RFE/RL

# In letter to “Washington Post,” Azerbaijan diplomat compares outrage over Khadija Ismayilova detention to current protests in the United States

 

Russia

# Kudrin warns of “full-fledged crisis” in Russia

# Russia under Putin in charts

# Why iPhones now cost $1,000 in Russia

# “Russia’s Rich Gets Richer—in Dollars—as Ruble Plunges” – Lynnley Browning, “Newsweek” 

 

Ukraine

# Peace talks to be held in Minsk on December 24 and 26

# Ukraine threatens to cut off power to rebel-held regions if usage not curbed

# Russia’s top allies forge ties with Ukraine

# Why Ukraine’s IDPs have given up hope of returning home

 

Eastern Europe

# Belarus enjoys bonanza amid Russia-West tensions

 

Iraq/Syria/Turkey 

# Who pays the price for informal counterinsurgency

# Yazidi girls killing themselves to escape rape and imprisonment

# “Brave New Turkey” – Andrew Finkel, “New York Times” 

# Erdogan says birth control is “treason”

 

Iran

# “The Economic and Social Benefits of a Thaw With Iran” – Ramin Farjad, McClatchy 

# Iran talks up global oil conspiracies

 

Afghanistan/Pakistan

# Can the West “get Afghanistan right?”

# Expat era fades away from life in Kabul

# Pakistan makes arrests in Peshawar attacks; Courts halt executions of seven militants

# Pakistan militants lose drug monopoly

 

Central Asia

# Kazakhstan says it’s prepared for oil as low as $40 a barrel

 

Caucasus

# How will Baku handle the oil price slide

# Malta’s “shady deal” with Azerbaijan

 

Of Interest

# In 2014, an epidemic of false video footage

# How we date
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