Is Putin losing Russia's cities?

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted a rare, youth-targeted discussion last Friday in an attempt to reach young people ahead of next year’s presidential election. Apart from that effort, however, the Kremlin views liberal pockets of youth in cities as corrupted, a liberal commentator said, and Putin is more focused on building the future of his base in small-town Russia. But that might cost him crucial support from urban and younger voters as a result.

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Read the full story by Andrew Roth in Moscow.

A rebuke of 'illiberalism' in Poland

In Poland this week, protests by mostly urban voters helped prevent “an assault on democracy,” as critics have called it.

The Senate approved legislation last Saturday to overhaul the judiciary, including a bill that would have removed all judges on the Supreme Court. Poland's president refused to sign most of the measures on Monday, although his approval was considered almost certain.

Read the full story by Klaudia Kocimska and Isaac Stanley-Becker in Warsaw.

Venezuela at a crossroads

Anti-government protests have paralyzed large sections of Venezuela as the nation risks spiraling into a deeper crisis ahead of a vote this Sunday that many fear could move the country further down the path of authoritarian rule. A strike last week was most pronounced in the eastern neighborhoods of the capital, Caracas, a middle- and upper-middle-class bastion.

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Read the full analysis by Rachelle Krygier and Anthony Faiola in Caracas, Venezuela.

Four other important stories you may have missed

1. At 15, she joined ISIS. Now this German teen wants to go home.

When 15-year-old Linda W. started to wear long-sleeved clothing early last year, her classmates and teachers thought it was odd. Soon afterward, she traveled to Islamic State territory. More than a year later, Linda W. has been arrested by Iraqi authorities and could face the death penalty in the country. German officials are discussing whether to request her extradition.

The case has put a spotlight on the Islamic State's continued ability to attract boys and girls across Europe to its cause, even as the overall number of adult recruits has dropped.

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Read the full story.

2. On a disputed island, China unveils a high-tech cinema

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More than 200 Chinese moviegoers reportedly attended a screening on Yongxing Island in the South China Sea on Saturday. But it was the location, not the cinema itself, that drew international attention. Yongxing Island is in a part of the South China Sea claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan. Last year, an international court in The Hague rejected most of China's claims in the region, but Beijing continues to build up its presence there.

Read the full analysis by Adam Taylor.

3. How to make $100,000 a month in China by live-streaming your life

Revenue from Chinese cinemas is expected to soon be dwarfed by the nation's gigantic live-streaming market, which was worth at least $3 billion in 2016, up 180 percent year over year. About half of China’s 700 million Internet users have tried live-streaming apps; that is easily more than the U.S. population.

In the United States and Europe, social media influencers make money off ads and endorsements. Some Chinese stars do, too, but most of the money comes directly from fans in the form of gifts — sort of like a virtual tip jar.

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Read the full story by Emily Rauhala in Shenyang, China.

4. Fighting terrorism in Afghanistan: An unending mission?

The operation against the Islamic State in Khorasan — or ISIS-K, as the Syria-based group’s Afghan contingent is known — is in its fourth month of unremitting warfare. But local intelligence officials and the U.S. military think that ISIS-K is replenishing its stock of fighters almost as quickly as it loses them. A sense that this may be an indefinite mission has set in, as Max Bearak writes from Achin, Afghanistan.

ISIS-K is not the only terrorism group that has shown an unexpected resilience in Afghanistan. For years the Haqqanis, a clan-based Taliban offshoot, have been a high-priority target for Afghan forces and their U.S.-led allies. Despite the efforts, the network continues to evoke dread.

Read the full story by Haq Nawaz Khan and Pamela Constable in Peshawar, Pakistan.