RFE/RL In The Media
# "Foreign Policy" quotes RFE/RL reporting on viral videos in Russia

International Press Review

Russia
# Brian Whitmore on the Kremlin's crackdown on independent media
# The "Moscow Times" reports on the Prokhorov campaign
# A photogallery of grafitti in Russia

Iran
# Scott Peterson on the Iranian nuclear program
# Mustafa Alani on the how the standoff with Iran looks from Saudi Arabia

Afghanistan/Pakistan
# Hamid Karzai is in Pakistan
# The practice of "baad" is "flourishing" in Afghanistan
# "The Washington Post" reports on stricter rules in the Afghan Army
# Nadir Hassan on Yousaf Reza Gilani's time atop Pakistan's civilian government

Iraq
# "A Violent New Year in Iraq" - Michael Knights, "National Interest"
# An Iraqi court says the former VP was behind hundreds of attacks

Of Interest
# "The New York Times" correspondent Anthony Shadid has died
# Serbs in Kosovo voted "no" in a symbolic referendum on the country's government
# Mohamed El-Erian on who should head the World Bank

Technology
# Malware for Android is "booming"
# Twitter + robots = stories... #omg
# Facebook's Timeline will be released to brand pages soon

RFE/RL In The Media
# "Fast Company" on the Committee on Innovation
# "The Part-Time Taliban" - Bashir Gwakh, "The Huffington Post"
# Fred Petrossian on threats against Iranian activists for "Global Voices"
# An interview with Jan Bednář

International Press Review

Russia
# The "Ekho Moskovy" saga continues
# Samuel Rachlin on Vladimir Putin's online reputation
# "Putin's Besieged Fortress" - Nikolai Zlobin, "Moscow Times"

Iran
# "Iran's Indian Enablers" - Editorial, "The Wall Street Journal"
# Iran has warned European countries that it will cut off gas supplies
# A photo gallery from 1960 & 70s Iran

Afghanistan
# Afghanistan has joined talks with the Taliban (an interview with Hamid Karzai)
# NATO has resumed prisoner transfers in Afghanistan
# "Time" reports on deadly cold weather in Afghanistan

Of Interest
# Cyrus Farivar on the cyber cat and mouse game between governments and activists
# RFE/RL's Uzbek Service had its website cloned
# Richard Falkenrath says people have the right to be "forgotten" online
# A conversation with documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis

RFE/RL In The Media
# "Handmaidens to Censorship" - Luke Allnutt, "The Wall Street Journal"
# CPJ cites Radio Farda reporting on the sentencing of Mehdi Khazali

International Press Review

Russia
# A Russian sub that burned in December was reportedly armed with nuclear weapons
# "Putin's List" - Masha Gessen, "International Herald Tribune"
# "From South Ossetia to War With Georgia" - Yulia Latynina, "Moscow Times"

Iran
# There were scattered protests in Iran yesterday
# "The Unknown Unknowns" - Gavin & Steinberg, "Foreign Policy"
# "Next Up: Turkey vs. Iran" - Soner Cagaptay, "The New York Times"
# "Containment Won't Work Against Iran" - Daniel Schwammenthal, "The Wall Street Journal"

Afghanistan/Pakistan
# Wealthy Afghans are "pouring" money into the UAE real estate market
# "The Afghan Conundrum" - Ahmed Rashid, "NY Review of Books"
# "Ghosts of Afghanistan" - Roy Gutman, "Foreign Policy"
# Pervez Musharraf is accused of having known where Osama bin Laden was hiding

Of Interest
# "Eurasian Abrasions" - Charap & Troitski, "American Interest"
# Some Serb communities are holding local referendums on Kosovo's independence
# Hackers took down the web site of an American arms manufacturer

U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
# "The Case for Foreign Aid" - Emma Welch, Council on Foreign Relations
# Gideon Rachman and Bob Kagan debate America in the world
# Congress has a tentative agreement on the payroll tax

RFE/RL In The Media
# "Registan" and "UPI" quote RFE/RL coverage of elections in Turkmenistan
# "The Huffington Post" cites RFE/RL reporting on FEMEN in Ukraine

International Press Review

Russia
# "We Want Reforms, Not Revolution" - Vladimir Ryzhkov, "Moscow Times"
# "The New York Times" reports on state TV in Russia
# Russia expelled a French journalist

Iran
# Israel says Iran is to blame for bombings in Georgia and India
# "Obama's Dangerous Game With Iran" - Klaidman, Lake, & Ephron, "Newsweek"
# "Letter Writers Break Iranian Taboo" - Farnaz Fassihi, "The Wall Street Journal"

Afghanistan/Pakistan
# "War Without Accountability" - Kate Clark, Afghan Analysts Network
# "Pakistan's Supreme Court vs. Everybody" - Omar Waraich, "Time"
# "Kabul Risks Political Meltdown" - Haroun Mir, "International Herald Tribune"

Technology
# Twitter and the shrinking news cycle
# Regulators have approved Google's takeover of Motorola
# iPhone factories in China will be audited

RFE/RL In The Media
# "The Atlantic" links to RFE/RL reporting on the Internet slow-down in Iran
# RFE/RL intern Deana Kjuka reports on baby boxes in the Caech Republic

International Press Review

Russia
# "The Snow Revolution’s Orange Shadow" - Anders Åslund, "Project Syndicate"
# The "Financial Times" on oligarch Suleiman Kerimov
# "Putin 4.0" - Editorial, "The Wall Street Journal"
# Victor Davidoff compares Nashi to Cosa Nostra

Iran
# "No Hotline to Tehran" - Bilal Y. Saab, "National Interest"
# The Turkish Foreign Minister says Iran is ready to cut a deal
# The U.S. Navy says Iran is preparing "suicide boats"

Afghanistan/Pakistan
# "Hardnews (In.)" interviews Imran Khan
# Yousaf Reza Gilani has been charged with contempt
# Casualties are higher for contractors than for soldiers in Afghanistan

Broadcast Region
# "AFP" reports on guns and fighters moving from Iraq to Syria
# Michael Dobbs tracks the Srebrenica massacre
# Nathan Hamm on the SNB in Uzbekistan

Of Interest
# "The Ethics of Internet Piracy" - Peter Singer, "Project Syndicate"
# Osama bin Laden reportedly told his kids to go get an education in America

U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
# "Obama, Explained" - James Fallows, "The Atlantic"
# "Why The World Needs America" - Robert Kagan, "The Wall Street Journal"
# The "PBS Newshour" analysis of Shields and Brooks

RFE/RL In The Media
# Reuters Trust reprints a RFE/RL report on a 14-year sentence for Mehdi Khazali

International Press Review

Russia
# Vladimir Putin may dissolve United Russia
# The Chechnya Interior Ministry knows how to spend money
# "A Veto Worthy of the Brezhnev Era" - Phillip Stevens, "Financial Times"
# "Why Russia Supports Assad" - Dmitry Trenin, "The New York Times"
# "Spiegel" reports on Russian youth

Iran
# "NBC" reports Israel is cooperating with the People's Mujahadin of Iran
# "How to Defeat Iran" - George J. Gilboy, "National Interest"
# Uri Friedman parses Rick Santorum on Iran

Pakistan
# The ISI is facing scrutiny over disappearances
# "Pakistan’s Most Dangerous Place" - Zahid Hussain, "Wilson Quarterly"

Afghanistan
# "The Wall Street Journal" reports on USAID efforts to build roads
# Peter Tomsen on negotiating a lasting peace in Afghanistan
# "Occupy Afghanistan" - Malou Innocent, "National Interest"

Of Interest
# Iraq is trying tourism
# "We are the Media and so are You" - Wales & Walsh, "The Washington Post"
# "It's Time to Arm the Syrian Opposition" - Dan Drezner, "The New Republic"

U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
# What to "democracy promoters" actually do?
# Democracy promotion groups are not as welcome as before
# The FBI released Steve Jobs' file

RFE/RL In The Media
# "Spiegel" mentions restrictions on RFE/RL broadcasting in Azerbaijan
# "Time" and "Business Insider" cite RFE/RL's Russian Service reporting on payments for pro-Putin protesters in Russia
# "Business Insider" cites RFE/RL reporting on a strike at Kyrgyzstan's biggest gold mine

International Press Review

Russia
# "The Guardian" reports on the leaked Nashi emails (more here in Russian)
# "Russia's Potemkin Democracy" - Anne Applebaum, "The Washington Post"
# "The Washington Post" reprints Vladimir Putin's "Kommersant" op-ed
# "Putin Without Putinism" - Anders Aslund, "Foreign Policy"
# "A Dead Man’s Tale of Russian Justice" - Robert Shrimsley, "Financial Times"

Iran
# "It's Time to Bypass Iran's 'Supreme Leader'" - Mehdi Khalaji, "The Wall Street Journal"
# Sanctions are "cutting deep" in Iran (Gallup polling data)
# "Iran's Achilles' Heel" - Efraim Halevy, "The New York Times"

Afghanistan
# A photo gallery on deaths of young people in Afghanistan
# "The 80% Solution" - Thomas Lynch III, "Foreign Policy"
# "AFP" reports on fewer foreign fighters in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region

Of Interest
# Kurmanbek Bakiyev may be staying in Belarus for the long haul (RU)
# "The Dregs of Dictatorship" - Mohamed Nasheed, "The New York Times"

Technology
# Facebook will release more details on how it collects user data
# BBC journalists have been told NOT to break stories on Twitter