The Rundown - August 30

RFE/RL In The Media
# Legal Brief cites Luke Allnutt's piece on digital whistleblowers
# "Gazeta.ru" cites RFE/RL Belarus Service reporting on air time opposition figures in Belarus

International Press Review

Russia
# "The New York Times" reports on a deadly skirmish on the Russia-Georgia border 
# 100,000 people attended the funeral of Said Efendi Chirkeisky
# Russia has pulled the plug on the Shtokman gas project
# "WTO Will Help Russia Become a Global Leader" - Andrey Goltsblat, "Moscow Times"

Iran
# U.S. officials say Mohsen Fakhrizadeh is back at work on Iran's nuclear program
# "The Odds of a Secret Iranian Nuke" - Chris Whyte, "National Interest"
# "Iran Brings New Direction to NAM" - Kaveh Afrasiabi, "Asia Times" 

Afghanistan/Pakistan
# The U.S. and Pakistan will not launch a joint operation in the tribal regions
# Hamid Karzai is set to pick divisive figures to fill top government posts
# "The Taliban Cricket Club" - Danial Ahmed, "Newsline"

Syria
# More than 1000 defectors are living in a secret camp in Jordan
# Bashar al Assad says there is "no end in sight" to the war in Syria
# C.J. Chivers on the munitions of the rebels

Of Interest
# On the trail of math genius Grigori Yakolevich Perelman
# Big brother on a budget

U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
# CFR: political conventions and U.S. foreign policy
# Paul Ryan took the stage at the GOP convention
# "The GOP's Unreckoning With The Disappeared Dubya" - Alec MacGillis, "The New Republic"
# "All the Pentagon's Lawyers" - Rosa Brooks, "Foreign Policy"