Hey, you're busy! We know rferl.org isn't the only website you read. And that it's just possible you may have missed some of our most compelling journalism this week. To make sure you're up-to-date, here are some of the highlights produced by RFE/RL's team of correspondents, multimedia editors, and visual journalists over the past seven days.
Given the ongoing developments in Kabul, we are also including content here from Gandhara, an RFE/RL website focusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan that is the go-to source for English-language reporting by our network of local journalists across the two countries.
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Video Profile: A Look At Aleksei Navalny, Winner Of The Sakharov Prize
Profile: Aleksei Navalny, Winner Of The Sakharov Prize
Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has won the Sakharov Prize, a prestigious honor awarded by the European Parliament for human rights defenders. For more than a decade, Navalny has targeted Russia's political elite with anti-corruption investigations, led political protests, and run for office. Since March, he has been jailed at a notorious prison in the Russian city of Pokrov. He was detained following his return to Moscow in January after recovering in Berlin from what several Western laboratories determined was poisoning with a military-grade nerve agent. By Stuart Greer
The Shadowy Business Empire Behind The Meteoric Rise Of Sheriff Tiraspol
A soccer team from Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniester has taken the sports world by storm with their success in Europe's top club competition. But behind the success of Sheriff Tiraspol lies a murky business empire operating in a largely lawless region seemingly stuck in a Soviet-era time warp. By Tony Wesolowsky
Ukraine's Ancient 'River Guardians'
Ukrainian archaeologists say a discovery in a Scythian tomb sharpens our understanding of the prehistoric warriors who once ruled the steppes of Eurasia. By Yevhenia Nazarova
'People Would Scream For Hours': Former Inmates Shed Light On Recent Russian Torture Revelations
Former inmates in Siberian prisons and remand facilities that featured prominently in a recent leak of graphic torture videos told RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities Desk how prisoners are "worked over" to secure false testimony. By Sania Yusupova and Robert Coalson
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For A Tajik Mountain Village, Isolation Is A Blessing And A Curse
For A Tajik Mountain Village, Isolation Is A Blessing And A Curse
Inhabitants of Tajikistan's Yaghnob Gorge, located some 3,000 meters above sea level, are used to being largely cut off from modern life. Most make a living from farming and tending livestock in the mountain pastures. But a pastoral life high in the mountains comes at a cost to some residents, who spoke of being unable to travel to the hospital or finish their basic education. By RFE/RL's Tajik Service
'Threatened With Death And Rape': Iranian Activist Back Behind Bars After Exposing Prisoner Abuse
Iranian journalist and activist Sepideh Gholian has become somewhat of an expert at exposing the torture tactics used in Iranian prisons. Now her latest eyewitness accounts of prisoner abuse that she posted on social media havelanded her back behind bars. By Mohammad Zarghami and Michael Scollon
In Aftermath Of Navalny Poisoning, Chemical Weapons Group Tiptoes Toward Unprecedented Step
Never before in the 24 years that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has existed has a member sought to send inspectors into a country to look for existence of a chemical weapons program. In the aftermath of Aleksei Navalny’s near-fatal poisoning with a military-grade nerve agent, some countries are pushing to do exactly that with Russia. By Mike Eckel
What Is Male State, The Patriarchal Movement Russia Has Branded 'Extremist'?
A Russian court on October 19 outlawed the patriarchal movement Male State, which has long harassed feminist activists and railed against proposed legislation on domestic violence. But what is known about the loose network of activists that has long operated with impunity? By RFE/RL
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Ukrainian COVID Hospital Called A 'Horror Show' Amid Payment Controversy
Ukrainian COVID Hospital Called A 'Horror Show' Amid Payment Controversy
The son of a COVID-19 patient in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv claims he had to pay the equivalent of more than $1,000 for medicines and other services after his father was hospitalized with the virus for 13 days. Roman Levchyk likens conditions on the COVID ward of the city's emergency hospital to a horror movie, and claims other patients were asked to pay for treatment, too. The hospital said drugs used in the treatment of some COVID patients were not covered by state health insurance. By Current Time and Neil Bowdler
Putin's Dominance Risks Destabilization: Fiona Hill's Insights On Russia, The U.S., And Their 'Unfortunate Parallels'
Fiona Hill served as the senior Russia adviser in President Donald Trump’s White House. In an interview with RFE/RL, she said she’s worried that Putin’s singular dominance is destabilizing Russia. And she’s worried about what she says are dangerous parallels between Russia and today’s United States. By Mike Eckel
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Melting Point: How The Mighty Glaciers Of Kyrgyzstan Are Shrinking
Melting Point: How The Mighty Glaciers Of Kyrgyzstan Are Shrinking
An RFE/RL film crew accompanied Kyrgyz scientists to the frozen peaks of the Tian Shan mountains, where data collected over several decades paints a clear and grim picture: the glaciers are shrinking. By Aibek Biybosunov, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, and Ray Furlong