Hey, you're busy! We know rferl.org isn't the only website you read. And that it's just possible you may have missed some of our most compelling journalism this week. To make sure you're up-to-date, here are some of the highlights produced by RFE/RL's team of correspondents, multimedia editors, and visual journalists over the past seven days.
Underpants, A Coma, A Call For McDonald's: In Momentous Hearing For Navalny, Moments Of Absurdity
At a hearing that handed him a prison sentence in a new twist an old case that he contends is fabricated, Aleksei Navalny took aim at President Vladimir Putin and the justice system that has kept the opposition leader’s efforts to challenge the Kremlin off presidential ballots and on the streets. By Mike Eckel
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No Food, No Lawyer, Threats, And Humiliation: Russians Detained During Navalny Protests Recount Mistreatment
No Food, No Lawyer, Threats, And Humiliation: Russians Detained During Navalny Protests Recount Mistreatment
Video from a Russian detention center shows around 20 men crammed into a cell with eight beds, without mattresses, and a urine-stained Turkish toilet in the corner. After more than 10,000 people were detained at anti-government protests that called for the release of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, stories are also emerging of mistreatment. Detainees have been held without access to lawyers, threatened, and denied food. One young activist recounted having a bag put on her head and being pushed off her chair. By Ray Furlong and Current Time
More On Aleksei Navalny And Protests In Russia:
In Navalny Protests, The Kremlin Finds A Familiar Target To Blame: The U.S. And The West
What's Next For Navalny And Russia's Beleaguered Opposition?
Tea And Sympathy: Russian TV Presents Police As Kindly Guardians Amid Brutal Crackdown
Inside The 'Propaganda Kitchen' -- A Former Russian 'Troll Factory' Employee Speaks Out
"At first, when I got there, I didn’t quite believe that it was real at all. I had a kind of culture shock. Orwell described how it works. I thought it was a dystopia, but in fact this is how it works," a former employee of the Russian “troll factory” told RFE/RL. By Dmitry Volchek
Armenia's Other Frontier: Plan To Revive Old Soviet Railway To Azerbaijan's Naxcivan Brings Potential, Concerns
The Armenian town of Yeraskh -- on the border with Azerbaijan's Naxcivan Province -- is the center of the next stage of the aftermath of last year's war in Nagorno-Karabakh. It is here where an old Soviet rail line, abandoned for a generation, is set to run again. By Neil Hauer
Interview: De Waal Sees 'Tricky Game' To Stabilize Armenian-Azerbaijani Peace
Caucasus expert Thomas de Waal says he think the Minsk Group will continue to exist despite France and the United States being kept out of the Russian-brokered agreement. But he emphasizes how vital it is restore economic relations "in a way that doesn’t just benefit Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Russia." By RFE/RL's Armenian Service
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Abandoned Homes, Crumbling Infrastructure In A Dying Russian Town
Abandoned Homes, Crumbling Infrastructure In A Dying Russian Town
Syava was once a thriving town of 10,000 people some 730 kilometers east of Moscow. But it's dying. After the main factory went bankrupt, rail service stopped, the main hospital closed, and the streets are lined with abandoned houses. By Harutyun Mansuryan and Current Time's Unknown Russia
Hounded Beyond The Grave: Dead Iranian Dissidents Not Allowed To Rest In Peace
The graves of people deemed enemies of Iran's Islamic Republic are routinely destroyed and desecrated as the government attempts to erase all memory of them. By RFE/RL's Radio Farda
The American Technology Behind The Navalny Video Of 'Putin's Palace'
A look at the drone that penetrated Russia's "most secure" zone to reveal the scale of the controversial "Putin Palace" property. By Amos Chapple
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'Excrement Everywhere': Chinese Miners In Serbia Protest Living, Working Conditions
'Excrement Everywhere': Chinese Miners In Serbia Protest Living, Working Conditions
A protest by Chinese workers at Serbia's Cukaru Peki copper and gold mines has raised questions about the living and working conditions at the site. Three workers who asked for their identities to be protected corresponded with RFE/RL's Balkan Service about their life in eastern Serbia. By RFE/RL's Balkan Service and Neil Bowdler
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The Odyssey Of The St. Nicholas Icon
The Odyssey Of The St. Nicholas Icon
A chronology of the diplomatic, cultural, and legal tug-of-war over a 300-year-old Orthodox artifact at the center of an international scandal. By Damir Piric, Meliha Kesmer, and Andy Heil