RFE/RL in the Media
# BBC cites RFE/RL Tajik Service on law to force parents to give children Tajik names
Ukraine
# Bond rally at hint of optimism about debt restructuring
# Stephen Sestanovich says on Ukraine Putin is now "more bored than bellicose"
# Peter Pomerantsev: "One of the problems with Ukraine is that no one really knows where it is"
Russia
# Russian website allows businesses, including Burger King, to advertise on women's breasts
# Gallup poll shows Russia receives lowest approval in the world, U.S. highest
# "Russian Workers Take Aim at Putin as Economy Exacts Its Toll" - Andrew Kramer, New York Times
# "How Putin Is Disrupting the Atlantic Alliance" - Ivan Krastev and Mark Leonard, Foreign Affairs
Eastern Europe
# Lukashenka's "soft Belarusization"
# Moldova trying to build up its army
Middle East
# Saudis end air campaign in Yemen
# Guardian reports IS leader al-Baghdadi "seriously wounded in air strike"; Pentagon skeptical
# "Secret Files Reveal the Structure of Islamic State" - Christoph Reuter, Spiegel
# Is IS propaganda all it's cracked up to be?
Iran
# The secret replica of Iran's nuclear facilities, in the forests of Tennessee
# Obama administration knew "for years" about Iran's short nuclear breakout time
# Iran wants OPEC prepared for it
Afghanistan/Pakistan
# New doubt to claims of IS attack in Afghanistan
# Afghanistan and Iran getting cozier
# Transparency law opening up Pakistan
# "Pakistan, the Saudis’ Indispensable Nuclear Partner" - Pervez Hoodbhoy, New York Times
Caucasus
# Turkey sends condolences on mass killing anniversary, but rejects genocide term
# "The Word Obama Can’t Bring Himself to Say" - Adam Lerner, Politico
Balkans
# Macedonia says Kosovo gunmen took police hostage and called for an Albanian state
# U.S. official says Kosovo should try it's own rebels to avoid Serbia or Russia
Of Interest
# Facebook tweaking algorithm to make users less likely to see posts from publishers
# Autoplay video now "a staple of the web"