The Russian government on May 13 approved a bill allowing it to label any foreign organization, including those established by a government, as an "undesirable organization."
Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof on May 13 said he had left Iran in secret after being informed that he had been sentenced to flogging and eight years in prison on security-related charges.
Former Kazakh Economy Minister Quandyq Bishimbaev has been found guilty of murdering his wife and sentenced to 24 years in prison. A court in Astana delivered the verdict on May 13 in a high-profile trial that put domestic violence in the spotlight in Kazakhstan.
Flash floods have swept through the northern Afghan province of Baghlan, leaving hundreds dead and thousands of homes destroyed. Survivors say they are struggling to access food, medicine, and shelter.
The Georgian parliament's Legal Committee took just 67 seconds to advance a controversial "foreign agent" bill on May 13. Some lawmakers said they could not make it to the chamber in time due to the massive police operation outside. Earlier, security forces clashed with demonstrators, beating some of the protesters. Opposition groups say the proposed bill could endanger both civil liberties and the country's bid for European Union membership.
Emergency crews continue scrambling to rescue victims of massive flash floods in remote areas of northern Afghanistan, where hundreds have died. Torrents caused by heavy rainfall have struck communities in Baghlan Province, the worst-hit area, and thousands of homes have been destroyed in Badakhshan, Takhar, Ghor, Faryab, and other provinces.
A court in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, on May 13 fined journalist Zhamila Maricheva for an online article she wrote supporting RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, known locally as Radio Azattyq.
Wild gas fires that have burned for millennia still sputter in isolated forests and hillsides of eastern Romania.
A court in Astana on May 13 sentenced former Economy Minister Quandyq Bishimbaev to 24 years in prison for the "violent beating" to death of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova, in November 2023 in a local restaurant.
The lowdown on the EU's latest sanctions.
Rescue crews are searching for victims in hard-to-reach areas of northern Afghanistan, where at least 300 people have died in flash flooding caused by heavy rainfall.
Lilia Chanysheva, former leader of late opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's team in Ufa, who is serving 9 1/2 years in prison on extremism charges, has asked President Vladimir Putin to pardon her.
The Memorial human rights group says the father of the group's self-exiled member, Konstantin Konoplyanko, was detained in Moscow on May 12 on unspecified charges.
A state of emergency was introduced in the Siberian region of Yakutia on May 13 after four local villages were hit by floods. Residents of four other Siberian villages in the Omsk region were evacuated on May 12 over as water level in the Irtysh River went up dramatically.
Armenian police have detained at least 151 activists of the anti-government movement protesting against a controversial border demarcation agreement with Azerbaijan as they conducted “civil disobedience” campaigns by blocking streets in central Yerevan early on May 13.
There were fresh clashes in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on May 13 with police reportedly arresting 20 protesters. Tens of thousands have protested for several weeks against a "foreign agent" bill pushed forward by the ruling Georgian Dream party that opposition groups say would curtail civil liberties.
Georgian police arrested 20 people as they violently dispersed a rally outside parliament early on May 13 as lawmakers from the ruling Georgian Dream party push through the approval of a controversial "foreign agent" law.
Thousands of Georgians gathered in front of the parliament in Tbilisi late on May 12 to protest against the so-called "foreign agent" bill, which opponents say would stifle free media and civil society. Activists vowed to stay in the streets overnight ahead of the planned final reading and expected passage of the legislation on May 13.
Thousands of Armenians rallied in Yerevan on March 12 in the latest in a string of antigovernment demonstrations. The protests' leader, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, is demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian over a land deal that cedes some Armenian-held territory to Azerbaijan.
