Iran and Saudi Arabia will start formal talks next week to resume direct scheduled flights between Tehran and Riyadh and other cities, an Iranian official told the state-affiliated news agency ILNA on December 10. Regular flights would be another step toward restoring ties between the two Middle Eastern rivals. A Chinese-mediated agreement in March restored diplomatic relations after years of tensions that threatened the security of the entire region and fuelled conflicts in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.

KAZAN, Russia -- Activists on December 10 protested against the crackdown inside Russia on independent journalists, including Alsu Kurmasheva, a veteran journalist of RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service who has been held in Russian custody since October 18.

Protesters in Kazan held placards including, "Alsu Kurmasheva is a journalist, not a criminal," and "No one should die for the right to tell the truth," before security forces moved in and removed any signs mentioning the detained RFE/RL journalist.

Kurmasheva, a Prague, Czech Republic-based journalist with RFE/RL who holds dual U.S. and Russian citizenship, traveled to Russia for a family emergency in May.

She was temporarily detained while waiting for her return flight on June 2 at the airport in Kazan, the capital of the Tatarstan region, where both of her passports were confiscated. She was not able to leave Russia as she awaited the return of her travel documents.

Kurmasheva was fined 10,000 rubles ($103) on October 11 for failing to register her U.S. passport with the Russian authorities, according to local media reports based on court documents they'd seen.

Kurmasheva was detained again on October 18 and this time charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

The Investigative Committee said Kurmasheva was being charged under a section of the Criminal Code that refers to the registration of "foreign agents" who carry out the "purposeful collection of information in the field of military, military-technical activities of Russia," which, if received by foreign sources, "can be used against the security of the country."

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'That's How My Days Are Spent': RFE/RL Journalist Alsu Kurmasheva Writes From Jail

On December 4, a court in Kazan rejected an appeal filed by Kurmasheva's lawyers against another court's decision in October to fine her 10,000 rubles for "failure to inform Russian officials about holding a second citizenship."

The Russian Foreign Ministry has criticized Germany's ambassador in Moscow, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, for his remembrance of war victims and plea for peace during a church Christmas concert. Lambsdorff addressed a crowd of several hundred people at the Catholic Church's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Moscow on December 9. He said that "war is not inevitable" and commemorated those killed in Ukraine and the Middle East. The diplomat's remarks drew a sharp rebuke from Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

The Taliban must embrace and uphold human rights obligations in Afghanistan, the UN mission in the country said on December 10 on Human Rights Day and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban has erased basic rights and freedoms, with women and girls deeply affected. They are excluded from most public spaces and daily life, and the restrictions have sparked global condemnation. The UN mission, highlighting the Taliban's failures in upholding its rights obligations, said it continues to document extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, corporal punishment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other violations of detainees' rights.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made a stopover visit to Cape Verde on his way to Argentina, where he is due to attend the inauguration of new Argentinian President Javier Milei, his first trip to Latin America and his latest bid to shore up support in the Global South for Kyiv in its 21-month-old war against Russia.

Zelenskiy met on December 9 with Cape Verde Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva in what he later called in a social-media post the "first meeting of leaders in the history of our bilateral relations."

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Zelenskiy thanked Cape Verde for condemning Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and its backing of Ukrainian initiatives.

Zelenskiy is hoping to convene a "global peace summit" and has promoted a peace plan rooted in the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and recognition of its post-Soviet borders of 1991.

Analysts say Kyiv has been trying to build ties with African, Asian, and Latin American governments, but has found its support for Israel at odds with the positions of some of those countries.

In Cape Verde, Zelenskiy informed the African leader of efforts to develop new grain routes as well as plans to create grain centers in Africa, a statement from Zelenskiy's office said.

In July, Russia refused to extend a UN-backed deal that had allowed Ukraine to export grain and other food items from three designated Black Sea ports. Much of those agricultural exports were destined for parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

After pulling out of the agreement brokered by the UN and Turkey, Russia has attacked Ukraine's Black Sea ports and grain infrastructure, destroying almost 300,000 metric tons of grain, according to a recent estimate by the British government.

An alternative, temporary Black Sea corridor has allowed Ukraine to ship more than 7 million tons of cargo through Black Sea ports despite Russia's blockade, Ukrainian officials said on December 4.

Meanwhile, while in Argentina for Milei's inauguration, Ukrainian media speculated this week that Zelenskiy could meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in a bid to resolve differences over Ukraine's bid for European Union membership.

Earlier this week it was reported that Orban had written European Council President Charles Michel to demand that Ukraine's membership be taken off the agenda at an EU summit next week.

That summit in Brussels will decide on whether to start talks with Ukraine and neighboring Moldova -- as recommended by the EU Executive Commission -- on their bids to join the 27-member bloc. EU leaders will also decide on the release of 50 billion euros ($55 billion) in aid for Ukraine.

Orban is considered one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies in Europe, and his nationalist government has argued against EU sanctions on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

With reporting by dpa and Reuters

Russia has transferred a majority stake in a strategic metals firm to the state's nuclear energy company after seizing shares from its private owners.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on December 8 signed an order transferring the shares in Solikamsk Magnesium Plant to Kremlin-controlled Rosatom, according to аn order posted on the government's website.

Russia last year seized an 89 percent stake in Solikamsk, claiming the Urals-based company was illegally privatized in the 1990s.

Russian courts have nationalized dozens of companies -- many strategic -- on that basis since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine, raising fears in the business community about a larger revision of privatizations.

Russia sold off wide swaths of its economy in the 1990s, including energy and metals companies, often in an opaque and unfair manner that gave rise to the so-called "oligarchs."

Solikamsk, which produces 100 percent of Russia's tantalum and niobium as well as 60 percent of its commercial magnesium, was privatized in the 1990s as well.

Tantalum is used in a variety of commercial and critical defense applications such as mobile phones and turbine engines for aircraft, while niobium is used in the production of high-strength steel alloys used in pipelines and transportation infrastructure.

Magnesium has a variety of industrial uses, including as a reducing agent to separate uranium.

President Vladimir Putin promised in the early 2000s shortly after coming to power that he would not reverse the privatizations if Russia's tycoons stayed out of politics and that agreement had largely been maintained with a few major exceptions before the war.

The series of nationalizations -- many but not all based on alleged illegal privatization -- since the war began has sent a chill through the business community, Aleksandr Shokhin, the head of Russia’s industry lobby, told the RBK news agency in September.

"Nobody knows who will be next," he said.

He said there was concern the assets are being seized to hand over to people who are considered more loyal to the Kremlin.

"If an asset goes into state ownership, where does it go? Is it transferred to the management of the 'right' people, 'good' entrepreneurs from some circle? Or is it being put up for privatization?" he said.

Many Russian tycoons have kept a low profile since the invasion of Ukraine, with some relocating abroad, opening themselves to criticism, especially from pro-war members of the elite.

Russia earlier this year seized a controlling stake in Syas Pulp and Paper Mill, one of the largest manufacturers of toilet paper and napkins, after its owner acquired Israeli citizenship and relocated abroad.

Putin last month met with the country's largest businessmen at his residence outside Moscow to discuss Russia's business climate. The issue of nationalization was expected to be raised.

With reporting by Kommersant, RBK, and Reuters

Russia has arrested a dual U.S.-Russian citizen on charges of "rehabilitating Nazism" for two critical posts he made on social media.

Yury Malyev was arrested on December 8 in St. Petersburg and ordered to pretrial detention for two months, the Smolnensky district court said in a post on its Telegram channel.

Malyev last year posted on his Odnoklassniki page an image of the St. George ribbon, which represents Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany, along with a caption that included the face of a known gay individual and profanities, according to the court. It gave no further details.

On May 8, the day before Russia celebrates its victory over Nazi Germany, Malyev posted the image of a dead body with a caption that read "how to correctly wear the St. George ribbon."

The court said the latter post showed "disrespect for society and the days of military glory and memorable dates of Russia" and was an "insult" to World War II veterans.

Malyev has "partially" admitted guilt, the court said. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has largely snuffed out freedom of expression, clamping down hard on individuals who contest the state's official view of World War II as well as the current invasion of Ukraine.

In 2014, Putin outlawed the dissemination of "false information about Soviet activities" during World War II and seven years later outlawed criticism of veterans of that war.

In December 2022, he signed into law a bill criminalizing the desecration of the St. George ribbon with a punishment of up to five years in prison.

The ribbon dates back to 1769, when Russian Empress Catherine the Great established the Order of St. George. The medal was attached to a ribbon of black and yellow -- later orange.

In 1945, the Soviet Union resurrected the orange-and-black ribbon for a medal to celebrate victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

The colors then became part of annual May 9 Victory Day celebrations in the Soviet Union and then in Russia, and they were handed out en masse in Russia starting in 2005.

Nearly a decade later, activists supporting Russia's 2014 seizure of Ukraine's Crimea and backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine began using the ribbon as a symbol, and it is now widely associated with the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Ukraine banned the St. George ribbon in 2017.

Russia has said it is studying whether its gold reserves, frozen by the West in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine, could be used to help developing countries overcome the impact of climate change.

In a statement made at the COP28 summit in Dubai, where officials from around the world are gathered, Russia's climate envoy suggested the frozen funds could be used to help emerging nations accelerate their fight against climate change.

"We are ready to announce that Russia is looking into the voluntary contribution of finance to the loss and damage fund from the frozen national gold reserves held by international organisations," Ruslan Edelgeriyev, Russia's climate representative, said on the main stage at COP28.

Russia has been seeking to strengthen ties with countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East -- sometimes referred to as the Global South -- after the West cut most ties with Moscow over its brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Those countries, many of which are in the developing stage, are among the hardest hit by climate change. Global South countries have criticized developed countries, especially Western states, for slow rolling aid to help them combat climate change.

Global South countries say developed countries have largely caused climate change through their greater use of fossil fuels, while they suffer the consequences. Developed countries provided about $100 billion in financing to developing countries for climate change last year.

The United States and Europe have frozen about $300 billion in Russian gold reserves held in the West as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine.

Washington and Brussels have yet to decide what they will do with the Russian funds. Some Western officials have called for using the funds to help rebuild Ukraine after the war.

Russia's climate representative may have simply attempted to win over developing countries while stoking their frustration with the West.

Many countries in the Global South have criticized the West for quickly mobilizing tens of billions of dollars in military and financial aid for Ukraine when their calls for help receive marginal attention and resources.

With reporting by Reuters

The authorities in Kyiv on December 9 dismantled a massive equestrian monument to Bolshevik military commander Mykola Shchors that was erected in the Ukrainian capital nearly 70 years ago. Workers spent seven hours removing the 7-ton monument, which will be stored in a museum. The city administration announced on Telegram that "more than 60 monuments related to the history and culture of Russia and the U.S.S.R. have already been removed from the capital." Shchors was a Red Army commander who fought against the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic and was killed in unclear circumstances in August 1919. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

Representatives of the ruling United Russia party and the All-Russia Popular Front (ONF) met in Moscow on December 9 as an "initiative group" to discuss their support for President Vladimir Putin's bid for a fifth presidential term. Party secretary Andrei Turchak said United Russia would provide all necessary resources for Putin's campaign. Putin on December 8 signaled that he will seek another term in the election set for March 15-17. Russian elections are tightly controlled by the Kremlin and are neither free nor fair but are viewed by the government as necessary to convey a sense of legitimacy. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Supporters of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny say they have had no contact with him for three days.

Maria Pevchikh, chairwoman of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on December 8 that "Navalny is missing for three days now."

"Navalny’s life is at great risk," she wrote. "He is in complete isolation now."

In a post on Instagram on December 8, Ruslan Shaveddinov, also with the Anti-Corruption Foundation, wrote that the last information about Navalny was that he had fallen ill in his cell after being subjected to harsh conditions, including limited food, a lack of ventilation, and minimal exercise time.

"Navalny's only protection is publicity," Shaveddinov wrote.

Navalny associate Kira Yarmysh wrote on X on December 8 that the opposition leader's lawyers had waited outside the prison all day without being granted permission to visit their client.

She said his allies had not received any letters from him for more than a week, which she said was unusual.

"Our letters to him also have not been delivered," she wrote.

On December 8, Navalny was not connected by video link to a court hearing, with prison officials citing technical problems.

On December 7, Navalny's supporters launched a campaign to oppose President Vladimir Putin's bid to secure a fifth presidential term in Russia's March 2024 election. Navalny has urged Russians to vote against Putin in the election. Putin announced on December 8 that he will seek another term.

Navalny is serving a 19-year prison term after being convicted of creating an "extremist" organization, charges that are widely believed to be retribution for his political activity. In September, he was transferred to a strict-regime cell after being deemed "incorrigible."

He has been placed in solitary confinement more than 20 times since he began his prison term in February 2021.

He has been recognized as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and as a political prisoner by the Memorial human rights group.

Authorities in Iran have prevented relatives of Mahsa Amini, whose September 2022 death in custody sparked nationwide anti-government protests, from leaving the country to accept the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize.

Amini's mother, father, and brother were told on December 8 at Tehran's Iman Khomeini Airport that they had been barred from travelling abroad.

Their passports were confiscated, a source who asked not to be identified told Radio Farda.

The family's lawyer, Saleh Nikhbakht, who was accompanying them, was apparently allowed to travel.

The European Parliament on October 19 awarded the 2023 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Amini and the Women, Life, Freedom movement that was sparked by her death.

"The European Parliament proudly stands with the brave and defiant who continue to fight for equality, dignity, and freedom in Iran," European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said at the time, adding that they award "remembers their struggle and continues to honor all those who have paid the ultimate price for liberty."

The prize, which was set up in 1980 to honor individuals and organizations promoting human rights and basic freedoms, includes a 50,000-euro ($54,000) prize. It will be presented in Strasbourg on December 13.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, died in custody on September 16, 2022, shortly after being detained by the so-called morality police for allegedly violating the country's strict Islamic dress code. Supporters say she was subjected to physical abuse while in custody.

The Iranian authorities launched a brutal crackdown against mass demonstrations that were sparked by Amini's death and which became one of the most daunting challenges faced by the Islamist government since Iran's 1979 revolution.

In October 2022, Amini's family reported receiving death threats aimed at preventing them from participating in the peaceful protests.

The Ukrainian parliament on December 8 approved three bills necessary to start European Union accession talks. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed all three, describing them as key to Ukraine's application to join the 27-member bloc. "Today, the Ukrainian parliament passed the required legislation in accordance with the European Commission's recommendations on anti-corruption and national minorities," Zelenskiy said on X, formerly Twitter. "We anticipate that EU leaders will appropriately recognize Ukraine's efforts, and that the EU will follow through on its related promises." An EU summit next week is to consider whether to start membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.

Ukraine's defense minister has said his country expects to take delivery of advanced F-16 fighter jets "soon," as the Biden administration warned the U.S. Congress that failure to support Ukraine could mean the United States will have to pay a high price in "national treasure and in American blood" in the future.

In comments on December 8, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov stressed that preparations to receive the advanced U.S.-made fighters were well under way and that "we will receive them soon."

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Kyiv has repeatedly urged its allies to provide the aircraft to counter Russia's air supremacy in the parts of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces.

"In the short term, we will receive the F-16s," Umerov said. "In the medium term, we have also made more orders for our defense forces. I mean the years 2027 to 2030."

In October, Denmark said it would provide its first batch of F-16s to Ukraine "in March or April" of 2024.

In Washington on December 8, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby urged Republican lawmakers to authorize additional military aid for Ukraine, saying the ongoing controversy over the issue was "a great gift" to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"If you think the cost of supporting Ukraine is high now, think about...how high it's going to be in national treasure and in American blood if we have to start acting on our Article 5 commitments," he said, referring to the part of the NATO Charter that obligates allies to come to one another's defense.

"If [Putin] gets Ukraine, he gets right up against the doorstep of NATO," Kirby said. "Helping [Ukraine] win this war is very much in our national security interest and in the national security interest of all our allies in Europe."

Republican lawmakers in the United States have been refusing to proceed with some $60 billion in increased aid for Ukraine unless Democrats agree to increased immigration restrictions on the country's southern border.

Speaking in Berlin on December 9, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his government will continue supporting Ukraine despite its current budget woes.

Putin "should not and must not" expect Germany to reduce aid to Ukraine, Scholz said.

Germany is the second-largest supplier of military aid to Kyiv, after the United States, providing main battle tanks, heavy artillery, and air-defense systems.

In an interview with the BBC on December 9, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska warned of the danger of "Ukraine fatigue," saying her country faced "mortal danger" if the West cut back on support.

"We really need the help," Zelenska said. "In simple words, we cannot get tired of this situation, because if we do, we die. And if the world gets tired, they will simply let us die."

In its daily briefing on December 9, the Ukrainian General Staff reported some 95 "combat clashes" along the front line over the previous 24 hours. In addition, officials said there had been 28 missile attacks and 27 air strikes.

Fighting was heaviest in the Donetsk region around Avdiyivka. Russian forces have been attempting for several weeks to encircle the industrial city, which has become the latest symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

With reporting by dpa

The Bulgarian parliament on December 8 voted overwhelmingly to provide surplus air-defense missiles to Ukraine. The vote was 147-55 with seven abstentions. A majority of lawmakers also rejected President Rumen Radev's veto of plans to send 100 surplus armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. Radev said on December 4 that lawmakers needed to assess if the vehicles were expendable and sent the plan back to parliament for a vote. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was grateful for the parliament's decisions, which "strengthen our Europe and the defense of freedom." To read the original story by RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, click here.

Kazakhstan's KazEnergy group -- an association of almost 60 oil and gas companies -- said on December 8 that former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev's son-in-law, Timur Kulibaev, has resigned as chairman of the group after leading it since it was established in 2005.

A KazEnergy statement at its website said the group is now managed by Maghzum Myrzaghaliev, who previously served as energy minister, adviser to President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, and head of the board of the oil company Kazmunaigaz.

Kulibaev, one of the richest people in the world, is married to Nazarbaev’s middle daughter, Dinara, with whom he owns the largest bank in Kazakhstan and assets in several other businesses. Forbes magazine estimates their combined wealth to be more than $8 billion.

Kulibaev, 57, had already left other prominent executive positions since unprecedented anti-government protests turned to mass unrest across the oil-rich Central Asian nation, leaving at least 238 people dead.

This includes his departure in February last year from the board of directors of Russia's Gazprom energy giant after serving for more than 10 years and his departure in January from the post of chairman of Kazakhstan's National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, Atameken.

The departures follow a pattern of purges of relatives of Nazarbaev, 83, who ruled Kazakhstan for almost 30 years but who was widely believed to have remained in control behind the scenes after handing power to Toqaev in 2019. However, after deadly unrest in 2022, Nazarbaev and his inner circle lost influence in the country.

Two other sons-in-law of Nazarbaev, Qairat Sharipbaev and Dimash Dosanov, were pushed out of top jobs at major state energy companies, QazaqGaz and KazTransOil, respectively, at the time.

Several other Nazarbaev relatives also lost top positions in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic.

In September, the Kazakh Prosecutor-General's Office said it had launched a probe against Nazarbaev's nephew, Samat Abish, on a charge of abuse of office while serving as the first deputy chairman of the Committee of National Security (KNB), the post he was dismissed from after the deadly mass unrest.

In September 2022, Nazarbaev's once-powerful nephew Qairat Satybaldy was sentenced to six years in prison on corruption charges.

The protests in January 2022 were violently dispersed by police and military personnel, including troops of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization that Toqaev invited into the country claiming that "20,000 extremists who were trained in terrorist camps abroad" attacked Almaty.

The authorities have provided no evidence proving Toqaev’s claim about foreign terrorists.

Hundreds of thousands of sixth-grade girls in Afghanistan attended the last day of the school year, many with tears in their eyes as they face an uncertain future because of Taliban policies that forbid them from further schooling and restrict their basic human rights.

"These last few days of our studies are very stressful and difficult,” Kainat, a sixth-grader in Kabul, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi on December 8, the last day of the current school year before the winter break. "We all cried because none of us will be able to study further. Our teachers tried to console us by saying that school doors might reopen for us some day.”

But for Kainat and the rest of the war-torn country's females, that day may not come for some time.

Despite pledges of a less-authoritarian rule than in their previous time in power, Taliban militants have sharply restricted the rights and freedoms of Afghan girls and women since taking over the government as international troops withdrew following two decades of intervention.

The ultra-fundamentalist Islamist Taliban rulers have since banned girls from attending school from grade seven onward. They have severely curtailed their employment prospects, mobility, and any public role in society, defying international pressure, domestic protests, and efforts to persuade the militants from rescinding their brutal policies.

The ban on education was prompted by the religious views of the Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani and endorsed by the group's supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.

Fatima Siddiq, a primary school teacher in Kabul, told Radio Azadi that the hopelessness felt by girls as they leave the school is haunting.

“I am also a mother of three daughters who will no longer be able to continue their education,” she said. “How is it possible that the [Taliban] government is unable to fulfill its promise of reopening schools?”

The Taliban's policies are deeply unpopular among most Afghans. Even though dissent is often met with a harsh response by authorities, some people are still willing to criticize the government because the policies are seen as destructive.

In the Muslim nation of some 40 million people, activists and rights advocates accuse the Taliban of implementing "gender apartheid" by denying women education, work, freedom of movement, and deciding how they can appear in public.

But it's not only females who are bearing the brunt of the government's policies.

In a new report released on December 6, the global rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that education for boys in Afghanistan under the Taliban rule is at risk, too.

The report, titled Schools Are Failing Boys Too, says curriculum changes, the firing of female teachers, corporal punishment, and other practices risk their education over the longer term as well.

Sahar Fetrat, a women’s rights researcher at HRW and the author of the report, says the Taliban has caused “irreversible damage” to the education of both Afghan boys and girls.

“By harming the whole school system in the country, they risk creating a lost generation deprived of a quality education,” she said.

The United States has imposed sanctions on dozens of people in several countries, including in Afghanistan, China, and Iran, cracking down on human rights abuses ahead of Human Rights Day on December 10. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement on December 8 said it had imposed sanctions on 20 people over human rights abuses in nine countries. The actions include sanctions on members of the Taliban over their links to the repression of women and girls and on two Iranian intelligence officials who allegedly recruited people for operations in the United States.

A court in the southeastern Belarusian city of Homel on December 7 labeled the Telegram, YouTube, X, and TikTok accounts of RFE/RL's Belarus Service, known locally as Radio Svaboda, as "extremist." Earlier, Belarusian authorities added to the list of extremists Svaboda's logo, its accounts on the Facebook, Instagram, VKontakte, and Odnoklassniki social networks, as well as the TikTok accounts of RFE/RL's Russian and Ukrainian services. Svaboda's website has been blocked in Belarus since August 2020 when unprecedented protests erupted over the official results of the presidential election that announced authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka the winner. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.

Russians and Belarusians who qualify in their sport for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris can take part as neutrals, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on December 8.

The Executive Board of the IOC said in a statement that “Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) who have qualified through the existing qualification systems of the International Federations (IFs) on the field of play will be declared eligible to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024."

The board said it took into consideration a number of factors, including "the view of the overwhelming majority of athletes not to punish fellow athletes for the actions of their government."

The individual neutral athlete designation means athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport will be allowed to compete but will not be allowed to display flags or emblems and their anthems will not be played during the event.

The IOC also said athletes who actively support the war in Ukraine and those contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military are ineligible.

In addition, no teams from the two countries will be allowed, and no Russian or Belarusian government or state official will be invited to or accredited for Paris 2024.

Russia's Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin called the decision discriminatory and unacceptable.

"Participation in the Olympics is an athlete’s dream," Russia's Sports Minister Matytsin was quoted as saying by TASS. "But the conditions are discriminatory and go against the principles of sports. By doing so, they harm the Olympic Games themselves, and not Russian sports. The approach is absolutely unacceptable."

Despite the IOC decision, World Athletics remains firm in its decision to block Russians and Belarusians from competitions.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said at a press conference in Paris that there would be no Russians or Belarusians competing as neutrals in track-and-field events at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

"You may well see some neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus in Paris, it just won't be in athletics," Coe said.

World Athletics said earlier in a statement that all athletes, support personnel, and officials from Russia and Belarus remain barred from all World Athletics events.

"We will continue to monitor the situation, but unless there is a major change in circumstances between now and the Olympic Games, this exclusion will apply to Paris 2024,” the statement said.

The statement noted that it is the responsibility of the international federations to decide which athletes within their sport are eligible to compete.

The organizers of the Paris Olympics, which are to open in July, said they took note of the IOC's decision, issuing a statement saying that "qualification for the Olympic Games Paris 2024...falls under the responsibility of the IOC and the International Federations.

"Paris 2024’s responsibility is to host athletes who have qualified for the games under the best possible conditions, regardless of their nationality," the statement, which expressed "solidarity" with Ukraine, said.

Ukraine has opposed the presence of Russian competitors, even as neutrals, at the Paris Olympics.

Out of 4,600 athletes globally who have qualified for the Paris Olympics so far, eight are Russians and three hold Belarusian passports, the IOC statement said, adding that more than 60 Ukrainians have qualified.

With reporting by Reuters

Lithuania's Interior Ministry said on December 7 that a commission has been established to investigate how relatives of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich were able to obtain citizenship in the Baltic nation. The Center for Corruption and Organized Crime Research (OCCRP) and its partner in Lithuania, Siena, reported this week that Abramovich's 30-year-old son, Arkady, and 31-year-old daughter, Anna, are holders of Lithuanian passports, which are used to evade Western sanctions. In January, The Guardian wrote that Roman Abramovich transferred ownership of $4 billion in trusts to his seven children three weeks before Russia launched its ongoing unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Prominent Iranian opposition figure Zahra Rahnavard says the government crackdown on students angry over a lack of freedoms and enforcement of rules such as a dress code is "unprecedented" but ultimately will fail to stifle the dissent.

Rahnavard, who has been under house arrest for over 13 years along with her husband, Mir Hossein Musavi, made the comments in a message timed to coincide with Student Day in Iran, marked on December 7. The text was published on the Kalameh news website, a platform known for its opposition to the Iranian regime.

"No government in Iran has been able to stop the student movement from influencing the fate of the nation," she wrote.

"On the contrary, it has been academics who, with knowledge, culture, and art, development and modernity, along with defending justice, freedom, and the independence of Iran, have had the most impact in the fear of repressive governments," she added.

She also criticized the government's recent actions against university students and faculty, detailing incidents of violence, harassment, and repression on university campuses. These actions, according to Rahnavard, have led to a tarnished international reputation for the Iranian government.

Universities and students have long been at the forefront of the struggle for greater social and political freedoms in Iran. In 1999, students protested the closure of a reformist daily newspaper, prompting a brutal raid on the dorms of Tehran University that left one student dead.

Over the years, the authorities have arrested student activists and leaders, sentencing them to prison and banning them from studying.

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last year while being detained for an alleged head-scarf violation in September last year has once again made campuses a hotbed of dissent.

The activist HRANA news agency says at least 700 university students have been arrested during the nationwide protests sparked by Amini's death in September 2022.

Rahnavard was previously a professor at Alzahra University and says she "has been a victim and deprived of a university presence for over 14 years."

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

Russia's Interior Ministry has added Russian-American journalist, writer, and outspoken Kremlin critic Masha Gessen to its wanted list. Gessen's name appeared on the ministry's list on December 8 without specifying what the journalist is wanted for. Media reports said earlier that a probe against Gessen was launched in late August on a charge of distributing "fake" information about Russia's armed forces. The charge stemmed from Gessen's interview with Russian journalist Yury Dud about alleged atrocities committed by Russian troops against civilians in Ukraine, the reports said. Gessen led RFE/RL's Russian Service in 2012-13. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Azerbaijan is tipped to host next year's UN climate summit after striking a deal with longtime adversary Armenia over its bid. Diplomatic sources told Reuters the Azerbaijani bid looked set to win support from other nations, though the issue is still being negotiated at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. The decision about who will take over from current COP28 host, the U.A.E., has been in an unprecedented geopolitical deadlock after Russia said it would veto any EU country's bid. Azerbaijan confirmed on December 7 that it had struck a deal with Armenia that allows Baku to bid to host the talks.

Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin, who is serving an 8 1/2-year prison term for his criticism of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, has been placed in a stricter regime unit in his penal colony after serving five days in solitary confinement, his Telegram channel said on December 8. Yashin is not allowed to use a phone to call his relatives now; parcels and visitations are also restricted. Yashin said earlier that he was under pressure after he challenged the Kremlin in video testimony last week at a court hearing that fined him for failing to follow so-called "foreign agent" requirements. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.