Russia’s regional elections usually go off without too much fuss but this year they have caused more of a stir than is comfortable for the Kremlin. A signifier of its unease can be observed 9,000km east of Moscow in the region of Primorski. The Kremlin-backed candidate, Andrei Tarasenko, beat his Communist-party opponent in a miraculous victory, leading to accusations of election-rigging and protests. Officials responded by making a rare admittance that something was amiss and annulled the result. The move can be interpreted as the administration taking a less forceful approach to suppressing dissent, according to Russia analyst Stephen Dalziel: “If anything keeps Vladimir Putin up at night it’s the threat of an uprising from below.” Irrespective of the reason, any softening of Putin’s regime is to be welcomed.

After winning another three-year term last week one could be forgiven for thinking Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe might be in an enviable position politically. However, any glow of gratification Abe took into the weekend will likely ebb as he eyes his to-do list. On Wednesday he has a meeting with Donald Trump and it’s likely to be bumpy: true to form, the US president is threatening tariffs on Japanese cars and components over the trade deficit with Japan, although both leaders will be looking for concessions to avoid another trade war. Abe has been a successful Trump-whisperer before, his best bet is to devise a set of offers that can – somehow – enable each party to emerge from the meeting looking like the winner.