банками.

У свою чергу, голова НБУ Яків Смолій заявив про заборону впроваджувати обмеження за депозитами з терміном, що сплив.

«Ми заборонили банкам упроваджувати будь-які обмеження, термін яких закінчився. Тобто якщо у вас закінчився депозит, можете робити з ним усе що завгодно: продовжити, зняти. Жодних обмежень немає. Протягом останніх 10 днів у банківській системі практично немає відтоку депозитів», – сказав Смолій.

В НБУ запевнили, що банківська система України в умовах карантину продовжує працювати в стандартному режимі.

Кредитні канікули передбачають відтермінування сплати кредиту, що дозволяє уникнути проблем з банком-позичальником у випадку неспроможності вчасно виконати боргові зобов’язання.
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Four men were hanged Friday, seven years after being convicted of the brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in New Delhi. The case turned the spotlight on sexual violence against women in India. Women in the Indian capital, called one of the most unsafe cities for women in the world, say the situation has not improved.
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Have you ever traveled with a passport from an African country? Have you been affected by travel restrictions imposed on your country? Why is it so difficult for Africans to travel inside their own continent? This week, the #VOAOurVoices team examines the complexities and challenges faced by African travelers. The hosts are joined by VOA’s Nadia Taha and Paul Ndiho, as well as Maria Byrd, correspondent for Nigeria’s Channels Television, to discuss the impact of travel bans, visa restrictions, and the value of a single African passport. Kenyan author and travel blogger, Ciku Kimeria, also joins the show to talk about her experiences as an African tourist in Africa.
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Національний банк України повідомив, на яку підтримку очікує від Міжнародного валютного фонду й інших міжнародних донорів.

Як сказав під час онлайн-брифінгу голова НБУ Яків Смолій, Україна, зокрема, очікує отримати фінансування за однією з двох програм боротьби з коронавірусом, що їх має МВФ.

Крім того, сказав він, Україна продовжує й переговори з МВФ про програму розширеного фінансування. За словами керівника Нацбанку, Україна практично виконала свої зобов’язання за цією програмою, і в НБУ очікують, що Верховна Рада ухвалить два закони, які ще лишилися з передумов надання програми.

Крім того, сказав Смолій, в МВФ розраховують і на підтримку таких донорів, як Світовий банк чи Європейська комісія.

За словами голови Нацбанку, більшу частину отриманого таким чином фінансування спрямують до державного бюджету, щоб покрити його дефіцит, а також на поповнення золотовалютних резервів.

Агентство «Ройтерз» звернуло увагу, що угоди про фінансування від МВФ, як правило, не передбачають дозволу спрямовувати отримані кошти безпосередньо до держбюджету – ці кошти мають іти на підтримку валютних резервів центральних банків.

Прем’єр-міністр України Денис Шмигаль заявляв 11 березня, що розраховує виконати дві з загалом восьми вимог МВФ, які лишилися не виконаними, «протягом двох, максимум трьох тижнів». 18 березня він заявив, що переговори з МВФ просуваються вперед і що Україна сподівається на позитивний результат «найближчим часом».

Кошти за програмою розширеного фінансування від МВФ, яка була в принципі узгоджена минулого року, мали б скласти загалом 5,5 мільярдів доларів за три роки, але вона обумовлена здійсненням певних реформ і кроків із боку України; Київ досі не виконав усіх цих вимог.

Нова трирічна програма розширеного фінансування для України від МВФ на загальну суму понад 5,5 мільярдів доларів має замінити попередню програму «стенд-бай» на 3,9 мільярда доларів, якої Київ так і не виконав – Україна змогла отримати лише єдиний її транш в 1,4 мільярда доларів іще в грудні 2018 року.

МВФ попередньо підтримав нову програму кредитування для України на технічному рівні, але її надання обумовлено поступом Києва в реформах. Серед передумов, які ще не виконані, – також ухвалення спеціального закону, що гарантував би неповернення націоналізованих банків колишнім власникам і відшкодування ними витрат на порятунок таких банків, здійснених коштом платників податків.

Розмови про цю нову програму точаться з вересня-листопада 2019 року. Відтоді відбулося вже кілька зустрічей і раундів переговорів представників МВФ і України. Щоразу МВФ за підсумками видавав заяви в формально оптимістичному тоні, але щоразу в них ішлося про необхідність подальших дискусій.

Терміни укладення угоди про нову програму наразі лишаються невизначеними. Тим часом Київ сподівався було укласти її і отримати за нею перші 2 мільярди доларів іще 2019 року.

Укладення цієї угоди з МВФ є також передумовою для отримання макрофінансової допомоги від Європейської комісії на суму в 500 мільйонів євро.
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Asian stock indexes were mostly up Friday after Thursday’s modest gains on Wall Street. Investor hopes that governments and central banks would provide help for the world economy in order to avert a global recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic seemed responsible for at least temporarily halting the plunge. In South Korea, stocks opened 3.44% higher than Thursday, with the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index 50.19 points up. In Taiwan the main stock index rose 5.46% or 474.03 points to 9,155.37. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index began trading up 438 points, as news of no new coronavirus transmitted cases came from China for the second day in a row but fell 900 points in in the middle of the session.  In China Shanghai Composite Index was only less than half a percent higher. In Japan, the Tokyo stock exchange was closed for a public holiday. 
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Торги на українському міжбанківському ринку зранку 20 березня розпочалися з нового зростання курсу долара щодо гривні. Станом на 10:40, за даними Finance.ua, котирування сягнули 28 гривень рівно – 28 гривень 3 копійок за одиницю американської валюти.

Це на 19 копійок за попитом і на 15 копійок за пропозицією більше від котирувань, зафіксованих у момент закриття торгів 19 березня.

Офіційний курс на 20 березня становить 27 гривень 80 копійок за долар.

Зростання котирувань долара щодня на 30–50 копійок в Україні відбувається вже другий тиждень. НБУ своїми валютними інтервенціями лише стримує цей процес.
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South Korea, China and Japan are sharing information on the coronavirus pandemic and exploring how to prevent the disease from spreading further while maintaining economic and social exchanges. Foreign ministers of the three countries met via a video conference Friday to discuss cooperation in face of growing concern about the number of infected people entering their countries from overseas. “This issue has a direct impact on the lives of the three nations’ citizens,” South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Kang Kyung-wha said as she opened the conference. Kang said the three countries must cooperate on containing the spread of COVID-19 and minimizing the impact on people-to-people exchanges and the economy because of stronger border controls and drastic cuts in flights among the three Asian neighbors. In meantime, South Korea is imposing a 14-day mandatory quarantine for European arrivals.  The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 87 new coronavirus cases Friday for a total 8,652 nationwide.
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Нафта частково відіграла втрати, яких зазнала впродовж останніх двох тижнів після провалу угоди в межах ОПЕК+. Станом на 8:37 за Києвом барель марки Brent котирується на рівні 29 доларів 22 центи. Це рівень, зафіксований раніше цього тижня у вівторок, 17 березня. Після цього ціна падала нижче за 25 доларів за барель.

Аналітики пояснюють зростання тим, що ринок нарешті відреагував на заяви президента США Дональда Трампа про можливе втручання в ситуацію в «потрібний час». Раніше цього тижня Трамп оголосив, що Сполучені Штати поповнюватимуть стратегічні резерви, щоб підтримати нафтову галузь.

Тим часом, між Саудівською Аравією та Росією на європейському ринку триває цінова війна, і це змушує російських постачальників сировини пропонувати нафту марки Urals зі збільшеним дисконтом (знижкою) щодо ціни Brent. Кілька угод на постачання в квітні були укладені з дисконтом 4 і більше доларів. Російський державний бюджет передбачає ціну експортної нафти близько 42 доларів, у разі постачання за нижчою ціною бюджет не отримує запланованих доходів.

Тригерами березневого обвалу стали поширення нового коронавірусу в світі та провал угоди нафтового картеля ОПЕК та його партнерів. У межах ОПЕК+ не лише не домовилися про додаткове скорочення видобутку, але й не продовжили попередні обмеження. Між найбільшими за обсягами учасниками угоди, Росією та Саудівською Аравією, фактично розпочалася цінова війна. Саудити пропонують споживачам, орієнтованим раніше на купівлю російської нафти, нижчу ціну, щоб витиснути конккурента з ринку.
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Journalists covering a protest outside the Turkish Embassy in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, on Wednesday said police beat them and took their equipment while dispersing a crowd that had gathered to demand the release of an Azerbaijani businessman arrested in Turkey.At least 10 journalists were harassed by the police, freelance journalist Tabriz Mirzoyev told the Turan Information Agency.Radio Azadlig (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Azerbaijani Service) journalist Ramin Deko said he was left with hand and leg injuries and bruises on his face after police beat him.“There were quiet at the beginning, but then they received an order and they started to attack and beat journalists,” Deko said. “They took my phone away and threw me on the asphalt. They pushed me down and started to kick me and beat me.”Footage showed police pushing, kicking, and forcibly removing journalists from the protest.Approximately 30 people had gathered outside the embassy to protest the recent arrest of Mubariz Mansimov Gurbanoglu, the founder of the Istanbul sea freight company Palmali.Reuters reported that a Turkish court ordered his arrest over alleged ties to the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey accuses of being behind an attempted 2016 coup.Elshad Hajiyev from the Baku City Police press service told VOA that police are investigating and that he would comment “after the investigation.”Journalists in Azerbaijani have previously been beaten or harassed while covering protests.In February, the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that at least 18 journalists were “obstructed and sometimes physically attacked” while covering protests and allegations of fraud in Azerbaijan’s snap parliamentary elections.RSF reported that journalists were arrested and beaten when authorities broke up sit-in protests by  opposition candidates outside of the Central Election Committee after the vote, and that at least eight journalists were attacked or blocked from covering events on the day of the election.Attacks on journalists were among the human rights issues cited by the U.S. State Department in its annual report on human rights in Azerbaijan. As well as restrictions on the press and internet, the report highlight issues “including violence against journalists, harassment and incarceration of journalists on questionable charges.”The incident outside the Turkish Embassy came a day after Azerbaijan released investigative journalist Afghan Mukhtarli early from a six-year prison sentence and allowed him to leave for Germany, where he was reunited with his wife and daughter.The international community, including Harlem Desir, the OSCE representative on Freedom of the Media, and the Parliamentary Assemble of the Council of Europe (PACE) welcomed his release.In a statement, Gulnoza Said, the head of Europe and Central Asia Program at the press freedom organization Committee to Protect Journalists, called on the Azerbaijani authorities to release all remaining journalists from jail and allow them to report freely and safely.The PACE rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan also called on authorities to fulfill their obligations by “releasing all other political prisoners and resolving the underlying systemic problems.Rights groups have documented the arrests of dozens of journalists in Azerbaijan, often under politically motivated charges which usually range from “tax evasion” to “illegal entrepreneurship.”At least six journalists were in jail for their work in Azerbaijan at the time of CPJ’s annual prison census, and the country ranks 166 out of 180 countries in the RSF World Press Freedom Index.RFE/RL and VOA are U.S. taxpayer funded independent news agencies. This story originated in VOA’s Azeri Service.
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The family of a young Iranian man, who was killed when Iran shot down a passenger airplane in January, says they were facing threats and intimidation following the death of their son.  
 
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