RFE/RL in the Media
# American Enterprise Institute cites RFE/RL's "Under the Black Flag" for reporting on Uzbek group pledging allegiance to IS
# "Journal of Turkish Weekly" cites RFE/RL Balkans Service for reporting on controversy over Albanian PM's comments
# BloombergBusinessweek cites RFE/RL reporting on helicopter shot down by Azerbaijan
# Read Daisy Sindelar in the "Guardian" on five things you can find from the new Sputnik website
Russia
# Russia announces new bomber patrols to reach as far as Gulf of Mexico; U.S. says this is "routine"
# Russians brace for "thrifty christmas"
# The accidental "middle finger" to Putin on new propaganda site Sputnik
# Infographic: Russian provocations
Ukraine
# "Let's Stop Pretending a Ceasefire Ever Existed" - Julia Ioffe and Linda Kinstler, "New Republic"
# Ostrovsky sits down with the warlords of eastern Ukraine
# Hungary will back EU on Ukraine if it gets help with gas
Eastern Europe
# With coming vote in Moldova, Putin puts Gagauzia in play
# Influential pro-Kremlin analyst says Baltic states should fear for their existence
Iraq/Syria
# Iraqi Kurds want robots, but Washington wary of defying Baghdad
# U.S. wants to know how IS recruited three Denver teens
# IS shows off tunnels it claims allow fighters to survive U.S. airstrikes
Iran
# Sources: Final Iran deal by deadline unlikely
# Rohani tells U.S. to stop making "excessive demands"
# The fighters in Iraq who answer to Iran
# In IS war, Iran "will not be a friend of the U.S."
Afghanistan/Pakistan
# Protracted elections part of cause of rising opium production in Afghanistan
# Meet the skater girls of Afghanistan
# The perils of being a drone spotter in Pakistan
# The nuclear implications of Iran-Pakistan tensions
# IS delegation visits Pakistan militants
Caucasus
# Azerbaijan shoots down helicopter near line of contact
Of Interest