The Rundown -- April 8

# Robert Coalson's piece about a day in Russian TV included on "Financial Times" list of "smart reads"; also republished in "The Atlantic"

# Washington Free Beacon cites RFE/RL Russian Service interview with Boris Nemtsov

# "Le Monde" cites report by Andriy Kuznetsov from the standoff in Luhansk

# Lavrov, in "The Guardian," says it's West, not Russia, stirring up tension

# Is Putin sabotaging Ukraine?

# The return of "New Russia"

# Possible risks for Moscow in the event of an attack on Ukraine

# Putin warns FSB about NGO dangers

# Photos from Norilsk

# Are Yanukovych's old aides working with the separatists in the east?

# Russia's options in Ukraine

# "Putin Marches Into Eastern Ukraine, Europe Ponders" - Judy Dempsey, Carnegie

# Russia accuses Ukraine of using "U.S. mercenaries" in the east

# Ukraine in Flashcards

# How one Crimean separatist has dodged sanctions

# The less Americans know about Ukraine the more they want to intervene

# Moldova requests extradition of Russian banker from UK

# Senate votes unanimously to deny potential Iran UN envoy entry to U.S.

# U.S. senators pushing hard line against Iran-Russia deal

# Hizbollah says it has helped Assad win in Syria

# Iran struggling to receive promised unfrozen oil revenue

# Revolutionary Guard says it has dismantled a foreign spy ring

# Heroin a common enemy of U.S. and Iran

# "The Ghost Polls of Afghanistan"- Matthieu Aikins, Harpers

# Afghanistan's new middle class is the "key to stability"

# Pakistan military hints at irritation over Musharraf trial

# Pakistan security forces kill 30 in Balochistan

# Iraq signs preliminary deal for Czech planes

# Two more executions in Iraq

# Glaxo investigates possible misconduct in Iraq

# Is Vox a smarter Wikipedia?

# How advertising cookies let observers follow you around the web

# Serious reading vs. online scanning?