When thousands of Albanians began protesting plans for a billion-dollar resort in a once-protected wetlands area for pink flamingoes, few could have expected that Iran would see it as an opportunity for a brawl with the Albanian government.

Despite warnings from the EU, Serbia’s government has granted citizenship to four times as many Russian nationals as to all other foreign citizens combined this year -- including individuals under international sanctions, an RFE/RL investigation has found.

A Russian woman who pleaded guilty to lying about her contacts with Russia’s main intelligence agency -- and was later accused of sending drunken harassing messages to the FBI -- was set to be sentenced in a Manhattan federal court.

The closure of Afghanistan and Pakistan borders since October has severely impacted millions of residents and thousands of businesses.