Neil Bowdler is a multimedia editor at RFE/RL.
The Afghan Air Force says its ready to take on more responsibility as the U.S. looks to scale back its military operations in the country. Critics say its small fleet of light helicopters and turboprop planes is ill-prepared to fill the void left if foreign troops and equipment are withdrawn.
Nurse Sagilya Nigmatullina walks 48 kilometers a week so that she can tend to patients in the remote village of Pervomayka, in the Russian region of Chelyabinsk. She earns just $150 a month but says the walk is good for her and that she's never thought of quitting.
A Russian prosecutor has asked a court to sentence a Danish man to 6 1/2 years in prison for being a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the U.S.-based Christian denomination. Forty-six-year-old Dennis Christensen was detained in May 2017.
A 27-year-old Afghan man has begun a quest to improve children's literacy by getting on his bike and handing out free books to young people across the country. His hope is to encourage them to read and study in a country where war and poverty have deprived many of an education.
A new law which creates a new organ donor database for Ukraine has led to surgeons refusing to perform transplants. They say operating could result in prosecution because many new bylaws have yet to be enacted. The government has called the move "an act of sabotage."
Mikhail Zhyzneuski, who was shot dead five years ago, on January 22, 2014, during the Euromaidan protests, is considered a hero in Ukraine. But in his home city of Homel in Belarus, his grave has been vandalized and his family say they have been treated as pariahs.
Ivan Plakhuta lives in the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk and makes traditional felt boots or valenki. He says many of the old makers, from whom he learned his craft, have died, but says demand for his boots remains strong.
When Dutchman Ciaran Barr and Norwegian Jorn Bjorn Augestad decided to visit Kabul, they opted to stay with a local host for free via the website couchsurfing.com. The Afghan government says they're risking their safety.
Afghan singer Abdul Salam Maftoon's close resemblance to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has turned him into a social media star after his debut on a national talent show. He says he'd love to meet his lookalike.
Russian grandmothers are using Instagram to sell their wooly sweaters and knitted mittens online rather than trading on the streets. They're being helped by a St. Petersburg businesswoman who wants to change public perceptions of the knitwear and its makers.
Residents of the Afghan capital, Kabul, are drilling deeper and deeper for water as the country's drought takes hold. The water shortage has been exacerbated by the city's burgeoning population, which has grown to some five million, boosted by people fleeing war and poverty.
China has given foreign journalists a tour of what it calls "vocational education training centers" in the western province of Xinjiang. The tour comes amid continuing reports of mass detentions and persecutions of Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other ethnic populations in the province.
Ivan Boyarintsev gave up city life hosting events to teach others how to run a traditional banya, or sauna, in Chelyabinsk, Russia. He now offers courses from beginner level to master classes and believes the banya can give meaning to his life and the lives of others.
Business woman and blogger Kamilla Shokanova lives in the Kazakh capital, Astana. She has cerebral palsy, but many mistake her for being drunk. Shokanova says people with disabilities in Kazakhstan are often humiliated and discriminated against, and she wants to change that.
A journalist has set up the first local radio station in the remote village of Suusamyr, in the Chuy region of Kyrgyzstan. The station is run mostly by volunteers, and combines reports on lost cows with music and sports.
A universal temple of all religions is being built in Russia with donations left by visitors. Its spires are crowned with the symbols representing orthodox Christians, Buddhists, Jews, and Muslims.
Afghan farmers are being encouraged to drop opium poppy production for saffron, sometimes known as "red gold" because of the spice's high price. International aid organizations are supporting the effort, in the hope of reducing the country's massive illicit opium exports.
Shehla lives in a village near Peshawar in northern Pakistan where she looks after her ailing father alone. Struggling to pay the rent, she dresses as a man so she can labor on local building sites and avoid the stares and gossip of passersby in this traditional Pashtun community.
Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoev has called for the modernization of the country's wine industry and brought 60,000 vine cuttings from France. But can the Muslim state transform an ancient tradition into a modern industry which can compete on international markets?
Vera Selivanova is a social worker in Shelepovo in Russia's Kurgan region. She cleans houses, brings in food, and tends gardens. She says soon only the elderly will be left, and then the village will die.
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