The Iranian Navy frigate Sahand capsized during repairs in the southern port of Bandar Abbas, Iranian state media reported on July 7. "As Sahand was being repaired at the wharf, it lost its balance due to water ingress. Fortunately...the vessel is being returned to balance quickly," the official news agency IRNA reported, citing a Iranian Navy statement. It did not specify when the accident occurred. State media carried a picture of a capsized ship and said several people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

A new far-right alliance in the European Parliament -- launched just a week ago by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- has enough parties to achieve group status. The Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV), Belgium's Vlaams Belang, and the Danish People's Party announced their intention to join the alliance over the weekend. Their declaration means seven countries are now represented in the alliance, called Patriots For Europe, an important condition to form a parliamentary group in the EU legislature. The group's manifesto has the usual far-right focus on retaining national sovereignty vis-a-vis the European Union, fighting illegal migration, and pushing back EU measures to reduce climate change. Orban said the parties would meet on July 8 in Brussels.

Moderate reformist Masud Pezeshkian, the winner of Iran's runoff presidential vote, will be sworn in before lawmakers early next month, Mojtaba Yosefi, a member of the Iranian parliament's presiding board, told state media.

Pezeshkian, 69, defeated ultraconservative hard-liner Saeed Jalili in the July 5 runoff, garnering 53.7 percent of the vote, or 16,384,403 votes, while Jalili received 44.3 percent, or 13,538,179 votes, according to final results announced by the Interior Ministry.

SEE ALSO:

'Reformist Loyalist' Masud Pezeshkian Is Iran's New President. Here's What To Expect.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who wields ultimate power in Iran, first has to give his approval to Pezeshkian's win in a ceremony known as "tanfiz."

Following that ceremonial step, "the swearing-in ceremony of the president will be held on August 4 or 5," Yosefi was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA on July 7.

"The president will then have 15 days to present his proposed ministers to the parliament for a vote of confidence," he said, adding that, according to parliamentary rules, Pezeshkian will officially renounce his lawmaker mandate on July 31.

Pezeshkian has been a member of parliament since 2008 and served as deputy speaker between 2016 and 2020, when moderates and reformists had a majority in the legislature.

Pezeshkian's victory came amid a turnout of 49.8 percent, considerably higher than the record-low 40 percent in the first round of the election, which was triggered by the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.

Pezeshkian, who finished the first round with 10.5 million votes -- 1 million more than Jalili -- appears to have been the one who benefited from the larger turnout in the second round, finishing the runoff with nearly 3 million votes more than his opponent after voting was extended three times until midnight.

His campaign had sought to increase turnout by convincing young and disappointed people who boycotted the first round to vote in the runoff.

Following his surprise victory, the former heart surgeon thanked young Iranians for helping him win.

"I am especially grateful to the dedicated and capable young people who came to work lovingly and sincerely on my team and together with the rest of the people shone a ray of hope and confidence in the future," the 69-year-old former heart surgeon wrote on X.

However, he warned that a "difficult path" lies ahead for the Islamic republic and appealed to Iranians not to leave him "alone" as he begins his presidency in a country beset by economic hardships compounded by international sanctions and dominated by a repressive theocracy.

Khamenei called the runoff vote "very important" and urged everyone "to work together.

Iran's theocracy, installed after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, has long maintained that it derives its legitimacy from strong popular support that translates into high voter turnout, but poor participation in recent elections and deadly antiestablishment protests have challenged the legitimacy of the current leadership.

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Pezeshkian questioned Iran's methods of enforcing the Islamic head scarf for women following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022 while in the custody of Iran's dreaded morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly.

He has also said that while the hijab law should be observed, "there should never be any intrusive or inhumane behavior toward women."

Pezeshkian has called for "constructive relations" with Western countries and favors reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, but he also supports the principles of the Islamic republic and said he would follow Khamenei's policies if elected.

Iran's acute economic doldrums worsened after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers in 2018, reimposing harsh sanctions.

Following Pezeshkian's victory, the European Union said it was prepared to talk.

"We take note of the results of the presidential elections in Iran and congratulate President-elect Masud Pezeshkian," Nabila Massrali, EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, said on X. "We are ready to engage with the new government in line with EU policy of critical engagement."

Washington, however, dismissed the impact of Pezeshkian's election.

"The election will not have a significant impact on [Washington's] approach to Iran," a U.S. State Department spokesman told RFE/RL's Radio Farda. "Our concerns about Iran’s behavior are unchanged. At the same time, we remain committed to diplomacy when it advances American interests."

In a separate development, Iranian authorities on July 7 said they have arrested eight people in connection with the killing of two security force members who were carrying election boxes in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan Province after the first round of voting on June 28.

The identities of those arrested was not revealed by authorities.

The United Nations' high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, who is on a three-day visit to Pakistan, met with Afghan refugees in Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on July 7. Grandi listened to the refugees’ concerns and assured them of the support of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Qaisar Afridi, the UNHCR spokesperson in Peshawar, told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal. Grandi will meet Pakistan government officials and other humanitarian and development partners. Grandi's visit comes as Pakistan continues to deport unregistered Afghan refugees. According to the UNHCR, Pakistan hosts approximately 3.2 million Afghan refugees, 76 percent of whom are women and children. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, click here.

Chinese soldiers arrived in Belarus on July 6 for joint a “anti-terrorism training exercise,” Belarus’s Defense Ministry said on Telegram. It said the maneuvers will be held from July 8-19. The joint training “will allow…the laying of a foundation for further development of Belarusian-Chinese relations in the field of joint training of troops,” it said. Belarus on July 4 joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional grouping promoted by Beijing and Moscow as an alternative to Western influence, while China has been making moves in recent years to increase ties with countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

A state of emergency was declared on July 7 in parts of Russia's Voronezh region near the border with Ukraine following a suspected Ukrainian drone attack that set an ammunition depot on fire, regional authorities said.

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Regional Governor Aleksandr Gusev said Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russian air-defense systems and that the fire was ignited by debris that fell on an ammunition depot in the Podgornensky district overnight.

Videos posted on Telegram purported to show at least one drone heading toward the depot and then a long series of blasts could be heard while plumes of black smoke were rising in the air.

Gusev said there were no immediate reports of casualties. Later in the morning, he announced that he had declared a state of emergency in the settlement where the burning depot was located, without identifying it by name.

The road that leads into the area has been closed and authorities have begun evacuating residents to temporary accommodation centers, reports said.

Ukraine, whose energy and civilian infrastructure has been decimated by months of intensive Russian drone and missile strikes, has in turn started targeting industrial facilities, mainly oil refining capabilities that work for the military, inside Russia.

On July 7, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) claimed in a message on Telegram that its agents on the previous day had struck a logistics center in Debaltseve, in the Russia-occupied part of Donetsk, that housed tank equipment and ammunition.

HUR also claimed that an electronic warfare jamming communication station was destroyed in Novoluhansk in the occupied Luhansk region. The claims could not be independently verified.

Separately, Ukraine's Air Force said on July 7 that its air-defense systems had repelled a fresh Russian missile and drone attack on several regions earlier in the day.

"The enemy attacked with 2 Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 13 Shahed drones," the Air Force reported on Telegram, adding that 13 drones were shot down in the Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Poltava regions.

Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said on Telegram that its Iskander missiles had destroyed two Ukrainian launchers for Patriot surface-to-air missile systems and a Giraffe radar station in the village of Yuzhne in the Odesa region. The claim could not be independently verified.

The European Union has said it is ready to get involved in talks with the winner of Iran's presidential election, Masud Pezeshkian, following his July 6 victory. "We take note of the results of the presidential elections in Iran and congratulate President-elect Masud Pezeshkian," Nabila Massrali, the EU's spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, said on X. "We are ready to engage with the new government in line with EU policy of critical engagement," Massrali wrote. Pezeshkian has called for "constructive relations" with Western countries and favors reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and global powers.

All 10 Russian wrestlers who received permission from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to participate in the Paris Olympics have refused to attend, the Russian Wrestling Federation (RWF) said on July 6.

The RWF said the decision was made after some of the country’s leading wrestlers were left off the invitation list, including two-time gold medalist Abdulrashid Sadulayev and Zaurbek Sidakov, the 2023 world champion.

"We do not accept the unsportsmanlike principle of selection that guided the IOC in compiling the list of eligible athletes, the purpose of which is to undermine the principle of unity of our team," the federation said.

In December 2023, the IOC allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Paris Olympics as neutrals without flags and anthems because of the war in Ukraine. They also would not be allowed to march in the opening ceremony at the Olympics, which runs from July 26 to August 11.

The wrestling portion of the Olympics will run August 5-11.

In March, the IOC set up a special commission to assess the right of each Russian and Belarusian athlete to compete in Paris in a neutral status.

Among the IOC's requirements for neutral status are the lack of support for Russia's war against Ukraine, as well as ties with the army and special services, including the Dynamo and CSKA sports clubs.

On July 5, the IOC announced quotas for Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) -- those with Russian or Belarusian passports who have been confirmed as eligible to compete in Paris in each sport.

It listed 10 Russian wrestlers as being eligible for the games. However, according to the RWF, those wrestlers -- seven men and three women -- refused to travel to the Paris event.

Over the past decade, Russia has been isolated in international sports, first over doping allegations and then after Moscow launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Hundreds of residents in Pakistan’s Swat Valley and Orakzai tribal district rallied to condemn a newly announced military operation by the federal government, with one movement calling for a nationwide protest on July 7.

The Ulasi Pasoon (Public Revolution) and Orkazai Peace Movement organized the protests on July 5 in which political workers, rights activists, and students carried placards demanding peace and security in their areas and denouncing the planned military operation.

Residents have long opposed the national government's military operations in the region, claiming they have driven millions of people from their homes and disrupted businesses and other activities of ethnic Pashtuns in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

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They have also protested the lack of overall security provided by the national authorities.

The protesters in Swat and Orakzai demanded peace and asked the military forces to target the terrorists’ hideouts rather than conducting operations in civilian areas.

Pakistan’s top leadership on June 22 approved plans for the Resolve For Stability military operation designed to combat escalating extremist violence and terrorist attacks in the region. The operation has not yet started.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a remote northwestern province near the Afghan border, has seen an increase in deadly attacks in the past two years, mostly blamed on Islamist extremist groups, including Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan and affiliates of Islamic State.

SEE ALSO:

Fearful Of Losing Their Livelihoods, Pakistanis Oppose Latest Military Operation

Islamabad has accused neighboring Afghanistan of providing safe havens for the groups operating in Pakistan, something Kabul has denied.

Pakistani security forces have said they have been conducting targeted operations against militants in several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

Citing the effects of previous military operations, local residents and political activists in several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa launched the protest rallies and other actions after plans for Resolve For Security were announced by the government in Islamabad.

The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) rights group has announced plans for countrywide protests against new military operations on July 7.

The office of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had stated that the new operation would not be a full-scale military campaign displacing a large number of people like the previous operations.

The Pakistani military on July 5 said in a statement that the new operation is aimed at “harnessing the national counterterrorism efforts in a synchronized manner to dismantle the nexus of terrorism and illegal spectrum in the country for enduring stability and economic prosperity.”

An oil tanker truck collided with a minibus in Ukraine’s western Rivne region, killing 14 of the 15 people involved, the Interior Ministry said on July 6. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the fatalities included a 6-year-old child. “One woman survived. Doctors are fighting for her life," he wrote on Telegram. Klymenko added that the cause of the accident was being investigated. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

Russia's Justice Ministry has added two more independent journalists -- Olesya Gerasimenko and Sergei Yezhov -- to its "foreign agent" list. Gerasimenko works for Verstka, an independent online news publication founded in April 2022 by a group of independent Russian journalists. Yezhov is an investigative journalist with The Insider. Lawyer Grigory Vaypan, St. Petersburg deputy and LGBT activist Sergei Troshin, and former St. Petersburg municipal deputy Fyodor Utkin were also added to the "foreign agent" list. Russia has used its “foreign agent” law since 2012 to label and punish critics of government policies. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Hungary has canceled a foreign ministers' meeting with Germany scheduled for July 8 in Budapest due to technical reasons, its Foreign Ministry said on July 6. "Due to an unforeseen change in the minister's calendar, the Foreign Ministry has requested that the visit take place at a later date, hopefully in the near future," it said. "The reason is purely technical and not political." The German Foreign Ministry said on July 5 that it was "astonished" by the cancellation and a "serious and honest" discussion was needed after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the same day.

Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine have signed a joint cooperation agreement to combat Russian disinformation. The agreement was signed during a trilateral meeting of the three countries' foreign ministers in Moldova's capital, Chisinau, on July 5. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told journalists after the meeting that Russia's "hybrid-war arsenal" is being used not only against Ukraine, which Moscow invaded in February 2022, but also against Moldova. The meeting between Kuleba and the Moldovan and Romanian foreign ministers, Mihai Popsoi and Luminita Odobescu, was the third trilateral gathering since 2022. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Moldovan Service, click here.

Ukraine's Air Force said it repelled another wave of drone attacks targeting 12 of its regions early on July 6 after a regional official said Moscow had launched guided bombs on the Donetsk region, killing at least five people and wounding several others.

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"On the night of July 6, the enemy struck with 27 Shahed[-type] drones," the Air Force said in a message on its Telegram channel.

Ukrainian air-defense systems "managed to shoot down 24 drones in the Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Zaporizhzhya, Kherson, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Sumy, Chernihiv, Vinnytsya, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, and Mykolayiv regions," the Air Force said.

Separately, officials in the Sumy region, north of the capital, Kyiv, said Russian drones cut power to the local water system, causing the temporary interruption of the water supply.

Meanwhile, several blasts were reported in the city of Suspilne, northeast of Kyiv.

On July 5, Russian troops launched two guided aerial bombs at the city of Selydove in the eastern Donetsk region, killing at least five people and wounding another eight, the head of the region's military administration, Vadym Filashkin, said on Telegram.

Meanwhile, in Russia's Krasnodar region, two oil depots caught fire and a cell-phone tower was damaged due to a drone attack overnight on July 6, the region's operational headquarters said, blaming the attack on Ukraine.

Officials said that Ukrainian drones were shot down over two districts of Krasnodar. Debris caused minor damage to a cell tower in Yeysk, and a fuel tank caught fire at an oil depot in the village of Pavlovskaya.

The claim could not be independently verified.

Over the past several months, Ukraine, whose energy infrastructure has been battered by incessant Russian attacks over the past year, has increasingly targeted fuel-production sites inside Russia, mainly oil-refining facilities that work for Moscow's military.

Moderate reformist Masud Pezeshkian, the winner of Iran's runoff presidential vote, has thanked young Iranians for helping him win as foreign leaders and members of the Iranian establishment congratulated him on his victory, while Washington dismissed the impact of the results.

Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old former heart surgeon, defeated ultraconservative hard-liner Saeed Jalili in the July 5 runoff, garnering 53.7 percent of the vote, or 16,384,403 votes, while Jalili received 44.3 percent, or 13,538,179 votes, according to results announced by Mohsen Eslami, the spokesman of Iran's election headquarters.

SEE ALSO:

'Reformist Loyalist' Masud Pezeshkian Is Iran's New President. Here's What To Expect.

"I am especially grateful to the dedicated and capable young people who came to work lovingly and sincerely on my team and together with the rest of the people shone a ray of hope and confidence in the future," the 69-year-old former heart surgeon wrote on X.

Pezeshkian's victory came amid a turnout of 49.8 percent, considerably higher than the record-low 40 percent in the first round of the election, which was triggered by the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.

Social media videos purported to show Pezeshkian's supporters, mostly young people, taking to the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities to celebrate, even before the final results were announced.

Pezeshkian, however, warned that a "difficult path" lies ahead for the Islamic republic and appealed to Iranians not to leave him "alone" as he begins his presidency in a country beset by economic hardships compounded by international sanctions and dominated by a repressive theocracy.

"The difficult path ahead will only become smoother with your companionship, empathy, and trust. I extend my hand to you, and I swear on my honor that I, in turn, will not leave you alone on this path," Pezeshkian wrote in a separate message.

Voting on July 5 had been scheduled to end at 6 p.m., but it was extended three times until midnight as authorities sought to encourage as many people as possible to go to the polls.

SEE ALSO:

Special Report: The Protests That Shook Iran's Clerical System

The first round failed to generate widespread participation, despite calls by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who wields ultimate power in Iran, for a high turnout to project an image of a strong Iran where its people back the political establishment.

Khamenei, who has final say in Iran's politics, congratulated Pezeshkian, calling for unity.

"I call on everyone to work together," said Khamenei, who had called the runoff vote "very important."

Hossein Salami, the chief of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), also welcomed Pezeshkian's victory, offering his "cooperation" to the incoming president.

"We are fully prepared to continue and strengthen the cooperation and interaction between the IRGC and the government," Salami said in a statement.

Iran's theocracy, installed after the Islamic revolution of 1979, has long maintained that it derives its legitimacy from strong popular support that translates into high voter turnout, but poor participation in recent elections and deadly antiestablishment protests have challenged the legitimacy of the current leadership.

Pezeshkian has been a member of parliament since 2008 and served as deputy speaker between 2016 and 2020, when moderates and reformists had a majority in the legislature.

Pezeshkian questioned Iran's methods of enforcing the Islamic head scarf for women following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022 while in the custody of Iran's dreaded morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly.

After Amini's death, which sparked months of unrest across the country, Pezeshkian demanded clarification from authorities about her case.

After casting his vote during the first round last week, Pezeshkian said, "We will respect the hijab law, but there should never be any intrusive or inhumane behavior toward women."

Pezeshkian has also spoken in favor of negotiating with the West, but he also supports the principles of the Islamic republic and said he would follow Khamenei's policies if elected.

While Pezeshkian's victory is unlikely to result in major policy shifts, it could have an impact on the succession to the 85-year-old Khamenei, who has been Iran's supreme leader since 1989.

Khamenei now has to give his approval to Pezeshkian's win in a ceremony known as "tanfiz."

Following that ceremonial step, the new president's inauguration is expected to take place sometime between July 22 and August 5.

Pezeshkian, who finished the first round with 10.5 million votes -- 1 million more than Jalili -- appears to have been the one who benefited from the larger turnout in the second round, finishing the runoff with nearly 3 million votes more than his opponent.

His campaign had sought to increase turnout by convincing people who boycotted the first round to vote in the runoff.

Mohammad Mohammad-Rezaei, a former lawmaker from Iran's Kurdistan Province who worked for Pezeshkian's campaign, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that Pezeshkian's main advantage has been his galvanizing power among all walks of life.

"One of the merits of Pezeshkian is that he is a patriot and his character transcends party politics. He is above political parties, fronts, and groups," Mohammad-Rezaei said.

His supporters attempted to highlight what they saw as the dangers of a hard-line figure like Jalili coming to power, arguing that his administration would enact repressive policies and further isolate Iran.

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Jalili's supporters portrayed Pezeshkian as a man who is soft on the West and who would make Iranian progress dependent on good relations with Western nations.

The U.S. State Department, in comments to RFE/RL's Radio Farda, noted the results but said that elections in Iran are neither free or fair.

"As a result, a significant number of Iranians chose not to participate at all," a spokesman said. "We have no expectation these elections will lead to fundamental change in Iran’s direction or more respect for the human rights of its citizens. As the candidates themselves have said, Iranian policy is set by the supreme leader.

"The election will not have a significant impact on [Washington's] approach to Iran either. Our concerns about Iran’s behavior are unchanged. At the same time, we remain committed to diplomacy when it advances American interests."

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping both congratulated Pezeshkian on his victory.

"I hope that your tenure as president will contribute to a reinforcement of constructive bilateral cooperation between our friendly peoples," Putin said.

Russia and Iran, both under harsh Western sanctions, can "coordinate efforts to resolve international issues in a constructive manner," Putin added.

Iran has been supplying Russia with drones that Moscow has been using to attack mainly civilian targets in Ukraine since the Kremlin started the invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

"I attach great importance to the development of China-Iran relations and am willing to work with the president to lead the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership towards deeper advancement," state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.

China is Iran's largest trade partner and a main destination for Tehran's sanctioned oil.

King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Iran's regional rival, in a message to Pezeshkian, expressed hope for the "continued development of relations which link our two countries and our two brotherly peoples," according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The powerful Saudi crown prince also congratulated Pezeshkian on his election.

"I affirm my keenness on developing and deepening the relations between our countries and people and serve our mutual interests," SPA quoted Muhammad Bin Salman as saying.

Last year, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed in a China-brokered deal to restore diplomatic ties after years on interruption.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Pezeshkian.

"Looking forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our warm and long-standing bilateral relationship for the benefit of our peoples and the region," Modi wrote on X.

A man who wounded a policeman in front of the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade with a crossbow on June 29 had sworn allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State (IS) terror group, according to a video seen on July 5 by RFE/RL. Milos Zujovic, who took the name Salahudin when he converted to Islam, said in the video that he swore allegiance to Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, "the leader of all Muslims." The place or date that the video was recorded was not clear. Zujovic, a native of Mladenovac near Belgrade, wounded a policeman on duty in front of the embassy before he was shot dead by the officer. Authorities labeled it a terrorist attack, and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said another person had been arrested in Belgrade on suspicion of terrorist association, identified only by the initials I.D. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Balkan Service, click here.

Romania has eased travel restrictions on Andrew Tate, the divisive social media influencer awaiting trial in Romania on charges of human trafficking and rape. A Bucharest court on July 5 maintained judicial control over Tate, his brother Tristan, and two Romanian women, but the latest court decision lifted the restriction and allowed them to travel throughout the European Union. The decision can be challenged by prosecutors within two days of notice. Andrew and Tristan Tate, former kickboxers with dual U.S. and British citizenship, are accused of forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking, and rape. They have denied the allegations. They were in custody from the end of December 2022 to April 2023 but were later placed on house arrest pending trial. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Romanian Service, click here.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on July 5 promised to defend the "territorial integrity" of Tajikistan as he announced a boost to diplomatic relations with the neighboring country on a rare visit. Xi arrived in Dushanbe from Kazakhstan following a gathering of leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, during which he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged the bloc to "resist external interference." Central Asia is a vital link in China's flagship Belt and Road Initiative, a massive infrastructure project Beijing has used to expand its clout overseas, but which critics say has left developing countries saddled with onerous loans. "China will continue to unswervingly promote friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation with Tajikistan...firmly support Tajikistan's efforts to safeguard national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity," Xi told Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The Pentagon said it was will "indefinitely postpone" its planned Noble Partner military exercise with Georgia as the United States reviews its relationship with the South Caucasus nation. The review came following Georgia’s June 3 passage of a "foreign agent" law that was assailed in the West over concerns it will stifle media and independent voices. A Pentagon statement said the decision to postpone the exercise, scheduled for July 25 to August 6, is due to "false accusations" against the United States and other Western entities after U.S. criticism of the law and its sanctioning of some Georgian officials. "As such, the United States government has determined that this is an inappropriate time to hold a large-scale military exercise in Georgia," the statement said. The Georgian Defense Ministry called the U.S. decision "regrettable," saying such exercises "benefit Georgia as well as to the United States and its partner countries." To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Georgian Service, click here.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that the alliance will provide 40 billion euros ($43 billion) in military aid to Ukraine in 2025. He told a news conference in Brussels that NATO leaders will "reaffirm their determination to support Ukraine" at a Washington summit on July 9-11. Stoltenberg has pressed for a multiyear commitment from the alliance on aid to Ukraine, but the current package will be reevaluated the following year, officials said. Separately, a senior U.S. official told reporters in Washington that NATO allies will present a "bridge-to-membership" scenario for Ukraine at the summit. To read the original tory by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, click here.

European leaders on July 5 slammed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for his visit to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of shaking hands "with a bloody dictator" and of "exploiting the EU presidency position to sow confusion."

Orban, who has angered EU and Ukrainian officials with his regular pro-Russia comments and policies, claimed he was in Moscow to help settle the war between Russia and Ukraine, but Western and Ukrainian officials have blasted the trip, insisting he doesn't speak for Brussels or Kyiv.

"In Moscow, Viktor Orban in no way represents the EU or the EU's positions," said Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who has been designated to become the EU's next foreign affairs representative.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

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"He is exploiting the EU presidency position to sow confusion. The EU is united, clearly behind Ukraine and against Russian aggression,” she said.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda echoed her comments. The Baltic nations Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have all expressed strong support of Ukraine following Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

"If you truly seek peace, you don't shake hands with a bloody dictator, you put all your efforts to support Ukraine," Nauseda wrote on X.

The White House joined in on the criticism, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying the visit "will not advance the cause of peace and is counterproductive to promoting Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence.”

Following his talks with Putin at the Kremlin, Orban told a news conference that his trip represented a "first step to restore dialogue" between the warring parties, but he acknowledged that viewpoints remain "far apart" in Kyiv and Moscow.

"I have found that positions are far apart. The number of steps needed to end the war and bring about peace are many," said Orban, who vowed to "continue this work."

EU and Ukrainian officials have insisted that Orban, who holds the rotating EU Council presidency, has no authority to negotiate on behalf of the bloc or Kyiv.

In televised comments, Putin maintained his long-standing position -- which has been rejected by Kyiv -- telling Orban that Ukraine must hand over all of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine that Russia has partially occupied and claimed as its own in their entirety.

"We are talking about the full withdrawal of all troops from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics [officially Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions], and from the Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions," Putin said.

Russia state media said Orban departed Moscow late on July 5 on the planned one-day visit just ahead of a massive rainstorm.

Since word leaked a day earlier of the apparently uncoordinated visit, multiple senior EU officials intensified statements distancing the bloc from Orban's plans and actions, and Kyiv said it hadn't given its "agreement" to anything.

The trip comes less than a week after Budapest assumed the six-month rotating EU Council presidency and three days after Orban presented a mystery cease-fire proposal in another surprise visit to Kyiv.

Orban maintains close relations with Putin and has resisted EU and other sanctions on Russia and refused to join military and other Western aid efforts to help Ukraine beat back the 28-month full-scale invasion ordered by Putin.

Receiving Orban in the Kremlin, Putin said at the start of televised talks that he regarded the Hungarian leader as somehow acting on behalf of the European Union in terms that appeared crafted to troll Brussels.

"I understand that this time you have come not just as our longstanding partner but as president of the [EU] Council," Putin told Orban. He said he expected Orban to lay out "the position of European partners" on the situation in Ukraine and was ready to talk about "nuances" of peace proposals.

Orban is being accompanied on the trip by his foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto.

Orban's spokesman shared an image on social media of Orban on a red carpet on a tarmac in Moscow with the message "The #peace mission continues. Second stop: #Moscow."

Szijjarto posted an image of himself exiting a Hungarian Air Force plane and said, "Arriving in Moscow. Another step for peace!"

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EU officials might disagree.

An unnamed EU official told RFE/RL that Orban had not informed Brussels of any planned Moscow trip, and his press office did not initially respond to request for comment.

Current EU foreign affairs high representative Josep Borrell said in a statement on July 5 that "Prime Minister Orban has not received any mandate from the EU Council to visit Moscow."

He said the visit "takes place, exclusively, in the framework of the bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia."

Orban has whipped up heightened fears of an escalating conflict in recent Hungarian elections, seemingly adopted Kremlin talking points, and accused many in the West of warmongering in response to Russia's invasion.

He has also whipped up heightened fears of an escalating conflict in recent Hungarian elections.

Orban's record with respect to Moscow has sparked concerns that beyond rule-of-law and democracy disputes with Brussels, the Hungarian EU presidency might erode unity among bloc members in the face of Russian aggression.

In Kyiv on July 2, Orban presented Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy with a cease-fire proposal he said was aimed at pausing the fighting. He declined to give details but said he asked Zelenskiy "whether it was possible to take a break, to stop the firing, and then continue the negotiations."

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Zelenskiy did not express his opinion on the proposal during the briefing with reporters, but a spokesman for the president said later on July 2 that Zelenskiy gave Orban an opportunity to air his thoughts.

Zelenskiy said after Orban's arrival in Moscow that the visit was "without agreement" of any kind from Kyiv.

Putin, who has denied Ukrainian nationhood and history, has said conditions for ending the war, which has killed and wounded more than 500,000 people on both sides, include Kyiv renouncing any NATO hopes and ceding Crimea and four other occupied regions of Ukraine.

Zelenskiy has insisted its territorial integrity -- backed in multiple UN votes and a Ukrainian-initiated Global Peace Summit in Switzerland last month -- must be the foundation of any peace deal.

After word leaked on July 4 of Orban's planned visit, European Council President Charles Michel said "the EU rotating presidency has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU."

"The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine," Michel added.

Orban last visited Moscow in September 2022, when he paid his respects at the funeral of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

The wife of imprisoned Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza says he was transferred from a maximum security prison facility to a prison hospital late on June 4. Yevgenia Kara-Murza said her 42-year-old husband's lawyers were not allowed to see him. She said he was sent "from the maximum security penal colony IK-6 in Omsk to the FKLPU Regional Hospital 11 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Omsk Oblast." Kara-Murza, who has survived two serious bouts with illness that were consistent with poisoning, holds Russian and British passports. He was initially arrested in April 2022 after returning from abroad and charged with disobeying a police officer but was later charged with discrediting the Russian military and treason over remarks he made about Kremlin policies. In April 2023, he was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

At least three people were killed and eight others including two policemen injured in an explosion in Pakistan’s northwestern Mardan district on July 5. District police chief Zahoor Afridi told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that an improvised explosive device had been detonated near a bridge around the time a police van was passing. An emergency services spokesperson said the casualties included women and children. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has seen an increase in deadly attacks in the past two years mostly remained unclaimed while some of them claimed by the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan. Residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have protested against the lack of security provided by Islamabad and against the actions of extremists. Pakistani security forces have said they have been conducting targeted operations against militants in several parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, click here.

The wife of an Iranian-Swedish academic condemned to death in Iran says he has ended a hunger strike eight days after launching the protest at his being left out of a prisoner swap between Tehran and Stockholm.

Vida Mehrannia told RFE/RL's Radio Farda on July 5 that her husband, Ahmadreza Djalali, accepted calls to end his hunger strike as he was suffering from "severe" weakness, heart and blood-pressure issues, and "severe stomach problems" made worse by previous hunger strikes.

Last month, Sweden released former Iranian prison official Hamid Nouri in exchange for Swedish citizens Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi.

Djalali, who was detained in 2016 and subsequently sentenced to death for allegedly spying for Israel, was not part of the exchange.

He has denied all the charges against him.

Mehrannia has said the Swedish government's explanations for not including him are not "convincing."

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on June 25 that his government’s only options were to bring Floderus and Azizi back or walk away from the talks.

Djalali appears to be the longest-held dual citizen held in Iranian custody.

His wife accuses Tehran of holding him to “pressure” European states to release Iranian prisoners.

Last month's prisoner swap deal has been widely condemned by rights groups and activists because Nouri was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the mass execution of political prisoners in Iran in 1988.

At least eight other European citizens are currently held in Iran, including Jamshid Sharmahd, a German citizen of Iranian descent sentenced to death.

A Bosnian man arrested in connection with the audacious escape of Russian businessman Artyom Uss from Italian arrest has been released and is now cooperating with Italian investigators.

U.S. prosecutors, meanwhile, have for now dropped their extradition request against the man, Vladimir Jovancic, who also faces a U.S. indictment for aiding Uss's March 2023 escape.

Jovancic's release from Croatian detention, and the halt to U.S. extradition proceedings, neither of which has been reported previously, are small but significant developments in the continuing investigation of how Uss -- the politically connected son of a powerful Russian governor -- managed to slip out of Italy on the eve of his extradition to the United States.

Uss had been arrested by Italy after being charged by the U.S. Justice Department with overseeing an elaborate smuggling network that had secretly shipped Western military technology to Russia -- some of which had ended up on Ukrainian battlefields.

His escape embarrassed Italian authorities and prompted criticism from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who said there had been "anomalies" in the decisions that ultimately led to Uss's escape.

Jovancic, a 53-year-old national of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is one of eight people that Italian prosecutors have charged in connection with Uss's escape.

He was arrested in December 2023 in Zagreb after U.S. prosecutors secured a grand jury indictment of him in connection with the escape.

Since then, Jovancic has been cooperating with Italian prosecutors, providing testimony on at least two occasions.

Sometime late last month, however, Jovancic was released from Croatian detention and was extradited to Italy after reaching a plea agreement, his Croatian lawyer Gordan Preglej, told RFE/RL. The conditions of the deal require his cooperation with Italian officials and three years of community service, Preglej said.

His release also included the agreement by U.S. prosecutors to halt extradition proceedings.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York confirmed that Jovancic's extradition had been halted, but said the charges remain in place.

A spokesman for the Milan prosecutors' office, which has been leading the Italian investigation, declined comment.

Where Is Uss?

Uss, whose father was the governor of the sprawling Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk and an ally of President Vladimir Putin, slipped out of house arrest in a suburb of Milan on March 22, 2023, after disrupting the signal transmitted from a court-ordered electronic monitoring bracelet.

He and the people who aided him then drove east, across Slovenia, Croatia, and into Serbia. He later flew back to Krasnoyarsk.

Italian authorities have cast a wide net across Europe, trying to identify and arrest the people involved in the escape.

In addition to Jovancic, others who have been arrested or detained include his son, Boris, who is believed to be in Italian custody; and a Slovenian man arrested in Ljubljana.

The Ljubljana District Court told RFE/RL that that man, Matej Janezic, had been been released from custody, and extradited to Italy.

Italian officials have also charged an obscure Serbian businessman named Srdjan Lolic.

Roughly three weeks after he allegedly helped Uss flee Italy, Lolic traveled to the North Pole, via Krasnoyarsk, accompanying a top Krasnoyarsk government official, and other Russian officials. Not known as a polar explorer, Lolic claimed to have been the first Serb to have reached the North Pole.

Lolic's whereabouts are currently unknown. But Italian court documents show he has provided written testimony to Italian prosecutors about the people who helped Uss escape.

Some of that testimony appears to have helped in the latest arrest announced by Italian officials on June 14: Dmitry Chirakadze, a Russian businessman who lives in Switzerland and controls a Sardinian hotel linked to Uss.

Chirakadze, who was arrested as he arrived at Rome's Fiumicino airport, has been fighting a court detention order, according to his defense lawyer.

Italian authorities have also charged Uss's wife, Maria Yagodina, in connection with the plot.

Both she and Uss are believed in Russia, possibly Krasnoyarsk. In comments to Russian media following Chirakadze's arrest, Uss confirmed his business ties to Chirakadze and alleged the arrest was a "PR move" by Western officials.

The United States has offered a $7 million reward for information leading to Uss escape.

RFE/RL Russian Service correspondents Mark Krutov and Sergei Dobrynin, and RFE/RL enterprise editor Carl Schreck contributed to this report.