The Rundown - February 14

RFE/RL In The Media
# Read RFE/RL in "The Atlantic" on succession plans in the Kremlin and Ahmadinejad's fight to the end
# RFE/RL President Kevin Klose discusses world radio day on "Monocle 24" (@ 50 minute mark)

International Press Review

Iran
# Israel may have assassinated an IRGC official
# "Why Iran Is Losing Its Covert War with Israel" - Karl Vick, "Time"
# Iran is upgrading the enrichment devices at its Natanz nuclear site
# Sam Nunn on nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran

Russia
# Russia is planning massive oil deals with China
# The Russian FM won't return John Kerry's call
# "How Russia Betrayed My Son" - Lyudmila Doronina, "Moscow Times"

Afghanistan/Pakistan
# "The Men Who Would Lead Pakistan" - Shamila N. Chaudhary, "Foreign Policy"
# SIGAR says that Afghanistan cannot handle direct aid payments
# Suicide attackers hit a police outpost in Bannu
# Listening to electronica in Pakistan

RFE/RL Target Region
# Discussing next week's elections in Armenia
# "Wheels of Fortune" - Liana Aghajanian, "Roads & Kingdoms"
# Ukraine and Turkmenistan have agreed on a gas distrobution deal

Of Interest
# How social media affects (or doesn't affect) objectivity
# The UN puts the death toll in Syria at 70,000
# Julian Assange will run for a senate seat in Australia

Science/Technology
# "Welcome to the Malware-Industrial Complex" - Tom Simonite, "MIT Technology Review"
# Dinosaurs may have been in trouble even before the large meteorite hit
# That asteroid that will buzz Earth may be worth a lot of cash
# "Wired" goes inside the Battle of Hoth from "The Empire Strikes Back"

U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
# The vote to confirm John Brennan has been delayed
# "Killing Isn't Cool" - Micah Zenko, "Foreign Policy"
# General John Allen may retire

http://www.rferl.org/content/rundown-press-review/24901681.html