With the Iran war disrupting traditional energy supply routes and the West seeking to lessen reliance on Russian transit networks, Trans-Caspian corridors have again emerged as a focus of international diplomacy and investment.

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.

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.

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.

The summer tourist season is starting in Russian-occupied Crimea, but with Ukrainian drone attacks and fuel shortages, how many people will visit? Current Time correspondent Andrey Cherkasov explains, tour operators are trying to put a positive spin on the crisis, but it's being met with skepticism.

Russian authorities suspended train service for Crimea after a Ukrainian drone knocked out a locomotive, further squeezing commerce to the occupied Black Sea peninsula struggling with fuel shortages.

The Israeli military said its forces targeted Iranian regime sites early on June 8 in retaliation for Tehran's latest attacks on Israel and shortly after US President Donald Trump said he would tell Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to conduct such strikes.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian early on June 8 declared victory for his Civil Contract party over several pro-Russia groupings, with his party hovering around 50 percent as votes are counted, higher than pre-vote surveys suggested.

US President Donald Trump said a deal with Tehran to turn a cease-fire into a peace settlement is still "very close," even after Iran launched its first wave of air strikes against Israel since the fragile April truce took effect.

When Kazakhstan launched Central Asia’s first large-scale cloud-seeding program on May 17, it called it a high-tech response to drought, water scarcity, and accelerating desertification.

Crimea, the Ukrainian Black Sea region occupied by Russia, is heavily dependent on Russian visitors for its economy. This summer, it faces major gasoline shortages, as Ukraine’s military drone campaign squeezes transport routes, making life even more difficult for vacationers.

Ukraine launched hundreds of drones at targets across Russia, including scores over the St. Petersburg region, on the final day of Russia’s most important investment forum.

Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected a proposal by his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to meet for talks to end the war as senseless, calling for the country's military to "do the job."

The United States has reaffirmed its support for Armenia's sovereignty and democratic institutions amid growing concerns over what Western officials describe as an intensifying Russian campaign to weaken Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian ahead of the country's upcoming elections.

Armenians go to the polls on June 7 in parliamentary elections in which the country’s basic foreign policy orientation is at stake. While Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has pulled the country towards the West, Russia has responded with multiple moves aimed at halting the shift.

RFE/RL spoke with Lisa Gable, a former US ambassador who served during the George W. Bush administration and is now the chairwoman of World In 2050, about the prospects for diplomacy with Iran, the challenges of verification, and the broader geopolitical stakes of the current conflict.

Riding into Russia on a motorcycle to see his ailing father, Mikhail Loshchinin was detained at the border, tortured, and tried on a treason charge over a $245 transfer to a Ukrainian ex-girlfriend, he and relatives and supporters say. This week, he was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

WASHINGTON -- In a rare display of bipartisan cooperation and a rebuke to the administration's approach toward Ukraine, the US House of Representatives approved a sweeping Ukraine aid and Russia sanctions package, with 18 Republicans joining Democrats to pass the legislation.

US President Donald Trump said the United States will win the conflict with Iran either “militarily or on paper,” referring to the fitful negotiations with Tehran, and he suggested he could meet with Iran’s reclusive supreme leader “if it was to make a deal.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has written an open letter to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, urging him to attend a meeting between the two leaders at a neutral location to agree an end to the war.