Putin’s Popularity VS The Internet: The percentage of Russians watching President Putin’s annual state-of-the-nation address on February 20 was just 6.3 percent, the lowest since 2013. The Kremlin linked the dip in viewership to the rising use of the Internet. Viewership hit 8.9 percent in 2014, the year Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula. Opinion polls registered a slight slide in Putin’s popularity ratings following moves last year to raise the retirement age and hike sales tax. His overall approval rating remains high at over 60 percent. The most current Gallup poll shows President Trump’s overall approval rating at 44 percent. (Reuters, Gallup)
Additional read: “Russian state TV shows map of potential US nuclear targets. New hypersonic missiles could hit targets including Pentagon in under five minutes, it claims.” (Guardian)
The Little Extremely Isolated Village That Could: A reporter for New York Times Magazine takes a fascinating, up-close-and-personal look at one of the most remote places on earth — somewhere that is home to perhaps the last surviving pastoral nomads in Central Asia — Khorgos, Kazakhstan. It is also the place that is poised to become the hub of the largest infrastructure project in the history of the world — China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Khorgos’ location, at the juncture of the world’s soon to be largest national economy and its largest landlocked country, could make this tiny village the next Dubai. (NYT)
Little Castles On The Hillside: Drone footage of an abandoned luxury housing development halfway between Ankara and Istanbul is a testament to Turkey’s struggling economy, particularly its debt-laden construction sector. The intention behind the development of Disney-style mini-castles was to offer holiday homes to wealthy Gulf tourists. Construction began in 2014, with 587 of the planned 732 buildings completed when the company declared bankruptcy and quit the project last year. Now hundreds of closely packed chateaux resemble an eerie ghost town in an episode of The Twilight Zone. (Guardian)
A Bridge Over Troubled Borders: The crisis continues at Venezuela’s border with Colombia, where nearly 300 people have been injured and 5 have reportedly died in President Nicolas Maduro’s campaign to keep humanitarian aid trucks from entering the country. Witnesses said two trucks carrying supplies were set on fire Saturday while attempting to cross over the border. Vice President Mike Pence, who is meeting with opposition leader Juan Guaido in Bogota, Colombia on Monday, said the US will offer the self-declared interim president its ‘unwavering support’. (CNN).
Fifth Times The Charm: Tens of thousands of Algerians rallied over the weekend, protesting President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s decision to seek a fifth term as president after 20 years in power. Hundreds demonstrated in the streets of the capital, Algiers, which has banned demonstrations since 2001. After the first demonstrations on Friday, security forces arrested more than 40 people. On Sunday police sprayed the crowds with teargas, brought in water cannons and rounded up protesters; state radio journalists complained that a blackout was imposed on media coverage. The 81-year-old Bouteflika is in ill health and has been seen publicly only a handful of times since suffering a stroke in 2013. (Guardian)
Nigerian Elections: A week after Nigeria’s election ended, officials have finally begun counting the ballots cast by those among the country’s 73 million eligible voters. Election officials had postponed the count due to ‘logistical challenges.’ Incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, who is seeking a second term, is one of dozens of candidates vying for the position. The other front-runner is Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president and businessman who has promised to jump start Nigeria’s economy. (NPR)
I Surrender I Surrender: ISIS fighters are still holding thousands of civilians as human shields in the last half a square kilometer of ground they control in Baghouz Syria. US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said Saturday they have been able to liberate 10 captives recently. In its heyday ISIS controlled an area the size of Great Britain and ruled over 10 million people. (CNN)
Additional read: “German teenage ISIS wife wed at 15. Two children later she faces uncertain future.” (CNN)
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