Margot Buff is a multimedia editor for RFE/RL.
A NASA rover named Perseverance touched down on Mars on February 18, landing in an ancient lake bed named Jezero Crater. Back on Earth, Bosnians in the town of Jezero celebrated their local connection to interplanetary events.
A villa in Cannes, a Swiss chateau, an entire block in central London: those are just a few of the investments made by relatives of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, who acquired vast wealth during his nearly three decades in power.
Former patients who have recovered from COVID-19 have antibodies in their blood that might be able to fight the virus inside another patient's body. Blood plasma transfusions have been used successfully against other infections, but researchers have only just begun to investigate whether it's an effective strategy against the coronavirus.
Muhammad Munir, a virologist at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom, says governments and public health officials need much more data before deciding when to relax lockdown restrictions. In an interview with RFE/RL's Balkan Service, he said a second wave of infections could have an even worse impact than the first.
Some patients with severe cases of COVID-19 recover fully after intensive treatment, but the process is long and harrowing. Survivors describe the nightmare of seeing their skin turn blue, saying goodbye to loved ones, and witnessing others succumb to the disease.
As millions of people shelter at home during the coronavirus pandemic, cases of domestic violence are rising rapidly in Russia, the United States, and elsewhere. Activists say victims face an untenable situation as they are forced into self-isolation with their abusers.
Some cities have ordered public areas to be sprayed with disinfectant in an effort to curb the coronavirus, which can be spread by contact with surfaces. In the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, engineers repurposed jet engines to create a powerful antiviral blast.
Doctors and nurses treating patients with COVID-19 are enduring brutally long hours, the emotional toll of mounting deaths, and the fear of becoming sick themselves.
With countless businesses closed amid the coronavirus pandemic, governments are taking drastic action to try to shore up their countries' economies. The measures range from monetary policy to direct food assistance for struggling citizens.
More countries and regions are advising -- or requiring -- all residents to wear face masks in public to protect against the spread of the coronavirus. While fabric masks don't provide full protection, doctors say they can help block transmission from people who don't yet know they're sick.
Nurses and doctors treating coronavirus patients need disposable gloves, masks, gowns, and face shields to protect themselves from infection. But a global shortage of protective gear is putting health workers in even greater danger.
There are not enough coronavirus tests to go around, but new technologies are rushing through to market, giving doctors much-needed tools to fight the pandemic. Experts say testing is crucial not just to treat individual patients, but to track and limit the spread of the disease.
A vaccine that protects against the coronavirus could be more than a year from being developed and approved. But other research efforts are moving rapidly, focusing on drugs that could help treat the symptoms of COVID-19 or block it from spreading.
One of the best protections against the coronavirus is also the simplest: washing your hands. Doctors advise soap, warm water, and a thorough scrubbing to get rid of potential infectious material.
A new study reports that the coronavirus can live on some surfaces for up to three days -- confirming doctors' advice that washing one's hands frequently is a crucial step to help avoid infection.
As Iran battles the coronavirus epidemic, people across the country have been working to ease the impact of the crisis. Volunteers are distributing food aid to poor families, sterilizing surfaces in public places, and sewing extra face masks for health workers.
Iranian worshipers visiting holy shrines in Qom and Mashhad tried to force their way inside after they were barred from entering. The shrines and several others were ordered closed in the latest measure to try to control the spread of coronavirus.
As Iranians isolate themselves to keep the coronavirus epidemic from spreading further, residents of one Tehran apartment complex found a way to unite: singing along with patriotic songs and pop hits blaring from their windows.
A YouTube vlogger hung a portrait of President Vladimir Putin in the elevator of a Moscow apartment building. The residents' reactions, caught on video, ranged from amused to profane.
Azerbaijanis cast their ballots in early parliamentary elections on February 9 -- and some apparently cast multiple ballots. Along with irregularities such as ballot-box stuffing and so-called carousel voting at multiple stations, there were also reports of independent observers being harassed or expelled.
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