As the Iranian authorities vow a harsh response in revenge for the deadliest attack in Iran since the Islamic Revolution, many Iranians are questioning whether Tehran's focus on policing hijab compliance and the military involvement abroad have left citizens exposed to dangers at home.
As the new year chimed in, Kosovo's new visa-free relationship with the EU began, a measure long desired by Pristina and the country's citizens. However, a sluggish economy has meant that not all of Kosovo's 1.8 million people are ready to hop on a flight right away.
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree expediting Russian citizenship to foreigners who sign at least one-year contracts to serve in the military or in "military formations."
Serbia's Defense Ministry has proposed reintroducing compulsory military service to shore up its armed forces amid rising tensions in the region.
Most of the players in Kosovo's amputee soccer team lost limbs to land mines during or after their country's 1990s conflict. They've had to overcome prejudice but are now competing in international competitions.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry says 541,000 Afghans have left for Afghanistan as Islamabad's campaign to repatriate some 1.7 million "undocumented foreigners" continues, despite international concerns for their safety and means to shelter upon their return.
The Wall Street Journal on January 4 quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying Russia plans to purchase short-range ballistic missiles from Iran and is already receiving dozens of ballistic missiles and launchers from North Korea.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron emphasized the need for stability in the Balkans and pledged U.K. support for partly recognized Kosovo's recognition "as a full sovereign country" during a visit to Pristina on January 4 that includes meetings with the Kosovar president and its prime minister.
The Taliban have arrested women in the Afghan capital for observing “bad hijab,” a spokesman for the Islamist group's Vice and Virtue Ministry said on January 4.
The chairman of a farm in the Tajik district of Dosti was sentenced to five years in prison for "cooperating" with Islah TV, a website close to the government opposition.
Three activists from the Oyan, Qazaqstan (Wake Up, Kazakhstan) movement were arrested in Almaty on January 3 after they held a protest against the jailing on December 16 of three of their colleagues.
Kazakh television operator TVCOM says it has stopped broadcasting several stations launched by Russian state-run Channel One in a move to reduce the share of foreign news channels on the local market.
Authoritarian Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka has signed a law tightening the activities of religious organizations by forcing re-registration and restricting associations to older groups with nationwide presences, his office said January 3.
The Kyiv City Military Administration said overnight on January 3-4 that criminal investigators examining the scene of the deadliest air attack on the capital so far in the 22-month-old full-scale Russian invasion discovered two more bodies, raising the death toll to 32.
The Islamic State (IS) extremist group has claimed responsibility for a pair of explosions in Iran that killed at least 84 people during commemorations for a former Iranian commander slain four years ago in a U.S. airstrike.
An aide to Iran's president has blamed Israel and the United States for the explosions that killed at least 95 people on January 3 during commemorations for a former Iranian commander slain in a U.S. airstrike in 2020. The U.S. State Department has said it was not involved in the incident.
