Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Heshmati announced on Facebook last week that she had been lashed 74 times because of a social media post she made in April in which she could be seen without a hijab.https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-women-defiant-flogging-hijab-violation/32767635.html

“[E]ither you get a grip and just do this work like a robot, or you lose your mind,” one volunteer said of helping a dying woman in a Russian-occupied region of Ukraine.https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-antiwar-volunteers-ukraine-aid-threats-escape/32767064.html

Remains of a missile that Ukraine suggests was supplied to Russia by North Korea were shown to journalists after recent strikes on Kharkiv.https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine-north-korea-war-missiles-kn-23/32765450.html

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukrainians lined up to join the armed forces in an outburst of patriotism that both inspired the Western world and defied Moscow’s expectations.Now, two years later, amid horrific trench warfare, lack of recent progress on the battlefield, and with tens of thousands of soldiers dead or wounded, the enthusiasm to enlist is clearly waning. https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-mobilization-bill-military-government-tensions/32758568.html

UPDATE: At least 103 have died and more than 170 others injured in the explosions. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-explosions-soleimani-death-anniversary/32758522.html

At least 53 people have been killed in two explosions during commemorations of the fourth anniversary of the death of Qasem Soleimani, a former commander of Iran's elite Quds Force killed, Iranian state-run media have reported. Video via @radiofarda

At least five people were killed and dozens wounded in Russian drone and missiles strikes in and around Kyiv as well as Kharkiv on January 2 that Ukraine’s military said were similar in scale to a massive Russian attack just days earlier. https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-explosions-kyiv-russian-missile-drone-attack/32755915.html

Kyiv was rocked by explosions early on January 2 with Ukraine’s military saying air defense systems had repelled a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian capitals hours after Russian military drones were reported to have targeted the city. https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-explosions-kyiv-russian-missile-drone-attack/32755915.html