Ron Synovitz is a senior correspondent for RFE/RL.
Polling in Iran suggests that two reformist candidates could pose serious challenges to incumbent President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in this week's voting. But opinion polls there are notoriously inaccurate, particularly when trying to predict election results for the entire country.
U.S. President Barack Obama is to give his much-anticipated speech to the Islamic world on June 4 when he visits Cairo, Egypt. Obama has made it clear that the United States wants to reach out to Muslims across the world with "the language of respect." But expectations ahead of his speech to the Islamic world are mixed.
There appears to be growing recognition that the counternarcotics strategy in Afghanistan is failing. Military and civilian officials say too little support has been offered to farmers, and too little effort has focused on the powerful drug lords who spread instability throughout the region and farther abroad.
Following the publication of a new tell-all about President Nursultan Nazarbaev, Kazakhs are told they can be punished for merely "touching" the book. RFE/RL looks at the legal basis for the ban, and how it compares to prior-restraint laws in the U.S. and Britain.
A U.S. think tank that focuses on the spread of nuclear weapons has released reports showing how Pakistan has been expanding its nuclear-weapons-production complex in recent years. The conclusions are based on comparisons of commercial satellite images from 2004 and 2008 that focus on several of Pakistan's nuclear facilities.
Afghanistan's government is investigating claims that highly flammable white phosphorus was used last week in Farah Province during a battle between the Taliban and U.S. forces. The U.S. military denies using phosphorus there, and it has accused the Taliban of using the incendiary ammunition against civilians.
Afghan villagers are mourning relatives buried in mass graves after a coalition air strike that all sides say killed or injured noncombatants. The timing is awkward politically, as the U.S., Afghan, and Pakistani presidents gather in Washington.
John Barry, author of "The Great Influenza" and among the world's foremost historians on the influenza pandemic of 1918, is warning the world not to become complacent about the threat posed by the new swine flu virus. He worries the new strain may seem to disappear during the summer -- but quietly continue to infect people around the world until it surfaces against in a stronger, mutated form.
The World Health Organization has raised the alert over the H1N1 flu virus for the second time this week -- urging governments around the world to start putting their emergency plans into action for an imminent pandemic.
Islamic militants are challenging government authority in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province, and fresh advances are bringing the insurgency closer to major cities. How confident should we be that Pakistan's nuclear weapons won't fall into the wrong hands?
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says a NATO-led military exercise scheduled for May in Georgia would be dangerous and hinder efforts to rebuild relations between Moscow and the Western alliance. But NATO insists it will go ahead with the long-planned exercises, despite Russian demands to call them off.
After four months of deadlock, Iraqi lawmakers have elected Ayad al-Samarraei, a Sunni Arab legislator and strong critic of Iraq’s Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, to the post of parliamentary speaker.
Leaders of youth protests against Moldova's official election results have been using cell phone text messages, blogs and Internet social networks -- like Facebook and Twitter -- to organize massive demonstrations in Chisinau. RFE/RL takes a closer look at how a small group of Internet-savvy activists in Chisinau have been using modern technology to get the word out about their rallies.
As U.S. President Barack Obama called on Iraqis to "make political accommodations" and take "responsibility" for their country during a surprise visit, officials in Baghdad were grappling with a case that could well indicate how prepared they are to tackle a key obstacle to progress.
A confidential report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), cited by the "Financial Times," says that struggling EU member states should switch to the euro currency, even if they are not full members of the eurozone.
U.S. officials say President Barack Obama will not press for concrete commitments on Afghanistan from NATO allies during the summit April 3-4 in Strasbourg, France, and Baden Baden, Germany. The announcement follows consultations between Obama and European leaders in which the U.S. president was told there would not immediate troop reinforcements by key European allies like France and Germany.
NATO has overcome internal divisions to outlive both the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union. And it has gone on to tackle security challenges beyond its own borders -- including the Balkans and Afghanistan. A look at the alliance's history.
NATO air strikes 10 years ago to counter a violent crackdown by Serb forces in Kosovo are remembered by many in Belgrade as a case of Western aggression. But in Kosovo's capital, which also was targeted, many ethnic Albanians view the campaign as the end of a repressive era and the ushering in of freedom.
U.S. President Barack Obama says new plans for Afghanistan should also focus on Pakistan, and must include an "exit strategy" for U.S. troops. Within hours of his remarks, his special envoy to the region was reportedly briefing NATO allies on the new strategy.
Azerbaijan says voters in the March 18 referendum have overwhelmingly approved a series of constitutional amendments -- including a provision that would allow President Ilham Aliyev to continue running for reelection indefinitely. But the president of the Council of Europe's chamber of local authorities says the amendments violate Baku's commitments on democracy, and that if the amendments are implemented, Azerbaijan could eventually be suspended from the council altogether.
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