Belarus’s Minsk Automobile Plant is under Western sanctions, limiting who can buy the vehicles produced there. That may be the reason trucks branded with the previously unknown “HAL” badge have been spotted amid strengthening trade relations between Belarus and Indonesia.

The European Union has expressed “deep concern” over Kosovo’s adoption of legislation that seeks to narrow the jurisdiction of a Hague-based war crimes court, saying the changes violate the country’s international obligations toward the bloc.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran will never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon, declaring that preventing Tehran from doing so is a red line for President Donald Trump. 

Russia launched a massive overnight missile and drone attack across Ukraine, killing at least 22 people. Strikes severely damaged a 5-story apartment building in the northeastern city of Pryluky and caused extensive damage to homes and infrastructure in Kremenchuk in the central Poltava region.

Two decades after the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a tenacious investigative reporter who exposed the brutality of Russia's war in Chechnya and documented how President Vladimir Putin curtailed democracy in Russia, her daughter Vera says little has changed in the country's political climate.

A Liberian-flagged oil tanker caught fire off the Russian resort city of Sochi after an apparent drone attack, Russian authorities said on October 6. The 23 crew members, all Indian, were rescued. A Ukrainian monitoring site said the vessel as part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.

Rescuers frantically picked through rubble and debris of a destroyed apartment building in northern Ukraine as they search for survivors of a Russian missile attack that killed at least 22 people.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has signaled a renewed American push to strengthen security in the Arctic, warning that US adversaries and competitors are already acting in a region of growing strategic importance. 

October 7 marks the 20th anniversary of the murder of prominent Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya, a tenacious investigative reporter who exposed the brutality of Russia's war in Chechnya and documented how President Vladimir Putin curtailed democracy in Russia.

Parliament elected Justina Shiroka Pula as Kosovo's new president late on October 6 following a last-minute political deal that secured lawmakers' approval of legal changes restricting the powers of a Hague-based war crimes court.

A prominent lawmaker has sparked controversy by saying Ukraine is losing the war and should consider making controversial compromises with Moscow. An opposition party ejected Oleksiy Honcharenko from its parliamentary faction, but his remarks may fuel further debate amid relentless Russian attacks.

Iran’s worsening medicine shortages are driving patients to a booming black market, where essential drugs can cost several times official prices. Cancer and chronic disease patients face soaring costs, while authorities struggle with imports, currency shortages, and supply disruptions.

A suspected case of pneumonic plague killing a laboratory technician in Russia has sparked global alarm about the possibility of wider transmission. RFE/RL spoke to Brendan Wren, a professor of microbial pathogenesis, about the situation and Russia's moves to deal with it.

In this week's Wider Europe, Rikard Jozwiak drills down on two issues: the EU's new enlargement strategy and the EU's game plan to keep Russia (and Belarus) out of sports.

Powerful phone hacking software built by Russian-owned Oxygen Forensics was used by dozens of US and European government agencies, including the FBI and the Secret Service. One former agent used it to pull thousands of hidden files from Hunter Biden’s laptop.

In this October 15, 2024, video obtained by RFE/RL, former Secret Service agent Konstantinos Dimitrelos discusses how he used Oxygen Forensics' Russia-built software to "hack" a copy of a hard drive belonging to Hunter Biden.

Police fired tear gas at protesters outside the parliament building in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, on October 5. The protesters were demanding that lawmakers pass legislation that would limit the decisions of a special war crimes tribunal by imposing caps on prison terms for convicted criminals.

Kazakhstan has asked Moscow to help bring home citizens who say they were pressured into signing military contracts to fight in Ukraine. The request puts a fresh spotlight on the vulnerability of Central Asian migrants to Russia’s military enlistment efforts.

A photo of Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali, the head of Iran's Passive Defense Organization, wearing a smartwatch has sparked a backlash. His response, that it's peacetime and people have smart TVs at home, has only fueled criticism of lax security among Iran's top brass.

Police fired tear gas at protesters outside Kosovo's parliament on the evening of October 5 as a dispute over proposed restrictions on a Hague-based war crimes court became entangled with a last-minute political standoff over electing the country's next president.