Russia's Foreign Ministry on March 21 summoned Minister Counsellor Brian Ebel of the Canadian Embassy in Moscow over Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly's recent statements regarding her country's efforts against Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The ministry called Joly's opinions "another Russophobic move...that will have the most serious repercussions for the bilateral relations." On March 10, Joly said Canada's goal is "definitely" to "weaken Russia's ability to launch very difficult attacks against Ukraine," calling to ensure that President Vladimir Putin and his associates are "held to account" for the full-scale aggression against Ukraine.

The United Nations children's agency UNICEF says that six months after catastrophic floods struck Pakistan, more than 10 million people, including children, living in flood-affected areas still have no access to safe drinking water.

UNICEF said in a statement on March 21 that the lack of clean water is forcing many families with no alternative but to drink and use "potentially disease-ridden water."

The prolonged lack of access to safe drinking water and sewage systems, along with the continued proximity of vulnerable families to bodies of stagnant water, are contributing to the widespread outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dengue, and malaria, UNICEF said, adding that unsafe water and poor sanitation are key underlying causes of malnutrition.

"Safe drinking water is not a privilege, it is a basic human right," said UNICEF's representative in Pakistan, Abdullah Fadil.

“Yet, every day, millions of girls and boys in Pakistan are fighting a losing battle against preventable waterborne diseases and the consequential malnutrition."

Last summer unprecedented monsoon rains and the flooding they sparked caused more than 1,500 deaths across Pakistan, including more than 550 children.

Many roads and bridges were washed away or are badly damaged by the disaster, leaving thousands of families with little access to food, safe water, and medicines.

In January donors pledged more than $9 billion to help Pakistan recover and rebuild following the devastating floods, which environmentalists and scientists blamed on climate change.

But the funds have been slow to come, with UNICEF saying in its statement that its current appeal of $173.5 million to provide life-saving support to women and children affected by the floods remains less than 50 percent funded.

"It is imperative that the voices and the needs of children in Pakistan are prioritized at all costs and that children are placed at the heart of all post-flood recovery and resilience plans," said Fadil.

Hungary has used its veto power to block a joint statement by European Union member states on the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bloomberg reported on March 21, quoting sources familiar with the matter. Hungary's move forced EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to issue a personal statement instead, "taking note" of the ICC move. Hungarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mate Paczolay denied the report, telling Bloomberg, "It's a lie that Hungary vetoed an EU statement on the ICC case." To read the original report by Bloomberg, click here.

A Russian partisan group called Chyorny Most (Black Bridge) has claimed responsibility for a fire in the compound of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don near the Ukrainian border that killed at least four people and injured five others on March 16. The group said on Telegram on March 21 that it was "a co-author" of the incident by contributing to its preparations and implementation. It did not name any others involved. Black Bridge positions itself as a guerrilla movement fighting against President Vladimir Putin and Moscow's full-scale aggression against Ukraine. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Caucasus.Realities, click here.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says authorities in Pakistan have committed abuses while confronting supporters of ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan during recent protests. Dozens of members of Khan's Tehrik-e Insaf party, including Khan, have been charged with terrorism offenses, criminal intimidation, and rioting. "The use of Pakistan’s vague and overbroad anti-terrorism provisions against opposition protesters is very worrying," said HRW's Patricia Gossman in a statement on March 21. "It is vitally important for the police to respect the right to peaceful assembly while holding those responsible for unlawful violence to account."

Russian police on March 21 raided the homes of several employees of the liquidated prominent Memorial Human Rights Center, the rights group said on Twitter. A lawyer for the group told the Novaya gazeta publication that police searched the residences of senior figures of the group Oleg Orlov, Nikita Petrov, and Yan Rachinsky. Russian authorities ordered the liquidation of Memorial in December 2021 under the controversial "foreign agent" law amid a continued crackdown on civil society. Memorial was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year together with jailed Belarusian dissident Ales Byalyatski and Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Eleven people were killed on March 20 in an armed attack on a vehicle in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The dead included Atif Munsif Jadoon, chairman of the Havelian area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. Tariq Mazhar, a police official in Havelian, told RFE/RL that it is not known who carried out the attack. Another police official said the attack may have been caused by enmity within the Jadoon family. Pakistani media say four of the dead were bodyguards for the family, which has not commented on the attack. Jadoon was independently elected in last year's elections but later joined the Tehrik-e Insaf party. To read the full story by RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal, click here.

The United States has accused China and Russia of shielding North Korea from any action by the UN Security Council for its unprecedented spate of intercontinental ballistic missile launches, which violate multiple UN resolutions and jeopardize international aviation and maritime safety. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on March 20 told a council meeting that Chinese and Russian "obstructionism" was encouraging North Korea "to launch ballistic missiles with impunity" and advance its development of more sophisticated and dangerous weapons. To read the original story by AP, click here.

Russia's sustained offensive in the eastern Donetsk region has intensified, the Ukrainian military said on March 21, as Japan's prime minister arrived in Kyiv in a show of support that coincided with Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow.

The commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskiy, said Russian assault groups have been attempting to advance toward the center of Bakhmut, the Donetsk region city that has been the focal point of a months-long raging battle that has prompted heavy losses to both sides.

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"Attempts by enemy assault units are trying to advance from the outskirts to the center of [Bakhmut], but the Defense Forces are working to destroy them 24/7," Syrskiy wrote on Telegram.

Russian and Ukrainian forces have invested heavily in the battle for Bakhmut, even though analysts say the city -- which has been reduced to little more than rubble -- carried little strategic value.

Ukrainian defenders repelled 120 attacks focused primarily on Bakhmut, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said earlier in its daily report, adding that Russians also attempted advances in the directions of Avdiyivka, Lyman, Maryinka, and Shakhtarsk.

Russian forces shelled civilian and infrastructure targets in 11 settlements along the line of contact, the Ukrainian military said.

Ukrainian forces also repelled Russian attacks in Kupyansk, in the northern region of Kharkiv, it said.

Japan's public television NHK broadcast video footage on March 21 of Fumio Kishida walking on the platform of a Kyiv train station accompanied by several people who appeared to be Ukrainian officials, including First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Japarova.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry earlier said Kishida will visit Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, with Japanese television showing the prime minister boarding a train at the Polish border town of Przemysl.

WATCH: A special RFE/RL investigation looks into allegations of Russian sabotage, cover-ups by Bulgarian authorities, and whether Bulgarian arms depots are still at risk as Russia's war in Ukraine enters a second year.

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Kishida will voice solidarity and support for Ukraine following Russia's invasion more than a year ago, the ministry said in a statement.

Kishida's meeting with Zelenskiy comes as Japan prepares to host a Group of Seven (G7) summit in May that the Japanese leader has said should exude a strong signal that international order and the rule of law must be upheld in opposition to Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow launched in February of 2022.

Kishida's arrival also coincides with Xi's visit to Moscow to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has become increasingly isolated on the international stage because of the invasion.

Ukrainian officials have said they hope Zelenskiy will get a chance to talk with Xi by phone while the Chinese leader is in Moscow, but such a conversation had yet to be scheduled by midday on March 21.

IN PHOTOS: Ukraine continues to hold on to eastern city of Bakhmut despite the Wagner mercenary group claiming to have seized up to 70 percent of the ruined city.

• RFE/RL

Ukraine continues to hold on to eastern city of Bakhmut despite the Wagner mercenary group claiming to have seized up to 70 percent of the ruined city.

As Kishida was beginning his visit to Ukraine, Russia's Defense Ministry said on March 21 that two of its strategic bombers flew over the Sea of Japan for more than seven hours.

The Tupolev Tu-95MS planes are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and Moscow regularly flies them over international waters in the Arctic, North Atlantic and Pacific as a show of strength.

Separately, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate said on March 20 that the Russia-installed chief of a notorious detention center in the city of Nova Kakhovka in the Russia-occupied part of the Kherson region has been "liquidated."

The directorate said Serhiy Moskalenko, a native of the city who was accused of helping Russian troops detain and torture Ukrainians, was killed days earlier.

According to media reports, Moskalenko was killed in a car-bomb attack in the southern Ukrainian town of Skadovsk on March 19.

There have been several attacks, some deadly, against Ukrainian citizens who collaborated with Russian military forces after Moscow launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, are due to hold a second day of talks in Moscow, where the Chinese leader is on his first visit in four years amid Moscow's deepening international isolation over its invasion of Ukraine.

Putin and Xi called each other "dear friend" and exchanged compliments at the Kremlin as they smiled and shook hands at the start of the first day of talks on March 20.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

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The two made brief statements at the start of their first meeting, which kicked off Xi's three-day visit that the two countries say is an opportunity to deepen their "no-limits friendship" and rebuff what they say is Washington's attempt to isolate them and hold back their development.

The meetings with Xi, who arrived earlier on March 20, gives a rare opportunity to Putin to claim that Russia is not completely walled off from the rest of the world despite his being targeted by an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes.

"We hope that the strategic partnership between China and Russia will on the one hand uphold international fairness and justice, and on the other hand promote the common prosperity and development of our countries,” Xi said as he and Putin began their meeting.

The meeting ended after more than four hours, including a dinner at which Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin would likely offer Xi a "detailed explanation" of Moscow's actions in Ukraine. Broader talks between Russian and Chinese officials on a range of subjects are scheduled to take place on March 21, he added.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington that Xi and Putin seem to be connected in "a marriage of convenience" rather than one of affection.

"These are two countries that have long chafed at U.S. leadership around the world," he said.

SEE ALSO:

Xi Doubles Down On Putin In A Symbolic Moscow Trip With The Ukraine War In Focus

The White House remains concerned that China might provide lethal weapons to Russia, Kirby said.

He also said Washington encouraged Xi to press Putin directly "on the need to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity" and said Xi should speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy about the impact of the war on Ukraine.

Xi's visit comes just weeks after China announced a proposal for a political settlement in Ukraine that Western countries said echoes Russian talking points, including blaming the West for the unprovoked invasion. The Chinese plan called for a cease-fire and peace talks among other provisions.

Putin, speaking at the start of the meeting, welcomed China's plan.

"We are always open to negotiations," Putin told Xi. "We will certainly discuss all these issues, including your initiatives which we treat with respect, of course."

PODCAST: What do visits from Xi Jinping and Bashar al-Assad say about Russia’s clout beyond the former Soviet Union, and how will an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin affect Moscow’s standing?

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced skepticism over the proposal, warning it could be a "stalling tactic" to help Russia on the ground in Ukraine.

"The world should not be fooled by any tactical move by Russia, supported by China or any other country, to freeze the war on its own terms," Blinken told reporters at the State Department.

Blinken also denounced Xi's visit, saying the timing showed Beijing was providing Moscow with "diplomatic cover" to commit further crimes.

In an article published on March 20 in the Russian publication Russian Gazette, Xi said that China has remained "impartial" and “actively promoted peace talks” but presented no clear proposals in regard to its peace plan.

Ahead of the visit, Putin touted his relationship with Xi and boasted that Moscow-Beijing relations have never been stronger.

In a March 19 article for The People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Putin tried to portray Russia and China as close allies united against U.S. hegemony and NATO expansion, including into the Asia-Pacific region.

Putin has tried to justify his war of aggression against Ukraine on various grounds, including claiming NATO expansion was a threat. In an attempt to connect their respective security concerns, Putin warned NATO was a threat to China as well.

In a statement published in Russian media ahead of the visit, Xi made only a thinly veiled mention of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying "there has been an all-round escalation of the Ukraine crisis."

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

The number of countries that support the creation of a UN-backed special tribunal to hold Russia accountable for its aggression against Ukraine is increasing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on March 20.

Zelenskiy said in his evening address that he held conversations earlier in the day with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to thank them for joining an international group that is preparing the creation of the special tribunal.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

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"The circle of partners who are ready to work together to punish Russia for aggression is inevitably expanding. And it makes the prospect of punishment more and more realistic," Zelenskiy said.

He said he also spoke about the special tribunal on March 20 in an address to a conference of European justice ministers in London.

"I appealed to the participants of the conference and called on them to support all elements of the international effort so that the aggressor would be accurately punished," he said.

The European Parliament in January adopted a recommendatory resolution on the creation of a special tribunal regarding the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted unanimously one week later to establish the tribunal.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), however, has said he opposes the EU proposal. Karim Khan said in December that his court is capable of effectively considering war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.

The ICC on March 17 issued a warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing the Russian leader of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. The court also issued a warrant for the arrest of Maria Lvova-Belova, a Russian children's rights official who allegedly directs the removal of Ukrainian children to Russia.

The Kremlin dismissed the warrant, arguing that it is void because Russia is not in the ICC's jurisdiction. Ukraine is also not a member of the ICC.

An international conference in London has raised 4 million pounds ($4.9 million) to support the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its investigations into alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Justice ministers from over 40 countries met in London on March 20 after the court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him in the abduction of children from Ukraine. British Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said the countries "share the belief that President Putin and the wider leadership must be held to account," adding, "Let's make sure that we back up our words with deeds." To read the original story by AP, click here.

A video of Iranian singer Shervin Hajipour performing the protest anthem Baraye played on March 20 at a White House celebration marking Norouz, the Persian New Year. The video was played just before President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden hosted the event. Biden told the audience that the traditional New Year inspired "hope for women of Iran who are fighting for their human rights and fundamental freedoms." The song instantly became associated with the political upheaval in Iran sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini while in custody for an alleged violation of Iran's hijab law.

European ministers agreed to add eight Iranians and one of the Tehran government's most powerful bodies to EU sanctions lists, alleging human rights violations. The individuals -- including clerics, judges, and a broadcaster -- are accused of playing leading roles in Iran's crackdown on anti-government protests. The EU said it was in particular "sanctioning members of the judiciary responsible for handing down death sentences in unfair trials and for the torturing of convicts." The government institution, the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, was said to have "promoted several projects undermining the freedom of girls and women and discriminating against minorities."

A teachers' union in Iran has warned the government that if its demands are not met, its members will take to the streets in May, adding to the social and economic unrest that has plagued the country for almost a year.

The Coordinating Council of Teachers' Syndicates said in a statement on March 19 that imprisonment, dismissal, deportation, and court sentences have failed to deter teachers from their desire to accompany the people of Iran in the direction of fundamental changes in the Islamic republic.

"The tyranny can no longer stand against The Power of Powerless", the statement added, referring to a political essay written by the Czech communist-era dissident Vaclav Havel.

In recent years, Iranian teachers have taken to the streets across the country to demand better pay and working conditions. In response, the authorities have summoned, detained, and jailed a growing number of protesters and activists, actions that have failed to stop the rallies.

The statement, published just ahead of the beginning of the Persian New Year on March 21, referred to the last year as "a year full of glory and complaints" and added that "the stance of teachers and students together will promise days full of awareness."

Unrest has rattled Iran since last summer in response to declining living standards, wage arrears, and a lack of welfare support. Labor law in Iran does not recognize the right of workers to form independent unions.

Adding to the dissent, the death in September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly breathed new life into demonstrations, which officials across the country have since tried to quell with harsh measures.

The activist HRANA news agency said that more than 500 people have been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.

Thousands have been arrested in the clampdown, with the judiciary handing down harsh sentences -- including the death penalty -- to protesters.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has offered support in facilitating bilateral peace discussions with Azerbaijan in a phone call on March 20 with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

The U.S. State Department said that in the call Blinken "reiterated U.S. support for direct talks and diplomacy to support a lasting and sustainable peace in the South Caucasus and stressed that there is no military solution."

The statement also said Blinken thanked Pashinian “for Armenia’s continued commitment to peace and encouraged concrete steps forward in finding solutions to outstanding issues.”

According to the press service of the Armenian prime minister's office, Blinken reiterated his call for the immediate unblocking of the Lachin Corridor, the mountain road that links Armenia and the breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, and stressed that the United States is ready to continue supporting the process.

Pashinian and Blinken exchanged views on the prospects for the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and the opening of communication ties in the region, according to the prime minister’s press service.

Pashinian also expressed concern over the recent aggressive rhetoric of Azerbaijan.

Tensions have flared recently as the Lachin Corridor has been blocked by government-backed Azerbaijani protesters since December 12.

The availability of food in Nagorno-Karabakh has become acute due to irregular deliveries, and prices for food and other goods have risen significantly. There have also been periodic interruptions in the supply of gas and electricity.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed Nagorno-Karabakh at a meeting in Moscow with his Armenian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan. Lavrov said that the problem of the Lachin Corridor should be considered exclusively in the context of trilateral statements, and emphasized that each side has its own obligations.

He did not specify what Armenia should do in connection with the opening of the corridor but said the issues of rights and security guarantees for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh should be resolved between representatives of Karabakh and Baku.

Lavrov also lashed out at Brussels and Washington for "imposing their supervision" on the peace talks between Yerevan and Baku, accusing the West of "undisguised attempts...to undermine the region's security architecture" and "tear Russia away" from the region.

Lavrov's meeting with Mirzoyan came days after Pashinian said he had complained to Russian President Vladimir Putin about "problems" with Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh, warning of an escalation in the region.

Baku and Yerevan have been locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh for years, and the United States and European Union have recently taken the lead role in peace talks between them.

Armenian-backed separatists seized the mainly Armenian-populated region from Azerbaijan during a war in the early 1990s that killed some 30,000 people.

Diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict brought little progress and the two sides fought another war in 2020 that lasted six weeks before a Russia-brokered cease-fire, which resulted in Armenia losing control over parts of the region and seven adjacent districts.

Armenia's Defense Ministry on March 12 rejected as "untrue" an accusation from Azerbaijan that Yerevan is transporting military equipment to the Nagorno-Karabakh region over ground routes bypassing the Lachin Corridor.

Nagorno-Karabakh is legally part of Azerbaijan.

Russia has declared the Institute for Statecraft of Great Britain an "undesirable" organization amid an ongoing crackdown on international and domestic NGOs, civil society, and independent journalists. The Prosecutor-General's Office announced the decision on March 20, saying that the group's activities pose a “threat to the basis of [Russia's] Constitutional order, territorial integrity, and security." The "undesirable organization" law, adopted in 2015, was part of a series of regulations pushed by the Kremlin which squeezed many nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations that received funding from foreign sources. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

European Union member states have agreed to supply 1 million rounds of artillery ammunition to Ukraine, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said while attending a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels. "We have reached a political consensus to send to Ukraine one million rounds of 155-millimeter-caliber ammunition," he told reporters, adding that the shells would be sent within 12 months. "There are many, many details still to (be) solved but for me, it is most important that we conclude these negotiations and it shows me one thing: If there is a will, there is a way." To read the original report by Reuters, click here.

Russia's Investigative Committee said on March 20 that it has started investigating International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan and the court's three judges after an arrest warrant was issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin last week. According to the committee, The Hague-based court’s officials are suspected of "preparation of an attack on a representative of a foreign state who is under international protection to complicate the international situation." The ICC issued the arrest warrant for Putin and his commissioner for children's rights on March 17. The two are accused of committing a war crime by unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Iran's authorities have committed violations in recent months that may amount to crimes against humanity, a UN-appointed expert told the Human Rights Council on March 20, citing cases of murder, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, torture, rape, sexual violence, and persecution. Iran has been swept by protests since the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in custody last September. Addressing the Geneva-based council, Javaid Rehman, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, said he had evidence that Amini died "as a result of beatings by the state morality police." To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Britain on March 20 sanctioned more Iranian officials responsible for financing the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and for committing human rights abuses. They include five members of the body that manages the IRGC's investments and two IRGC commanders from Tehran and Alborz provinces who committed "gross human rights violations," the Foreign Office statement said. "Today we are taking action on senior leaders within the IRGC who are responsible for funneling money into the regime’s brutal repression.... We will continue to stand with the Iranian people as they call for fundamental change in Iran," Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.

In a message on the eve of the Persian New Year to honor the hundreds of victims killed in recent nationwide protests, leading jailed Iranian political activist Bahareh Hedayat said the "overthrow" of the Islamic regime as a "logical" step following months of unrest.

In a letter written from the women's ward of Tehran's notorious Evin prison, Hedayat said on March 19 that while toppling the Islamic government was not the initial intent of the movement sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody for an alleged violation of the hijab law, "this demand has become the objective on a scale that cannot be ignored.”

Hedayat, who is currently in prison for participating in the anti-government protests that erupted after Amini's death last September, listed the names of several protesters who were killed during the unrest, as well as four protesters who were sentenced to death and then executed as part of the judiciary's crackdown aimed at intimidating the demonstrators, thousands of whom have been arrested.

She added that the Islamic authority "has become the most immoral element of Iranians' daily lives and its survival is a denial of our survival, our children's survival, and our land. Therefore, the logic of overthrow is still in place."

The letter emphasizes the protesters' determination to "take back Iran" after the death of Amini.

Along with the execution of four protesters, Iran's judiciary has handed several others death sentences after what rights groups and the U.S. government have called "sham trials."

The executions and death sentences are part of the government's brutal, and often violent, crackdown on demonstrators. Lawmakers have pushed for harsh punishments to try and quell what has become the biggest challenge to the country's leadership since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Hedayat is a student activist and women's rights campaigner in Iran who has been arrested and sentenced to long prison terms several times. Most recently, she was arrested on October 3 during the nationwide protests.

The activist HRANA news agency has said that more than 500 people have been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Five children along with their mother were killed when a grenade exploded in Afghanistan’s central Ghor Province, local officials said on March 20. Abdulhai Zaeem, the provincial director of information and culture, told the dpa news agency that the incident happened on March 19 in the provincial capital Firozkoh, while the children were playing with a hand grenade inside their house. Unexploded military supplies left from decades of war often cause casualties among children in Afghanistan. On March 17, two children were killed and two others wounded when they were hit by an unexploded mortar shell in Logar Province.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- The ruling Amanat party appears to have won a majority of seats in a general election in Kazakhstan that international observers said showed some progress over previous votes while a number of opposition politicians claimed that the balloting was unfair.

Preliminary official results are expected from the Central Election Committee on March 20, a day after exit polls said Amanat had taken about 53 percent of the votes cast for the 98 seats in the lower house. At least three other parties surpassed the 5 percent threshold in order to enter parliament, according to the polls, with one showing as many as six parties winning seats.

Slightly more than half of the 12 million eligible voters went to the polls, according to the Central Election Committee. The parliamentary elections took place at the same time as local elections across the vast, oil-rich country and complete a political cycle after bloody unrest last year left at least 238 people dead.

“Democracy is a process that requires constant attention and dedication. We have noted some welcome improvements, including related to election laws, but Kazakhstan will only achieve the stated political goal of democratic development if far-reaching reforms continue,” Irene Charalambides, special coordinator and leader of the short-term observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said on March 20.

“In particular, greater attention to protecting everyone’s fundamental freedoms is needed. Most notably, the restrictive media space and limited campaign coverage did not match candidates’ efforts to engage in a more dynamic contest,” she added.

The vote follows a referendum in June that marked the end of special privileges for the country's former longtime leader Nursultan Nazarbaev and snap presidential elections in November that handed 69-year-old incumbent Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev a fresh seven-year presidential term.

SEE ALSO:

Kazakh Authorities Seek 'Change They Can Control' In Parliament Election

The early elections were the first since 2004 in which candidates without party affiliations could stand for seats in the lower house, called the Mazhilis, as part of a package of electoral reforms initiated by Toqaev in the wake of the unrest in January 2022.

But only 29 of the parliament’s seats are available to the single-mandate candidates, with the rest reserved for party list candidates.

Several candidates in the country's largest city, Almaty, said on March 20 that they would not recognize the results because of "various violations" of voting laws.

Journalist and activist Inga Imanbai told reporters at a news conference with two other independent candidates to the parliament and a candidate to Almaty city council, that a court appeal would be launched because "the votes of independent candidates were stolen."

The four listed various violations, including the improper counting of ballots and government pressure on public employees to vote for certain parties.

"I went to the elections with hope. But I was wrong. However, we will continue to fight for our rights," said Ravqat Mukhtarov, who was a candidate to the Almaty municipal council.

The return of single-mandate district races added some dynamism to a vote dominated by system candidates in a country where no elections have been deemed free or fair by international election monitors since Kazakhstan gained independence more than 30 years ago.

SEE ALSO:

Kazakh Opposition Candidates Battle To Compete In Parliamentary Elections

Still, several opposition-minded figures were excluded from races at the parliamentary and city council level on administrative pretexts, while others complained of government pressure on their campaigns.

Of the seven parties that competed, the most well-established was Amanat, a renamed version of the Nur Otan party bossed by octogenarian Nazarbaev, who remained powerful even after stepping down and allowing Toqaev to succeed him in 2019.

The OSCE noted that "limits on the exercise of constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms remain and some political groups continue to be prevented from participating as political parties in elections."

While the voting "was organized in a smooth manner overall," the OSCE said "significant procedural irregularities were observed."

“The increased competition, particularly with self-nominated candidates, is a significant development. However, legal and practical hurdles continue to detract from a fully open race among equals,” said Reinhold Lopatka, the leader of the delegation from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

“In the future, the publication of results for each polling station will be important for improved transparency and public confidence.”

Last year’s crisis effectively ended the political career of Nazarbaev, who relinquished his remaining positions to Toqaev, while denying rumors of a rift with his protege.

The Moscow-based SOVA analytical center said on March 20 that Russia's Justice Ministry has asked a court to disband the think tank as a crackdown on providers of independent information continues. According to SOVA, the ministry's March 10 request was based on allegations that the organization had violated its charter by organizing or taking part in 24 events held outside of its place of registration, which is Moscow. Sova said it will appeal the move. The SOVA center conducts sociological research mostly focusing on nationalism and racism in the Russian Federation.