Margot Buff is a multimedia editor for RFE/RL.
Talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban have halted in recent weeks as extremists launched a new wave of attacks. But two former combatants say they're still holding out hope for the peace process and an eventual end to the conflict.
Fighting in Kyrgyz-Tajik border areas has died down after deadly clashes in late April, but residents of the Tajik region of Vorukh say tensions remain high. They're set apart from the rest of their country, surrounded by Kyrgyz territory, and some fear losing their freedom of movement.
Hasan Akbarov, a 31-year-old Tajik border guard, was shot dead the day before he was set to celebrate his sister's wedding. In Kyrgyzstan, border officer Isfana Bekzod Yuldashev died in the same conflict days before his 31st birthday.
Wolves, foxes, lynx, porcupines, and badgers all get starring roles on a network of cameras set up by conservationists in Georgia's Chachuna protected area. The project helps monitor the numbers and behavior of wildlife and provides clues about the overall health of the ecosystem.
RFE/RL correspondent Mohammad Ilyas Dayee was known for his intrepid reporting in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. In November 2020, he was killed by a bomb attached to his car. It was just one of many targeted attacks in the past year that have silenced vital voices in Afghanistan's embattled media.
Women living in Iranian cities say they face frequent sexual harassment, catcalls, and verbal abuse -- and many fear that those incidents mean they're not safe from violent crimes. Though street harassment is illegal, the law is rarely enforced.
Farit Zakiyev, the head of an organization that promotes Tatar language and culture, was sentenced to community service for taking part in Tatarstan's Commemoration Day. The crackdown on Zakiyev's group appears to be part of a larger pressure campaign against minority activists in Russia.
Thousands of people demonstrated in Moscow and other Russian cities on April 21 in support of Aleksei Navalny, a government critic who has been jailed since January. Navalny's health is reported to be deteriorating as he continues a hunger strike to protest the lack of medical care in prison.
One of Armenia's medieval Christian sites hides an acoustic marvel that attracts pilgrims from across the Caucasus. For those who know where to find it, a chapel carved into the cliffs of the Geghard monastery rewards singers with extraordinary sounds.
Mohammad Khan's family fled Pakistan's Waziristan region during anti-Taliban military operations and endured the hardships of life as displaced people. Determined to help other struggling families, Khan founded his own school in a poor neighborhood for kids with no other access to education.
Demonstrations have broken out in Kyrgyzstan after the bodies of a young woman and her suspected abductor were discovered after a two-day search. The woman was abducted on a city street by several people in an apparent instance of "bride kidnapping," in which victims can be forced into marriage.
Igor Krainov was detained on drug charges in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod in 2019. But CCTV footage helped him get the charges dropped and turn the tables on the police, who appeared to plant evidence in his pocket. Three officers lost their jobs and are facing a criminal investigation.
Vasfije Krasniqi-Goodman, a newly elected member of Kosovo's parliament, has broken taboos in the country by speaking about her experience as a survivor of rape during the 1998-99 war. She says she will try to act as the voice of her fellow survivors as she fights for justice.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bulgaria is struggling with a separate, ongoing health crisis: Most patients who need an organ transplant are unable to get one. Bulgaria's restrictive laws on living organ donations have driven some patients to travel abroad for life-saving operations.
Twenty-five-year old Pegah plays music on the street, gathers with friends in the park, and dresses as she pleases -- all things that were difficult in her native Iran. After repeated arrests for violating Iran's dress code, she fled to Georgia, where she's finding her way in a more open society.
In March 2001, Taliban extremists used dynamite and artillery to demolish two towering Buddha statues that had stood in Afghanistan's Bamiyan Province for nearly 1,500 years. Today, the country is still not at peace, and hopes of rebuilding the statues are stymied by prohibitive costs.
Starshel, whose name means "The Hornet," is Bulgaria's oldest satirical publication. In its early days under communist rule, it poked fun at capitalism and American imperialism, but it also sometimes took on the country's own leadership.
In Iran's conservative Islamic society, prostitution is illegal, immoral, and rarely discussed. But in an investigative documentary by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, sex workers in Tehran describe a routine business where clients are easily found and family members turn a blind eye.
Nano Mikautadze used to cover her head in public after an autoimmune disorder caused her hair to fall out. But in her 20s, she stopped wearing head scarves and decorated her scalp with a floral tattoo. RFE/RL's Georgian Service spoke with Mikautadze about how she celebrates her unique traits.
Members of Afghanistan's Jogi minority are not counted as citizens, which means they have no rights to receive an education, vote, or own property. But activists in northern Jowzjan Province have succeeded in bringing about a first step toward change: a school for both children and adults.
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