Members of the opposition in Armenia's parliament said their concerns over negotiations with Azerbaijan on border-delimitation issues were not allayed by government officials during a special session.
For critics of Viktor Orban, Peter Magyar may well personify the corruption rife under the years of rule by the nationalist Hungarian prime minister. Now the former insider has recast himself and vowed to bring down Orban, drawing huge crowds to protests in Budapest.
Thousands of Georgians took to the streets of the capital, Tbilisi, on April 9, to protest against a controversial "foreign agents" bill that Georgia's ruling party, Georgian Dream, said it will reintroduce. The bill was pulled last year amid massive protests over fears the legislation, which mirrored a similar law in Russia, would severely restrict dissent and the activity of civil society groups in the country and push it toward authoritarianism.
Two years after Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza's arrest and conviction on terrorist charges viewed as politically motivated, U.S. lawmakers say they haven't forgotten their "friend."
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Byalyatski marked his 1,000th day in prison in Belarus on April 9 amid increasing fears about his deteriorating health, his wife said.
Police in St. Petersburg are investigating the disappearance of a Chechen woman who was forcibly sent back to Chechnya last year as a possible murder, the SK SOS human rights group said on April 8.
An Iranian political activist who was granted medical leave from Tehran’s Evin prison last year has been sentenced to 74 lashes for what authorities termed "absence and failure to report to prison," even though he was actually in prison when the case was filed against him.
Controversial Turkmen popstar Nazir Habibov's reported arrest in Iran last month for drug possession has caused concern among his fans, and it's unclear if Habibov -- previously jailed in Turkmenistan on drug charges -- will be tried in Iran or if Ashgabat will secure his extradition.
The Supreme Court of Russia's Bashkortostan region on April 9 extended the prison sentence of Lilia Chanysheva, the former head of late opposition leader Aleksei Navalny's team in Ufa, by two years after prosecutors said her initial 7 1/2-year sentence for extremism was too lenient.
Russia's southern region of Orenburg and neighboring Kazakhstan continue to struggle with floodwaters that have forced thousands of residents to be evacuated. Water levels are expected to peak shortly in the Russian city of Orsk. Meanwhile, anger boiled over as crowds asked for help from President Vladimir Putin and chanted "Shame on you!" at local officials.
Iran's judicial authorities have seized the Instagram page of the popular online program Blind Date, hosted by an Iranian influencer known as Viny, as part of a sweeping crackdown on social-media content.
The Kremlin has warned that water levels have yet to peak in several regions of the country as tens of thousands in southern Russia -- and in neighboring Kazakhstan -- scrambled to avoid some of the worst flooding in decades as unseasonably warm temperatures melt snow faster than usual.
A Bishkek court on April 9 ordered four of eight jailed reporters from the Temirov Live investigative group to be transferred to house arrest.
A European Union official says the bloc has removed sanctions on the Iranian tech startup ArvanCloud because it "no longer" saw the need to keep them on a company it once accused of being involved in Tehran's crackdown on Internet access.
Italian police said on April 8 that a Tajik man was arrested in Rome as he arrived from the Netherlands on suspicion of being a member of the Islamic State extremist group.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon called the current global situation "a new phase of the Cold War" and called on his compatriots to be politically vigilant amid "growing tensions as the process of the world's repartitioning is intensifying."
Ergjan Mehmeti says he's the first actor from Kosovo's small Ashkali community. Ashkalis are an ethnic minority, who have struggled with discrimination, poor access to education, and unemployment. Mehmeti has now returned to his hometown with a project, which he hopes can help overcome prejudice.
A Bulgarian caretaker government led by Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev was sworn in by parliament on April 9 after being appointed by President Rumen Radev, who also announced a snap general election for June 9.
Here are some of the most compelling photographs from the 15th week of 2024 from around RFE/RL's region.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is on a two-day working visit to France where he is expected to discuss the acquisition of 12 Rafale fighter jets and the construction of a nuclear plant in the Balkan nation.
