RFE/RL in the Media
# Read Brian Whitmore in the "Atlantic" on the Kremlin's youth strategy
Russia
# Can a Riga-based news outlet set up by the old Lenta team offer hope for independent media?
# Russia sends troops and jets to the Arctic
# "Russia Today, Argentina Tomorrow" - Fabian Bosoer and Federico Finchelstein, "New York Times"
# "Guardian" says Sweden joining NATO may now be inevitable
# Sikorski's "reputation in tatters" as he walks back Putin-Tusk partition story
Ukraine
# Still no gas deal
# Still no gas deal
# A "Foreign Affairs" debate about who started the Ukraine crisis
# Ukraine election factbox
# U.S. senator's sunflower campaign photos are from Ukraine
Eastern Europe
# Baltics wary of becoming the next conflict hotspot
Iraq/Syria
# IS fighters seize weapons from U.S. airdrop
# Enforcer at Treasury is first line of attack against IS
# The artificial border crossing between IS and Kurdish controlled territory
# "New Freedoms in Tunisia Drive Support for ISIS" - David Kirkpatrick, "New York Times"
# "Doubling Down on Disaster in Syria" - Michael Weiss and Faysal Itani, Politico
Iran
# Iran shunning image as OPEC hawk
# Female roles in Iran evolves as divorce rate soars
# Report: U.S. may approve more centrifuges in final deal
# "Iran Is Forcing Poor Afghans to Fight and Die in Syria" - Jassem Al Salami, Medium
Afghanistan/Pakistan
# Taliban setting up government services in northern districts
# "Afghanistan: A shocking Indictment" - Rory Stewart, "New York Review of Books"
# Video: John Oliver takes on issue of Afghan translators unable to get visas
# Pakistan outraged by robbing of philanthropist in Karachi
# Pakistan court upholds blasphemy death sentence for Christian woman
Central Asia
# Central Asia hurting as Russian ruble sinks
Caucasus
# Armenian editor in court for LGBT blacklist