John Mastrini is a multimedia editor for RFE/RL in Prague.
A former U.S. soldier is facing possible extradition from Ukraine to face murder and robbery charges in Florida. Craig Lang had been a foreign mercenary against pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine but now he faces a major battle in court.
Students around the world honored their favorite mentors on World Teacher's Day, October 5. In Afghanistan, teaching is a profession that barely provides enough to survive but Mohammad Alam still gives lessons with enthusiasm.
Ukraine has been thrust into a major U.S. domestic political battle, after President Donald Trump asked his counterpart in Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. The request triggered an impeachment inquiry by Democrats in Washington.
Turkemnistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has a penchant for dramatic television events. On October 1, he fired his interior minister in a humiliating spectacle.
An invasion of flies has turned life in a village in Russia's Ural Mountains into something resembling an apocalypse movie. Residents say they are unable to live their normal lives.
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will consider a new report this week on the Ocean and The Cryosphere in a Changing Climate. Some coastal regions are already devastated by rising sea levels. In Pakistan, residents are switching from farming to fishing to survive.
Three children look happy and healthy now with their grandparents in Georgia, but that's after living for a year with their mother in an Iraqi jail. Their father, an Islamic State militant, was killed in Iraq, and the Georgian government is still trying to bring her home.
The city of Moscow has deployed more than 150,000 cameras with facial-recognition technology to follow the movements of anyone on the streets. The system has been used to track down protesters, but a defense lawyer says it should provide evidence to prosecute police abuse.
Russian film and theater actors gathered in Moscow to take turns holding a one-person picket in front of presidential offices. It was all in support of a budding actor who has been jailed for allegedly harming a police officer at a recent protest, despite video evidence showing otherwise.
In a country rife with corruption and often bizarre official events, the televised confession by Turkmenistan's trade minister did not seem out of place. He was one of several alleged criminals who offered a mea culpa in an apparent show of force by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov.
Kyrgyzstan adopted a new national holiday this year, not to celebrate a political or religious event but to pay tribute to one of its favorite symbols, the stringed musical instrument known as a komuz.
The trial of Armenia's former President Robert Kocharian resumed in Yerevan on September 12. He faces up to 15 years in prison for the deadly 2008 crackdown on demonstrators during his final days in office.
A small Tajik boy who contracted polio and could hardly walk has turned into a man who impresses everyone with his strength as he gets around everywhere on his hands.
Russia’s ruling United Russia party lost one third of its seats in Moscow's city council elections. It was a victory of sorts for anti-Kremlin politicians who spent weeks leading mass protests after being denied a place on the ballot.
Crimean Tatar Bilyal Adilov was accused of terrorism by Russian authorities and arrested in his native Crimea. He has been held in pretrial detention for almost half a year now as his family struggles to get by without him.
A Ukrainian-born Russian citizen has been shown on video apologizing for the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine. He says his acts of contrition have cost him jobs as a teacher in Russia.
Fewer migrating pelicans made their summer stop at a lake in southern Russia. As the lake dries up, the threats grow for these magnificent flocks.
At this month's Basketball World Cup in China, 24-year-old Serbian standout Nikola Jokic is being billed as one of the stars of the tournament. He's already one of the highest-paid players in the United States as an NBA all-star. Back home in Serbia, the big man is an inspiration in his small town.
Chechnya's Leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, has opened a huge mosque in a small town, but some displaced locals are not impressed with the construction.
Residents of Russian villages near the Gulf of Finland are fighting against the construction of a huge port for coal shipments, and the destruction of a nearby forest which has already begun.
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