Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1961
No economic relief in sight;
Russia's regions get emptier
 
No economic relief in sight;
Russia's regions get emptier
 
Yemen's president set to resume duties;
ISIS attacks Iranian interests in Libya;
SISI calls for joint arab force to combat ISIS;
Turkey enters Syria to recover tomb remains and guards;
Yemeni rebels use increasingly brutal tactics  
Russia's political opposition has been put on notice. The Feb. 27 murder of prominent opposition leader Boris Nemtsov just steps from the Kremlin marks a dramatic escalation of the Russian regime's long-running war on its opponents. Nemtsov, after all, wasn't merely a dissenting politician. He was part of the old system, having served as a deputy prime minister in the government of President Boris Yeltsin in the late 1990s. Beginning in the early 2000s, Nemtsov had moved into the political opposition, emerging as a critic of Yeltsin's successor, Vladimir Putin, and his policies. Even so, his position as a member of Yeltsin's inner circle had given him a degree of immunity from official retribution.
On Tuesday in a much anticipated speech before joint session of Congress, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again sounded the warning against Iran's nuclear ambitions and called for "a better deal" than the nuclear agreement currently being negotiated.
US may slow troop drawdown;
Israeli, Indian ministers discuss security, trade;
India to build seven warships, six subs;
New China embassy in Pakistan;
Modi visits disputed region;
Former President arrested in Maldives