Your Wednesday Briefing

North Korea, Rohingya, Prince Harry | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, November 29, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Asia Edition [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By CHARLES MCDERMID Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Ettore Ferrari/European Pressphoto Agency • “The future of Myanmar must be peace, a peace based on respect for the dignity and rights of each member of society, respect for each ethnic group and its identity.” That was as far as Pope Francis went in his much-anticipated speech in Myanmar. Standing next to the de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and before military officials, prelates, and diplomats, he [avoided directly addressing the situation of the persecuted Rohingya minority]( or even mentioning their name. He celebrates [Mass in Yangon today]( before an expected crowd of 200,000 and is to meet with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh later in the week. [Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi heads on Thursday to China]( which has been offering mediation efforts. _____ • North Korea conducted [first missile test in more than two months]( escalating tensions in a standoff with the U.S. and its allies. Within minutes, South Korea fired a missile to demonstrate its ability to strike the North’s launch sites. The exchange came after a senior South Korean official warned that the North was working on being able to launch [nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles]( as early as next year. The U.S. Pacific island state of [Hawaii is bringing back its Cold War-era nuclear warning system](. _____ • In Washington, Republicans are scrambling to pass their tax code overhaul, which party leaders hope to bring to the Senate floor for a vote by Friday. We’re [following the events in real time](. The two top Democrats skipped a planned meeting with President Trump to try to avert a government shutdown after he posted on Twitter this morning “I don’t see a deal!” A day earlier, Mr. Trump transformed [a White House ceremony to honor Navajo veterans]( of World War II into a racially charged controversy. ([Watch it here]( _____ Reuters • A senior Chinese general who was under investigation for bribery was found dead in his home in Beijing. State media immediately vilified [him as a suicide](. Analysts said the death of Gen. Zhang Yang, shown above in 2014, was likely to further rattle the People’s Liberation Army, which is reeling from the arrests of dozens of top commanders. Separately, [China convicted a Taiwanese citizen of subversion]( for the first time. _____ • Eruptions at Mount Agung left thousands of [travelers stranded on the resort island of Bali](. Continuing tremors radiated from the volcano. “Magma has been at the surface for a few days now,” one volcanologist wrote. “The risk now is the possibility of a larger eruption.” _____ Amanda Mustard for The New York Times • “There are snakes everywhere!” That was just one of the horrified residents of Bangkok. Local authorities have received more than 31,800 such calls this year — more than triple the number of just a few years ago. [The Thai capital has always been rich in reptiles]( but wet weather and urban growth are multiplying snake-human encounters. Business Franck Robichon/European Pressphoto Agency • Toray Industries echoed other Japanese industrial giants, such as Kobe Steel and Mitsubishi, in admitting that one of its subsidiaries had [altered data to meet manufacturing standards](. • SoftBank made an opening bid to buy shares of Uber at a valuation of $48 billion, far below the [company’s valuation of nearly $70 billion](. • Mumbai International directed [969 takeoffs and landings in 24 hours last week]( breaking its own record. • U.S. stocks [were up](. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News • A Turkish-Iranian gold trader being prosecuted in New York, a case that has drawn criticism from Turkey’s president and the attention of the Trump administration, pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the authorities. [[The New York Times]( • Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in for a second term as president after two months of political upheaval that damaged Kenya’s economy. [[The New York Times]( • India’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal to block the global release of “Padmavati,” a Bollywood romance about a Hindu queen and a Muslim ruler that has prompted Hindu protests. [[BBC]( • A German mayor who was praised for taking in refugees was stabbed in the neck by an angry constituent, but he vowed not to alter his policy of openness. [[The New York Times]( • Zoo officials in Chiang Mai, Thailand, apologized for the “unpreventable” death of an elephant handler after his charge, famed for appearing in nine films, attacked. [[Khaosod English]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Natalia Mantini for The New York Times • A movie stylist offers tips for [style on a budget](. • Here are the [100 notable books from 2017]( — fiction, poetry and nonfiction — chosen by Times editors. • Recipe of the day: [Hearty split pea soup]( is even better with bacon. Noteworthy Goh Chai Hin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • Jakarta finally has its first [major modern and contemporary art museum]( known as Museum Macan, thanks to the prodigious collection of one Indonesian tycoon. • The International Olympic Committee’s decision next week on how to punish Russia for doping will be informed by the diaries of a complicit Russian chemist. [We got an exclusive look](. • Our Tokyo bureau chief looks at how a [no-smoking proposal might go over in a city]( where nobody jaywalks and people don’t litter. • And we look at how [Prince Harry’s engagement to Meghan Markle]( a divorced, biracial American actress, may give Britain a shove into the future. Back Story Billy H.C. Kwok for The New York Times Call it the Trumpchi conundrum. China finally feels it has a car capable of following Japan, Germany and South Korea [into the U.S. market](. But its biggest roadblock might be its name. The Chinese automaker GAC Motor insists that its popular Trumpchi vehicles, which went into mass production in 2010, have [nothing to do with the U.S. president](. Above, a Trumpchi electric car. Even so, when we reported last week on plans [to sell the Trumpchi in the U.S. by 2019]( GAC officials admitted that they might rethink the branding. Automotive history, littered as it is [with unfortunate car names]( suggests this is probably a good idea. There’s been the [Mazda Scrum Wagon]( the [Mitsubishi Lettuce]( the [Nissan Homy Super Long]( and the Isuzu GIGA 20 Light Dump, not to be confused with the [Honda Life Dunk](. Volkswagen offered the [Tiguan]( a German mash-up of tiger and iguana, Ford shortened [cougar into Kuga]( for some markets, and Renault famously had [Le Car](. General Motors has long been ridiculed for marketing the Chevy Nova in Spanish-speaking countries, where the name translates to “doesn’t go” (“no va”). The Nova actually [sold well in Latin America](. GAC officials told our Shanghai bureau chief that, in Chinese, Trumpchi sounds a little like “passing on happiness.” Any decision on changing the name, they said, would be announced in January — at an auto show in Detroit. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. Browse past briefings [here](. This briefing was timed 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](. What would you like to see here? Contact us at [asiabriefing@nytimes.com](mailto:asiabriefing@nytimes.com?subject=Briefing%20Feedback%20(Asia)). LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. 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. 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