Alison Mutler is a freelance correspondent based in Romania.
The botched investigation of a teenage girl's kidnapping and killing exposed a tangled web of criminal world connections to police and politicians.
It has taken a grisly murder case and a high court ruling to finally halt a government drive to pass controversial legal changes in Romania.
Denied the right to marry or even have their partnerships recognized, a group of same-sex couples in Romania is challenging the law.
Sharp cuts to Romania's cultural institutions has led to shows being canceled and actors and museum directors holding protests.
As Romania's chief anticorruption prosecutor, Laura Koevesi put dozens of politicians and officials behind bars. But after being accused of being part of a shadowy antigovernment structure, she was ousted and her case became a lightning rod for the bitter war over the country's endemic corruption.
