Ron Synovitz is a senior correspondent for RFE/RL.
Islamic clerics on Afghanistan's Ulema Council have asked President Hamid Karzai to expand their clout by giving them the power to issue legally binding fatwas. Critics say the move would violate Afghanistan's UN-backed constitution by creating an unelected fourth branch of government.
Problems with Afghanistan's schools go deeper than the often reported lack of buildings and threats of militant attacks. Amid growing concerns about what children are learning, officials are examining the entire school system -- from kindergarten through 12th grade -- to determine how to improve the quality of education.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas is the most intense fighting in Gaza since the Arab Spring uprisings began to change the dynamics of regional politics in the Middle East. Here's a list of some of the regional and international forces at play.
The Chinese Communist Party's 18th Congress, which begins on November 8 and is expected to name a new generation of leaders, is poised to be the country's most important political meeting in a decade.
Campaign schedule changes are just part of the unpredictability that superstorm Sandy has slammed into the U.S. presidential election.
By trying to silence 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai with a gun, the Pakistani Taliban has inadvertently created an international icon for girls' rights.
In a letter issued following international condemnation of the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley, the Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan (TTP) states its case for the attack and threatens anyone who challenges its strict interpretation of Shari'a law.
Malala Yousafzai is a teenage girl from Pakistan's Swat district who stood up to the Taliban by writing an online diary about their ban on girls' schools there. On October 9, she was shot in the head and neck by a Pakistani Taliban gunman while traveling home from her school. RFE/RL takes a closer look at how the words of a brave young girl became a threat to Pakistan's Taliban.
Hundreds of Iraqi schools were demolished during the summer to make way for bigger school buildings and reduce chronically overcrowded classrooms. But now the situation for pupils is even worse because the new schools still haven't been built.
Farmers in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan want to know who is responsible for a sheep pox vaccine they bought that has killed thousands of their animals -- causing serious health concerns and potentially destroying the livelihoods of struggling private farmers.
The European Central Bank has made what analysts are calling its boldest move in an effort to help the countries of the cash-strapped eurozone avert financial meltdown. But what does the ECB's willingness to buy sovereign debt bonds on the secondary market actually mean? And how far will it go to help mitigate the continent's debt crisis? RFE/RL correspondents Ron Synovitz and Richard Solash take a closer look.
As rights groups marked the International Day of the Disappeared, mothers of Kosovo's missing war victims removed their protest memorial in Pristina but vowed to continue their fight to learn the truth.
An Arctic oil rush is on. But analysts and ecologists say Arctic drilling presents enormous environmental risks and challenges.
The International Olympic Committee has never given cash prizes to medalists. But many countries are now promising lucrative bonus awards to their athletes who win Olympic medals at London 2012.
Faced with denials from defense authorities in Minsk and skepticism from state-controlled media in Belarus, a Swedish public relations firm is releasing evidence it says proves that it dropped 1,000 teddy bears into Belarus as a show of solidarity with pro-democracy activists in Belarus.
The Rolling Stones are marking their 50th anniversary as a live act. RFE/RL correspondent Ron Synovitz takes a closer look at the band's cultural significance during the last half century.
The execution of a married Afghan woman for adultery has caused a storm of criticism within Afghanistan, where even the Taliban is saying the extrajudicial punishment was un-Islamic.
Rights group Amnesty International has warned that the threat to security for many residents of Russia's North Caucasus region comes as much from law-enforcement agencies as it does from armed groups.
More than its weapons sales to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia's greatest strategic and geopolitical interest in Syria is the use of a deep-water port at Tartus.
The 2012 Summer Olympics in London take place during Islam's holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims are required to fast and refrain from drinking water from sunrise to sunset. How will Muslim athletes cope?
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