The Rundown -- April 16

Note: There will be no Rundown tomorrow

RFE/RL in the Media
# Khadija Ismayilova wins prestigious PEN press freedom award (New York Times breaks the news)

# Washington Post editorial criticizing European Olympic Committees mentions Ismayilova's plight

# New York Times piece on VOA says RFE/RL duplicates "much of the agency's programming"

# Mark Zuckerberg tells RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service's Turxan Qarishga that Facebook money transfer is expanding soon

# Russia blocks Hollywood blockbuster Child 44 "because it makes Stalin look bad"

# Economist on Russia's financial rally

# "Shadow" over Russian V-day celebrations as Western leaders snub

# "In Exile, but Ready to Save Russia" - Ilya Ponomarev, New York Times

# Another Yanukovych ally found shot dead in Kyiv

# "In Rebel Territory of Ukraine, Older Residents Fight to Live" - Andrew Roth, New York Times
# "Ukraine: Inside the Deadlock" - Ben Judah, New York Review of Books

# Putin says weapons to Iran "purely defensive"

# How the Senate's Iran deal was done

# "Saudis Should Welcome the Iran Deal" - Vali Nasr, New York Times

# IS gains ground in Anbar

# Trucks struggle to navigate Iraq's IS-controlled roads

# Video of Kurdish girl allegedly shooting at IS fighters goes viral

# "How the Bush Wars Opened the Door for ISIS" - Michael Kinsley, Vanity Fair

# "Afghanistan's Female Sons" - Nadia Hashimi, Foreign Affairs

# Meet the cartoon kid superheroes of Pakistan

# "Loosening a Party’s Grip on Karachi, a Pakistani City Known for Violence" - Declan Walsh and Zia ur-Rehman, New York Times

# "India and Pakistan's Proxy War in Afghanistan" - Catherine Putz, Diplomat

# Tajikistan's $100 million theatre
# Amnesty: West turning blind eye to torture in Uzbekistan

# The worsening crisis in Macedonia

# HWR says police in Serbia abusing migrants, asylum seekers

# Erdogan condemns Pope for "genocide" comments

Of Interest