VISUAL REPORTS
Thousands Stage Anti-Government Protest In Tbilisi
Thousands of people gathered on September 20 on Rustaveli Avenue in the center of Georgia’s capital to protest against the government and the ruling Georgian Dream party leader Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire businessman and former prime minister whom critics accuse of ruling the country from behind the scenes.
Kazakh Police Detain Over 50 At Opposition Rallies
Police in Kazakhstan have broken up opposition rallies in several cities, including the capital Nur-Sultan, detaining dozens. Crowds gathered to protest against Chinese investment and the continued influence of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev.
With Mother In Iraqi Jail, Children Of Dead IS Fighter Start New Life In Georgia
Three children look happy and healthy now with their grandparents in Georgia, but that's after living for a year with their mother in an Iraqi jail.
Serbian Activists Demand Ban On Small Hydropower Plants
Hundreds have protested outside Serbia's presidency against small hydropower plants, many of which have been built illegally, including in nature preserves, arguing that they ruin local ecosystems.
OTHER NEWS
Pompeo Rejects Beijing’s Demands To Send Ethnic Uyghurs Back To China
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on countries to reject Beijing’s demands to repatriate ethnic Uyghurs to China, where they face repression, declaring that Beijing's detention of Uyghur Muslims has nothing to do with terrorism, as China claims, but is an attempt "to erase" minority cultures and religions.
Russia Development Corporation Hires U.S. Lobbyist
Russian media reports that the Russian state development corporation VEB.RF has hired former U.S. Congressman John Sweeney to provide legal services, which “may include potential meetings with U.S. government officials on potential new sanctions that could affect VEB.RF.” The contract is for one year and amounts to $62,500 per month. VEB.RF has been under U.S. sanctions since 2014 and is not able to attract debt financing from Americans for more than 14 days. (Russian Service)
Amid Trump-Biden Tug-Of-War, Anxious Ukraine Ponders How To Proceed
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is stuck in the middle of a political fight in Washington with very real stakes.
Russia To Finance Modernization Of Abkhaz Military
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree entrusting Russia with financing the modernization of the armed forces of Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia, which Georgia accuses Russia of occupying since 2008. (in Russian, Current Time TV)
Prison For Pushkin: Russians Turn To Performance To Condemn Moscow Crackdown
A performance on September 19 titled Get Jailed For A Text, organized by popular rapper Oxxxymiron, was the latest in a series of public events held amid a groundswell of support for Russians sentenced to prison in the wake of protests that swept the capital this summer.
Russia’s Shoigu Compares Journalistic Investigations To Great Terror
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who has been the subject of two investigations, has compared anti-corruption investigations carried out by journalists to the denunciations that could lead to prison or death during Stalin’s Great Terror.
Widow Of Udmurt Scholar Hopes His Suicide Will Bring Change
Albert Razin died in a hospital in Izhevsk on September 10, hours after setting himself alight in protest over the fate of his native language, Udmurt. “This was a political protest,” his wife, Yulia Razina told RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service.
World Doping Agency Probing ‘Inconsistencies’ With Russian Data
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) says it has begun compliance proceedings against the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) over “inconsistencies” in the data it supplied at the start of the year.
Belarusian Leader Gives Nod To Simplification Of EU Visa Regime
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has decided to sign an agreement simplifying the visa regime for Belarusian citizens traveling to European Union member states. To be enacted, the agreement must be ratified by Belarus's parliament and approved by the European Parliament.
Bulgarian Lawmakers To Investigate Crisis At Public Radio
Bulgaria's parliament will set up a commission to investigate a crisis at Bulgarian National Radio sparked by the suspension of a prominent journalist and accusations of management using threats and censorship against staff.
Dubious Turkmen Video Makes False Claims About Disappeared
Turkmen student activist Omurzak Omarkuliev has not been heard from since he was arrested by authorities in Ashgabat in March 2018 and disappeared within the country's prison system. After his story was highlighted on September 16 by the Prove They Are Alive! campaign at the OSCE's human rights conference in Warsaw, the missing student activist resurfaced in a YouTube video.
MAJLIS PODCAST: Is The Situation Along Kyrgyz-Tajik Border Getting Worse?
INFOGRAPHIC: Ukraine’s Young Government