RFE/RL in the Media
# Guardian picks up coverage by Arslan Saidov and Claire Bigg of a video message by Ukrainian students to their Russian counterparts
# Global Post cites Rob Coalson's explainer on military aid to Ukraine
# CNN/Reuters use RFE/RL Current Time video from Debaltseve
Russia
# Saudis said to be using oil leverage to tempt Putin to abandon Assad
# Russia plans joint military drills with North Korea and Cuba
# Military analyst says massive Russian invasion of Ukraine imminent
# "In Russia, Creeping Awareness That Economic Crisis Will Last" - Laura Mills, AP
Eastern Europe
# Belarus bookshop rallies against publishing crackdown
Ukraine
# Town social media groups become "lifeline" for civilians in eastern Ukraine
# Russia and Ukraine in indirect talks over Black Sea air corridor
# Bloomberg: "Why Arming Ukraine Will Backfire"
# HRW criticizes separatists and Kyiv over rising civilian death toll
# "How the West Is Losing Ukraine" - Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg
Iraq/Syria
# Jordanian pilot burned alive by IS had likely been dead for weeks
# George Packer: IS less like a conventional authoritarian state than a "death cult"
# "Iran's Militias Are Taking Over Iraq's Army" - Eli Lake, Bloomberg
# 2,500 year old Jewish tablets discovered in Iraq
Iran
# Syrian rebels say they're holding an Iranian fighter and are willing to swap
# U.S. and Iran discussing compromise that would allow Iran to keep nuclear enriching technology
# Iran sweetens oil contracts
Afghanistan/Pakistan
# For Afghans, 2014 was the bloodiest year
# Anxiety grows over Afghanistan's unity government
# Ashton Carter says he'd consider changing Afghanistan withdrawal plans if situation warranted
# Obama proposes more than $1 billion for Pakistan
Balkans
# ICJ absolves Croatia and Serbia of genocide
Of Interest