The New York Times: Ενέκρινε μυστική επιχείρηση της CIA στη Βενεζουέλα – Μάχες μεταξύ της Χαμάς και των αντιπάλων της στη Γάζα – Στη μνήμη του Ντ’Άντζελο – Η αντίδραση της Κίνας στο μεταναστευτικό. Μια δύσκολη χώρα για τους ξένους. Κάποια πρόοδος, κάποιες προκλήσεις – Οι ΗΠΑ ενέκριναν μυστική επιχείρηση της CIA στη Βενεζουέλα – Η Χαμάς καταπολεμά τους αντιπάλους της στη Γάζα

China’s own immigration backlash

In the race for global talent, it can often appear that China is gaining ground on the United States. While President Trump cuts research funding for universities, China is pouring money into science. The number of high-profile scholars who have left the U.S. for China is growing; Chinese students who once dreamed of an American education are now choosing to stay home.

So when China introduced a new type of visa, called a K visa, for young science and technology workers, just as the Trump administration introduced steep new fees for highly skilled worker visas, many around the world saw it as another way that China may be pulling ahead in an economic rivalry that encompasses trade, tariffs and talent.

Then came the backlash.

The response to the K visa seems to have caught even the Chinese government by surprise. It helps illustrate why predictions that China is on the verge of becoming the next global talent hub may be premature.

A hard country for foreigners

As news of the visa spread across Chinese social media, the dominant reaction was not celebration but horror. High-profile commentators worried that China would become a country of immigrants — not, in their eyes, a good thing. Racist and xenophobic comments spread furiously, especially about Indians, who make up a significant share of the high-tech work force in the U.S. Others worried the visa would worsen already record-high youth unemployment.

China has virtually no history of inbound immigration. Foreigners provoke a range of reactions, including curiosity and suspicion influenced by geopolitical tensions between the country and the West.

There are also practical challenges. The ability to speak Mandarin is crucial to navigating daily life. Getting a visa and a work permit can be cumbersome. Even routine tasks, like renewing a home Wi-Fi contract or buying concert tickets, can be more difficult for people without Chinese ID cards. Heavy censorship of the internet and a rigidly controlled political environment can also be hard for people from other countries to get used to.

Portraits of scientists, all of whom were recruited from overseas, in Hangzhou, China. Vivian Wang/The New York Times

Some headway, some challenges

China has tried to address some of these issues, because the government really does want science and technology talent, especially at high levels. Some universities give prominent foreign-born professors round-the-clock personal assistants when they move to China. But that kind of special treatment isn’t doable on a large scale. And even some Chinese-born, Chinese-speaking scientists who have returned to China after years away say they have trouble readjusting to the political and cultural climate.

That’s not to say that China isn’t making headway on its goal to attract the world’s best and brightest. Plenty of prominent scientists have moved to the country in recent years. Perhaps even more consequential for the future pipeline of talent in the U.S., young Chinese scholars who went to the U.S. to study — and once would have tried to stay — are returning to China in greater numbers.

If the U.S. keeps making itself a less attractive place to study and work, China certainly may look more appealing. But the backlash against the new visa is a reminder that it has its own challenges to address, too.

Related: China’s decision to tighten export controls on rare earth metals was not only about strengthening its grip on the world’s supply of the crucial minerals, my colleague David Pierson writes. It was also a high-stakes ploy to jolt Trump into paying attention to what Beijing felt were attempts by his subordinates to sabotage a U.S.-China détente.

The U.S. authorized C.I.A. covert action in Venezuela

The Trump administration is stepping up its campaign against Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s authoritarian leader. U.S. officials said the C.I.A. had been secretly authorized to conduct covert action in the country, enabling the agency to carry out lethal operations there.

For weeks, the U.S. military has been targeting what it calls drug-smuggling boats off the Venezuelan coast, killing 27 people. U.S. officials have acknowledged that the goal is to drive Maduro from power.

Hours after The Times reported the C.I.A.’s secret authorization, Trump acknowledged the move, adding that the U.S. was considering strikes on Venezuelan territory. “We are certainly looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” he said.

Hamas cracks down on rivals in Gaza

Deadly clashes between Hamas and rival Palestinian clans could complicate the fragile cease-fire that took hold in Gaza on Friday.

Since Monday, at least 10 members of Hamas’s security forces and at least 20 members of rival Palestinian groups have been killed in the fighting, according to local officials.

Hostage remains: Hamas said that it had handed over all the remains of Israeli hostages that it had been able to recover without additional equipment, leaving over a dozen people unaccounted for. In Israel, funerals were held for the first of the captives whose bodies were returned this week.

Football: Inside the life of a Premier League player’s personal chef.

Gymnastics: Israel won’t be allowed to compete at a major event in Indonesia.

“I’m an advocate for girls’ rights. This is the last thing I’ll think about. And here I was in love with a guy.”

— Malala Yousafzai spoke about navigating ordinary life and falling in love, on the “Modern Love” podcast.

D’Angelo in 2000. Mark Guthrie/Camera Press, via Redux

D’Angelo, the R&B singer who died on Tuesday at 51, was a leading light of a revolution in soul music and Black pop. He was a focal point in a constellation of musicians and occasional collaborators — Angie Stone, Erykah Badu, Questlove — who strove to reconcile organic vintage soul and digital-forward hip-hop.

His signature vocal style was a silken, expressive falsetto that, like Prince’s, could build to an ecstatic wail. “He is R&B Jesus, and I’m a believer,” Robert Christgau, the influential music critic, wrote in 2000. Read our critic’s take on the singer’s art of elegant seduction and listen to 14 essential songs.

Sara Messinger for The New York Times

How they’re getting gnarly in … Sweden

Malmo, a once-gritty shipbuilding town in Sweden, has reinvented itself over the last two decades. One part of the turnaround has been an effort to incorporate skateboarding into the fabric of the city.

The centerpiece is the Stapelbaddsparken, which recreates a famed skate park in Philadelphia that was demolished in 2016. The original elements were imported, piece by piece, from the U.S.

Willy Staley, an editor for The Times Magazine, went to Malmo to skate for four days and tell the story of the reconstruction. The thing that delighted him most was the ground. “It was loud, responsive, almost springy — alive in a way the ground rarely feels,” he wrote. Read more.

Derek M. Norman/The New York Times

Ride: A motorcycle journey in Vietnam offers plenty of twists and turns.

Relax: Japan has nearly 30,000 hot springs and a culture of public bathing. An architect shared his passion for them.

Decorate: Tiles can make a space shine. See seven examples for inspiration.

Guess: Do you know where in the world these novels are set? Take our quiz.

Ryan Liebe for The New York Times

If you’re craving shawarma but want a plant-based version, this recipe is for you. The spiced tofu is crispy and chewy, and is served with sumac pickled onions, lemony tahini and fresh vegetables. Scoop leftovers into pita for lunch.