In Kazakhstan, Spending Saturday Night In The Gulag

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive.

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 20th week of 2013. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive. (34 PHOTOS)

For generations, Afghan miners from the village of Qara Zaghan have used chisels and pickaxes to extract small amounts of gold from the nearby mountains, part of the towering Hindu Kush range. But the mining business there is in the midst of massive changes. Engineers from international mining companies have built a dirt road through the mountains and are busy surveying the sites to determine how best to exploit the area's mineral wealth. (12 PHOTOS)

More than 30,000 people took part in a rally in the Crimean city of Simferopol on May 18 to mourn the victims of the deportation of Crimean Tatars at the end of World War II. Organizers conducted a "minute of grief and unity" and a Muslim prayer for those who never returned from the expulsion, ordered by Josef Stalin. There were some calls for Crimean Tatar autonomy at the event. (14 PHOTOS)

Thousands of antigay protesters led by Orthodox Christian clergy today prevented a gay-rights rally from taking place in Tbilisi. Thousands of protesters broke through a police cordon and charged the venue where the rally was to be held, forcing the rights activists to leave on buses under police protection. The gay-pride demonstration was scheduled to mark the International Day Against Homophobia. (RFE/RL's Georgian Service)

A subway car known as the "Watercolor Train" is showing a new exhibit as it carries passengers through the Russian capital. The train car is outfitted with art each year to mark the anniversary of the opening of the Moscow Metro on May 15, 1935. (7 PHOTOS)

Twenty-five years ago, on May 15, 1988, Soviet troops began the nine-month process of withdrawing from Afghanistan. Some 100,000 troops would leave the country by February 15, 1989, after nine years of war that killed more than 14,000 Soviet soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Afghan combatants and civilians. (12 PHOTOS)

On May 14, Russian state TV showed video of the detention of a U.S. diplomat identified as Ryan C. Fogle. It displayed objects said to belong to him, including two wigs, a compass, and a map of Moscow. Russia said Fogle worked "undercover" as third secretary of the U.S. Embassy's political department and was caught trying to recruit a Russian counterterrorism officer to work as a spy. He was ordered to leave the country. U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul was summoned to the Foreign Ministry over the incident on May 15.

The mausoleum holding the remains of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin reopened to visitors on May 15 after it was closed for renovation in December. Lenin's body stayed inside the tomb on Red Square while the repairs took place under the cover of a protective temporary "cupola." (17 PHOTOS)

A new mosque and Islamic center has opened in Rijeka, Croatia, prompting raves from the local media that the structure is the most beautiful mosque in Europe. The construction cost an estimated 10 million euros. The mosque is only the third to be built in Croatia since the 17th century withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire. (9 PHOTOS)

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 19th week of 2013. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive. (28 PHOTOS)

A little more than 10 years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service photographer Abbas Atilay traveled through Iraq to document the state of that war-torn country. Atilay's photos capture a vital and recovering Iraq, but also show the scars left by a decade of instability. (20 PHOTOS)

Pakistanis are voting in landmark parliamentary elections that mark the country's first democratic transition of power between civilian governments. The country has been ruled by the military for more than half of its history. (Photographs by RFE/RL Radio Mashaal correspondents)

On May 9, countries in many parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia celebrated Victory Day, an annual commemoration marking the official capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in the Second World War. (24 PHOTOS)

Conflict Kitchen is a take-out restaurant that only serves cuisine from countries with which the United States is in conflict. The food is served out of a take-out style storefront that rotates identities every six months to highlight another country. Each iteration of the project is augmented by events, performances, and discussions that seek to expand the engagement the public has with the culture, politics, and issues at stake within the focus country. These events have included live international Skype dinner parties between citizens of Pittsburgh and young professionals in Tehran, Iran; documentary filmmakers in Kabul, Afghanistan; and community radio activists in Caracas, Venezuela.

Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti says he knew he was on to something when he looked at a photograph he had taken in Tuscany of the daughter of a good friend. it turned out so well that on a subsequent trip around the world, he decided to undertake a series of photographs of children posing with their toys. (20 PHOTOS)

Members of a folk ensemble in the Belarusian village of Pahost on May 6 celebrated the feast of Yur’ya, or Yaryla, a pagan harvest god who has persisted as part of some local folk customs. The dancers from folk band Mizhrechcha paraded through the village to mark the beginning of spring and ensure a good harvest. (13 PHOTOS)

Thousands of people attended an opposition rally in Moscow's Bolotnaya Square. The Bolotnaya rally comes on the first anniversary of a mass antigovernment protest that ended in riots and the arrests of hundreds of demonstrators protesting Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency. The rally is calling for the release of over two dozen protesters detained since last year. (12 PHOTOS)

With the naming of two Chechen suspects in last month’s bombings in Boston, Chechnya has reappeared on the world’s front pages. In Grozny, Chechnya’s capital, there is little evidence of the two wars that devastated the republic over the past two decades. (19 PHOTOS)

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 18th week of 2013. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive. (40 PHOTOS)

Molokans are a Christian sect who split from the Russian Orthodox Church in the late 16th century. The sect’s name, derived from the Russian for milk, refers to their refusal to give up milk and meat on the fast days dictated by the Orthodox clergy. (13 PHOTOS)

The final pieces of the spire have been hoisted to the top of the new World Trade Center building in New York City. An American flag was wrapped around the top piece as construction workers on May 2 lifted it to the summit of the 104-floor skyscraper. The new building is rising at the site where the twin World Trade Center towers were destroyed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks claimed by the Al-Qaeda network. Once completed, the building is expected to be declared the tallest in the United States, at 541 meters. The tower’s tenants are expected to include a range of businesses and agencies. It is due to formally open in 2014. (9 PHOTOS)

Russia's cultural hub and former imperial capital, St. Petersburg, officially opens the doors of its sumptuous new Mariinsky II Theater on May 2. The $700 million project has variously drawn jeers and cheers. But there's little disagreement on three points -- it's another feather in the cap of a city already rich with cultural landmarks, its ample space and state-of-the-art technology mark a new chapter for the Mariinsky complex, and it could hardly be a greater architectural departure from the original Mariinsky Theater that rounds out the complex. (15 PHOTOS)

In December 2000, the Old City of Baku, including the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and Maiden Tower, became the first location in Azerbaijan to be classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO. (16 PHOTOS)

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 17th week of 2013. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive. (39 PHOTOS)

Russia’s Emergencies Ministry says a fire that engulfed a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Moscow has killed 38 people, two of them medical workers. The cause of the fire is not yet known, although police said it appears there was a short circuit. (14 PHOTOS)

Part of a small community of ethnic Armenian Muslims in eastern Turkey helped mark Armenia's Genocide Remembrance Day on April 24 in a rare public display of their heritage a century after fear and persecution drove them underground. (8 PHOTOS)

Pretend you’re rummaging through an old steamer trunk in a dusty antique store. Hidden amidst some old Frank Sinatra LPs you discover a stack of photographic slides wrapped in a yellowed newspaper. That’s how we’d like to think these 24 photographs of the Soviet Union were discovered. But the truth is, we don’t know much about them. (24 PHOTOS)

You might not be "lovin’ it," but there’s no way you’re not going to have an opinion about it. On the heels of the largest KFC in the world in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, comes a spectacular new McDonald’s restaurant in Georgia’s Black Sea port city of Batumi, designed by Harvard-educated architect Giorgi Khmaladze.

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 16th week of 2013. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive. (20 PHOTOS)

Iraqis have voted in provincial polls amid tight security. They are the first elections held in the country since the U.S. military withdrawal in late 2011. Nearly 14 million Iraqis were eligible to vote for more than 8,000 candidates running for 378 positions on provincial councils. Official preliminary results are expected in several days.

A panel has announced the results of RFE/RL's internal photo competition. Out of 81 entries, three winners and nine other finalists made the final selection. The winning pictures were chosen for the quality of their content, aesthetic appeal, and technical skill. The theme of the competition was to show the interaction between technology and the environment. The contest featured pictures taken in various locations around the world, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kosovo, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, the United States, and the Czech Republic. (12 PHOTOS)

It has been 70 years since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, when a small number of armed Jews resisted the German Army as it attempted to clear out the ghetto for a month before being crushed. (18 PHOTOS)

At least three people have died and more than 140 are said to be injured -- some of them critically -- after twin bomb blasts 13 seconds apart near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. No suspects are in custody, and there has not yet been any claim of responsibility. In a brief statement to reporters at the White House, President Barack Obama pledged to find the perpetrators and bring the "full weight of justice” against them. Some 23,000 runners from dozens of countries took part in the 42-kilometer race, which is considered to be the world’s oldest annual marathon. (11 PHOTOS)

The chairman of the Democratic Alliance youth organization, Vasyl Hetsko, and the head of its Kyiv branch, Maksym Panov, were jailed after a protest action held on April 10 outside the presidential residence near Mezhyriya. They had been protesting against the poor conditions of roads and infrastructure in Ukraine, which many blame on high-level corruption among government officials. After the two men were forcefully taken to a police station and later transferred to prison, protesters organized a second rally on April 15 near Mezhyriya to demand their immediate release. This protest was met by special riot police whose uniforms had been stripped of all labels and tags. Although the demonstration had been officially approved, police requested that the activists be taken into custody. (8 PHOTOS)

More than 12 quadricycles and 20 off-road vehicles participated in a competition, yearly organized by the ‘Offroad’ Kings and ‘Racing’ clubs in Kyrgyzstan. It is the fifth time this competition has taken place. RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service correspondent Ulan Asanaliev was at the race and filed these photos. (15 PHOTOS)

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 15th week of 2013. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive. (38 PHOTOS)

Mario Bihari is a well-known Romany musician from Slovakia who has lived and performed in Prague for many years. Although he has been blind since childhood, Bihari has begun using a new medium of expression: photography. He collaborates with photographer Bjorn Steinz to create images that share an aspect of the musician's subjective experience. (19 PHOTOS)

Hundreds of mourners gathered on April 12 outside the Serbian capital, Belgrade, for the funerals of 13 people killed in a shooting rampage by a lone gunman. Onlookers wept as wooden coffins bearing the bodies of the victims were lined up on a red carpet outside a small church in the village of Velika Ivanca. The victims were killed on April 9 when a 60-year-old war veteran, Ljubisa Bogdanovic, opened fire on relatives and neighbors, many of them in their sleep. Bogdanovic’s mother and 2-year-old son were among those killed. Bogdanovic died on April 11 in the hospital after shooting himself in the head following the rampage. Bogdanovich's motive remains unclear, although he had a history of mental illness and had lost his job last year. The killings are Serbia’s worst shooting incident in 20 years. (7 PHOTOS)

Authorities in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, continue their demolition of houses in the city center, where there are plans for a new "Winter Boulevard." Some of the buildings being razed were built by local oil magnate Musa Naghiyev more than a century ago. (18 PHOTOS)

April 12 is the 80th birthday of opera singer Maria de Montserrat Bibiana Concepcion Caballe i Folch, known as Montserrat Caballe. Born in Barcelona, the Spanish soprano made her professional debut in Basel, Switzerland, in 1956. She became internationally famous in 1965 after her performance as a stand-in in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia at New York's Carnegie Hall.

Many children in Chechnya learn to dance from a very early age. In Grozny, the Bashlam dance club has been training children to dance for more than 50 years, and its members have performed on stages around the world. RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service correspondent Musa Saidulayev visited a class of young dancers at the Bashlam club and filed these photos. (7 PHOTOS)

Turkmenistan's government has just launched a multilingual website in honor of Turkmenistan's famous horse breed, the Akhal-Teke. The website also features two books about horses written by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov. Here's selection of pictures from his tome titled The Flight of Celestial Racehorses.

Official statistics suggest that nearly 30 percent of Kyrgyzstan's population of 5.5 million is made up of school-age children. RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service regional correspondent Sanzhar Eraliev spent time in southern Kyrgyzstan -- including Osh, Batken, and Jalal Abad -- photographing some of them, particularly some of the roughly 50,000 kids that UNICEF said aren't attending any of the country's 2,000 or so schools.

Photographer Alexander Petrosyan has lived in St. Petersburg for more than 35 years, and he sees Russia’s second city with a keen insider’s eye. His work reveals a beautiful, seedy, sunny, funny, madcap, and often bitterly cold city – sometimes all in the same photograph. (20 PHOTOS)

Serzh Sarkisian has been sworn in for a second term as Armenia's president in the capital, Yerevan, amid an opposition challenge to the credibility of his reelection. Sarkisian's main challenger in the February vote, Raffi Hovannisian, held what he had called an "alternative inauguration." Thousands of Hovannisian's supporters tried to march to a memorial using an avenue where the presidential palace is also located. They were blocked by police cordons.

When the famous Avar-language poet Rasul Gamzatov was asked how he had reached such heights of success with his poetry, he replied that in fact, he had come down from the heights. In Daghestan, nearly everyone can say they have descended from great heights. Remote villages continue to flourish and preserve Daghestani culture.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret has died at age 87 following a stroke. Her spokesman, Lord Bell, said that her family announced with great sadness that “she had died peacefully following a stroke this morning." Thatcher had been in ill health for many months. Thatcher, nicknamed the “Iron Lady,” is credited with helping to pull down the Iron Curtain. As Britain's only woman prime minister, she won three elections and governed from 1979 to 1990 -- the longest continuous period in office by a British prime minister since the early 19th century.

During the Soviet era, authorities forced the nomadic Luli minority in Central Asia to settle on state-provided plots. Today, many Luli families in Kyrgyzstan live in poverty and some children in Bishkek resort to begging to help their families get by. (8 PHOTOS)

Voters in the tiny Balkan nation of Montenegro went to the polls on April 7 to elect a president. The country's 512,000 voters are expected to choose incumbent Filip Vujanovic over former Foreign Minister Miodrag Lekic. Turnout is expected to dip as low as 40 percent, with many Montenegrins citing frustration with the country's protracted economic woes.

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 14th week of 2013. (34 PHOTOS)

On April 6, Bosnia-Herzegovina marked the 21st anniversary of the 1992-95 war. The fighting between Muslims, known as Bosniaks, and Croats in the southern town of Mostar was some of the fiercest of the war and left them divided on the eastern and western banks of the River Neretva. These combination photographs compare significant Mostar sites during the war and today. (16 PHOTOS)

Two Belarusian photographers have been summoned to court after being accused of organizing an "extremist" photo exhibition. Yulia Darashkevich told RFE/RL's Belarus Service on April 5 that she and her colleague Vadzim Zamirouski face trial in the western city of Ashmyany on April 17.

RFE/RL visits a workshop for traditional carpet weaving in the village of Getik, located in Armenia's Gegharkunik region. The event was made possible thanks to sponsorship from the charity organizations Armenian Caritas and Cross of Armenian Unity. (12 PHOTOS)

In photographs that will make your palms sweat, Ukrainian daredevil Mustang Wanted is shown dangling by his fingertips from some of the tallest buildings in Ukraine and Russia -- without the aid of safety ropes, nets, or harnesses.

Russian media outlets have been reporting the death of notorious guerrilla artist P183, who was in his late 20s. Dubbed the "Russian Banksy" by Western media, in reference to the infamous British street artist, P183's playful and often politically subversive graffiti had regularly appeared at various places around Moscow for more than a decade. Like much of his life, P183's reported death is still shrouded in mystery and there are very few details surrounding the circumstances of his apparent demise. (10 PHOTOS)

Throughout his long career, artist Arthur Pinajian created thousands of vivid, abstract canvases, including landscapes, figure studies, and expressionist works. He received little recognition during his lifetime and worked mostly in obscurity. Now, however, he is gaining improbable posthumous fame with leading art historians saying that, at his best, he ranks among America's finest abstract expressionists. His estate is currently valued at $30 million. (13 PHOTOS)

Several thousand opposition supporters rallied outside parliament headquarters in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Activists gathered on April 2 to demand that local authorities hold an election to select Kyiv's mayor in June. According to demonstration participants, they were also protesting against their political opponents' initiatives to delay the vote. (9 PHOTOS)

Among the places affected by the frozen state of relations between Serbia and Kosovo is Mitrovica, a Kosovar town divided into an ethnic Albanian section in the south and an ethnic Serb enclave in the north. (11 PHOTOS)

Best known for its investigative reports on corruption and rights abuses, Russia’s “Novaya gazeta” newspaper turned 20 on April 1. In a country ranking as one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists, its reporting has earned international accolades but has also put its reporters in considerable danger.

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 13th week of 2013. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive. (30 PHOTOS)

Models presented outfits by Russian fashion designer Slava Zaitsev on March 29 during Fashion Week in Moscow. (12 PHOTOS)

April 1, 2013, marks the 140th anniversary of the birth of Russian composer Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff. Widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day, Rachmaninoff was also one of the last great Romantic composers in Russian classical music. In spite of his accomplishments, Rachmaninoff was a target of harsh criticism from his musical peers and would eventually be labeled a "violent enemy of Soviet Russia." (13 PHOTOS)

The distinctive blue helmets and berets of UN peacekeepers have featured prominently in many conflicts since their missions began in 1956. Now a peacekeeping brigade in the Democratic Republic of Congo will be allowed to engage in offensive combat against rebel factions, making it the first UN peacekeeping mission authorized to use such force.

Yury Gagarin died 45 years ago, less than seven years after he made history by becoming the first person to orbit the Earth. During what should have been a routine practice flight on March 27, 1968, Gagarin's fighter plane crashed outside Moscow, killing him and co-pilot Vladimir Seryogin. Three days later, thousands of mourners gathered in Moscow's Red Square for the funeral of a national hero. (9 PHOTOS)

After nearly two decades of conflict and the preceding 70 years of Soviet rule, during which religious participation was banned, modern-day Chechnya is going through an Islamic revival. For young girls in the republic, ordinary acts can bring severe consequences. Being caught smoking is cause for arrest, while rumors of a couple having sex before marriage can result in an honor killing. The few girls who dare to rebel become targets in the eyes of Chechen authorities. Documentary photographer and writer Diana Markosian shot this photo essay chronicling the lives of young Muslim girls in Chechnya who, she writes, are now coming of age in a republic that is rapidly redefining itself as a Muslim state. (17 PHOTOS)

Eighteen years after the Balkan wars ended, many Croatian Serb returnees are still living in barely functional, war-damaged homes. A handful of ethnic Serbs in the southern village of Strmica and the nearby former Serb stronghold of Knin are continuing to wait for assistance to help them rebuild or relocate.

Photographer Abbas Atilay of RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service took these photos of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, where ancient churches, modern bridges, sleepy streets, and busy thoroughfares all lie side by side. (18 PHOTOS)

Businessman Boris Berezovsky, who was found dead at his home outside London on March 23, was one of the key political figures in Russia in the 1990s during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin. Berezovsky, 67, was a leading figure among the Yeltsin-era "oligarchs," a group of politically connected businessmen who profited mightily from the wave of privatizations that followed the break-up of the Soviet Union. Berezovsky used his influence to help engineer current President Vladimir Putin's rise to power. However, he later fell out with the Kremlin leader and went into exile in 2000 in the United Kingdom, where he became one of the most outspoken critics of the Russian administration. 

(18 PHOTOS)

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 12th week of 2013. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive. (33 PHOTOS)

Ukraine has the second-highest rate of tuberculosis (TB) in Europe after Russia. It records about 100 new cases per 100,000 people every year. Thirty Ukrainians die of the disease every day. Ukrainian photographer Maxim Dondyuk began photographing the faces of Ukraine’s TB epidemic over two years starting in December 2010.

New Zealand photographer Amos Chapple has made three reporting trips to Iran since 2011. He visited areas that he described as "stupendously photogenic," but was more interested in uncovering unfamiliar facets of Iranian society.

March 21 is the beginning of spring and the first day of the new Persian year. Across the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, that means the start of several days of food, festivities, and music as families celebrate the holiday of Norouz. (21 PHOTOS)

March 22 marks World Water Day, a UN-sponsored event meant to bring attention to the sustainable management of one of our most important resources. As demands for drinking water increase, rapid urbanization, pollution, and climate change all threaten its availability.

A comparative collection of Nazi and Soviet posters appears to indicate that the two authoritarian systems also had an uncannily similar aesthetic and approach to graphic design. (7 PHOTOS)

During World War II, between 1941 and 1945, 78 Allied Arctic convoys brought more than 4 million tons of provisions and munitions to the U.S.S.R. These deliveries played a crucial role in the Soviet war effort. More than 1,400 merchant ships and naval vessels participated in the convoys to the ports of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk in Arctic Russia, which Winston Churchill once described as “the worst journey in the world.” Besides braving frozen seas and harsh weather conditions, the sailors also had to contend with attacks from German dive bombers and U-boat torpedoes. Altogether, more than 100 convoy ships had perished by the time the war ended and more than 3,000 lives were lost. (13 PHOTOS)

People throughout the Middle East, Caucasus, and Central Asia are preparing to celebrate Norouz, the Persian New Year, which marks the beginning of spring on March 20-21. In many countries, a costumed character appears in public to greet the holiday with song and dance.

Russians, Ukrainians, and other Slavic cultures are celebrating Maslenitsa, the Orthodox Christian equivalent of Mardi Gras or Carnival. The celebration marks the beginning of Lent and the imminent end of winter. In Osh, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian diaspora celebrated the holiday on the weekend with their 10th annual festival full of costumes, singing, and dancing.

Iraq is preparing to mark the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that began on March 19, 2003. Although the military operation succeeded in quickly toppling the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, it also presaged several years of violent insurgency. In this photo series, scenes of Iraq before, during, and just after the invasion stand side-by-side with images of a country that is showing fragile signs of normalcy after several years of turmoil. (12 PHOTOS)

On March 19, 2003, U.S. forces carried out the first air strikes of the Iraq War, targeting top Iraqi officials at a compound on the outskirts of Baghdad. These photos document some of the most dramatic moments of the invasion that began 10 years ago. (21 PHOTOS)

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 11th week of 2013. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive.

Between 1909 and 1912 and again in 1915, Prokhudin-Gorskii won the support of Tsar Nicholas II to undertake an ambitious project to document the people and places of the Russian Empire. He traveled across 11 Russian regions in a specially designed railroad car that was given to him by the Transportation Ministry.

The first photo shows Peg Podlich apparently taking a photograph of her sister Jan as she poses sitting on a wall in Afghanistan's Paghman Gardens. Tall pine trees tower in the background. Flowers and shrubs bloom amid neatly trimmed grass that borders a long reflecting pool. The second photo was taken from almost the exact same spot about five years ago. The trees are gone. The reflecting pool has disappeared. Even the pathways have been reduced to rubble.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected Roman Catholic pope on March 13, becoming the first pontiff from the Americas and taking the name Pope Francis. Appearing on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica a short time later, the new pope greeted a vast crowd gathered below in St. Peter’s Square with salutations in Italian and led a prayer for his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

Hundreds of students from several universities rallied in Tbilisi on March 13 against officials' decision to withdraw the accreditation of Georgia's Agricultural University. The protesters claimed that the decision was politically motivated and directed against allies of President Mikheil Saakashvili, whose party was defeated in October parliamentary elections. (RFE/RL's Georgian Service)

Khinalug is Azerbaijan's highest, most remote, and most isolated village. It's located north of the town of Quba in the middle of the Greater Caucasus mountain range dividing Russia from the southern Caucasus. RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service photographer Jahangir Yusif visited the village to portray its youngest generation.

On March 12, 2003, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated in Belgrade by a sniper from an ultranationalist special police unit with ties to organized crime. Djindjic had been a driving force behind the ouster of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and became the first democratically elected premier in post-communist Serbia. As Serbia prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of Djindjic’s assassination, here is a look back at his life and death. (16 PHOTOS)

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond. (49 PHOTOS)

The Kumtor mine in northern Kyrgyzstan, run by the Canadian Centerra Gold company since 1997, is one of the largest gold mines in Central Asia. It's also at the center of a national debate in which some Kyrgyz officials are pushing for a heavier tax burden and environmental fines on the Canadian operator.

Although it arose from the women's movement in several countries over 100 years ago, International Women's Day took on a life of its own in the Soviet Union. In this gallery of Soviet-era posters and cards, the focus varies widely, from women's achievements to colorful celebrations of spring, motherhood, and international friendship.

Female prisoners at a pretrial detention facility in Moscow held a fashion show on March 5 called "Beauty Outside the Law." The event was an early celebration of International Women's Day.

The 83rd Geneva International Motor Show, considered one of the auto industry's most important events, has opened in the Swiss city. Industry leaders are warning that demand remains weak amid widespread austerity measures in European countries. But hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected to view the luxury models on display, including cars well over the $1 million mark. (12 PHOTOS)

The question of how women balance work and child care is a topic of intense debate worldwide. In honor of International Women's Day on March 8, we look at the lives of working mothers in Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Montenegro, Iraq, Ukraine, Tatarstan, and the Czech Republic. In this gallery, we spend a day with Roya Rafiyeva, a journalist living in Baku, and her family.

The question of how women balance work and child care is a topic of intense debate worldwide. In honor of International Women's Day on March 8, we look at the lives of working mothers in Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Montenegro, Iraq, Ukraine, Tatarstan, and the Czech Republic. In this gallery, we spend a day with Shahnoz Komilzoda, a businesswoman, wife, and mother of two children in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died on March 5 after a long battle with cancer. The autocratic populist fiercely criticized the United States and allied himself with Fidel Castro and other fellow leftists. The outspoken leader, who was a hero to Venezuela's poor, sought to remake Venezuela into a socialist state, but left with many citizens still facing poverty despite the country's huge oil wealth. (20 PHOTOS)

No one knows for sure how many people were murdered during Stalin's Great Purge, but estimates put the figure at more than 1 million. During the peak period of 1937-38, Stalin's secret police executed more than 1,000 people per day. These photos show some of the victims in their last weeks or days. (8 PHOTOS)

Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev's untimely passing 60 years ago was overshadowed by Josef Stalin's death the same day. But Prokofiev's legacy did not go unacknowledged. (13 PHOTOS)

When it comes to firebrands of the 19th-century Belarusian nationalist movement, few are held in such high esteem among Belarusians as Kastus Kalinouski, the leader of the 1863 uprising against the Russian Empire. Here are some original artistic tributes. (8 PHOTOS)

The labor camps at Vorkuta were established in 1931 to mine coal deposits at the foot of the Arctic Ural Mountains, 150 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. For 25 years, prisoners and exiles labored to turn this area of tundra into one of the largest coal sources of the Soviet Union. The complex grew to include more than 20 mines, mining villages, power stations, roads, railroads, and the new city of Vorkuta. Today, Vorkuta is an industrial city in decline, plagued by corruption and poverty. These photos show Vorkuta at the height of the Gulag era -- and as it appears now. (17 PHOTOS)

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the ninth week of 2013.

Josef Stalin rose from obscure origins in Georgia to rule the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. RFE/RL takes a look at some images from his early life. (11 PHOTOS)

As this collection of graphic warning signs seems to imply, the Soviet workplace could be a very dangerous place, where all sorts of gruesome accidents awaited those who weren't careful.

Although Russia is rich in biodiversity, many of its most iconic creatures are struggling to survive as they grapple with poaching and a loss of habitat.

Radio Liberty (originally called Radio Liberation) began broadcasting to the former Soviet Union from West Germany on March 1, 1953, and it almost immediately gained a substantial audience when it covered the death of Josef Stalin four days later.

A new exhibition" set to open on March 4 at the Sotheby’s auction house in London will offer a sale of nearly 50 works of Soviet and contemporary art from Central Asia and the Caucasus. For the artists, it’s an opportunity for exposure and profit. And for Sotheby’s, it’s a chance to find potential new clients among the post-Soviet super-rich. (15 PHOTOS)

Corruption, media manipulation, authoritarian governments -- all provide ample fodder for political cartoonists' art. In this gallery, cartoonists from four countries -- Serbia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Ukraine -- offer their commentaries on the past and present situations in their countries.

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive. (29 PHOTOS)

Nearly 300 foreign-born children received citizenship certificates this week at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) center in New York City. Children of naturalized immigrants can receive citizenship if they arrived in the United States as minors, but they must first go through a process at the USCIS to prove that they have become Americans. Photographer John Moore took these portraits of some new U.S. citizens. (14 PHOTOS)

The Belarusian Humanities Lyceum was established in 1990 with the goal of promoting Belarusian language and culture. It gained a prestigious reputation in the 1990s, but it has suffered under the regime of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has worked to marginalize the Belarusian language.

Abbas Karimi, 14, who was born with no arms, is a swimmer with ambitions to earn a gold medal for Afghanistan at the next Paralympic Games. If he receives the support required, the teenager will be the first Afghan to represent his country as a swimmer at the games, which will take place in Brazil in 2016. (7 PHOTOS)

Nazif Mujic, a first-time actor, has returned home to a red-carpet reception in his Bosnian village after receiving the top prize for acting at the Berlinale film festival. Mujic and his wife, Senada Alimanovic, are Bosnian Roma who play themselves in the film "An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker."

There is a wide range of contemporary visual art on display at the "Fine Art Ukraine" exhibition in Kyiv's Mystetskyi Arsenal, including paintings, graphics, sculptures, and photography taken from leading Ukrainian galleries, as well as eight special projects. One of the main installations, "Match-Point 88: a Moment Before the New Life" contains an archive collection of Soviet-era art and is devoted to Ukrainian paintings of the perestroika period. (16 PHOTOS)

From a meteorite in the Russian Urals to camel races in Abu Dhabi, RFE/RL brings you a selection of some of the most compelling images from our broadcast region and beyond.

Thirteen public buildings whose designs were widely ridiculed. But in many cases, time has softened those opinions.

World Press Photo, an independent, nonprofit organization that supports photojournalism, has once again honored the best photographers from around the globe. Here is a selection of the winning images from 2012, which were announced on February 15.

Organized by the World Photography Organization and sponsored by Sony, the 2013 World Photography Awards saw more than 122,000 entries from 170 countries. Images taken by established professionals, as well as amateurs and youth, were judged in a variety of categories.

Winners in the Open and Youth competitions will be announced on March 19. Professional winners and the Photographer of the Year prize will be announced in London on April 25.

In this photo gallery, RFE/RL is largely focusing on photographers or subjects from our broadcast countries, with a smattering of other photos just too good to resist. More about the contest can be found here. (27 PHOTOS)

On January 23, the Azerbaijani town of Ismayilli erupted into unexpected unrest. Thousands of people rallied to voice their anger at the authorities' refusal to shut down a local motel allegedly housing a brothel. Dozens were detained after rioters set fire to the motel, cars, and the governor’s residence. President Ilham Aliyev later sacked the region's governor. But since the riots died down, the town has returned to its normal state of calm. RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service correspondent Nurlan Babazadeh filed these photos from neighborhoods that ordinarily would not expect a place in the media spotlight.

Two towns in the remote Russian republic of Yakutia, Tomtor and Oymyakon, compete for the title of the coldest inhabited place on Earth, with winter temperatures reaching as low as minus 71 degrees Celsius. The region has another claim to fame as well; it’s the home of the Yakut horse, sometimes known simply as the Yakut, a rare native breed with an exceptional ability to withstand the cold.

RFE/RL's Belarus Service made midwinter visits to a handful of villages outside Minsk that have no grocery stores. Residents around Vialeyka, around 100 kilometers northwest of the capital, instead get their groceries from an "autalauka," a sort of mobile shop that was more widespread throughout the Soviet Union decades ago. (12 PHOTOS)

The Vatican has announced that Pope Benedict XVI will resign on February 28, the first pontiff to step down in nearly 600 years. Benedict, 85, was quoted as saying he no longer had the strength, which he said "in the last few months has deteriorated in me." In 2005, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany became one of the oldest elected popes in history at the age of 78. (24 PHOTOS)

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive. (35 PHOTOS)

Kyrgyzstan renames a National Historical Museum and fills it with exhibits documenting the country's natural and political history, but many still refer to it as the "Lenin Museum." (22 PHOTOS)

Authorities in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, have been offering medical exams to the city's homeless. Out of more than 100 patients, 14 were diagnosed with active cases of tuberculosis. City officials said the tuberculosis patients would be admitted to a hospital for treatment. According to local NGOs, there are several hundred homeless people in Bishkek -- more than the city's four shelters can accommodate. At least eight people living on the streets died of exposure to the cold in December. RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service

Aeroflot was established 90 years ago, heralding the birth of Russian civil aviation. Despite criticism of its safety record, millions still use the former "Dobrolyot" airline every year. (15 PHOTOS)

For months, ethnic Croat and Bosniak -- or Bosnian Muslim -- factions in the town of Mostar have been locked in a dispute over how to reform the town’s electoral procedures. The feud is representative of the persistent ethnic divides in Bosnia-Herzegovina and has left Mostar without an approved budget for 2013.

The Kabul in William Podlich's photographs is an almost unrecognizable place -- a bustling capital of nattily attired men and women; modern cars; and green parks. A place where women could freely walk the streets. A peaceful place where tourists could take buses to the major historic sites in the country or across the border to Pakistan.

British researchers say they have identified a skeleton excavated from under a parking lot as the remains of King Richard III, who died in battle in 1485. DNA tests were used to match the bones, unearthed in September 2012, with a sample taken from a living relative of the king, who was the last of the Plantagenet dynasty.

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive. (37 PHOTOS)

The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the most brutal and bloody battles of World War II. Germany's disastrously ill-fated attack is widely considered to have been a major turning point in the conflict, as its army suffered massive military losses and a huge psychological blow from which it never recovered.

On February 1, Hillary Clinton completes her tenure as the 67th U.S. secretary of state. She leaves the post with sky-high approval ratings and, according to President Barack Obama, major credit for restoring the United States' image and frayed alliances. RFE/RL looks back at Clinton's four years of crisscrossing the globe, during which she visited a record 112 countries and traveled nearly 1.6 million kilometers. (14 PHOTOS)

Uzbek authorities have increased the use of forced labor by adults and older children in the cotton sector during the past year in an effort to shift the burden away from younger children in response to public scrutiny and international pressure.

The poorly defined borders in parts of Central Asia have been a source of tensions for decades; this month, those tensions exploded into violence in Uzbekistan’s Sokh exclave, which is populated mainly by ethnic Tajiks and surrounded by Kyrgyz territory. But for many people, unclear borders and even uncertain citizenship are simply a fact of life. Photographer Svetlana Zelenskaya shot this photo essay about Gulbubu Isaeva, who lives on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border in the Ferghana Valley. Photos courtesy of Kloop.kg

On hundred and twenty-five years ago, a small group of scientists and enthusiasts founded the National Geographic Society with the aim of creating “a society for the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge." To mark the occasion, the society is sharing photographs from its archive of more than 11 million images.

"White road" -- the words offered to travelers throughout much of Central Asia as they embark upon a journey. American Ivan Sigal, 43, was bid "white road" countless times between 1998 and 2005, as he and his camera crisscrossed the steppe. He knew the region well, having worked for years to help design and establish local media outlets in the former Soviet Union and Afghanistan. Thousands of photos later, the result is an ambitious project of the same name, as black-and-white images from the Central Asian republics, Russia, and Afghanistan are coupled with a travelogue written in stream-of-consciousness style. The viewer finds scenes of joy, scenes of gloom, and the shades in between that make this presentation of the region, as least as far as Sigal is concerned, a metaphor "about living." (12 PHOTOS)

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond. For more photo galleries, see our "Picture This" archive. (38 PHOTOS)

January 25 marks the 75th anniversary of the birth of singer, poet, and actor Vladimir Vysotsky, who died in 1980 at the age of 42. Vysotsky is remembered throughout the former Soviet Union as a satirical critic of the Soviet regime during 1960s and 1970s. Despite being labeled as subversive, his songs spread widely through bootleg recordings, and he starred in dozens of plays and movies. Here is a look back at Vysotsky’s life in music, film, and theater.

Yandex, the most popular search engine in Russia, has created an amazingly colorful, graphically dynamic office space for its headquarters in St. Petersburg. The striking concept for its new offices was designed by the architectural studio za bor architects.

Intourist, the Soviet travel agency, was established in 1929 to attract foreign visitors to the U.S.S.R. Using the classic elements of early communist graphic design, Intourist managed to entice tens of thousands of foreigners (many from the United States) to special tourist sites set up for them in the Soviet Union.

Baikonur Cosmodrome in the remote desert steppes of Kazakhstan is one of the most important sites in the history of space travel. During the Soviet era, the first man-made satellite, "Sputnik 1," took off from there in 1957, and it was also the place where the first man in space, Yury Gagarin, blasted into orbit in 1961. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Baikonur has been used to launch missions to the International Space Station. Russia has also continued to operate space missions from Baikonur under the terms of an agreement with Astana, even though this cooperation is now under threat due to a dispute between Kazakhstan and Russia over the rent paid for the use of the facility. (12 PHOTOS)

Russian-born photography aficionado Anton Orlov couldn't believe his luck when he was allowed to rummage through old storage chests in the basement of a house in California in 2005. Inside, he found a treasure trove of hand-colored glass slides taken during the Russian Revolution in 1917.

Orthodox worshipers in Russia, Belarus, and elsewhere celebrated Epiphany -- marking the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist and the beginning of his ministry -- with ritual plunges in subfreezing temperatures around midnight on January 18-19. Honoring an old Russian tradition, in many places bathers dip themselves in cross-shaped holes cut in ice over lakes and rivers. (11 PHOTOS)

Animals -- in particular monkeys -- have a long history of space travel.

RFE/RL's Kazakh Service has launched a photo competition asking its readers to send in photos that capture the spirit of Kazakh youth. From wedding parties to souped-up cars to snake dances, the photos are a compelling portrait of a post-Soviet generation.

Vevcani, a tiny town of around 2,500 people in western Macedonia, held its annual carnival this week, a spectacle that allows the heavily Orthodox locals to indulge in unbridled paganism and show off their creativity. Dedicated to St. Basil the Great (Vasilij), the event turns the sleepy little hillside municipality into a "theater without borders in which every house is part of a street scene with masked actors performing their games." (10 PHOTOS)

The eruption of Russia's Plosky Tolbachik volcano began in November after it was dormant for almost 40 years. Tolbachik is a volcanic complex on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East. It consists of two volcanoes -- Plosky Tolbachik (3,085 meters) and Ostry Tolbachik (3,682 meters).

Thousands of demonstrators are taking part in the "Caravan of Democracy March" led by influential Islamic cleric Tahir-ul Qadri to protest against government corruption and demand election reforms. The protesters began the march in Lahore and are expected to reach Islamabad's outskirts late on January 14. Security is tight in the capital, with shipping containers blocking the roads to some diplomatic enclaves and a heavy police and army presence around government buildings.

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond. (39 PHOTOS)

Polls have opened in the first direct presidential election in the Czech Republic. More than 8 million voters are eligible to chose a new head of state to replace outgoing President Vaclav Klaus. Euro-skeptic Klaus, 71, has completed the maximum two five-year terms allowed by the constitution. Opinion polls ahead of the Friday-Saturday vote show former prime ministers Jan Fischer and Milos Zeman in front, followed by Vladimir Franz, a composer who has tattoos covering most of his body. A total of nine candidates are standing. The top two finishers will compete in a runoff in two weeks. The position is mostly ceremonial, but can be influential through appointments to offices, amnesties, and veto powers.

In one of Pakistan's bloodiest days in recent years, a series of bombings struck two cities on January 10, killing at least 115 people and wounding dozens more. The deadliest attacks were twin blasts which killed 81 people at a snooker hall in Quetta, the capital of the province of Balochistan. The bombings were claimed by the Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, while an earlier attack in Quetta was claimed by the separatist United Baluch Army. In the northwestern Swat Valley, at least 22 people were reported killed by an explosion near Mingora.

A bomb exploded today in a crowded area of Quetta, southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 11 and wounding more than 30. Police said the bomb had been placed under a paramilitary vehicle near a checkpoint. Produced by Khudai Noor Nasar, RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal

The judges at "National Geographic" looked at more than 22,000 images submitted by photographers from 150 countries before deciding on the winners of the magazine's 2012 photo contest. Entries were evaluated in three categories: People, Places, and Nature.

The family of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who went missing during a March 2007 visit to the Iranian island of Kish, has released new photographs of him in captivity. In the photos, which were given to RFE/RL, Levinson is dressed like a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center and is holding various signs written in crude English. Levinson’s wife, Christine Levinson, spoke to RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari about the photos and her husband's case.

On January 9, 1863, the world's first underground rail journey took place between London's Paddington and Farringdon stations on the Metropolitan Railway. Within its first few months, the pioneering subway system was carrying 26,000 passengers a day. Today, that number tops 3.5 million.

Orthodox Christians around Europe and Russia celebrated Christmas on January 6 and 7 with liturgies, processions, and an array of local traditions to mark the holiday.

Wanted: A few good men to run for Iranian president. Candidates must have strong management skills and commitment to Islamic and revolutionary values. Applicants who are unwaveringly loyal and fully obedient to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, exhibit strong anti-Western leanings, and can present a documented history of hard-line political and religious views will receive preference. All entries will be vetted by the Guardians Council. Oppositionists need not apply.

These are among the traits and qualifications expected of candidates who plan to run in Iran's June 14 presidential election, according to Iran observers and comments coming from within the supreme leader's inner circle.

In November, the supreme leader's representative in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Hojatoleslam Ali Saeedi, listed management skills and revolutionary and Islamic values as prerequisites for "suitable and competent" candidates.

Iran observers have narrowed the list further, saying the contest will essentially be waged among traditionalists and the new guard within the conservative camp. Reformists or figures close to outgoing President Mahmud Ahmadinejad are given virtually no chance to win, if they choose to throw their hats into the ring at all.

As Washington D.C.-based political analyst Ali Afshari put its, the Islamic regime is looking for a more civilized Ahmadinejad -- that is, in the mold of the current president before he began challenging the supreme leader.

There is a long way to go before a comprehensive and official candidates list can be compiled -- none is yet confirmed -- but names are already being floated. Eventually, according to Habibollah Asgarolad, secretary-general of Iran's Islamic Coalition Party, there will be 40 potential candidates, with 25 from the conservative camp.

So, knowing the qualifications expected and the likely introduction of electoral reforms that could weed out many potential candidates, who is poised to contend? Here's a rundown.

-- Golnaz Esfandiari

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond, including Orthodox Christmas festivities, continued fighting in Syria, Shi'ite Arbain celebrations, and New Year fireworks.

Flash floods engulfed parts of Baghdad on December 25-26 after some of the heaviest rains in 30 years. A week later, the Iraqi capital -- whose sewer system is not equipped for heavy precipitation -- is still dealing with the aftermath.