Radio Free Europe
RFE/RL journalists report the news in 22 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established, including Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Russia.
Russian Pussy Riot Member Borisova Refused Reentry To Georgia.
Olga Borisova says Georgian police did not explain why they denied her entry.
A member of the Pussy Riot protest group, Olga Borisova, has been refused entry to Georgia, where she has been living since fleeing Russia, after she tried to return to the country from Turkey.
Borisova, a Russian national, tweeted late on June 20 that Georgian police gave no explanation for the decision to bar her from entering the country even though she now lives in the country and has an apartment in the capital, Tbilisi.
She added that she had instead been sent back to Istanbul, where she had traveled from.
Borisova and other members of Pussy Riot have openly protested Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, and Moscow's unprovoked war against Ukraine, launched on February 24. Georgia has been a destination for some of the estimated 300,000 Russians to flee their country since they can travel to the former Soviet republic without a visa. Despite the visa-free regime, Georgia has recently refused entry to some Russian citizens. Georgian officials have not commented on Borisova's case. A blogger from Russia's Kabardino-Balkaria, Insa Lander, has been caught in a neutral zone between the Russian-Georgian border since June 12 after the Georgian authorities refused to allow her to enter the country. Lander fled Russia seeking political asylum in Georgia after she was charged with participation in terrorist activities over a 2014 online chat she had with an acquaintance.
Lander rejects the charge as politically motivated and calls it retaliation by Kabardino-Balkaria's officials for her investigation of possible corruption in a local charity foundation.
EU To Begin Work On Expanding Sanctions Against Iran As Israeli War Cabinet Meets Again.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says he will request that the EU’s diplomatic service start work on an expansion of sanctions in response to Tehran's weekend attack on Israel.
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Poland Deports Tajik Citizen With Links To Islamic State.
A Tajik citizen has been deported from Poland on suspicion of "terrorist activities" and links to the Islamic State group that claimed responsibility for a deadly attack at a concert hall outside Moscow last month.
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U.S. To Hit Iran With New Sanctions In Coming Days, Yellen Says
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on April 16 warned that the United States intends to hit Iran with new sanctions over its unprecedented attack on Israel, and these actions could seek to reduce Iran's capacity to export oil.
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Fire At Zoo In Russian-Occupied Crimea Leaves More Than 200 Animals Dead.
More than 200 animals died on April 16 in a fire at a zoo in Yevpatoria in Russian-occupied Crimea.
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Ukrainian Official Estimates 37,000 People Missing Since Start Of War.
Ukraine said on April 16 it had identified almost 37,000 people who have not been accounted for since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
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Private California school sponsoring students from Ukraine, Afghanistan.
A private high school in California has provided scholarships to three refugee students — one from Ukraine and two from Afghanistan. VOA’s Genia Dulot has the story of an American educator who has even opened her home to the two Afghans teens as t...
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U.S. ambassador 'condemns' Iran's attack on Israel during U.N. Security Council meeting
U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood urged the Security Council to hold Iran accountable and to pursue additional measures that would hold the country responsible. » Subscribe to NBC News: NBC News Digital is a collection of innovative and powerful news br...
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President Biden urges restraint after Iran’s attack on Israel.
President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that U.S. support for Israel is “ironclad,” but the U.S. would not participate in any retaliatory counteroffensive against Iran. NBC News’ Monica Alba reports on the concern among ...
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UN Security Council holds emergency session after Iran's attacks against Israel - DW News.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a plea for "maximum restraint following" Iran's attacks against Israel. "The Middle East is on the brink. The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now i...
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Escalating concerns about wider war in the Middle East.
Israel said it destroyed 99 percent of incoming Iranian fire, and only a handful of ballistic missiles made it through Israel’s robust air defense system. Prime Minister Netanyahu convened his war cabinet, but an Israeli response is still unclear....
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'INEFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP': Rand Paul slams Speaker Johnson for 'siding with Democrats'.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., weighs in on Iran's unprecedented attacks on Israel, expectations that the House will soon take up a bill to back the Middle East ally and Speaker Mike Johnson's record as leader of the House GOP. #FoxNews Subscribe to Fox N...
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