BELGRADE -- Tens of thousands of people marched on May 12 in another protest in Belgrade following two mass shootings and a general increase of violence that have shaken the country.

The gathering started in front of the Serbian parliament building, where the demonstrators decried the government's response to the mass shootings last week in which 17 people were killed. Protesters then walked behind a banner reading "Serbia Against Violence" to the busiest bridge leading into Belgrade, blocking it for two hours.

Many chanted slogans against President Aleksandar Vucic, whom they blame for creating an atmosphere of hopelessness and division in the country that they say indirectly led to the mass shootings.

Opposition politician Srdjan Milivojevic told television station N1 that “this is a battle for survival.” He said: “If the president does not understand his people, it’s time he resigned."

Organizers of the protest also demanded the resignations of Serbian Police Minister Bratislav Gasic and the head of the Serbian Security Agency, Aleksandar Vulin.

In addition, they demanded the cancellation of reality television shows and other programs that they say promote violence.

Vucic previously accused the opposition of politicizing the tragedy. He said the protesters were “harassing citizens,” according to the AP. “What gives them the right to block other people's normal lives?”

The first shooting occurred on May 3 when a 13-year-old boy killed eight of his schoolmates and a security guard. The boy was arrested at the scene and has been placed in a psychiatric clinic.

One day later, on May 4, eight people were killed and 14 wounded after a gunman in a moving car opened fire on passersby south of Belgrade. A 21-year-old suspect has been arrested.

The authorities strengthened security around the schools while police detained more than 10 minors for sending threats or posting disturbing content on social media in the days following the shootings.

The Interior Ministry announced on May 8 that in recent days more than 120 cases of threats to students, as well as posts of "inappropriate" content on social networks, were reported.

Education Minister Branko Ruzic resigned on May 7 in the wake of the shootings. Ruzic said it was the only rational and honorable decision and expressed condolences to the families of the victims. His resignation was one of the demands of protests across Serbia last week.

With reporting by AP

Arman Adamian of Russia won a world judo title on May 12 at the first major international team competition to welcome back Russian and Belarusian athletes since last year's invasion of Ukraine. Adamian, competing under a neutral flag, defeated Lukas Krpalek of the Czech Republic in the men's 100-kilogram final. The International Judo Federation (IJF) allowed Russian and Belarusian judokas to take part in the championship as neutral competitors, having previously banned them after the invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine pulled its team from the event in Doha, Qatar, last week over the presence of Russian team members. To read the original story by AFP, click here.

The South African government did not approve any weapons shipments to Russia late last year, the country’s communications minister said on May 12, one day after the U.S. ambassador to South Africa said he was confident that a Russian ship had picked up weapons at a South African port in December.

Mondli Gungubele, who chaired the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) when the alleged arms shipment to Russia took place, said that if weapons were loaded onto a vessel bound for Russia from South Africa, it was illegal and inappropriate.

"We didn't approve any arms to Russia.... It wasn't sanctioned or approved by us," Gungubele said on South African radio.

Clayson Monyela, a spokesman for South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), also denied there was an approved arms sale, saying on Twitter that the NCACC "has no record” of such a sale “related to the period/incident in question."

Neither Gungubele nor Monyela said whether an unapproved shipment had left South Africa.

U.S. Ambassador Reuben Brigety said on May 11 that Washington was confident a Russian vessel had uploaded weapons and ammunition from South Africa in December.

The weapons were loaded onto a Russian cargo ship that docked secretly at a naval base near Cape Town for three days and then transported to Russia, Brigety said, adding that the United States would like to see South Africa begin “practicing its nonalignment policy.”

State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that the United States has serious concerns about the docking of the ship, which was under U.S.-imposed sanctions. Washington has raised concerns about the weapons directly with multiple South African officials.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on May 12 declined to talk specifically on the South Africa matter but said "it's a serious issue."

The United States has consistently and strongly urged countries not to provide weapons for use in the war in Ukraine, he said.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's office said an inquiry led by a retired judge would look into the allegation.

The discussion of the alleged arms sale came as the Kremlin said on May 12 that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to deepen ties with Ramaphosa after a phone call between the two presidents.

Putin told Ramaphosa that Moscow had never refused the "diplomatic track" to resolving the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

Putin also said he supported Ramaphosa's proposal to involve African leaders in talks regarding a peace process for Ukraine, according to the Kremlin's readout of the call.

He also repeated an offer to deliver Russian grain and fertilizer free of charge to African countries.

Pretoria has faced a diplomatic dilemma since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March. Putin is due to attend a summit of the BRICS nations -- a bloc that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa -- in South Africa in August.

South Africa, a member of the ICC, would be expected to arrest Putin if he steps foot in the country. South Africa last month described the international arrest warrant as a "spanner in the works" ahead of the summit.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said it is "absolutely clear" that Taiwan is a part of China as the Central Asian nation looks to build ties with its eastern neighbor.

"There should not be two Chinas. Taiwan is part of China. The principle of the territorial integrity of all countries is enshrined in the United Nations Charter and that must be respected," Toqaev said in an interview with China's CCTV television channel that was published on May 12.

"Therefore, I would like to stress again: It is absolutely clear for us that Taiwan is part of China. And we do not have any doubts about it," Toqaev added.

Answering a question about concerns in some parts of the world about the strengthening of ties between China and five former Soviet republics -- including Kazakhstan -- in Central Asia, Toqaev said: "There must be no concerns about that."

"Our intentions are open [and] sincere. The fact is that China is the world's second economy and, therefore, we must recognize China's role, and we have to build very good relations with your country," Toqaev said.

Toqaev's interview comes less than a week before China's two-day summit with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The meeting focusing on strengthening economic and diplomatic ties will be held on May 18-19 in China's historic city of Xi'an on the ancient Silk Road.

China has invested billions of dollars to develop energy reserves in Central Asia.

In September last year, Chinese leader Xi Jingpin traveled to Kazakhstan on his first trip abroad since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The five tightly controlled former Soviet republics were part of the Soviet Union before gaining independence in 1991 and have been traditionally in the sphere of Moscow’s interests since the mid-19th century. Ties with China are on the rise, however, at a time when the Kremlin is also grooming its relations with Beijing as much of the West isolates it over Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Kazakhstan, which along with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan borders China's northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, has remained silent over accusations of human rights violations by Beijing targeting mostly Muslim, Turkic speaking Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other indigenous ethnic groups of the restive region.

With reporting by KazTAG, Tengrinews, Nur.kz, and Zakon.kz

A court in Ukraine has sentenced Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) Metropolitan Iosaf (Petro Huben) to three years in prison with a two-year probation term on a charge of premeditated violation of citizens' equal rights. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on May 12 that the 62-year-old vicar of the Kyiv Eparchy pleaded guilty, adding that Iosaf was involved in distributing Russian propaganda materials that praised Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine to parishioners. Although the UOC announced its separation from the Moscow Orthodox Church, Ukrainian authorities have accused it of disseminating material on Moscow's policies against Ukraine.

The head of Iran's Armed Forces Judicial Organization has revealed that indictments have been issued for 26 individuals suspected of having links to the November 30 massacre in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan that saw at least 100 people killed.

The November 30 incident, a day that has become known as "Bloody Friday," was marked by widespread protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl by a local police commander before direct gunfire from security forces mowed down dozens of people.

During a visit to Zahedan, Ahmadreza Pourkhaqan said charges have been filed against 11 security officers for shootings that resulted in death and injury. An additional 15 have been accused of abusing their professional positions.

The province of Sistan-Baluchistan, particularly the city of Zahedan, has been the epicenter of protests in Iran for months.

Last December, in an audio file leaked from a meeting of the Iranian pro-regime Coalition Council of Islamic Revolution Forces, the secretary of the council, Reza Davari, was recorded confessing to the "very egregious mistake" made by security forces during "Bloody Friday."

Molavi Abdolhamid, a spiritual leader for Iran's Sunni Muslim population, had previously said senior officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were "responsible" for the killing of protesters during the massacre in Zahedan.

Anger over Amini's death in police custody on September 16 prompted thousands of Iranians to take to the streets nationwide to demand more freedoms and women's rights. The widespread unrest represents the biggest threat to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution.

Her death, which officials blamed on a heart attack, touched off a wave of anti-government protests in cities across the country. The authorities have responded to the unrest with a harsh crackdown that rights groups say has killed more than 500 people, including 71 children.

Sunni Muslims make up the majority of the population in Sistan-Baluchistan Province in southeastern Iran, where Abdolhamid is based, but make up only about 10 percent of the population in Shi'a-dominated Iran overall.

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

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a decree imposing sanctions on 13 individuals and 28 entities that he said have been cooperating with Russian occupying authorities in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region, helping to maintain the Zaporizhstal steelworks giant. Zelenskiy said in his Telegram statement on May 12 that the people and entities named in the sanctions order helped Russia "to sustain control over our facility [and] damaged our economy." Parts of Zaporizhzhya have been under the control of Russian armed forces since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Two jailed Iranian educators have launched hunger strikes after authorities detained three more of their colleagues -- bringing the total to 16 -- for supporting nationwide protests over what is seen as the government's trampling of rights and freedoms.

The Coordinating Council of Teachers Syndicates in Iran said in a statement on May 11 that Atekeh Rajabi, from the city of Mashhad, and Farzad Safi Khanpor, from Sanandaj, commenced hunger strikes in protest of their arrests.

Rajabi, a prominent teachers' union activist, was dismissed from her role in January due to her public support -- conveyed through video messages -- of the recent nationwide protests.

She was arrested by security forces during a rally in front of the Khorasan Razavi Education Department in the city of Mashhad. Shortly after her arrest, security forces raided her home and detained her sister, Arezu Rajabi, for several hours.

In a phone call with her family, Rajabi revealed she was being held in solitary confinement and had begun a "dry hunger strike" since her arrest on May 9.

SPECIAL REPORT: The Protests That Shook Iran's Clerical System

Similarly, Farzadn Safi Khanpor allegedly was arrested violently during a teachers' rally in front of the Kurdistan Education Department in the city of Sanandaj on May 9. Another teacher, Fateh Osmani, was also reportedly violently detained in the western Iranian city of Sanandaj on the same day. Khanpor has since announced a hunger strike to protest his arrest, which he says was illegal.

The Coordinating Council of Teachers Syndicates said in its statement that responsibility for any harm resulting from the hunger strikes of Khanpor and Rajabi, or any other incidents involving the arrested teachers lies squarely with the judicial authorities and the security forces of the Islamic republic.

Unrest -- including several protests by teachers -- 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.

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

The activist HRANA news agency says 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

Three former fighters of Russia's Wagner private mercenary group who returned to their home region of Volgograd after taking part in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine have been arrested on charges of robbery and extortion. Ivan Zharkov, Aleksandr Sagar, and Denis Russkov were arrested in early May after they allegedly beat and robbed a local businessman, Russkov's former wife said on May 12. All three suspects were recruited to Wagner from prisons where they were serving lengthy terms for various crimes. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 12 was granted release on bail for two weeks by judges in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, a day after the Supreme Court ruled as unlawful his arrest that sparked a wave of deadly unrest across the south Asian nation.

"The Islamabad High Court has given a two-week bail and also ordered (Pakistan's anti-corruption agency) not to arrest Imran Khan during this time," lawyer Faisal Chaudhry told the media after the hearing.

Babar Awan, the head of Khan's legal team, told reporters the former prime minister was now "a free man."

The Islamabad High Court ruled to grant Khan interim bail in one of multiple corruption cases against him as he appeared before judges to learn whether or not he would be rearrested and kept in custody following the Supreme Court's decision on May 10, a day after he was arrested.

Khan has been at odds with Pakistan's powerful military establishment ever since he was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April last year.

He has been leading the opposition since his ouster, which he claimed was part of a plot by the current government and the United States. Both deny involvement.

Khan has rejected the multiple corruption cases opened against him as politically motivated.

His arrest on May 9 came a day after he accused a senior army general of being involved in an attempt on his life last year.

The 70-year-old former cricket star-turned-Islamist politician still enjoys huge popularity among Pakistanis as the main opposition leader.

His arrest enraged his legions of supporters, who went on a rampage in several regions of Pakistan, clashing with security forces, attacking military installations, and burning down buildings housing state institutions.

At least eight people have been killed in the unrest and some 2,000 have been arrested for violence since May 9, when he was grabbed from an Islamabad court and detained by the anti-corruption body NAB in an alleged land fraud case.

The government ordered the deployment of troops to quell the turmoil in some regions, including Khan's home province of Punjab and the volatile northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region.

Several senior leaders from Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) party were arrested, including Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar, after the military said it held the PTI responsible for the turmoil.

On May 11, a three-judge bench at the Supreme Court heard Khan's petition to be freed and ruled that his arrest had been illegal, ordering his immediate release, but advised the former prime minister to cooperate with the anticorruption agency investigating charges against him.

The elections commission in October disqualified Khan from holding public office for five years after a court established his guilt in a separate case known as Tosha Khana in which he is accused of profiting from state gifts received during his term as prime minister. He rejected the charges.

Khan was wounded in a gun attack in November while leading a political march toward Islamabad. One of Khan’s supporters was killed and several others were wounded in that shooting.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP

A court in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky, about 140 kilometers northwest of Moscow, on May 12 placed noted Russian physicist and mathematician Sergei Abramov under house arrest on a charge of financing an unspecified extremist group. The 66-year-old scientist is a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is known among computer scientists around the world for his contributions to the development of supercomputers. In the past, Abramov's name was mentioned among individuals who support jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Two women from Russia's northwestern region of Karelia, Anna Trusova, 57, and Irina Nippolainen, 59, have fled the country after authorities launched a probe against them in March, accusing them of public calls for actions compromising Russia's national security. The women told RFE/RL that the probe was linked to their online posts condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They said they are currently in an unspecified former Soviet republic but gave no further details. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Russia since Moscow launched the invasion in February 2022. To read the original story by RFE/RL's North.Realities, click here.

A court in Siberia on May 12 sentenced jailed businessman Anatoly Bykov to 11 years in prison for his involvement in ordering the assassination of a rival businessman in 2005. Bykov, once one of the most powerful men in Siberia, is already serving a 13-year prison term for ordering the murder of two men in 1994. The court ruled that the two sentences will be served in part concurrently, meaning he will spend 17 years in prison. Bykov, who once co-owned the Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant and was a regional lawmaker, had the nickname of Russia's Aluminum King. He calls all charges against him politically motivated. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Turkey says talks to extend a deal allowing grain exports from Ukraine via the Black Sea following the Russian invasion are nearing an agreement before it expires on May 18. "We are heading toward an agreement on the extension of the grain deal," Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said in a statement. Akar was referring to talks in Istanbul this week between officials from Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations. In addition to the longer extension of the deal, the meeting focused on a United Nations proposal to resume Russia's ammonia exports along the Togliatti-Odesa pipeline, the UN said.

China will send a special envoy to Ukraine, Russia, and other European nations from May 15. Li Hui, China's ambassador to Russia from 2009 to 2019, is the highest-ranking Chinese diplomat to visit Ukraine since Moscow's large-scale invasion last year. From Ukraine to the Middle East, Beijing in recent months has sought to position itself as a mediator with a leading role in solving the world's crises. But while China says it is a neutral party on the Ukraine war, it has been criticised for refusing to condemn Moscow for the invasion. More than a year into the war, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky by phone last month.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office on May 12 denied it had requested that he address the Eurovision song contest final scheduled for May 13 in Liverpool, England. The European Broadcasting Union, the organizer of the pan-European contest, said in a statement on May 12 that it had refused a request by Zelenskiy, citing the competition's "nonpolitical nature." "The office of the President of Ukraine did not contact the organizers of the Eurovision song contest to offer Volodymyr Zelensky's online address during the finals or at any other stage of the contest," spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov, wrote on Facebook on May 12. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met with German Finance Minister Christian Lindner on May 12, underscoring the importance of working together to counter evasion of Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its war in Ukraine, the U.S. Treasury said. Yellen and Lindner met on the sidelines of a Group of Seven finance officials meeting in Niigata, Japan, where U.S. officials have called for redoubled support of Ukraine. The United States and a broad coalition of other countries have provided significant economic, security, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, while using sanctions and export controls to impose heavy economic costs on Russia. To read the original story by Reuters. click here.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the main election rival of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, issued a warning to Russia, accusing it of releasing fake material on social media ahead of the May 14 ballot. Kilicdaroglu, who has a slight lead over Erdogan according to opinion polls, did not specify the material. A third presidential candidate, Muharrem Ince, withdrew from the race May 11 citing a faked "character assassination" carried out online. Kilicdaroglu accused Turkey's "Russian friends" of responsibility for "the release in this country yesterday of montages, plots, deep fake content. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Human Rights Watch on May 12 said a dramatic recent rise in the number of executions in Iran amounts to "a serious violation of the right to life" and urged condemnation by the international community. "Since late April, the Iranian authorities have executed at least 60 people, including an Iranian-Swedish national on alleged terror-related charges," HRW said in a statement. “The international community should unequivocally condemn this terrifying trend and press Iranian officials to halt these executions,” said HRW's Tara Sepehri Far, adding that Iran uses executions "against its own people, who are demanding fundamental change." To read the original statement by HRW, click here.

The Russian Defense Ministry has acknowledged its forces retreated from positions north of the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region that for months has been the scene of heavy fighting.

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.

Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a news briefing on May 12 that Russian forces had "occupied a new frontier" at the Berkhivske reservoir.

Konashenkov said Ukraine had launched an assault with more than 1,000 troops and up to 40 tanks after advancing the day before in the Soledar direction "along the entire line of contact" with a length of more than 95 kilometers.

The retreat allows Ukrainian troops to control the road to the town of Chasiv Yar, the only highway currently supplying Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut.

The gains, if confirmed, would be the biggest for Ukraine in six months. It is also unclear if the developments were part of a long-planned counteroffensive, which the head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on May 11 had already begun.

Prigozhin, Russian military bloggers, and the Ukrainian Army had previously reported about the retreat. Prigozhin acknowledged it in an audio message, saying that what Konashenkov described "unfortunately is called a rout and not a regrouping."

In a separate video message, he said the Ukrainians had seized high ground overlooking Bakhmut and opened the main highway leading into the city from the west. This could lead to the encirclement of his mercenaries inside the city, Prigozhin said.

There also were reports of Ukrainian advances to the south, suggesting a coordinated push by Kyiv to encircle Russian forces in Bakhmut.

Russian-installed officials in Luhansk on May 12 reported two powerful explosions in the city, which is far from Ukrainian positions. Photos published on Telegram showed a column of black smoke rising over the city.

Luhansk authorities said on Telegram that two Ukrainian-made Grom tactical missiles damaged or destroyed buildings at two disused factories and blew out the windows of five houses.

The Moscow-backed administrator of the Luhansk region, Leonid Pasechnik, said six children had been injured. Viktor Volodatsky, a member of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, was also injured, according to other officials.

There was no comment from the Ukrainian side, and the claims could not be independently verified.

Earlier on May 12, Kyiv claimed modest advances in the Bakhmut area. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on Telegram that Ukrainian forces had advanced 2 kilometers without ceding any ground elsewhere to the Russians.

In turn, Russia's Defense Ministry said its troops had fought off several Ukrainian attempts to overrun their positions while pounding the Bakhmut-Avdiyivka-Maryinka front line that has seen the fiercest fighting over the past several months.

Neither side's claims could be independently verified.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed again to defeat the Russians and thanked everyone involved in driving them out of Ukrainian territory.

"The occupiers of Ukraine are already internally ready for defeat. They have already lost this war in their minds. We must put pressure on them daily so that their sense of defeat turns into their escape, their mistakes, their losses,"he said on May 12 on Twitter.

"We are preparing to add even more weapons for you, warriors, to have even more opportunities to defeat the Russian aggressor and restore peace. I'm thankful to everyone who helps Ukraine," he added.

Ukraine's preparations for a counteroffensive received an important boost on May 11 when Britain announced it was supplying long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, giving Kyiv the capability to hit Russian troops well behind front lines. Storm Shadow missiles have a range of more than 250 kilometers.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, RFE/RL's Russian Service, Reuters, AFP, BBC, and dpa

The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has expressed outrage over the appointment of Iran’s UN ambassador to serve as chairman of the UN Human Rights Council’s 2023 Social Forum. CHRI Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi said in a statement on May 11 the appointment of Ali Bahreini at a time when the council is investigating the deaths of hundreds of peaceful protesters in Iran “reflects a shocking ethical blindness.” CHRI called for the immediate retraction of the appointment. The Social Forum, scheduled for November, is to focus on the contribution of science, technology, and innovation to promote human rights. To read the Center for Human Rights in Iran's statement, click here.

The Council of Ministers of Bosnia-Herzegovina on May 11 approved negotiations on building two new pipelines to supply gas from Russia and Azerbaijan via Serbia and Croatia.

The negotiations are to cover the possible construction of the New Eastern Interconnection gas pipeline, which would enable the purchase of gas from Russia that would be delivered via Serbia.

According to earlier announcements, Russian Gazprom is expected to participate under an agreement signed in 2021 by the Serbian public company Srbijagas and Gas-Res, a company owned by the Bosnian entity of Republika Srpska. The construction cost is estimated at 250 million euros and Gazprom is expected to fund the project.

The government of Republika Srpska and Gas-Res did not respond to RFE/RL's inquiry about how much money it intended to spend on the construction of the gas pipeline.

The question of how ownership of the pipeline would be regulated also remains unclear.

In 2019, Republika Srpska declared the pipeline a "national project of strategic importance." Gas imported through it would be exclusively for consumers in the Republika Srpska.

The second planned gas pipeline to be negotiated is the Southern Interconnection. It would traverse Croatia and deliver gas from Azerbaijan to Bosnia.

The construction of the Southern Interconnection is supported by the United States and the European Union as a project that would reduce Bosnia’s dependence on Russian gas.

The estimated cost of the planned 180-kilometer pipeline is about 100 million euros, and plans call for it to be financed using a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Borjana Kristo, chairwoman of the Council of Ministers, said both projects were supported by a consensus among members of the council. She said the projects aim to "ensure more sources of natural gas supply for the benefit of all Bosnian residents."

A commission was appointed for negotiations of the Eastern Interconnection, while in the case of the Southern Interconnection, the Bosnian federation was asked to pass a law on that gas pipeline urgently, so that a commission could also be elected.

The members of the tripartite presidency, Zeljko Komsic and Denis Becirevic, announced that they will not allow the projects without the prior adoption of the state-level law on gas.

Bosnia-Herzegovina is obliged to adopt the law under agreements it signed with the European Energy Community. The absence of this legislation is one reason why Bosnia has been designated for sanctions by the European Energy Community since the end of 2020.

The U. S. ambassador to South Africa has accused the country of providing weapons to Russia in a possible breach of South Africa’s declared neutrality in the war in Ukraine.

The weapons were loaded onto a Russian cargo ship that docked secretly at a naval base near Cape Town for three days in December and were then transported to Russia, Ambassador Reuben Brigety said on May 11, according to reports of his comments carried by South African news outlets.

“We are confident that weapons were loaded onto that vessel, and I would bet my life on the accuracy on that assertion,” the ambassador said during a briefing with reporters, according to a video released by Newzroom Afrika, a local news channel.

“The arming of the Russians is extremely serious, and we do not consider this issue to be resolved, and we would like SA to [begin] practicing its nonalignment policy,” he said.

State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that the United States has serious concerns about the docking of the ship, which is under U.S.-imposed sanctions. Washington has raised concerns about the weapons directly with multiple South African officials.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was in Cape Town answering questions in parliament when a lawmaker asked him to respond to Brigety’s allegation. The president replied that “the matter is being looked into, and in time we will be able to speak about it.”

Ramaphosa’s office called the allegations “disappointing” and warned that the remarks “undermine the spirit of cooperation and partnership” between U.S. and South African government officials who had been discussing the matter.

The cargo vessel caused speculation when it docked in early December at the Simon’s Town naval base. Cargo vessels routinely dock at Cape Town’s civilian harbor, not the naval base.

Opposition member of parliament Kobus Marais demanded answers from the government at the time, saying that goods had been offloaded and onloaded during overnight hours while the ship was docked at the base.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control added the cargo ship, the Lady R, to its sanctions list last year for alleged weapons shipments.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and CNN

Iran's Supreme Court has upheld the death sentences of Majid Kazemi, Saeed Yaqoubi, and Saleh Mirhashemi, all three of whom were arrested during the recent nationwide protests and charged with "waging war against God," a crime often applied to political dissidents.

The trio were implicated in an incident on November 16, 2022, during which two Basij paramilitary force members and a law enforcement officer were fatally shot in the central Iranian city of Isfahan. The clash occurred at the height of widespread protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last September while she was in police custody for allegedly breaking Islamic hijab rules.

Amir Kazemi, Majid Kazemi's cousin, informed RFE/RL’s Radio Farda of the court decision and said the only evidence presented were the defendants' self-incriminating confessions, which were obtained under duress.

He added that the legal representatives assigned to the case were consistently denied access to their clients by the court. Meanwhile, the lawyers themselves have received numerous anonymous death threats for defending the three.

Kazemi said that in its decision, the court noted that if the victims' families were to give their consent, leniency may be applied. However, he also pointed out the specific charge that led to the death sentences “is waging war against God, and not on the charge of murder,” suggesting a change in the sentence is unlikely.

Human rights organizations have strongly objected to death sentences being issued against protesters in Iran after "sham trials" that are often rushed through the courts.

Authorities have warned for months after unrest broke out following Amini's death that they will react harshly to any dissent. Lawmakers have pushed the judiciary to render the death penalty in trials for those arrested during the protests, which are seen as one of the biggest threats to the Islamic leadership since it took power in 1979.

So far, Iranian authorities have followed through with their threats by executing at least four protesters.

Majidreza Rahnavard was hanged in a public execution on December 12 -- just 23 days after he was arrested -- after being convicted of killing two members of Iran's security forces. The group Iran Human Rights said Rahnavard's sentencing was based on "coerced confessions after a grossly unfair process and a show trial."

Reflecting on the execution of Majidreza Rahnavard, Kazemi expressed his family's growing apprehension over the situation. They fear that after Majid Kazemi's quick trial authorities may also hold a rushed execution without the opportunity for a proper appeal or retrial.

Iran has seen a surge in executions in recent months, a trend that has drawn widespread domestic and international condemnation.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on May 9 called the statistics "frightening" and demanded a halt to executions by the Islamic republic. He said Iran has executed an average of 10 people per week this year.

Human rights activists say authorities in Iran are using the executions to try to instill fear in society rather than to combat crime.

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

Wagner mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin says Ukraine's highly anticipated counteroffensive against Russian invasion is under way, claiming that Ukrainian armed forces plan to move further to the north and south if they take control of Bakhmut, the city in the eastern Donetsck region that has been an epicenter of heavy fighting for months.

Prigozhin issued his audio statement on May 11 on Telegram shortly after the BBC published an interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which he said his armed forces need more time to get ready for the counteroffensive.

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Prigozhin accused Zelenskiy of "double-crossing" and said the counteroffensive is in "full swing." In the area of Bakhmut, he said Ukrainian armed forces "are hitting our flanks and, unfortunately, in some places they are being successful."

He said that if Ukrainian units take Bakhmut, they will move further to attack Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region and Russia's Bryansk and Belgorod regions bordering Ukraine.

"Therefore, Ukraine's offensive has begun. All [Ukrainian units] that have gone through trainings and received all necessary weapons, equipment, the tanks, and all the rest have been fully involved in the military actions," Prigozhin said. He again lambasted the Russian Defense Ministry for what he called a reluctance to provide Wagner troops with necessary ammunition.

"Wagner continues to carry out military missions in a horrible deficiency of shells, ammunition hunger, because all promises by the Defense Ministry have not been met," Prigozhin emphasized, adding that he would at a later point elaborate on how his troops manage to fight without ammunition.

Both Ukraine and Russia's Defense Ministry have yet to confirm or deny Prigozhin's comments.

Russia has suffered about 200,000 casualties during the 14-month war, according to Western estimates, and continues to lose dozens a day in Bakhmut, which Russian forces have been trying to take since last summer.