The Washington-based organization Freedom House, which measures the degree of liberty in countries around the world, says Ukraine is setting an example for its region in the progress it is making in democratization. But Freedom House's director of studies, Christopher Walker, warns of possible dangers ahead.
Amir Farshad Ebrahimi -- an Iranian journalist, former member of the Basij militia, and founding member of hard-line pressure group Ansar-e Hizbullah -- has claimed on his blog that Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri contacted him last year and asked for help in defecting to the West.
An ongoing conflict between authoritarian Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his erstwhile Kremlin allies has intensified markedly, leading to speculation that Russia may seek to remove him from power.
Kabul hosts a major conference with its international partners, and high on the agenda are deciding how much control the Afghan government should have over foreign aid and how to reduce corruption.
Oleg Kalugin headed overseas counterintelligence operations for many years at Russia's KGB secret services, where he oversaw operatives including future Russian President and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. He spoke to RFE/RL about his KGB career and the recent spy scandal in which 10 alleged Russian agents were expelled from the United States.
Environmental protesters have set up a round-the-clock watch in a forest close to Moscow's biggest airport after they expelled workers felling hundreds of trees as part of the planned construction of a highway linking Moscow to St. Petersburg.
A new report by Human Rights Watch documents the widespread exploitation of Kyrgyz migrant tobacco workers, as well the frequent use of child labor, on farms in Kazakhstan that supply tobacco giant Philip Morris International.
Senior U.S. civilian and military leaders are pushing for Washington to designate major Taliban networks as terrorists. But the move could adversely affect Afghan President Hamid Karzai administration's efforts to negotiate with certain Taliban networks based in Pakistan.
Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri arrives back in Iran having "escaped" his supposed U.S. captors. But was Amiri a kidnap victim, as he has claimed, or a defector who simply changed his mind? And has any U.S. embarrassment over the affair been offset by the acquisition of valuable intelligence?
One year has passed since rights campaigner Natalya Estemirova was killed, and friends and colleagues say they're losing hope of seeing justice done.
When Fariba Davoodi Mohajer, a well-known Iranian journalist and women's rights activist, removed her hijab for the world to see, the act came under immediate attack by the Iranian regime, which accused her of immorality and depravity.
A broad consensus is emerging in the European Union to extend the mandates of the bloc's special envoys to various global trouble spots.
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