The Rundown - April 15

News & views on RFE/RL's broadcast region

Kyrgyzstan
# A transcript of the presser with R. Otunbaeva and Asst. Secretary Robert Blake
# The interim government signals a willingness to talk with Bakiyev
# ''The Moscow Times'' reports on what the U.S. and Russia are doing in Kyrgyzstan

Russia
# Vladimir Putin has been nominated for a music award
# ''A Perfect Social Storm'' - Boris Kagarlitsky, ''The Moscow Times''

Pakistan
# ''What the Provinces Gain'' - I.A. Rehman, ''Dawn''
# Con Coughlin on Pakistan’s fight against the Taliban
# Pakistan will get the next installment of its $11 billion IMF loan

Afghanistan
# Anna Badkhen continues her trek around Afghanistan for ''Foreign Policy''
# The U.S. Army has has left the Korengal Valley (”The Valley of Death”)

Iran
# ''The New York Times'' reports on Iran’s nuclear capabilities
# ''Iran’s Ticking Bomb'' - Alejo Vidal-Quadras, “The Wall Street Journal”

Of Interest
# ''Assassination Season is Open'' - Medish & McCleary, ''International Herald Tribune''
# ''UK Has Rewritten Balkan History'' - Adam LeBor, ''The Guardian''
# ''Peace is our Profession'' - Warren Kozak, ''The Wall Street Journal''

U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
# CIA Deputy Director Steve Kappes is stepping down
# ''President Obama’s ‘Regular Order'' - David Ignatius
# ''Nuclear Fallout'' - Michael Crowley, “The New Republic”
# William Burns is fed up with the ''reset'' button
# Al Kamen's ''In the Loop''