The European Union is calling for financial sanctions on the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian head of the world chess federation, a historian who is a close adviser to President Vladimir Putin, and other top officials.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government used live fire to disperse a protest in the western city of Herat over new restrictions on women, eyewitnesses told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.

Afghan Talliban forces used gunfire to disperse a women’s rights protest in the western city of Herat on June 9 after residents demonstrated against the recent arrest of women accused of violating the mandatory dress code. One eyewitness said at least one person was killed.

Residents of Russian-occupied Crimea are reporting empty shelves in grocery stores and purchase limits on a number of basic goods. This comes amid a regional transportation collapse and fuel shortages caused by Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and vital infrastructure.

The US House of Representatives has passed legislation requiring the administration to produce a detailed assessment of Russian and Chinese intelligence activities in Georgia

In this week's briefing, RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak is drilling down on two issues: a damning rule-of-law assessment for Serbia and the latest Franco-German EU enlargement proposal.

Kyiv Residents have mixed reactions over the removal of a statue of writer Mikhail Bulgakov, author of The Master And Margarita. Born in Kyiv, the novelist penned sharp satires of Soviet society. But Ukrainian officials said Bulgakov also symbolized Russian imperial thinking.

The Gulf conflict has underscored the growing importance of mass-produced, low-cost weapons systems, particularly drones and munitions, and exposed the limitations of relying on expensive defensive technologies to counter them, according an executive at the defense tech firm Mach Industries.

RFE/RL spoke with Nathan Diller, a retired US Air Force colonel and current executive at defense technology firm Mach Industries, about the continued diplomatic engagement between Iran, Israel, and the United States.