RFE/RL in the Media
# The Bureau of Investigative Journalism cites Sailab Mehsud's reporting for Gandhara on the Taliban in North Waziristan
# Haaretz on Khadija Ismayilova's detention and what it may mean for Israel's relations with Azerbaijan
# "Moscow Times" cites RFE/RL reporting on methadone clinics in Crimea
Russia
# Google engineering most recent tech outfit to be leaving Russia
# Russian Defense Ministry denies its plane nearly collided with a Swedish passenger jet
# Moscow reacts angrily to threat of new U.S. sanctions
# The scenarios where Russia might use a nuclear weapon
# "Russia’s Ideology: There Is No Truth" - Peter Pomerantsev, "New York Times"
Ukraine
# Poroshenko grants Ukrainian citizenship to Belarusian Neo-Nazi
# Hacked Russian Interior Ministry files appear to show involvement in eastern Ukraine
# Ukraine has first casualty free day in seven months
# Will the West come to Ukraine's aid in financial shortfall?
Iraq/Syria/Turkey
# The man behind IS' most popular Twitter account after his arrest; IS supporters demand his release
# Record numbers of Shi'a pilgrims flock to Iraq’s Karbala for Arbaeen
# Turkish police raid news outlets tied to Gulen, arrest 23
# The girl who ran to Syria to marry a militant and the mother who brought her back
Iran
# FBI warns that Iran hackers may target U.S. defense, energy firms
# Iran extends visas for 450,000 Afghan refugees
# Why Iran couldn't secretly build a bomb
Afghanistan/Pakistan
# An especially deadly day in Afghanistan
# Vast swaths of southern Afghanistan already in Taliban hands
# How the Taliban groom child suicide bombers
# "Torture Report Message: Let Pakistan Handle It" - Eli Lake, Bloomberg
Central Asia
# China and Kazakhstan sign $14 billion in deals
Of Interest
# Ongoing Australian hostages situation
# Instagram may be making a run at Twitter in news