The Rundown -- January 21

# HRW says Merkel should call on Aliyev to release Khadija Ismayilova and others in her meeting with Azerbaijan's president

# Houthis call for power-sharing deal after storming presidential palace

# The crisis explained in four questions

# Why Yemen constantly appears to be in the middle of a coup

# War on al-Qaeda threatened

# Russia and Iran sign military cooperation agreement

# Russia sounds alarm as Lake Baikal's water levels drop

# Russian Duma passes first reading of law banning "undesirable foreign organizations"

# New round of peace talks today in Germany; perhaps renewed fighting is just diplomatic maneuvering

# Separatists claim to be building air force by raiding museums

# Some 150 people have been dismissed as prosecutors under lustration laws

# Obama's SOTU proposal for use of force resolution lacks specifics so far

# IS has executed "scores" this month says U.N.

# Could IS actions against Japanese hostages lead to change in Japan's pacifist constitution?

# Why what we call IS matters

# Iran warns football players not to take selfies with female fans abroad

# Questions mount in Argentine prosecutor's suicide

# Girls in Afghanistan "skateboarding their way to empowerment"

# HRW says violence and intimidation against journalists in Pakistan is rising

# Pakistan's cross-dressing men

# Pakistan Charlie Hebdo protesters call for "another hallow cost"

# The case for Almaty to host the winter Olympics

# Head of Russian investigative agency says Gyumri suspect will be tried in Armenia (but doesn't specify by whom)

# "Armenia Can't Count on Russia Any More" - Richard Giragosian, Al Jazeera

# Turkey calls for "new beginning" with Armenia

# Macedonia passes same-sex marriage ban

Of Interest