Your Wednesday Briefing

Raqqa, Kirkuk, Marawi | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, October 18, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Asia Edition [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By CHARLES MCDERMID Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Andy Wong/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • President Xi Jinping opens his [second Communist Party congress as China’s most powerful leader]( decades, ready for coronation for another five-year term. Analysts will be watching the people Mr. Xi, 64, surrounds himself with, looking for signs that his ambitions run even higher than the role that he already claimed over the nation’s future, and, as one said, of how far he “can and will go in reshaping the norms of Chinese politics to get his way.” _____ Bulent Kilic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • Cheering and celebratory gunfire erupted in the streets of [the Syrian city of Raqqa]( above, after U.S.-backed forces said they had seized it. But the U.S. Central Command stopped short of declaring that their allies had complete control over the de facto capital of the Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate. And Iraqi and Kurdish forces appear close to all-out war as Baghdad intensifies its suppression of the Kurds’ independence movement. [Iraqi troops drove Kurdish fighters out of the crucial oil fields near the city of Kirkuk](. _____ Robinson Ninal Junior / PPD, via European Pressphoto Agency • In the Philippines, [President Rodrigo Duterte was on the front lines to declare Marawi “liberated from terrorist influence”]( five months after Islamic extremists stormed the southern city. The military said some 30 militants remained, and possibly among them Mahmud Ahmad, a Malaysian who is believed to have helped finance the insurgency. _____ Tom Brenner/The New York Times • President Trump’s third attempt at a [travel ban was blocked, for now, by a judge in Hawaii]( just hours before it was to take effect. The ban would have indefinitely stopped almost all travel to the U.S. from seven countries, including most of the Muslim-majority nations included in Mr. Trump’s original plan. And our magazine takes a deep dive into the [state of the administration’s foreign policy](. With Secretary of State Rex Tillerson increasingly isolated and the diplomatic corps demoralized, some believe the U.S. is adrift in the world. Above, a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. _____ Ali Lapetina • The U.N. released video of thousands more [Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar]( and crossing into Bangladesh, where more than half a million others are already living in overcrowded camps. Above, an image by a photographer who explored the lives of [about 400 Rohingya families that have been resettled in the U.S., on the north side of Chicago](. “Right now I just think, one day we go back to our country and tell them we are American, educated people,” said a 20-year-old woman, whose 5-day-old American-born daughter is the first to hold official citizenship of any country. _____ [In 1991, the lawyer and academician Anita Hill testified before a Senate committee that was holding hearings on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the United States Supreme Court.]Paul Hosefros/The New York Times • Harvey Weinstein’s fall opened the floodgates. [Across Hollywood]( on social media and [even in France]( accusations of sexual harassment are pouring forth. We looked back at [how the issue unfolded across generations]( starting with how the term “sexual harassment” came about. Above, Anita Hill, a lawyer, brought the issue to national attention in the U.S. in 1991 when she accused Clarence Thomas, a Supreme Court nominee at the time. And our Australian bureau looked at a related issue: persistent gender pay gaps, brought to the fore by [the sudden resignation of a TV host,]( Wilkinson]( whose salary was rumored to be about half that of her male cohost. Business Stephen Jaffe/IMF, via Getty Images • Developing countries’ debt is hot, thanks to rock-bottom interest rates — a trend evident at [packed investor conferences on the bond market]( held last week in parallel with meetings of the International Monetary Fund. Above right, the I.M.F. director Christine Lagarde last week with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian finance minister. • Chinese scientists developed a [salt-resistant rice that can grow in diluted seawater]( a breakthrough that could increase China’s rice production by nearly 20 percent. • Netflix added 5.3 million subscribers in the third quarter, [4.5 million from global markets]( and reported revenue of nearly $3 billion, a 30 percent increase. • Uber and other [ride-hailing apps may make traffic worse]( by reducing reliance on public transit. • The Dow Jones Industrial Average passed 23,000 for the first time. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Reuters • In Afghanistan, at least 23 police officials and civilians were killed and more than 190 others were injured when Taliban fighters stormed a police station after ramming it with a bomb-laden vehicle. [[The New York Times]( • Dire warnings of damage to democracy rippled across Europe over the car-bomb assassination of a journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia, who had exposed Malta’s links to offshore tax havens using the leaked Panama Papers. [[The New York Times]( • Ophelia’s destructive power is partly explained by the storm’s unusual route across the Atlantic. [[The Conversation]( • The U.S. Department of Justice indicted two major Chinese drug traffickers for making and selling fentanyl, a highly addictive opioid, over the internet. [[CBS]( • The Australian Football League ruled that a transgender player, Hannah Mouncey, was not eligible to play on its women’s teams. [[ABC]( • The U.S. and Japan are about to face off in a duel between giant robots, each over 13 feet tall and weighing nearly 10 tons. You can watch [live on Twitch at 10 a.m.]( Sydney time. [[CNBC]( • North Koreans once risked three years’ hard labor for gambling. Now betting on horse races is encouraged as Pyongyang scrambles for hard currency. [[Reuters]( • A zoo in Nagano, Japan, has a new star: Karl the “meticulous” raccoon. [[The Asahi Shimbun]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. The New York Times • Yes, you can have [a better relationship.]( • We see others’ failures as courageous. We see our own as shameful. [Why?]( • Recipe of the day: Midweek dinner can be as simple as [pasta with burst cherry tomatoes](. Noteworthy Oh Suk Kuhn • Park Chan-wook of South Korea has delighted global moviegoers and fellow filmmakers with his mix of painterly composition and gallows humor and gore. He is one of the subjects of our [T Magazine’s Greats issue](. • The discovery of the Arabic words “Allah” and “Ali” on Viking funeral costumes has provided new insight into the [influence of Islam in medieval Scandinavia](. • Fish get depressed — offering [a model for studying depression in people](. “The neurochemistry is so similar that it’s scary,” one scientist said. Back Story Associated Press As the U.S. national anthem played, they bowed their heads and [prayed they wouldn’t be shot](. It was this week in 1968 when [two African-American sprinters raised gloved fists]( in a black power salute during a medal presentation at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City. The demonstration by Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who won the gold and bronze medals in the 200-meter dash, drew a quick reaction. Under pressure from the International Olympic Committee — which wanted to avoid the politicization of the Games — [the U.S. team dropped the two runners]( who received death threats. The silver medalist, Peter Norman of Australia, knew of his fellow Olympians’ plans; on the podium, all three wore badges of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, which was organized to protest racism in sports. Mr. Norman [was ostracized after returning home](. [In a memoir published in 2011, Mr. Carlos wrote]( “If I shut my eyes, I can still feel the fire from those days. And if I open my eyes, I still see the fires all around me. I didn’t like the way the world was, and I believe that there need to be some changes about the way the world is.” Thomas Furse contributed reporting. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. Browse past briefings [here](. This briefing was prepared for the Asian morning. We also have briefings timed for the [Australian]( [European]( and [American]( mornings. You can sign up for these and other Times newsletters [here](. If photographs appear out of order, please download the updated New York Times app [from iTunes]( or [Google Play](. What would you like to see here? Contact us at [asiabriefing@nytimes.com](mailto:asiabriefing@nytimes.com?subject=Briefing%20Feedback%20(Asia)). ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Morning Briefing: Asia Edition newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018