As the US-Israeli war with Iran continues to impact and shape the region, journalists from RFE/RL's Central Newsroom and Iranian service, Radio Farda, deliver ongoing updates and analysis.
The world soccer governing body FIFA reportedly plans to again prohibit fans from displaying Iran's pre-revolutionary flag at the 2026 World Cup, renewing a controversy that shadowed the tournament in Qatar four years ago.
Kyrgyzstan has taken sweeping action to clamp down on companies suspected of circumventing Western sanctions imposed on Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The US Treasury Department has extended for another 30 days a sanctions waiver allowing at-risk countries to purchase Russian oil shipments at sea, as supply disruptions linked to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continue to roil global energy markets.
Three people have been reported dead as Russia's Moscow region faced the largest Ukrainian assault in over a year on May 17.
The Trump administration has allowed a controversial waiver on sanctions targeting Russian seaborne oil to expire, reimposing restrictions that had temporarily enabled countries such as India to continue purchasing Russian crude despite Western efforts to curb Moscow’s wartime revenues.
Representative Brian Mast told RFE/RL during a Council on Foreign Relations event that he believes Europe should take greater responsibility for supporting Ukraine because the war is "in their backyard."
Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute focusing on national security and transatlantic relations, told RFE/RL in an interview that Iran appears to be borrowing directly from Russia’s negotiation strategy.
Nina Litvinova, a prominent Russian human rights activist and dissident whose suicide was reported recently by Russian media, left a note blaming President Vladimir Putin for her death, according to her cousin.
A senior US State Department official warned that Russia is likely to reposition forces toward NATO’s eastern flank once the war in Ukraine ends, raising concerns that the Baltic states could face intensified military and hybrid pressure from Moscow in the years ahead.
Rescue crews searched through the rubble after Russian forces hit a Kyiv apartment building in an attack that killed at least 24 people, and US President Donald Trump suggested the strike could set back peace efforts.
The United States has announced an additional $1.8 billion in humanitarian assistance for UN-led relief operations worldwide, including continued support for Ukraine.
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