A woman looks at a display of Barbie dolls in a children’s toy store in Moscow, Russia, in 2021.
Nikolay Vinokurov/Alamy
The film Barbie is seen as an icon of American values , but is still proving popular in Russia.
‘Democracy is in decline’ says Nobel committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen, as she gives the award to Iranian women’s rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi.
Terje Pedersen/NTB
The Nobel peace prize committee noted that awards in recent years highlight pressure on democracy which they say is in decline around the world.
Forced out: ethnic Armenians have lived in Nagorno-Karabakh for millennia.
EPA-EFE/Anatoly Maltsev
Recent events in Nagorno-Karabakh are a clear case of ethnic cleansing of the regions Armenian population.
Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh.
Middle East Images /AFP via Getty Images)
The collapse of the self-proclaimed republic ushers in a new reality in the South Caucasus. For Armenia, the first concern is how to accommodate the needs of 100,000-plus refugees.
Many of the buildings in Kharkiv that bats roost in have been destroyed or damaged by shelling.
DarSzach/Shutterstock
Shelling may have led to the killing of 7,000 noctule bats in the city of Kharkiv alone
The intersection of politics and social media is fertile ground for AI-powered disinformation.
AP Photo/John Minchillo
ChatGPT and its ilk give propagandists and intelligence agents a powerful new tool for interfering in politics. The clock is ticking on learning to spot this disinformation before the 2024 election.
Keeping up morale: Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, with Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, after talks at Nato headquarters, September 28 2023.
PA-EFE/Sergey Dolzhenko
A selection of the best of our coverage of the conflict from the past fortnight.
Tight contest: there are no clear routes to victory for either of the main parties in the September 30 election.
EPA-EFE/Jakub Gavlak
Slovakia has steadfastly supported Ukraine in the war, but there are signs this may change after the election.
Russia claims to have signed up at least 300,000 new military recruits since January 2023.
EPA-EFE/Yuri Kochetkov
It is Kyiv, not Moscow, that is feeling the pressure as the war drags on with no end in sight.
Peter Dejong/AP
Ukraine is seeking compensation from Russia in the case, but the International Court of Justice needs to agree to hear it first.
Pirates leave a Ukrainian merchant vessel for Somalia’s shore in 2008.
Getty Images
The success of the Somali case illustrates what a high degree of shared interests among international actors can achieve.
Samantha Power, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, speaks to journalists in Armenia.
AP Photo/Vasily Krestyaninov
Violence has caused thousands to flee the Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh amid anger over perceived lack of action from Washington or the international community.
Ethnic Armenians flee their enclave in Nagorno-Karabakh along the Lachin corridor.
AP Photo/Vasily Krestyaninov
The Nagorno-Karabakh crisis is just one part of a very complex issue at the heart of the South Caucasus.
Don’t lose faith with Ukraine: Volodymyr Zelensky makes his case at the United Nations.
EPA-EFE/Justin Lane
As the war nears 600 days, there are signs that support for Ukraine could be beginning to waver in some parts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers a speech in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Sept. 22, 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Ukraine must keep its cause in the hearts and minds of the public and its allies in the West. Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visits to Ottawa, Washington and the United Nations were in pursuit of that goal.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Joe Biden walk to the Oval Office on Sept. 21, 2023.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Post-9/11 international cooperation on weapons proliferation is giving way to a fractured regime dominated by ideology.
AP Photo/Alex Babenko
The war in Ukraine is going to be a test of will, both for Ukraine’s troops and its allies in the west.
Retaking Snake Island in May 2022 has become symbolic of Ukraine’s defiance.
PA-EFE/Mykola Tys
Ukraine’s recent successes at sea and in Crimea create strategic opportunities in the Black Sea and, in the longer term, for the war on land.
Justin Lane/EPA
Because reform of the current UN Charter is off the table, the only avenue left is to dissolve the charter and draw up a new treaty that limits or abolishes the power of the veto.
War in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region of the South Caucasus has been going on for more than three decades.
EPA-EFE/Sargsyan/OC media handout
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been contesting this region of the South Caucasus since before the break-up of the Soviet Union.