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Death of a young woman arrested by the morality police brings rage against the hijab; Raisi’s first appearance at UN General Assembly summit likely to be met with protests; and Iran’s vice president is under fire over revelations that her son sells VPNs in Canada.

Legendary pop diva Alla Pugacheva is not the first star to have come out against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war against Ukraine. But she is the most beloved. Can Pugacheva’s public stance energize opposition to the brutal invasion and Putin’s crackdown on dissent at home?

Veteran photojournalist Karen Minasyan recalls what he saw after being one of the first to arrive on the scene of recent shelling of Armenian territory by Azerbaijani forces.

The EU and the government in Pristina both acknowledge the ongoing problem with joblessness in the Romany, Ashkali, and Balkan Egyptian communities. The woefully low hiring in the public sector isn't helping.

With the Russian military bogged down in its invasion of neighboring Ukraine and suffering unexpected losses, the authorities are coming up with increasingly creative ways of roping soldiers into joining the fray.

In the wake of Kyiv’s counteroffensive in the Kharkiv area, rumors swirled that Russian teachers set to work in the occupied areas had been arrested and could face prison terms. The story gave some Russians who had been planning to accept Kremlin perks to work in Ukraine second thoughts.

With Russia waging war on Ukraine, Soviet war memorials across Eastern Europe have been under renewed scrutiny, with some being pulled down. In Bulgaria, a French artist has found a unique way to confront the past: turning the monuments into ghosts.

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Vlada and Kostyantin Liberov were wedding photographers in Odesa. Seven months later, they are war correspondents, working hard to make images that won’t let the world forget about Ukraine. 

Kazakhs who have been protesting the disappearance of their relatives within Xinjiang's camp system have been threatened and arrested ahead of Chinese leader Xi Jinping's visit to their country.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has said Kyiv's lightning offensive in the Kharkiv region has gone "better than expected." RFE/RL spoke to Ukrainian military analysts about the genesis of the assault and how the military situation has changed.