Your Friday Briefing

Rex Tillerson, Pope Francis, North Korea | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, December 1, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Asia Edition [Your Friday Briefing]( By CHARLES MCDERMID Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Mandel Ngan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • The top U.S. diplomat, [Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, could be on the way out](. The Trump administration has marginalized and bypassed the State Department, even as Mr. Tillerson has pushed out droves of career diplomats. Now, senior White House officials tell our reporters that the president plans to replace Mr. Tillerson with his C.I.A. director, Mike Pompeo, possibly before the end of the year. Other countries appear to be maneuvering rapidly in the meantime. [Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi is visiting China]( which is drawing her country closer as much of the rest of the world turns away over the Rohingya crisis. And [Russia is further extending its profile in the Middle East]( with a move toward using Egyptian air bases and airspace. _____ • Photographs from North Korea are providing valuable clues about the powerful new missile it launched Wednesday, the [Hwasong-15](. Analysts say it appears to have two engines for its first booster stage, giving it greater range. Washington is revisiting a long-simmering debate: Could [the Cold War strategy that worked against the Soviet Union]( — mutually assured destruction — also work against North Korea? _____ • American television networks are reeling as [the media luminaries they’d built their businesses around fall like dominoes]( to accusations of sexual misconduct and worse. The latest, [Matt Lauer,]( a fixture in U.S. living rooms for 20 years, offered a hedged apology. Accusations against two more major figures came to light: [Russell Simmons]( the hip-hop mogul who co-founded Def Jam Records; and the charismatic playwright [Israel Horovitz](. Our new gender editor provides insights and updates in the first edition of our newsletter [The #MeTo]( Moment](. _____ Ko Sasaki for The New York Times • In Japan, huge government apartment complexes, called danchi, were once a monument to the postwar boom and aspirations for a modern way of life. Now that the country is the world’s most rapidly aging society, the danchi have become known for something else entirely: [“lonely deaths]( Norimitsu Onishi, our former Tokyo bureau chief, painted an intimate portrait of the aging residents of one. _____ Ettore Ferrari/European Pressphoto Agency • Pope Francis arrived in Bangladesh, and began to [find his voice on the Rohingya crisis](. He spoke of the plight of “refugees from Rakhine State,” who fled atrocities suffered at the hands of Myanmar’s military, and called for “decisive measures to address this grave crisis.” But he still tiptoed around the term “Rohingya.” He is expected to meet with some of the refugees before leaving for Rome on Saturday. _____ • And the 2018 World Cup draw is finally here. If things fall right, a team could emerge from the tournament’s eight first-round groups with an easy route to the Round of 16. But a team’s hopes could also be dashed even before arriving in the host nation, Russia. [Here’s how it all works, and how to watch](. The Times will also provide minute-by-minute coverage on [nytimes.com](. Business Mark Brake/Getty Images • South Australia is powering up the world’s biggest battery, a massive lithium-ion project that can light 30,000 homes. [Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla]( appears to have won his bet that he could have it operational within 100 days (or do it for free). • The popular Chinese drone maker, [D.J.I., is fighting a claim]( that it is sending sensitive information about U.S. infrastructure to China, a new flash point for concerns over the vast data reserves commercial technology companies are vacuuming up. • India’s economy grew more than 6 percent in the second quarter, rebounding from [declines in the past five quarters](. • The U.S. joined the E.U to argue against [designating China a “market economy”]( in the World Trade Organization, where its future role could alter global trading for decades. • The Dow Jones industrial average [surged past the 24,000 milestone]( for the first time, and U.S. stocks [were up](. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Bryan Denton for The New York Times • Beijing is demolishing entire migrant neighborhoods, evicting tens of thousands of people as winter bears down. The city says a recent deadly fire showed the residences are unsafe. [[The New York Times]( • In the U.S., provisions in the tax overhaul championed by President Trump and Republican leaders could [reshape h]( care, education and social services](. We’re tracking progress on the Senate floor, where a vote is expected within 24 hours. [[The New York Times]( • An Australian lawmaker, Sam Dastyari, lost a key Senate role after a tape emerged of him defending China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. [[ABC]( • The half brother of North Korea’s leader was carrying bottles of the antidote to VX when the nerve agent was used to kill him in Malaysia in February. [[The Star]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. • How to clean [any type of holiday stain]( from gravy to wine. • Exercise may enhance the effects of [brain training](. • Recipe of the day: This weekend, surprise someone with a [homemade ginger stout cake](. Noteworthy Eoin Coveney • As Saigon was falling to North Vietnamese forces on April 29, 1975, people were racing to escape by foot, by car, by boat — and, in the case of Ba Van Nguyen, by helicopter. An artist recreated [Ba’s escape with his family in graphic form, above](. • The docile whale shark, the biggest fish in the sea, recently became endangered. Now, a study by [top whale shark experts and thousands of citizen-scientists]( sheds new light on their lumbering lives. Back Story Jason Henry for The New York Times It’s considered the highest art form of its class, with equal parts risk and high reward. It’s impossibly light, and taller than it is wide. The jeweled citrus peel is the (dried) cherry on top. We’re of course speaking of panettone (pronounced pann-eh-TOH-nee), the traditional Italian bread served over Christmastime. The boxed fruitcake lines [grocery stores around the world]( but is deeply rooted in Milanese folklore dating back to the Middle Ages. [One legend of the origin of panettone]( involves a nobleman’s love for the daughter of a baker named Toni. Forbidden from marrying her, the nobleman disguised himself and went to work for the baker, creating a new bread to impress the woman, made with butter, eggs, and candied fruit. The bread was such a hit at court, a new dessert was named in its honor — [pan del Ton]( — and the nobleman was allowed to marry the daughter. Five hundred years later, the boxed version of panettone became widely available. Homemade panettone is notoriously difficult: Butter a couple of degrees too warm can turn the dough to mush. But the proof is in the [pudding](. “It melts in your mouth and it’s suddenly gone,” one baker told The Times. “And then you want to eat more.” Remy Tumin 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](. 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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