The Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) has issued a report detailing its assessment of the recently-concluded general election, expressing deep concerns over a decline in fairness scores compared to previous election cycles.
While the world battles coronavirus and more and more countries lock down their populations, Turkmenistan is holding a mass cycling rally to mark World Health Day on Tuesday.
The Central Asian country claims it still has zero coronavirus cases. But can we trust the figures provided by a government renowned for censorship?
"Official health statistics from Turkmenistan are notoriously unreliable," said Professor Martin McKee from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who has studied the Turkmen healthcare system.
"For the past decade they have claimed to have no people living with HIV/Aids, a figure that is not plausible.
We also know that, in the 2000s, they suppressed evidence of a series of outbreaks, including plague."
Many in Turkmenistan are even afraid of suggesting Covid-19 may already be in the country.
"My acquaintance who works in a state agency told me that I shouldn't say that the virus is here or that I heard about it, otherwise I may get into trouble," said a resident of the capital Ashgabat, who asked to remain anonymous.?
Reported by BBC
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