An attack on a police patrol in southeastern Iran has left 10 officers dead, the Interior Ministry said. The attack occurred in Gohar Kuh, in Sistan-Baluchistan Province, some 1,200 kilometers southeast of the capital, Tehran. No group has claimed responsibility so far. The Tasnim news agency, which is linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, reported an attack on "two police patrols returning to their police station." Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni has ordered an investigation into the incident, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. Sistan-Baluchistan has been rocked by a spate of deadly attacks targeting security forces in recent months. Those previous attacks have been claimed by Jaish al-Adl, a Baluch separatist militant group that is believed to be operating out of neighboring Pakistan. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.

Three civilians were killed and seven wounded, including a child, in Russian shelling in Ukraine's southern Kherson region over the past 24 hours, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on the morning of October 26 on Telegram. In Kyiv, a Russian drone strike killed a teenager during an hourslong nighttime attack, said Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Ukraine's capital. In the larger Kyiv region, a woman was killed in a drone attack and a 13-year-old boy was wounded, regional Governor Ruslan Kravchenko said. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

The pro-Russian Georgian Dream party is on pace to extend its control of parliament, dealing a blow to opposition forces seeking a future in the European Union.

Georgian Dream garnered 53 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results, with four opposition parties crossing the 5 percent threshold to secure seats in parliament.

The Coalition for Change, Unity -- To Save Georgia, Strong Georgia, and For Georgia combined received 39 percent of the vote.

The turnout was nearly 59 percent, the Central Election Commission said, the highest since 2012, when Georgian Dream came to power.

Georgian Dream has portrayed the elections as a choice of peace or war, saying that if the opposition wins, it will drag Georgia into war against Russia.

The opposition has framed the vote as a choice between the West and Russia and between democracy and authoritarianism, a narrative echoed by officials in the United States and Europe who have been critical of Georgian Dream for democratic backsliding.

In a sign of the sharp divisions inside the country and the potential for protest in the vote's aftermath, exit polls conducted on behalf of pro-government and opposition organizations showed significantly different results.

Georgian Dream did not receive more than 42 percent in the two opposition exit polls but garnered 56 percent in the pro-goverment one.

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Natia Yoseliani, a spokeswoman for the Central Election Commission, told the media earlier that after "minor technical defects," the process was taking place "in a calm environment" in all the 3,111 polling stations.

Nonetheless, the tension could be felt during the voting process with some scuffles and accusations of fraud.

An RFE/RL correspondent reported an incident in the southern city of Marneuli, where a member of an opposition party in a voting station was allegedly beaten up by a Georgian Dream representative amid reports of ballot stuffing.

In Rustavi, a city some 20 kilometers southeast of Tbilisi, RFE/RL correspondent Davit Mchedlidze was verbally abused and prevented from doing his job at a polling station by unidentified individuals who attempted to take his phone away.

A witness told RFE/RL that the unidentified persons were on the territory of the precinct, in violation of the law. Although the police were called, none arrived, the witness told RFE/RL.

Observers for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) who monitored the election will hold a conference tomorrow.

A new electoral system means parties or coalitions have to meet a threshold of 5 percent to make it into parliament. That motivated Georgia's opposition parties to form coalitions that have a reasonable chance of making it over the threshold.

Georgian Dream was founded by billionaire former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia's richest man. The Kremlin has made no secret that it prefers a victory by Georgian Dream.

After casting his ballot, Ivanishvili urged Georgians to show up and vote in large numbers, while accusing the opposition of being in the service of an unnamed "foreign state" that would drag Georgia into a war against Russia.

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"We have a very simple choice: either we elect a government that will serve you, the people of Georgia, Georgian society, take care of the country, or we elect an agent of a foreign state that will only follow orders from abroad," Ivanishvili said, adding that Georgia would then be faced with "catastrophe and ruins."

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said after voting that he was optimistic that Georgian Dream would garner about 60 percent of the vote, without explaining his optimism.

"This is a referendum between war and peace, between immoral propaganda and traditional values. This is a referendum between the country's dark past and a bright future," he said.

Kobakhidze refused to answer a question about the transfer of power in the event of an opposition victory.

Opinion polls show that Georgians are broadly supportive of joining the European Union and NATO but are also keen to avoid conflict with Russia and are deeply conservative on issues such as LGBT rights.

Among the controversial bills that Georgian Dream has passed is a law requiring groups that receive 20 percent or more of their funding from abroad to register as "foreign agents."

Opponents dubbed it the "Russian law," describing it as authoritarian and inspired by similar laws used to curb dissent in Russia.

Passage of the legislation earlier this year drew massive protests and prompted the United States to impose sanctions on several Georgians and threaten to end aid to Tbilisi.

The European Union may consider temporary cancellation of its visa-free regime with Georgia if the elections are "not free and fair," the bloc's ambassador to Tbilisi said in September.

Other controversial legislation has clamped down on gay rights.

The four opposition parties that crossed the 5 percent threshold are Unity -- To Save Georgia, a coalition led by the former ruling United National Movement (ENM); Coalition for Change, largely made up of former ENM-affiliated figures; Strong Georgia, an ideologically eclectic coalition that has tried to position itself as neither ENM nor Georgian Dream; and For Georgia, a party that broke away from Georgian Dream.

In the campaign they directed their fire at the ruling party rather than each other, having the common goal of ending 12 years of rule by Georgian Dream and reviving Georgia's stalled bid to join the European Union.

They had agreed that in the case of an opposition victory, they would allow President Salome Zurabishvili to form a technocratic government that would restore good relations with the West and repeal the most authoritarian laws that Georgian Dream passed in the run-up to the campaign.

Zurabishvili, whose role is largely ceremonial, has been at odds with Georgian Dream.

For the first time, Georgia used a new electronic ballot-counting system -- with a paper backup -- with results a few hours after polls closed at 8 p.m. local time.

Russia's Justice Ministry has added several more names to its list of so-called "foreign agents."

Among those added to the "foreign agents" register are renowned literary critic and professor Oleg Lekmanov; politician Nikolai Kavkazsky, a member of the Yabloko opposition party; activist and member of the Free Udmurtia movement Artyom Medvedev; blogger Anton Khardin; and the Astra news outlet.

Lekmanov, a visiting professor at Princeton University, left Russia in February 2022 due to his opposition to Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Kavkazsky is also a human rights and LGBT activist. He has sharply condemned the war in Ukraine and was arrested for six days for an anti-war action. He has been repeatedly attacked because of his political views.

Medvedev, who advocates for the independence of the region of Udmurtia from Russia, has taken part in the events of the Forum of Free States of Post-Russia, which the Russian authorities have classified as an "undesirable organization," and was fined.

Khardin is a popular blogger, with over 127,000 subscribers to his Telegram channel. He opposes the war in Ukraine and has spoken out against political repression in Russia.

Astra is an independent Telegram channel with current news from Russia and the world. It also publishes news that is not published by official Russian media.

The Russian law, introduced in 2012 and expanded in 2022, requires organizations receiving foreign funding to register as "foreign agents," subjecting them to burdensome reporting, auditing, and labeling requirements.

Critics say that the legislation forms part of a systematic campaign to stifle criticism of the government and curtail the work of rights defenders and independent media.

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In a landmark ruling this week, the European Court of Human Rights said Russia's "foreign agent" law violated the European Convention on Human Rights, and that it is "arbitrary" and used in an "overly broad and unpredictable way."

The case was brought to the court by 107 plaintiffs, including major media outlets and human rights organizations such as RFE/RL's Russian Service (Radio Svoboda) and the Memorial human rights group.

The court ruled on October 22 that the law imposed "severe restrictions" on the plaintiffs’ activities and found that their designation as "foreign agents" amounted to "intimidation."

U.S. President Joe Biden expressed hope Israeli air strikes on Iran would bring an end to the current chapter of escalation in the Middle East, even as Hezbollah fired dozens of projectiles into northern Israel.

Israel struck Iran overnight in a "targeted and precise" attack in retaliation for Iranian attacks on Israel earlier this month, the military said. Two Iranian soldiers were killed in the bombing, Tehran said.

Iran has been on edge for several weeks, with many government officials and observers around the globe saying they expected Israel to hit back. Tehran said its strikes were itself retaliation for an earlier attack by Israel.

The Biden administration had been concerned that Israel might target Iranian oil facilities or its nuclear facilities.

Iran's economy is heavily dependent on oil exports but a strike on enegy facilities could have triggered a spike in global oil prices ahead of the U.S. election, where inflation is a key issue.

"Looks like they didn't hit anything but military targets," Biden told reporters on October 26, adding that Israel had informed him prior to the strikes. "I hope this is the end."

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Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based militant group backed by Iran, condemned the attack and fired more than 200 projectiles at Israel.

Israel said fragments from 30 rockets damaged buildings and cars in one northern town but that no one was killed.

Missile Facilities Targeted

The Israeli military said it targeted manufacturing facilities making missiles used to attack Israel over the last year.

Israeli warplanes also hit "surface-to-air missile arrays and additional Iranian aerial capabilities, that were intended to restrict Israel's aerial freedom of operation in Iran."

Earlier, the IDF said the attack was launched "in response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the state of Israel.

"The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 on several fronts, including direct attacks from Iranian soil," it added.

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Iran said that two of its soldiers had been killed in the Israeli attack, and confirmed that military sites were targeted in the region surrounding the capital, Tehran, and other parts of the country. It said the strikes caused "limited damage."

The semiofficial news agency Tasnim reported that Iran was resuming flights as normal after a brief interruption.

Iran’s currency and financial markets posted gains on October 26 after the government said the strikes caused limited damage. They had declined over the previous two weeks amid concerns over escalation.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Iran not to respond to the Israeli strikes.

"On the question of the strikes, I think we need to be really clear that Israel does have the right to defend itself, but we are urging, and have been urging all sides to show restraint, and that is why I am very clear today, Iran should not be responding to this," Starmer said in Samoa, where he is attending a Commonwealth summit.

White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said Washington was advised of the strikes ahead of time, calling them "an exercise of self-defense and in response to Iran's ballistic-missile attack against Israel on October 1."

The Pentagon, meanwhile, said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, about the strikes.

Austin reiterated that the United States was committed to Israel's security.

Israel has a right to defend itself, though Washington was determined to prevent the conflict from expanding, Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said in a statement.

Around the same time, an Israeli air strike targeted some military sites in Syria's central and southern parts, according to the Syrian state SANA news agency.

Concerns have been growing that Iran and the United States would be drawn into a regional war amid Israel's intensifying assault in Lebanon on Hezbollah -- a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon.

The air strikes on Beirut and southern Lebanon have been accompanied by a ground operation.

Hezbollah, designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union blacklists its armed wing but not its political party -- has supported another Iran-backed group, Hamas, which has been the target of a withering assault by Israel over the past year.

Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, triggered the current war when its fighters crossed into Israel on October 7, 2023, and killed some 1,200 people. They also took around 251 hostages back to the Gaza Strip.

A U.S. jury has convicted a man for conspiring to avoid sanctions imposed on Iran by attempting to ship U.S.-made heavy machinery used in mining to the country.

Brian Assi, also known as Brahim Assi, was convicted on October 24 of attempting to export goods from the United States to Iran without a license and other related charges, the Justice Department said in a news release on October 25.

Assi conspired with individuals affiliated with Tehran-based Sakht Abzar Pars Co. (SAP-Iran) to export the machinery indirectly to Iran without first obtaining the required licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the department said.

According to evidence presented at trial, Assi was a Middle East-based salesman for a multinational heavy-machinery manufacturer with a production plant in Florida.

Assi and his Iranian co-conspirators orchestrated the scheme by locating an Iraq-based distributor to serve as the purchaser of two blasthole drills from a subsidiary of Assi's employer.

Assi facilitated the sale of the blasthole drills and attempted to export them to Iran through Turkey, concealing any Iranian involvement in the transaction from his employer.

He claimed the drills were destined for use in Iraq, but in fact Assi intended for his Iranian co-conspirators to ship the items from Turkey to Iran in circumvention of U.S. export-control and sanctions laws.

"The defendant schemed to unlawfully export U.S.-origin mining drills to Iran, while deceiving his employer into believing that they were being sent to Iraq," Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said in the news release.

Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary for export enforcement in the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), said the verdict makes clear that the BIS will work tirelessly to uncover schemes no matter how hard the perpetrators try to hide them.

"We take action whenever we uncover attempts to evade our sanctions, especially when those efforts are designed to support adversaries like Iran," he said.

Assi is scheduled to be sentenced in January.

Russian air strikes late on October 25 that hit civilian buildings in Kyiv and Dnipro killed at least four people, local officials in the Ukrainian cities said.

A Russian drone struck a residential building in Kyiv, killing one person and injuring four, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said on Telegram.

A separate missile strike in the central city of Dnipro hit a residential building and a hospital, killing three people and injuring at least nine, Governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram.

Klitschko initially said two people were injured and were treated at the scene but later said one of the injured people had died.

Serhiy Popko, the head of the capital's military administration, said a fire broke out and spread to several apartments in the building located in a district west of the city center.

A picture posted on social media showed a high-rise building shrouded in smoke with fires burning on one of the top floors.

Klitschko said the building was in the Solomyanskiy district and also said the top floors were on fire.

An air-raid alert preceded the strike around 9 p.m. local time for Kyiv and the region around the city as well as in a number of other regions. The alert warned that Shahed drones were moving west from the Chernihiv region.

Before the strike in Kyiv, Popko warned that drones had been launched toward Kyiv and told people to go to shelters.

Lysak said the strike in Dnipro triggered a fire in a residential building. He initially said two women were killed there. In a later post he said a teenage boy and an 8-year-old girl were among the injured.

Other online reports said several strikes hit different areas of Dnipro and included pictures showing damage after an explosion at a city hospital.

Ukrainian regional officials said earlier on October 25 that Russian strikes had killed two people and wounded six in two areas of Ukraine.

In the eastern Donetsk region, Russian troops struck a post office, killing two people and wounding a third, regional Governor Vadym Filashkin reported.

"The Russians have once again launched a deliberate attack on a civilian facility -- a post office -- and have also damaged administrative buildings," Filashkin said.

In the southern region of Kherson, heavy Russian shelling of 27 localities, including Kherson city, wounded five civilians, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on Telegram.

"The Russian military targeted critical infrastructure, cell towers, and residential areas," Prokudin said.

With reporting by Reuters

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on October 25 that the European path and advocacy for a European Serbia are of "crucial importance for progress" and the country will work to stay on that path.

Vucic was speaking at a joint news conference in Belgrade after a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was in Serbia as part of a trip this week to the Western Balkans to assure countries hoping to become EU members that enlargement remains a priority for the bloc.

Vucic said von der Leyen asked Serbia for "much greater compliance with the EU's foreign policy declarations" during their meeting.

Serbia has close ties to Russia and has refused to join international sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. However, Vucic declined Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan this week.

After meeting with von der Leyen, Vucic repeated several times that Serbia was on a European path, but also said that it will maintain traditionally good relations with other countries.

Von der Leyen said her presence in Belgrade was testament to the EU’s wish to see Serbia become a member.

"What I see is that the president of the Republic of Serbia is hosting me here today and just has hosted the prime minister of Greece and the prime minister of Poland. That speaks for itself, I think," von der Leyen said at the joint press conference.

She noted that it was her fourth trip to Serbia since taking office, calling that "a very clear sign that I believe that Serbia's future is in the European Union."

Vucic said it was possible that the next chapter in Serbia's accession talks could be opened by the end of the year, saying this would be "a significant signal that Serbia is progressing on the European path."

Von der Leyen also raised the possibility of Serbia becoming a "leader in the field of electric vehicles" in a reference to controversial plans to begin mining lithium in western Serbia.

"It is the industry of tomorrow and we are here to support you every step of the way. We estimate that our great partnership in the field of critical raw materials will bring 20,000 jobs to Serbia and 6 billion euros to Serbia's gross domestic product," she said.

British-Australian mining company Rio Tinto plans to create Europe's biggest lithium mine in Serbia’s Jadar Valley, which could provide about one-fifth of the needs for Europe's electric-vehicle production, but the plans to open the mine have been met with opposition, largely on environmental grounds.

Von der Leyen said that the people of Serbia can be sure that the project will "respect and preserve nature" in Serbia and that mining operators will "always listen and cooperate with local communities."

Her meeting with Vucic took place in the Palace of Serbia, where several dozen activists opposed to the lithium-mining project gathered across the street. They blew whistles and held banners saying, "Serbia is not for sale" and "Ursula, we believe in Europe, but Serbia is not a colony."

"We have a complete violation of European values, the rule of law, democracy, and environmental standards. The EU is effectively betraying Europe itself," said Savo Manojlovic, campaign director of the Go-Change (Kreni-Promeni) movement that opposes the mine.

Von der Leyen arrived in Belgrade from Sarajevo on a four-day tour of the Western Balkans to discuss the European Union Growth Plan, an effort worth 6 billion euros ($6.4 billion) to double the region's economy over the next decade and accelerate Balkan countries' efforts to join the bloc.

From Serbia, von der Leyen will travel to Kosovo and Montenegro.

With reporting by AP

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned of an urgent need to reach a diplomatic resolution to the war in Gaza and Lebanon as the UN refugee agency raised concerns over Israeli air strikes, saying they endangered those fleeing the war.

Speaking before a meeting in London with Arab leaders on October 25, Blinken stressed the need to end the conflict on a day when Israeli strikes killed 38 people in Gaza and three journalists in Lebanon.

"We have a sense of real urgency in getting to a diplomatic resolution and the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, such that there can be real security along the border between Israel and Lebanon," Blinken said, referring to a resolution in place following the last major Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

Israel has pledged to neutralize Iran-backed Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States the European Union, since last October when Hamas militants crossed into Israel and killed some 1,200 people and took 240 hostages.

The conflict has since spread to Lebanon, where fighters from Hezbollah, a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon, have launched almost daily attacks on Israel in support of Hamas, another Tehran-backed group.

Lebanese authorites say more than 2,500 people have been killed in the fighting in the country, while more than 1.2 million have been displaced, sparking a humanitarian crisis.

Israel's weekslong aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Lebanon began by targeting Hezbollah's leadership and military capabilities.

But it has recently expanded its targets to civilian infrastructure -- including banks -- affiliated with Hezbollah, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union blacklists its armed wing but not its political party.

Blinken said on October 24 that Israel had accomplished its objective of "effectively dismantling" Hamas as he pushed the two sides to renew negotiations to reach a truce.

Meanwhile, Israeli air strikes pounded southern Lebanon, with the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) saying targets near the border with Syria included areas that the IDF claims the group uses to smuggle weapons into Lebanon.

Rula Amin, the spokeswoman for the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), said the strikes were threatening the lives of many not involved in the conflict, given that some 430,000 people have crossed to Syria since the war started.

"The attacks on the border crossings are a major concern," Amin said.

"They are blocking the path to safety for people fleeing conflict."

A knife-wielding teenager has killed a police officer and wounded a second one in a town in western Bosnia-Herzegovina, authorities reported on October 25, in what the Interior Ministry called "an act of terrorism."

The attack by a 14-year-old boy occurred at a police station in Bosanska Krupa, a town of some 14,000 people, late on October 24, the ministry's office in the Una-Sana Canton told RFE/RL.

The wounded police officer was in stable condition in hospital, authorities said.

There had been no threats addressed to local police in Una-Sana and authorities had no prior knowledge of an imminent attack on the Bosanska Krupa police station, police and prosecutors said at a joint press conference on October 25 in the city of Bihac.

The minor who carried out the attack at around 9 p.m. local time was not previously known to the authorities.

"This attack on a public institution was an act of terrorism meant to frighten the public," Merima Mesanovic, the chief prosecutor of Una-Sana, told the news conference.

Authorities neither confirmed nor denied local media reports alleging the suspect, whose identity was not revealed because of his age, is a religious extremist. They gave no further information because the investigation is still ongoing.

Mesanovic said the suspect's home had been searched and some items had been taken in connection with the probe. His motive remains unknown.

Mesanovic added that the penalty for murder ranges from at least 10 years in prison up to life imprisonment but, as the suspect is a minor, he may only be sent to reformatory for a five-year period, if he is convicted.

Cantonal police chief Amel Kozlica said the security level in the city and its surroundings has been raised, with armed police patrolling the streets.

The attack left people in the small town in a state of shock.

"We really don't understand what his reason was. It's terrible what's happening among children, social networks probably had an influence, TikTok in particular," local resident Amra Kajtezovic told RFE/RL, describing the whole event as "terrible for such a small place where everyone knows each other."

There have been prior attacks on police in Bosnia.

In June 2010, in Bugojno, in the central part of the country, one officer was killed, and six were wounded in an attack on a police station.

In April 2015, in Zvornik, in eastern Bosnia, an attacker killed one police officer and wounded two before being shot dead in turn.

The construction of a new military camp in the Homel region of Belarus, which some analysts warned could be used as an attack base targeting Ukraine, has ground to a halt, RFE/RL has learned. Using local sources and citing satellite images, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports that activity at the site of the "Chaika" facility -- a former communist-era children's holiday camp located just 40 kilometers from the border with Ukraine -- appears to have been suspended for no reason. Under government plans, the state investment program was to fund the project, which was to be completed in 2027. At the start of the year, the site was filled with construction equipment and local residents told RFE/RL that building had commenced. A satellite image from October 10 shows that no new buildings have appeared on the territory of the former camp. Russia used Belarus as a staging area to launch its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but Minsk says it has not allowed Belarusian forces to participate in the conflict. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned that Russia intends to deploy troops from North Korea in combat areas as early as October 27.

He also called for "tangible" international pressure on the two countries to get them to respect UN legislation.

Ukraine's military intelligence service said on October 24 that it had detected the presence of North Korean troops deployed in Russia’s Kursk region, where the first units arrived on October 23.

Ukrainian forces staged a major incursion in August in Kursk, a Russian region bordering Ukraine, and are holding territory there.

Kyiv says this territory is being used as a buffer zone against Russian strikes on Ukraine.

According to intelligence, Zelenskiy said on X on October 25, "the first North Korean soldiers are expected to be deployed by Russia to combat zones as early as October 27-28. He called the move "a clear escalation by Russia."

"The world can clearly see Russia's true intentions: to continue the war," he said. "This is why a principled and strong response from global leaders is essential."

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said it's possible that there are now more than 3,000 troops from North Korea that have been dispatched to Russia for training.

Kirby said on a call with reporters on October 25 that it was possible that some of the North Korean troops would be deployed to the Kursk region but cautioned that he did not know for what purpose.

The top national-security advisers for the United States, Japan, and South Korea had met, Kirby said, adding that they "expressed grave concern" about the possible deployment of North Korean troops on the battlefield against Ukraine.

The three advisers called on Russia and North Korea "to cease these actions that only serve to expand the security implications of Russia's brutal and illegal war beyond Europe and into the Indo-Pacific," Kirby said.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on October 23 that evidence of North Korea sending troops to Russia was the "next step" after Pyongyang provided Moscow with arms.

Analysts are still assessing the situation, Austin said, but Pyongyang, which has denied the accusations, could face consequences for aiding Russia directly.

Asked about whether any North Korean troops were in Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin neither confirmed nor denied the claim.

When asked about satellite photos of troops at a news conference after a summit in Russia's Kazan, Putin said, "images are a serious thing, if there are images, then they reflect something."

With reporting by AP

Ten members of Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Constabulary (FC) were killed and three others were wounded in a militant attack early on October 25 in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border, security sources told RFE/RL. Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, chief minister of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, confirmed the attack in a statement, without mentioning the number of deaths. The Pakistani Taliban (TTP), a radical Islamist group that has been a U.S.-designated terrorist organization since 2010, has claimed responsibility for the attack, which was carried out by a large group of gunmen, according to police sources. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, click here.

Moldovan police have accused convicted fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor of transferring $39 million into the bank accounts of thousands of Moldovans over the past two months allegedly to buy votes for the pro-Russian camp in a referendum and the first round of presidential elections last week.

Investigators said on October 25 that they uncovered about 1 million bank transfers, which reached the personal accounts of Moldovan citizens in September and October through the Russian bank Promsvyazbank (PSB), Moldovan police chief Viorel Cernauteanu told a news conference in Chisinau.

He added that some 500 people had already been fined for "passive electoral corruption," without clarifying what that means. No direct evidence of vote buying has been released, but under Moldovan law, it is illegal to accept large sums of money from abroad for political purposes.

Shor, who also holds Russian and Israeli citizenship, was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison by a Moldovan court in April 2023 over a $1 billion bank fraud. He is believed to be in Russia.

Despite expectations of a landslide "yes," the October 20 referendum on Moldova's integration into the European Union only passed by a razor-thin margin of less than 1 percentage point, prompting accusations from pro-EU President Maia Sandu of massive vote buying and disinformation orchestrated by criminal groups backed by "foreign forces."

The referendum was held simultaneously with a presidential vote, won by incumbent Sandu with some 42.5 percent of the vote -- less than the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a runoff.

She will face pro-Moscow ex-Prosecutor-General Alexandr Stoianoglo in a crucial runoff on November 3.

On October 21, Sandu indicated that the stronger-than-expected showing of the pro-Moscow camp in both elections was due to what she said was an "unprecedented" assault from "criminal groups," which she said tried to buy off as many as 300,000 votes with tens of millions of euros in an attempt to "undermine the democratic process."

Russia has denied any interference, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling on Sandu to "produce proof" to back up her accusations.

Cernauteanu said police investigators and prosecutors had established that the disbursement of the funds started in April at the latest.

He said that money from Russia came either through PSB bank transfers or via couriers who pay people directly.

However, Shor is believed to have established a network of trusted people in Moldova to whom he has been sending funds ostensibly for various social activities.

The police investigation found that, in September, PSB bank, which has been under international sanctions for its support of Russia's war in Ukraine, sent $15 million followed by a further $24 million this month.

Cernauteanu said investigators had established the identities of some 138,000 Moldovan citizens in whose bank accounts the money ended up.

The real number of those allegedly bribed by Shor, however, "is even higher" than the 300,000 mentioned by Sandu, because transfers made to one account were then shared between more people, he said.

Cernauteanu warned that those accepting money from Shor would be considered part of his "criminal organization" and urged Moldovans to cooperate with the authorities.

The investigation is still under way, Cernauteanu said, adding that on October 23 police searched 19 Moldovan districts and found envelopes with cash inside.

Cernauteanu said investigators were looking into instances of potential vote buying for the crucial presidential runoff on November 3.

Dozens of people have been detained in the city of Korkino about 35 kilometers from the southern Russian city of Chelyabinsk after mass riots on October 24.

The unrest began after a local woman who worked as a taxi driver was apparently stabbed to death. Her body was found in her car.

Residents of Korkino gathered near a house believed to belong to members of the Romany diaspora and claimed two visitors were guilty of the crime. According to local Telegram channels and eyewitnesses, the house was pelted with stones and Molotov cocktails.

Special forces arrived at the scene to cordon off the building and drive away the angry crowd. People then scattered throughout the city and set fire to two more houses and several cars that they believed belonged to Romany.

The Emergencies Ministry Department for the Chelyabinsk region reported that the fires were quickly extinguished by the department's employees.

Regional Governor Aleksei Teksler said two of his deputies and special forces units of the Russian Guard had left for Korkino, and he promised "support and assistance" to the family of the deceased woman.

The local publication 74.ru reported that representatives of the Romany diaspora were leaving for the neighboring city of Yemanzhelinsk, and that at least 30 people had been taken to the Korkino police department. Local residents were also heading to the police department to support the detainees.

One news report said a 17-year-old had been detained in the killing. The suspect allegedly was a passenger in the victim’s car when a conflict arose, and he stabbed her at least four times in her chest.

The regional office of the Investigative Committee said the teenager’s involvement has not yet been confirmed.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 24 that his invasion of Ukraine violated the UN charter and international law, according to a UN statement following their meeting at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.

The statement said Guterres reiterated his position on the Russian invasion during their meeting, which was their first since April 2022.

The UN chief, whose visit to Russia as the country's forces continue their indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, was photographed shaking hands with Putin ahead of their meeting.

In an earlier speech to the summit's delegates delivered in front of Putin, Guterres called for a "just peace" in Ukraine.

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"We need peace in Ukraine. A just peace in line with the UN Charter, international law, and [UN] General Assembly resolution," said Guterres, whose presence at the summit drew an angry reaction from Kyiv.

"The UN Secretary General declined Ukraine's invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on X on October 22. "He did, however, accept the invitation to Kazan from war criminal Putin. This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the UN's reputation."

Russian opposition figure Yulia Navalnaya also slammed Guterres for meeting Putin, labeling the Kremlin boss a "murderer."

"It was the third year of the war, and the UN Secretary-General was shaking hands with a murderer," Navalnaya said on X, posting a photo of Putin greeting Guterres.

She has blamed Putin for the death of her husband, opposition politician and outspoken Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, in a Russian prison in February.

The three-day summit in the city of Kazan was attended by representatives of the other BRICS countries -- Brazil, India, China, and South Africa. The leaders of or representatives of 36 countries, including Iran and Turkey, also attended the meeting.

Russia touted it as a show of force among the world’s major developing countries that are still willing to meet with Putin despite massive Western sanctions and efforts to isolate Moscow in response to its illegal war in Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Jablanica, a village in Bosnia-Herzegovina that was among the worst hit by deadly flash floods and landslides earlier this month. "I came to see with my own eyes what happened and how the property of these people in this region was destroyed. Be sure that we stand by you, that Europe is with you," von der Leyen said in Jablanica on October 24. Von der Leyen spoke with representatives of state and local authorities and met with rescuers. Heavy rains hit the area on October 4, causing flooding and landslides that killed 19 people in Jablanica, four in Konjic, and three in Fojnica. Von der Leyen's visit was part of a four-day tour to discuss the EU Growth Plan with the authorities of Western Balkan countries and their progress toward European integration. To read the original story on RFE/RL's Balkan Service, click here.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit despite advice given to EU candidate countries to refrain from such contacts. Vulin met with Putin at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 24, the Serbian government said in a press release. Vulin also spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and the presidents of Egypt and Venezuela on the sidelines of the summit, the government said without specifying the topics of the conversations. Vulin attended the summit representing President Aleksandar Vucic, who despite a personal invitation from Putin declined to go to Russia. EU spokesman Peter Stano on October 23 said that all EU candidate countries "are expected to refrain from contacts with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin." Serbia also has not joined EU sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine even though it is a candidate for EU membership. To read the full story by RFE/RL’s Balkan Service, click here.

A group of governments and international organizations from around the world raised $1 billion to aid the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued his tour of the Middle East saying Washington was open to "different options" to ending the war in the Gaza Strip, which has spilled over into neighboring Lebanon.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said $800 million had been raised at the conference in Paris on October 24 to help the hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon displaced by fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon.

Another $200 million was pledged at the conference to help the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), a national-security force that aids in implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for southern Lebanon to be free of any troops or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state.

"The storm we are currently witnessing is unlike any other, because it carries the seeds of total destruction," Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said at the donor conference.

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The current war between Israel and the Iran-backed groups Hezbollah and Hamas -- which have been designated as terrorist organizations by the United States -- was triggered after Hamas militants made an incursion into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people. They also took some 240 people back to Gaza as hostages.

Israel has since launched a withering offensive that, according to the Hamas-led Heath Ministry in Gaza, has seen around 43,000 people killed while displacing virtually all of Gaza's 2.3 million people.

The European Union has also designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, and while it blacklists Hezbollah's armed wing, it does not give its political party the same designation. Hezbollah’s political party has seats in the Lebanese parliament.

Many Western officials have said the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar earlier this month opened room for reviving peace talks.

Blinken, in Qatar on October 24, said after talks with officials from Egypt and Qatar that the focus was on "options to capitalize on this moment and next steps to move the process forward."

"Going back to the negotiations on cease-fire and the hostages, one of the things we're doing is looking at whether there are different options that we can pursue to get us to a conclusion, to get us to a result," Blinken said.

The talks in Doha are scheduled to include Israeli officials on October 25, while Qatari officials have met with officials in Hamas' political office in the Qatari capital in recent days.

The European Parliament on October 24 denounced what it called violations of human rights and international law by Azerbaijan, saying Europe needs to end its dependency on gas from the Caucasus nation.

In a tersely worded resolution, 453 MEPs voted in favor of the statement that condemned Azerbaijan's "repression" of activists, journalists, and opposition leaders at home and abroad, which has "noticeably intensified" ahead of Baku hosting the 29th United Nations Climate Change conference (COP29) next month.

"Azerbaijan's ongoing human rights abuses are incompatible with its hosting of the climate conference, and [we] encourage EU leaders such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to use the gathering as an opportunity to address the country's poor track record in this field," a press release from the European Parliament said.

"Parliament also calls on the government in Baku to cease all forms of repression in and beyond Azerbaijan, release all persons arbitrarily detained and drop all politically motivated charges."

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Oil-and-gas powerhouse Azerbaijan was controversially granted hosting duties for the 29th UN Climate Change conference, known as COP29, despite critics' concerns about its democracy and rights record.

Criticism of President Ilham Aliyev's administration has intensified in recent months, with nearly 60 U.S. lawmakers signing a letter earlier this month that urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to "press for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, hostages, and POWs, including ethnic Armenians, to enable a more conducive environment for successful diplomacy at COP29."

Aliyev, who has rejected criticism of his country's human rights record, called the letter "disgusting."

The resolution approved by the MEPs also called for the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia and the signing of a long-awaited peace agreement.

Azerbaijan retook control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in September 2023 following a lightning offensive. Since then, Azerbaijan and Armenia have held negotiations on a peace treaty that the two sides said in September was 80 percent complete.

Azerbaijan lost Nagorno-Karabakh -- an ethnic Armenian enclave that lies fully within Azerbaijani territory -- to Armenian forces in the 1990s.

Ukraine's military intelligence service said on October 24 that it has detected the presence of North Korean troops deployed in Russia’s Kursk region.

According to intelligence data, the first military units from North Korea arrived in the combat zone on October 23.

The intelligence service said their presence "was recorded in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation," a border area where Ukrainian forces staged a major incursion in August.

Such a deployment raises the possibility that North Korean soldiers could join Russian troops fighting in Ukraine as the war there, triggered by Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, grinds on.

The Kremlin has previously dismissed reports about the North's troop deployment as "fake news." But Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 24 did not deny that North Korean troops were currently in Russia.

Putin added it was Moscow's business how to implement a strategic partnership treaty with Pyongyang agreed by Putin and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un in June.

Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, earlier on October 24 approved the treaty, which allows for "military and other assistance" from one country to the other.

The treaty brings cooperation between the two countries to a higher level, including a line stating that if one side is attacked and finds itself in a state of war, the other must "immediately provide military and other assistance with all means at its disposal."

It's not clear how that clause is to be interpreted, but both South Korea and the United States have recently said they have evidence that North Korean troops are in Russia and appear to be holding training exercises.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on October 23 that the evidence of North Korea sending troops to Russia was the "next step" after Pyongyang provided Moscow with arms.

Analysts are still assessing the situation, Austin said, but Pyongyang, which has denied the accusations, could face consequences for aiding Russia directly.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh on October 24 reiterated Austin's comments, telling reporters at a briefing that the U.S. military has seen evidence of North Korean troops going to Russia.

“What exactly they’re doing has yet to be seen," she said, adding that the actions "really highlight Russia’s desperation [and] show that Putin has failed in his strategic objectives on the battlefield.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on October 23 that the White House believes at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers traveled by ship to Vladivostok in Russia's Far East in early to mid-October.

"If they're co-belligerents, their intention is to participate in this war on Russia's behalf, that is a very, very serious issue, and it will have impacts not only in Europe, it will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific," he said.

NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah said the allies are discussing the matter, noting that if true, "it would mark a significant escalation in North Korea's support for Russia's illegal war and yet another sign of Russia's significant losses on the front lines."

Last week, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it had tracked the movements of North Korea's military from October 8 to October 13 and had captured images of it transporting special forces to Russian territory via a Russian transport ship, the first time a Russian Navy vessel had been detected entering North Korean waters since 1990, "confirming the start of the North Korean military's participation in the war."

Speculation over North Korea's role in the conflict has grown amid signs of tightening relations between Moscow and countries such as North Korea and Iran almost 32 months after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based U.S. military think tank, also recently reported that several thousand North Korean troops had arrived in Russia and were being prepared for deployment in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has previously dismissed claims by South Korea that Pyongyang has supplied artillery shells and short-range missiles to Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on October 14 warned that North Korean assistance to Russia "is no longer just about transferring weapons."

Alexandr Stoianoglo, who faces pro-European incumbent Maia Sandu in the runoff of Moldova's presidential election early next month, has defended acquiring Romanian citizenship and lashed out at media revelations that his daughters have been working in Western Europe.

The U.S.-educated Sandu won the first round on October 20 with 42.49 percent of the vote, while Socialist Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor-general facing accusations of corruption, garnered 25.9 percent, final results showed, after a campaign marred by allegations of vote-buying as well as manipulation and disinformation campaigns allegedly orchestrated by Russia.

The runoff is scheduled for November 3.

Most of Moldova was part of Romania until the end of World War II and many Moldovans also hold Romanian citizenship, which gives them the opportunity to travel freely to the European Union and work there.

Stoianoglo boycotted a referendum for Moldova's integration into the EU held simultaneously with the presidential vote, which passed by a wafer-thin margin at 50.38 percent.

While the referendum has no legal impact on Moldova's negotiations with Brussels, the very narrow approval margin came as a surprise to many observers, who had expected a more decisive vote in favor of the former Soviet republic's path toward Euro-Atlantic integration and departure from decades of Russian influence.

After media reports revealed that Stoianoglo possesses a Romanian passport, he argued that he obtained it in 2019 in an "apolitical context," without elaborating.

Stoianoglo also lashed out at the media for revealing that both his daughters are working in the West.

According to public data on social media, his older daughter, Cristina, acquired a master's degree in economics and business in Vienna and works for a Switzerland-based company, while the younger one, Corina, studied at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and works for the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, Germany.

She appears in a photo on LinkedIn in the company of ECB President Christine Lagarde.

In a reaction on social media on October 23, Stoianoglo claimed incorrectly that his daughters studied and were working in Europe because "this is a right that every Moldovan youth has."

Moldova is one of Europe's poorest countries with a sizeable Russian minority and a Moscow-backed separatist region, Transdniester, located on the left bank of the Dniester River.

EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak is meeting in Brussels with representatives from Kosovo and Serbia in an attempt to organize a new round of high-level talks as part of international mediation on implementing past commitments aimed at normalizing relations between the Balkan neighbors. According to the meeting agendas, Lajcak will meet individually with Serbia's Petar Petkovic and Kosovo's Besnik Bislimi, but it's not clear whether the two Balkan representatives will meet together. A day earlier, EU spokesman Peter Stano stated a day earlier that the discussions to move the process forward "largely depend on the readiness of both parties to meet." Petkovic and Bislimi met last month to try and arrange a similar high-level meeting, but those talks collapsed with both sides blaming each other for the lack of progress. Kosovo and Serbia have been negotiating normalization since 2011 through the Brussels dialogue, supervised by the EU. They reached an agreement on normalization steps in early 2023, but key elements of the deal remain unfulfilled. Kosovo insists that this agreement must be signed first, although the EU says it is binding on the parties regardless of signature. To read the original stories by the Balkan and Kosovo services, click here and here.

A Russian air strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupyansk on October 24 killed one person and wounded 10 others, regional authorities said.

"The enemy struck near a shop and the town market," regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said in his initial statement about the morning attack on the city in the Kharkiv region.

A 73-year-old woman was admitted to hospital in serious condition and it was not possible to save her, he added.

Russian shelling later in the day killed three people in the area around the strategic hub of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region, Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.

The people killed were two men aged 58 and 65 and a 63-year-old woman, he said.

Filashkin said Pokrovsk and its surrounding area are the target of Russian troops, and he urged local residents to evacuate.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian military also said the most intense Russian assaults along the front line were taking place in the Pokrovsk area, including near the coal mining town of Selydove.

Russian media and war bloggers reported on October 24 that Russian forces had advanced into Selydove, which is about 20 kilometers southeast of Pokrovsk.

Earlier on October 24, Ukrainian air defenses shot down 40 of the 50 drones launched by Russia at 11 of its regions, while another seven lost their way due to electronic jamming of their navigation systems, The Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement.

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Ukraine Evacuates Residents At 150 Km/Hour To Avoid Drone Fire (Video)

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The drones were shot down in the Odesa, Mykolayiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsya, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskiy, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Poltava, and Chernihiv regions, it said, adding that one drone was still in Ukrainian airspace while two more returned in the direction of Russia and Belarus.

Russia also launched two guided missiles and two cruise missiles, which missed their targets, the military said.

With reporting by Reuters