The huge mercury mine at Aidarken in Kyrgyzstan once supplied the entire Soviet Union. It now produces a fraction of its former output, with many of its shafts still filled with floodwaters that took it out of service from 2009 to 2019.
U.S. President Joe Biden met with self-exiled Belarusian presidential candidate Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya at the White House on July 28. After the meeting, Tsikhanouskaya said Biden is "not indifferent to what is happening in Belarus." She spoke to reporter Mykhailo Komadovsky.
In Russia's Komi region, the village of Mutny Materik -- or Muddy Continent -- stands in the swamps along the Pechora River, without paved roads or a sewer system. The town's name was recently recognized as the funniest in Russia, but locals find the conditions of life here are no laughing matter.
Amid a wave of COVID-19 infections in Russia, Moscow and other local governments have made vaccinations mandatory for workers in sectors such as retail, health care, and transportation. But some managers say their employees have quit rather than get vaccinated.
Parliamentary elections in Moldova are taking place on July 11 without the cooperation of the breakaway region of Trandniester. Most people in the region have Moldovan passports and can travel to nearby districts to vote, but only a few thousand are expected to do so.
The Tisza River, a major tributary of the Danube, flows from Ukraine into Hungary -- and brings with it thousands of tons of garbage each year. Hungary has urged Ukraine to deal with its trash before it becomes an international issue, but there's no easy solution in sight.
In tsarist Russia, it was a women's prison, but now it's home for poor families with nowhere else to go. Although it's supposed to be temporary accommodation, residents spend years amid its crumbling, ill-lit corridors, waiting for permanent housing.
As Belarus faces international isolation for its brutal crackdown on opposition voices, it has been able to rely on Russia for support -- both political and economic. Despite a sometimes fraught relationship, Moscow has been pouring money into Belarus since the 1990s.
Inspector Adilet Imanbekov is a man with a mission: Warding off poachers from the 28 species of fish in Kyrgyzstan’s Lake Issyk-Kul, the world’s second-largest saline lake after the Caspian Sea. But he must rely on others for his boat. Asia 360° took to the water to witness his battles firsthand.
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