Leaders of the Russia and China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) are holding talks in the Tajik capital with their attention centered on the regional fallout from the U.S.-led international military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s return to power.

Soviet-era Georgian chess champion Nona Gaprindashvili has launched a $5 million lawsuit against Netflix for defamation, accusing the streaming network of "brazenly and deliberately" lying about her in the fictional television series The Queen’s Gambit.

An election-guide app created by opposition activist Aleksei Navalny to erode the dominance of the ruling United Russia party disappeared from Apple and Google stores on the same day that Russians began voting in national parliamentary elections.

Polling stations have opened across Russia for a three-day parliamentary election in which the ruling United Russia party supported by President Vladimir Putin is expected to dominate after a clampdown on Kremlin critics.