A new nationalities policy sets guidelines for policies affecting Russia's nearly 200 ethnic groups. Its drafting has provoked intense concern among them that the status of non-Russian nationalities could be diminished.
Ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1, the United Nations released a cautiously optimistic report suggesting the epidemic has begun to stabilize or even shrink in nearly every part of the world. But the countries of the former Soviet Union are an exception to the trend.
A gay-friendly mosque opens near Paris in a bid to welcome those who don't always feel comfortable in traditional places of worship. But French Muslim community leaders oppose the project.
The Dutch parliament has voted to eliminate a law making it a crime to insult God. The abolition of the blasphemy law in the Netherlands comes after a decade of fierce debate about the limits of free speech in the country.
Susan Rice, the current U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, appears to be President Obama's leading choice to succeed Hillary Clinton as U.S. secretary of state. But Rice has spent much of this week trying to mollify Republican senators, who are vowing to block her nomination.
It looks like an enormous fluffy dandelion seed head as the wind carries it across a field. Afghan-born designer Massoud Hassani hopes his newly invented mine-clearing device -- called "Mine Kafon" -- will help save lives in his homeland.
With record lows in Arctic ice levels permitting a robust increase in shipping, Russians and Chinese saw an upside to ice melting in the Arctic.
Islamic clerics on Afghanistan's Ulema Council have asked President Hamid Karzai to expand their clout by giving them the power to issue legally binding fatwas. Critics say the move would violate Afghanistan's UN-backed constitution by creating an unelected fourth branch of government.
Russia's North Caucasus republic of Daghestan has been coping with a low-level insurgency, as well as a tense conflict between the Sufi and Salafist branches of Islam, for years. RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service spoke to two brothers -- one of whom practices the officially accepted Sufi Islam while the other has converted to the banned Salafist faith -- about how their religious differences have strained their family bonds.
The head of Iran’s emergency services, Gholamreza Massoumi, has said that Iran needs to be ready to face nuclear accidents. In comments reported by the semiofficial Mehr news agency, Massoumi indicated that some staff members at one of the country’s nuclear sites have been treated for health problems. Massoumi’s candid comments were removed from Mehr’s website a few hours after being posted.
An effort by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to promote road safety in Russia has been widely mocked. This is despite growing public frustration with the bloody toll drunk driving takes on the country's roads.
Problems with Afghanistan's schools go deeper than the often reported lack of buildings and threats of militant attacks. Amid growing concerns about what children are learning, officials are examining the entire school system -- from kindergarten through 12th grade -- to determine how to improve the quality of education.
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!["When [my brother] tells me...that I shouldn't celebrate the Prophet's birthday, I answer: 'Stop. This is where this conversation must end,'" says Rustam (Abubakar) Shapiyev. Magomed Shapiyev refused to be photographed for this story.](https://gdb.rferl.org/30E01D2F-60E9-4086-A54A-FEA0903A49E8_cx0_cy15_cw0_w100_r1.jpg)
!["When [my brother] tells me...that I shouldn't celebrate the Prophet's birthday, I answer: 'Stop. This is where this conversation must end,'" says Rustam (Abubakar) Shapiyev. Magomed Shapiyev refused to be photographed for this story.](https://gdb.rferl.org/30E01D2F-60E9-4086-A54A-FEA0903A49E8_cx0_cy15_cw0_w66_r1.jpg)
