BRATISLAVA -- Ahead of a looming counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces on the battlefield, French President Emmanuel Macron has called for advancing peace negotiations on the war in Ukraine on Kyiv’s terms.

Speaking at the GLOBSEC security conference in Bratislava on May 31, Macron said there should be no compromises in terms of Ukraine's territorial integrity and that Kyiv has battlefield momentum on its side.

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"This is a very important moment," the French president said about the expected military moves by Kyiv. "Whatever happens, I do believe they [the Ukrainians] will deliver."

Macron, however, cautioned against expecting that the military push would create a breakthrough in terms of diplomatic negotiations with Moscow to end the war.

The counteroffensive "will not create de facto acceptance from the Russians to negotiate," Macron said.

Despite expressing caution toward diplomatic talks with the Kremlin, Macron said "a new energy" to engage in diplomacy from countries in the Global South is under way and that it could lead to a "conclusive" peace process that is "not a cease-fire" in the coming months.

"If we accept a cease-fire or a frozen conflict [in Ukraine], time will be on Russia's side," Macron said.

The comments come after The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukraine and its allies are planning a summit of global leaders that would exclude Russia and would be aimed at garnering support for Kyiv's terms for ending the war.

The report, which cited senior Ukrainian officials and European diplomats, said plans for the summit were in the preliminary stages and Macron had lobbied to also include countries that have sided with Russia or declined to take a position on the war such as China, India, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia.

In response to a question from the audience while on stage at the GLOBSEC conference, Macron said Europe needed to "provide clear and tangible security guarantees" to Ukraine and progress could be achieved at the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius in June, although he cautioned that he does not expect the meeting to reach a consensus.

"I think this debate will happen in Vilnius, and this is what we will discuss with [German] Chancellor [Olaf] Scholz next week and other players," Macron said. "But we need a path toward [NATO] membership" for Ukraine.

Gunmen killed one soldier and wounded another on May 31 when they opened fire on security forces escorting a team of polio workers during a door-to-door inoculation campaign in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold near the Afghan border, police said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in North Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. It came days after the government launched the latest polio eradication campaign, said Aslam Riaz, a police officer in the region. He said the polio workers escaped unharmed and the attackers fled the scene. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic.

Germany says it will shut down four out of five Russian consulates in the country by revoking their licenses, a tit-for-tat move after Moscow's decision to limit the number of German officials in Russia to 350. The Russian government would be still be allowed to operate its embassy in Berlin and one general consulate, but Germany expects the rest to cease operations by year-end, the Foreign Ministry said. At the same time, Germany will close its own consulates in Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg, and Novosibirsk, leaving only the German Embassy in Moscow and the consulate in St Petersburg in operation. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

A panel of United Nations judges on May 31 have rejected the appeals by two former Serbian intelligence officers against their convictions two years ago for murder, crimes against humanity, and other offenses in western Bosnia during the 1992-95 war there, and expanded their sentences in the process.

Jovan Stanisic and Franko Simatovic were each sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2021 in a retrial that followed acquittals in 2013. They were convicted of crimes that included murder, deportation, forcible transfer, and persecution in what prosecutors called brutal "ethnic cleansing" at Bosanski Samac in 1992.

Prosecutors asked that Stanisic and Simatovic be convicted of crimes of which they were previously acquitted in addition to additional actions in Croatia.

They also say both men oversaw the establishment of training centers throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, and that the brutal crimes of Bosanski Samac reflected a pattern used for months at other locations.

The judges on the Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (UNIRMCT), the successor to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), agreed with the prosecutors, lengthening the sentences to 15 years in the final case the panel will hear concerning the regime of the late Yugoslav and Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

"The Appeals Chamber granted part of the Prosecution’s appeal, finding that the Trial Chamber erred in not convicting Mr. Stanisic and Mr. Simatovic under the mode of joint criminal enterprise liability," the panel said in a statement.

"The Appeals Chamber determined that the Trial Chamber erred in assessing Mr. Stanisic’s and Mr. Simatovic’s other contributions to the common criminal purpose. The Appeals Chamber also found that they shared the intent to further the common criminal purpose," it added in an explanation for the decision.

Stanisic was head of the Serbian Interior Ministry's State Security Service in 1992-98.

Simatovic commanded an elite special forces unit within the Yugoslav State Security Service in 1991-98.

Stanisic's defense lawyers argued that he became "a key peacemaker" who contributed to ending conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.

Stanisic and Simatovic were detained in 2003 and their initial trial lasted from June 2009 until January 2013.

The European Union has announced sanctions on seven individuals accused of destabilizing actions against Moldova and that it was doubling its grant of macroeconomic support to 290 million euros ($310 million).

Among those hit with EU sanctions are Moldovan oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, seen as the main organizer of a $1 billion fraud in 2014-2015; and Moscow-backed tycoon Ilan Shor, the head of the Shor Party now in Israel; and Marina Tauber, a vice president of the Shor Party who has been behind mass anti-government protests in the capital, Chisinau.

Shor was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Moldovan court last month.

The others are fugitive former acting police chief Gheorghe Cavcaliuc, wanted in Moldova for aiding Shor in organizing the violent Chisinau protests; Grigore Caramalac and Aleksandr Kalinin, accused of actions against Ukraine; Russian businessman Igor Chaika, the son of Russian Prosecutor-General Igor Chaika, accused as acting as a "piggy bank" for Russia's Federal Security Service actions against Moldova.

Chaika is the only non-Moldovan citizen on the list.

Shor, Plahotniuc, and Chaika have already been put under sanctions by the United States and Britain.

The EU assets of those on the sanctions list were frozen and they are banned from traveling to and through the bloc.

The announcement was hailed by Moldova's pro-Western president, Maia Sandu.

"Moldova is not alone in its effort to keep the country safe & stable. I welcome the EU’s decision to sanction those who endanger our democracy, stability & security. Together, we will ensure a strong & prosperous future for Moldova, Sandu wrote on Twitter.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement that the seven were "responsible for actions aimed at destabilizing, undermining, or threatening the sovereignty and independence" of Moldova and Ukraine.

"Moldova is one of the countries most affected by the consequences of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. There are serious, intensified, and persistent attempts to destabilize the country," Borrell said.

Moldova, a country of 2.6 million that is among the poorest in Europe, has received hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees after Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The EU announcement about the sanctions came two days ahead of Moldova's hosting the first summit of the European Political Community, where Sandu wants to secure promises that Moldova will soon start membership negotiations with the 27-member bloc.

Moldova was invited together with Ukraine to open accession negotiations with the EU in June last year, just months after Russia invaded.

The 44-member European Political Community, the creation of which was the idea of French President Emmanuel Macron, is meant to improve cooperation between the EU and nonmembers, including aspiring countries in the Western Balkans and the Caucasus region.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and dpa

The EU agriculture commissioner says it is necessary to extend Ukraine grain-import restrictions until at least the end of October, despite fierce opposition from Kyiv. The restrictions followed complaints from EU countries that surplus Ukrainian grain was driving down local prices and impacting local farmers. The EU made an agreement with the five states involved -- Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia -- to allow them to block the import of grain from Ukraine. Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said at a press briefing May 31 that "we need to prolong, best to the end of the year but minimum to the end of October."

A court in the Russian city of Tomsk has fined a retired police lieutenant colonel 1 million rubles ($12,350) in a case of alleged military "fakes" for anti-war posts he made on social media. The Oktyabrsky district court fined 60-year-old Viktor Lavrentyev and barred him from speaking publicly, including posting on social networks, for one year. Lavrentyev has repeatedly criticized the actions of the Russian army and Russian authorities over the invasion of neighboring Ukraine. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Activists in Kazakhstan have cancelled a planned parade on May 31 to mark the Day of Remembrance of Political Persecution, saying police had detained several of their colleagues and created other impediments to holding the event. Organizers said they would try again on September 27. Police did not comment but the Prosecutor-General's Office had warned people not to attend the rally, saying those who violated the law on peaceful assembly would face up to 25 days in jail. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.

An American woman who accused U.S. President Joe Biden of sexual harassment when she worked in his Senate office says she is moving to Russia. Tara Reade made the announcement on May 30 at an event sponsored by a Russian propaganda outlet. "I feel very surrounded by protection and safety," Reade said. She was joined at the live-streamed event by Maria Butina, a Russian who served nearly 18 months in a U.S. prison accused of being an unregistered foreign agent. Biden has repeatedly denied the accusations. Multiple media outlets investigated Reade's claims, but were unable to corroborate them.

Kosovo Olympic authorities have asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to open disciplinary proceedings against Novak Djokovic, accusing him of stirring up political tensions by saying "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia" at the French Open. Djokovic wrote the message on a camera lens following his first-round win, the same day 30 NATO peacekeeping troops were hurt in clashes with Serbian protesters in the Kosovo town of Zvecan, where Djokovic's father grew up. Serbian authorities said 52 protesters were wounded in clashes after ethnic Albanian mayors took office in northern Kosovo's Serb-majority area following elections that were boycotted by the Serbs. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says 371 Ukrainian children have been returned to Ukraine after being deported by Russia during the war. Zelenskiy made the announcement as he launched the Center for the Protection of Children's Rights in Ukraine. The office also announced the Bring Kids Back UA plan, which combines the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities, partner countries, and international organizations to return the Ukrainian children deported by Russia. "The first step has been taken -- 371 children are at home in Ukraine," Zelenskiy said. Ukrainian authorities say almost 20,000 Ukrainian children have been documented as deported by Russia from occupied Ukrainian territories. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

One civilian was killed and 11 others were wounded in Russian shelling of Ukraine's Donetsk region as fighting in the east continues, the Ukrainian military and regional officials said on May 31.

Indiscriminate Russian shelling killed one person and wounded one in Chasiv Yar near Horlivka, Donetsk regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said, adding that another 10 civilians were wounded across the region.

Ukrainian forces repelled 22 Russian attacks in the east, the General Staff said in its daily update, although the intensity of Moscow's offensive in and around the Donetsk city of Bakhmut appeared to have subsided, according to Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar.

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 counteroffensives, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Unsuccessful Russian assaults took place in the Kharkiv region's Kupyansk and Masyutivka areas, and in Novoselivske in the Luhansk region.

Malyar said that in Bakhmut, which has been the epicenter of the fighting in the east for months, Russian troops had not been conducting infantry operations, apparently regrouping their forces, but had been continuing shelling and air strikes on Ukrainian positions.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, which has spearheaded the attacks on Bakhmut, last week announced he was withdrawing his fighters from the city and handing over to regular Russian forces.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry has confirmed that Wagner fighters have been leaving the Bakhmut suburbs but remain in the city itself.

Prigozhin has claimed that Bakhmut had fallen to his mercenaries, but his claim was rejected by the Ukrainian military, which said it has managed to occupy positions to the north and south of the devastated city.

Separately, Ukraine's Energy Ministry said on May 31 that electricity had been restored to almost 2 million consumers in 12 regions of Ukraine who were left without power on May 30 because of Russian shelling.

Early on May 31, the governor of Russia's Krasnodar region, Venyamin Kondratyev, said an alleged drone attack caused a fire at an oil refinery.

The strike triggered a fire at one of the Afip refinery's distillation units, Kondratyev said, adding that there were no casualties and the fire had been extinguished.

Late on May 30, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region said that one person was killed and six were wounded in shelling of a temporary shelter for civilians. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov blamed Ukrainian forces for artillery fire that hit the shelter, which he said housed displaced people, including elderly civilians and children.

SEE ALSO:

Russian Governor Says Ukrainian Artillery Fire On Shelter In Belgorod Region Kills One

There was no comment on the claims from the Ukrainian side.

Moscow-installed authorities in Ukraine's Luhansk region, which is almost completely occupied by Russia, said on May 31 that five people were killed and 19 wounded by Ukrainian shelling that hit a poultry farm in the village of Karpaty.

The information could not be independently confirmed and there was no immediate reaction from Ukraine.

On May 30, Russia launched a fresh wave of drone strikes on Kyiv -- the fourth attack in three days -- killing at least one person and wounding several others, but Ukrainian authorities said most of the drones were shot down by the capital's air defenses, while Moscow was subjected to a rare drone attack that damaged several buildings.

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Russia Launches New Deadly Air Strikes On Kyiv; Drones Hit Moscow Buildings

Bolstered by sophisticated Western-supplied equipment, Ukrainian air defenses have been adept at thwarting Russian air attacks -- both drones and aircraft missiles.

Russia has intensified missile and drone strikes on Ukraine, targeting military facilities and supplies with waves of attacks several times a week.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he continued to speak with Ukraine's Western partners about providing further air-defense systems to repel Russian attacks. This included a conversation on May 30 with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The same day Russia launched its intense drone attack on Kyiv, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said eight drones were shot down or jammed over the Russian capital in what it said was a "terrorist attack" by the "Kyiv regime."

Russia's Investigative Committee said no one was wounded.

WATCH: Ukrainian survivors of a Russian drone attack, the latest in a wave of at least 17 such strikes this month, described running for their lives on May 30 as their apartments burned and crumbled.

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More Russian Drone Attacks Strike Kyiv Apartments

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Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the attack, the Kremlin said. Putin was quoted later as saying that Ukraine sought to frighten Russians.

Ukrainian denied any involvement in the attack.

In Washington, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated the U.S. position that it does not support attacks inside of Russia.

The European Union condemned the attacks on Kyiv, with EU spokesman Peter Stano saying that such actions "indiscriminately terrorize" Ukrainian civilians.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP

Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti has rejected a demand by protesters in ethnic Serb-majority northern Kosovo to remove ethnic Albanian mayors whose forced entrance into municipality buildings in three towns in the region triggered a standoff after violent clashes with Kosovar police and KFOR troops.

Ethnic Serb demonstrators gathered again on May 31 in Zubin Potok and Zvecan after clashes two days earlier in Zvecan, following the largest Kosovar Serbian party's vow to continue protests over the presence of the mayors, who were recently elected in a vote boycotted by ethnic Serbs.

The Belgrade-backed Serbian List (Srpska Lista) said the protests will stop only when their demand for the Kosovar Albanian mayors to be removed and special police units withdrawn from the ethnic Serbian-dominated north are met.

Amid the presence of Kosovo police and KFOR troops, who have installed barbed-wire barricades around municipal buildings to keep protesters at bay, the situation in Zvecan, Leposaviq, and Zubin Potok was calm on May 31.

SEE ALSO:

Kosovo 'Tactical Game' Is A Strategic Blunder, Security Expert Charles Kupchan Warns Amid Balkan Violence

NATO has decided to deploy 700 more troops to Kosovo to help stop the violent protests and the United States has called on both Kosovo and Serbia to return to dialogue as Washington canceled Kosovo's participation in ongoing NATO exercises.

Despite appeals by the United States and the European Union, Kurti -- who traveled to Bratislava on May 31 to meet with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and with Miroslav Lajcak, the bloc's envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue -- has insisted the new Albanian mayors elected in last month's elections that were boycotted by the majority Serbs have the legal right to take over municipal buildings where they were elected -- albeit by a very small number of voters.

Mayors of the three towns were sworn in despite a turnout of under 3.5 percent in the April 23 by-elections amid the Serb boycott.

At the talks in Bratislava, Kurti told RFE/RL in a brief interview that ordering the mayors to work from locations other than their municipal offices would be regarded as proof of a parallel structure being created within Kosovo.

"What I am doing is my duty. There are parallel structures in the northern part of our country. If I would now order mayors to leave that office to another office somewhere elsewhere, it would be as if I am engaging in creating sort of a parallel structure to parallel structures, copying [Kosovo's Serb leaders'] method. I would join their illegality. I cannot do that," he said, referring to the Serbian parallel structures that have been operating in the north of Kosovo since the 1998-1999 war that ultimately led to Kosovo declaring independence from Serbia in 2008.

WATCH: After ethnic Albanian candidates won in the April local elections amid a Serbian boycott, protesters are now trying to block the new mayors from entering their offices.

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Kosovo Serb Blockade Turns Violent, KFOR Troops Injured

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Kurti was speaking after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on both Kosovo and Serbia to return to the EU-mediated dialogue on the normalization of relations.

Blinken reiterated that the Kosovar government's decision to forcefully install new mayors in municipalities with a Serbian majority in the north escalated tensions "sharply and unnecessarily."

“Prime Minister [of Kosovo, Albin] Kurti and his Government should ensure that elected mayors perform their interim duties from alternative locations, outside municipal buildings, and withdraw police forces from there," Blinken said in a statement.

" [The] President [of Serbia, Aleksandar] Vucic and the Government of Serbia should downgrade the security status of the Serbian Armed Forces and call on the Kosovo Serbs to stop defying KFOR and refrain from further violence," the statement said.

U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier said the decision of Kosovar authorities to forcibly install Albanian mayors led NATO to cancel Kosovo's participation in the alliance's largest military exercises in the Balkans.

SEE ALSO:

Dozens Injured Amid Clashes In Serb-Majority Town In Kosovo

The NATO allies' largest military exercises in the Balkan region began in Kosovo on May 21 and were set to last until June 2.

Kurti decried the move to cancel the drills as "unfortunate and unfair" in a statement to RFE/RL in Bratislava, but reiterated that Washington remains an indispensable ally for Kosovo.

"The decision to cancel Defender Europe 2023 is unfortunate and unfair. However, who am I to decide? Let me emphasize that the United States of America is an indispensable friend, partner, and ally for our security and defense, for our democracy and development," he told RFE/RL.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, dpa, and AP

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi has urged Ukraine and Russia to adhere to five principles to prevent nuclear catastrophe at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant.

Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on May 30 outlined the principles to the UN Security Council in New York during a briefing on safety at the plant, which has been a concern since Russian forces seized it shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

"The nuclear safety and security situation at the Zaporizhzhya NPP...continues to be extremely fragile and dangerous. Military activities continue in the region and may well increase very considerably in the near future," he said in an apparent reference to Ukraine's expected counteroffensive.

Grossi told the Security Council that "there should be no attack of any kind from or against the plant" and said that it should not be used as storage or a base for heavy weapons such as multiple rocket launchers, artillery systems and munitions, and tanks, or for military personnel that could be used for an attack from the plant.

He also called for off-site power to the plant to remain available and secure, for all its essential systems to be protected from attacks or acts of sabotage, and for no action to be taken that undermines the principles.

"I respectfully and solemnly ask both sides to observe these five principles," said Grossi. "These principles are to no one's detriment and to everyone's benefit."

The IAEA intends to start monitoring the principles on-site, he added.

Russia said it would do all it could to protect the power plant, it did not explicitly commit to abide by Grossi's five principles.

"Mr. Grossi's proposals to ensure the security of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant are in line with the measures that we've already been implementing for a long time," Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Serhiy Kyslytsya said the principles "must be complemented with the demand of full demilitarization and de-occupation of the station," a demand previously made by the United States.

In response to Grossi's statement, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, "It is entirely, entirely within Moscow's control to avert a nuclear catastrophe and to end its war of aggression against Ukraine."

Grossi has been trying for months to establish an agreement to reduce the risk of a nuclear accident caused by military activity at Europe's biggest nuclear power plant.

The plant, which is not generating electricity, has been affected multiple times by shelling that has caused outages of electrical power, which the plant needs to maintain the cooling of its reactors.

The plant, located in the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhya, supplied around 20 percent of Ukraine's electricity before power production was halted late last year.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

One person was killed and two injured in the Belgorod region of Russia as a result of shelling of a temporary shelter for civilians, the governor of the region said on May 30.

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov blamed Ukrainian forces for artillery fire that hit the shelter, which he said housed displaced people, including elderly civilians and children.

"A security guard was killed and two people were injured," Gladkov said on Telegram, adding that the two injured people were hospitalized in serious condition.

Gladkov's post included images showing a damaged building, a hole in the ground apparently caused by the impact of a strike, and adults and children boarding buses.

The shelling occurred in the Shebekino district of the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine and has experienced an increase in attacks in recent weeks, prompting residents to seek shelter in temporary accommodation centers.

Gladkov called the situation in the region "actually a war," using a word that Russian authorities have avoided when describing hostilities in Ukraine.

There has been no comment on the shelling from the Ukrainian side.

The Ukrainian government last week rejected Moscow's allegation that a Ukrainian "sabotage group" was responsible for clashes that erupted on the Russian-Ukrainian border.

SEE ALSO:

Along Ukraine's Border, Fear, Suspicion, Exhaustion Seep Into A Russian Region

Gladkov said then that eight people were injured on May 22 in the fighting, which he said spilled into the Graivoron district, which borders Ukraine, prompting most of the residents in Graivoron and neighboring villages to evacuate.

A group calling itself the Free Russia Legion, which claims to be made up of Russians cooperating with Ukrainian forces, took responsibility for that attack.

SEE ALSO:

Self-Proclaimed Commander Of Russia Incursion Calls Raid A 'Test Of Strength'

Moscow earlier on May 30 was the target of a drone attack as more Russian territory comes under fire amid expectations of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Five of the eight drones that took part in the raid were shot down, the Russian Defense Ministry said, while three others were jammed and forced to veer off course. Three apartment buildings were lightly damaged in the assault. The information could not be independently verified.

With reporting by AFP

A court in Iran on May 30 began the closed-door trial of a female journalist on charges linked to her coverage of a Kurdish-Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, whose death in custody last year sparked months of unrest. Niloufar Hamedi, along with another female journalist, Elaheh Mohammadi, who went on trial on May 29, face several charges including "colluding with hostile powers" for their coverage of Amini's death. Hamedi's husband said the trial session "ended in less than two hours while her lawyers did not get a chance to defend her." To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

The Kosovo Tennis Federation has accused Serbia's Novak Djokovic of aggravating an already tense situation after the world No. 3 wrote that Kosovo was "the heart of Serbia" on a camera lens following his first-round win at the French Open. "Despite a general message against violence, the statement 'Kosovo is the heart of Serbia' and further statements after the match, made by such a public figure...directly result in raising the level of tension between the two states, Serbia and Kosovo," Kosovo Tennis Federation President Jeton Hadergjonaj said on May 30 in a statement. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

NATO countries are in the middle of Arctic military maneuvers, vowing on May 30 to defend their newest member, Finland, which is hosting its first joint NATO exercise since becoming the 31st member of the Western alliance in April. Nearly 1,000 allied forces from the United States, Britain, Norway, and Sweden joined some 6,500 Finnish troops for the Northern Forest exercise at an artillery training ground above the Arctic Circle just a two-hour drive from the Russian border. U.S. Army Major General Gregory Anderson is overseeing the exercise, which continues through June 2. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

A new wave of protests is sweeping across Iran as retirees and workers demonstrate against harsh living conditions and skyrocketing inflation in the country, which has been hit hard by international sanctions over the government's nuclear program and its suppression of human rights.

Demonstrations took place on May 29 in numerous provinces, including Khuzestan, Lorestan, Hormozgan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, Ilam, West Azerbaijan, Khorasan Razavi, Mazandaran, Fars, and Isfahan.

Telecommunications retirees were a large part of the protesters, while in the southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, workers from the Maad Koush factory, a critical supplier to the Hormozgan Steel Company production chain, joined in as they continued into the third day of their strike despite threats of dismissal and arrest.

Meanwhile, the Nepheline Syenite Complex workers' strike in the city of Kalibar, East Azerbaijan Province, extended into its second day.

Government officials have described the complex in Kalibar as the Middle East's sole nepheline syenite mineral-rock-processing unit, a critical material for aluminum, glass, plastic, and rubber ceramics production.

Worker representatives have warned officials that if their "indifference to workers' demands" continues, the government will be "responsible for any subsequent incident."

In recent weeks, social-security retirees and telecommunications retirees have held numerous gatherings to voice their anger over deteriorating living conditions, the issue of fixed pensions in a high-inflation environment, and the overall mounting costs of living.

The retirees also claim that part of their legitimate benefits, including the payment of welfare and supplies, have been cut off for some time without explanation. They are demanding they be fully compensated.

In the southwestern city of Ahvaz, protesters gathered outside Khuzestan Province's main Telecommunications Company building on May 29, voicing their grievances with slogans like "Injustice and oppression are enough, our tables have nothing on them."

Iran's economy has been ravaged by U.S. sanctions, leading to a surge of protests in several cities. A report from the Labor Ministry indicated a significant increase in Iran's poverty rate, growing 50 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year.

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 in police custody for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly breathed new life into the demonstrations, which officials across the country have tried to quell with harsh measures.

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

The head of the Cinema Organization of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has warned the country's film industry that dissent will be dealt with harshly after several people from the sector participated in the Cannes Film Festival without obtaining permission from Tehran.

Mohammad Khazaie said on May 29 that the individuals who traveled to the French seaside resort for the festival earlier this month will be barred from operating in Iran's film industry, saying they cannot both "wear the coat of opposition" and work in Iranian cinema.

While only one Iranian film, Terrestrial Verses, was officially entered in the competition, dissident director Mohammad Rasolof, who was recently released from Tehran's notorious Evin prison, was asked to be a jury member. However, he was not granted permission to attend the event.

Still, several Iranian-born celebrities attended the festival and made statements calling for an end to oppression in the country and an end to state violence against dissent. One of the most notable statements came from Iranian model Mahlagha Jaberi, whose red-carpet dress featured a noose as the neckline.

Khazaie said he was also concerned over the underground production and distribution of films and noncompliance with religious issues.

"We will cut ties with anyone who, for any reason, works with smuggled and unlicensed films in Iran and abroad, and works against Iran," Khazaie warned.

This includes all elements of the film industry, from actors and producers to technical staff, he added.

Khazaie's comments were likely directed at the film Me, Maryam, The Children, And 26 Others, directed by Farshad Hashemi. The film was shown by the Independent Filmmakers Union of Iran at the Marche du Film (Cannes Film Market), despite being made in Iran without observing the Islamic republic's censorship laws, including the mandatory hijab for female actors.

Such acts of civil disobedience have increased in Iran -- where the law requires women and girls over the age of 9 to wear a head scarf in public -- since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the morality police on September 16 for an alleged hijab offense.

While the protests appear to be waning, resistance to the hijab is likely to increase, analysts say, as it is seen now as a symbol of the state's repression of women and the deadly crackdown on society.

Several Iranian cinematographers and prominent public figures have also been summoned by the police or arrested, including director Hamid Porazari.

Other celebrities, including prominent Iranian actresses Afsaneh Bayegan, Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Katayoun Riahi, and Pantea Bahram, have been interrogated and faced legal action after they made public appearances without wearing the mandatory hijab to show support for the protesters.

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

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission has completed its first review of a $15.6 billion loan program for Ukraine, and the country has met the required conditions, paving the way for a payout of around $900 million, the IMF said on May 30. IMF staff have also raised their forecast for Ukraine's economic growth this year to a range entirely in positive territory from a previous prediction that was between -3 percent and +1 percent, the IMF said in a statement on the review of the four-year Extended Fund Facility Arrangement approved in March.

Norwegian authorities say a beluga whale, which was first spotted in Arctic Norway four years ago with an apparent Russian-made harness and alleged to have come from a Russian military facility, has been seen off Sweden's coast nearly 2,000 kilometers to the south. "During the last few weeks, it has moved quickly and swam several hundred kilometers" before reaching waters off Sweden's west coast, Olav Lekve of the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries said. Whale-watchers in Norway have nicknamed it Hvaldimir, combining the Norwegian word for whale -- hval -- and the Russian first name Vladimir. To read the original story by AP, click here.

Bulgaria's Supreme Court has rejected a request for political asylum by 27-year-old Russian Aleksandr Stotsky, who fled Russia immediately after the start of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Stotsky, a supporter of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, requested political asylum, arguing that he risked being sent to fight in Ukraine upon returning to Russia. He staged an anti-war protest outside Russia's Embassy in Sofia. Stotsky's asylum request was rejected by Bulgaria's authority for refugees and a Sofia court, which ruled he was in no danger if he returned to his homeland. Stotsky is set to appeal the Supreme Court ruling. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, click here.

More than 150 Tajik migrants workers have been detained by Moscow police, several of the laborers told RFE/RL, saying they were being held in the courtyard of a police station.

The men said they were woken up by police in the early morning on May 30 before being taken “in four buses” to the Mitino district police headquarters. Police gave no reason for their arrest, the men said.

“We are now at the police station...The officers didn’t tell us why we’re taken here,” a Tajik worker told RFE/RL by phone on condition of anonymity.

Contacted by RFE/RL, Tajikistan’s embassy in Moscow confirmed it is aware of the incident and trying to clarify the situation.

There have been no immediate public comments or statements from either Russian police or Tajik officials.

The workers said they temporarily live in converted railway cars near the construction site where they work in the Mitino district.

There have been several reports of Tajik immigrants being rounded up or beaten in recent days by police in Russia, a top destination for hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Tajikistan.

Dozens of Tajik men were rounded up by police in two separate arrests in Moscow’s Mozhaysky district and the town of Kotelniki in Moscow Province last week.

Russian media reported that in at least one incident police had responded to calls from local residents. The residents allegedly complained that a group of Tajik men forced local school children to leave a neighborhood stadium so they could play soccer there themselves.

On May 24, Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to Dushanbe, Semyon Grigoryev, over reports that some 100 Tajik students were detained and beaten by police in Russia's Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

According to the students, they were severely beaten by security officers who raided a dormitory housing Tajik students on May 19.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda is urging a stronger NATO presence on the alliance's eastern flank as Russia's war on Ukraine continues. "This is a front line that needs to be very strong. We need air and missile defense and a greater presence of allied forces in the region," Nauseda said on May 30 after a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Vilnius. "Germany's long-term commitment to Lithuania's security is indispensable for NATO's entire eastern flank," he said. Currently, 760 German soldiers belong to a NATO combat unit in Lithuania led by Germany.