RFE/RL in the Media
# Golnaz Esfandiari quoted in "The Guardian" on Iran's unblocking of Twitter and Facebook
# "The Times" quotes Daisy Sindelar's reporting on Miss Uzbekistan
# Power Vertical cited in "Chicago Tribune" for coverage of Navalny
# Read Charles Recknagel in "The Atlantic" on Putin's new role as "problem-solver"
Syria
# A blow-by-blow account of White House shifting strategies on Syria
# Evidence in UN report points to Assad regime responsibility for attacks
# "Syria’s Rebels Turn on One Another, and That’s Not a Bad Thing" - Aryn Baker, "Time"
# Entire brigades now made up of foreign fighters
# Rebel leaders "deflated"
# Journalist speaks out on "the land of evil"
Middle East
# "Egypt's 'Deep State' Never Left" - Charles M. Sennott, Global Post
# HRW: Bahrain security forces detaining children
Iran
# Twitter and Facebook working again in Iran, for now
# A historic Tweet
# "Spiegel" reports Iran will make huge nuclear concessions
# Rohani talks to Revolutionary Guards - tells them to stay out of politics, says West's stance on Syria is Israel's fault
# Rohani says he'll support any leader elected by Syrians
# Iran sanctions force opposition leader to shut down website
Afghanistan/Pakistan
# Anti-Ahmadi conference calls for expulsion of Muslim sect from Lahore
# 70 percent of Afghan policewomen say they have personally experienced sexual harassment or violence
# "Good enough" the best we can hope for in Afghanistan?
# "Domestic Barriers to Dismantling the Militant Infrastructure in Pakistan" - Stephen Tankel, USIP
Russia
# Argument about Kant ends in grocery story shooting
# Cher rejects invitation to play at Olympics because of anti-gay laws
# Russian foreign affairs committee head jokes about Navy Yard shooting
# "Playing Poker With Putin" - Edward P. Joseph, "Foreign Affairs"
# 20 minute doc - 67 and seeing the world for the first time
Central Asia
# In Uzbekistan, children reportedly refused textbooks if they don't subscribe to newspapers
Eastern Europe
# Potash dispute seems to be headed for resolution
# Despite potash row, Rosneft planning more investment in Belarus
# "Ukraine's Gay Community Fears Russia's Pull" - Josephine Simmons, Truthout
Caucasus
# Azerbaijani tycoon funds 9/11 memorial in Pennsylvania
Of Interest
# Medicine of Middle Ages better than originally thought