RFE/RL in the Media
# "Moscow Times" cites RFE/RL reporting on Lesin investigation (site currently down)
# "Jerusalem Post" on Khadija Ismayilova's arrest and the dilemma for Israel
# "Guardian" lists Azerbaijan political prisoners, including Ismayilova
Russia
# BBC World Service fears losing information war to Russia
# Facebook declines comment on pulling Navalny protest page in Russia
# "Washington Post's" Putin year-ender
# European tourism hotspots suffer with Russians staying home
# In meetings with OPEC, Russia refused to cut oil production itself
Ukraine
# In Kyiv, Lukashenka promises to help
# Peace talks stalled as violence resumes
Eastern Europe
# Moldovan migrants denied re-entry to Russia
# "Russia Growls Across the Border as Lithuania Readies for Euro" - Alistair Scrutton and Andrius Sytas, Reuters
# "The Baltic States Are Not Serious About Defending Themselves" - Ted Carpenter, "Newsweek"
# Belarus blocks access to independent news sites
Iraq/Syria
# Western journalist who just spent 10 days with IS says group is popular
# IS reportedly executed 100 of its own fighters who tried to flee Raqqa
# Iraq TV show makes "terrorists" confront victims
# Documentary: The mothers of jihadists
Iran
# Iran says Cuba thaw proves sanctions are "useless"
# Assad tells top Iranian official he supports local truces
# Iran's support for Syria tested by oil price drop
Afghanistan/Pakistan
# Some Guantanamo Bay detainees returned to Afghanistan
# Taliban publicize training camp in northern Afghanistan
# The rise of Maulana Fazlullah, the man who ordered the Peshawar attacks
# "In 2008 Mumbai Attacks, Piles of Spy Data, but an Uncompleted Puzzle" - ProPublica and "New York Times"
Central Asia
# Uzbekistan holds "vote"
# Nazarbayev's grandson named deputy mayor of Astana
# "Turkmenistan's Climate of Fear Silences its People" - Abdujalil Abdurasulov, BBC