Kyrgyz lawmakers and officials in the capital Bishkek prove that politics can sometimes be a joke.

From oil spills, wildfires, and floods to Victory Day and the World Cup, these photos tell the stories that defined 2010.

Ukraine co-hosts the 2012 European soccer championship, which will bring an influx of sports fans from across Europe. Still on the country's to-do list: build two stadiums and teach police officers to speak English.

Jarkynai is an ethnic Kyrgyz; her husband, Mirzahid, is an ethnic Uzbek. Together, they run a minibus service for neighborhoods in the divided Kyrgyz city of Osh.

RFE/RL writer at large James Kirchick reports from the scene of a police crackdown in Belarus as thousands protested the reelection of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Shocked by a series of violent gang attacks in their region, residents of one Russian town demand a stronger response from the authorities.

Iraqi women recently competed in the Miss Baghdad beauty pageant -- an event that was on hold for nearly 30 years during years of war and Ba’ath Party rule.

Ashura, the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram, is among the holiest days on the Shi'ite calendar. It is a day of mourning marked by dramatic displays of passion and faith by Shi'a -- including recitations and processions, reenactments of a key battle in Islamic history at Karbala, and massive scenes of self-flagellation and chest beating -- to honor the suffering and death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein, in his seventh-century bid to challenge the Umayyad caliphate. Beatific images of Imam Hussein are conspicuous among Shi'ite participants in ceremonies.

The controversial writer talks to RFE/RL about his revolutionary past, his views on America, Iran's nuclear program, Putin's Russia, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The number of new HIV/AIDS cases has dropped worldwide, but in Russia, the disease is still on the rise. The causes include poor public education and insufficient government-sponsored treatment and prevention measures.