The Rundown - August 8

Iran
# South Korea will resume oil purchases from Iran
# "Newsweek" reports that Iran is losing the shadow war with the U.S. and Israel
# Behdad Salimikordasiabi struck gold in Olympic weightlifting

Russia
# Analysts are warning of extremely high capital flight from Russia
# Germany has been largely silent on human rights in Russia
# VKontake will allow users to note that they are in a same-sex marriage (RFE/RL story)

Afghanistan/Pakistan
# Reuters: U.S. has "sweetend the deal" for peace talks with the Taliban
# Steve Coll profiles Imran Khan ($)
# Are the CIA and ISI starting to get along?
# "The Elusive Alliance" - Imtiaz Gul, "Foreign Policy"
# The military holds sway over develoopment projects in FATA

Syria
# Iran confirmed its support for Bashar al Assad; and asked the UN for help with hostages held in Syria
# The Free Syrian Army claims it killed a Russian general

Of Interest
# "What Happened to Europe?" - Amartya Sen, "The New Republic"

U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
# Fareed Zakaria: The world is growing jaded with Barack Obama
# Depressing read of the day: Courting the "low-information" voter