Your Thursday Briefing

Iran, Nuclear Button, Steve Bannon | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, January 4, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Asia Edition [Your Thursday Briefing]( By CHARLES MCDERMID Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images • For the last two years, South Korean officials got urgent messages to the North by using a megaphone to shout across the border. No more. In a sudden thaw ahead of the Winter Olympics in the South, Pyongyang has [reopened a telephone hotline]( so that the two nations can prepare for high-level talks. President Trump’s [boast on Twitter that he has a “much bigger”]( and more powerful nuclear button than Kim Jong-un, the North’s leader, set off a [torrent of concern on Twitter]( and more than a few jokes. (To be clear, [no one has a button]( _____ Ali Marizad/European Pressphoto Agency • In Iran, [orchestrated pro-government rallies]( like the one above received copious coverage in state media as the authorities tried to reestablish order after nearly a week of protests over the economy and the suppression of rights. What sparked the protests? [Our veteran correspondent in Tehran reports]( that President Hassan Rouhani’s recent efforts to tap popular resentment, partly by revealing income inequalities, may have worked all too well. _____ Doug Mills/The New York Times • A Twitter storm: On President Trump’s first working day of the new year, he “thumbed his thumbs at convention,” our White House correspondent writes. [His 17 posts]( included the taunt to North Korea, an expression of support for Iran’s anti-government protesters, comments that roiled relations with Pakistan and the Palestinians, and other denunciations. (The Times was one target.) But on Wednesday, [Mr. Trump issued a printed statement]( to essentially excommunicate his former strategist Steve Bannon, in response to a new tell-all book that quoted Mr. Bannon as saying Donald Trump Jr.’s campaign-era meeting with Russians was “treasonous.” Separately, [Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman]( sued Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. _____ Yuyang Liu for The New York Times • Big financial news emerged from China, where [a growing number of pharmaceutical companies are trying to break into the U.S.]( seeking regulatory approval to offer their treatments for cancer and other ailments. In the latest move by Beijing to reduce emissions, [China is suspending the production of more than 500 car models]( that do not meet its fuel economy standards. And U.S. officials effectively killed a plan by [Ant Financial, the Chinese electronic payments company, to buy MoneyGram]( the money transfer company, for $1.2 billion. _____ • The ancient bones of a buried child led [archaeologists to new insights]( on how people — among them the ancestors of living Native Americans — first arrived in the Western Hemisphere. Genetic analysis of the 11,500-year-old skeleton discovered in Alaska strongly suggests that North America was settled by a previously unknown people who originated in Siberia. _____ Universal Pictures, via Associated Press • And The Times’s chief film critics, Manohla Dargis and A. O. Scott, discussed some of the [high and low points of an extraordinary year](. Among their topics: Jordan Peele’s “Get Out,” above, one of the surprises of the year, whether “The Last Jedi” improved or wrecked the “Star Wars” franchise, and of course the allegations against Harvey Weinstein and the ensuing fallout. “Criticism is always personal,” Ms. Dargis noted, “and so is movie love.” Business • Petrobras, Brazil’s state oil company, will [pay $2.95 billion to settle a U.S. lawsuit]( over a corruption scandal that has ensnared politicians, executives and two former Brazilian presidents. • China’s Didi Chuxing is said to be [acquiring 99, Brazil’s main Uber rival]( a move that will change the global competitive landscape for ride-sharing. • Our Addiction Inc. series examining the U.S. treatment industry includes a look at [the lucrative business of urine testing](. • Australia is striving to become the world’s biggest [producer of medicinal cannabis products](. • The world’s hottest [commodity of 2017 was palladium]( which soared 55 percent. The metal is used to reduce pollution from gas engines. • U.S. stocks [were up](. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Danish Siddiqui/Reuters • “We are here to demand justice.” Mumbai was brought to a standstill as lower-caste Dalits, or so-called untouchables, protested against violence and marginalization. [[The New York Times]( • A “bomb cyclone” battering the American South is forecast to hit the Eastern U.S., prolonging a stretch of bitter cold and record snow. [[The New York Times]( • European travel was disrupted by a powerful storm that brought winds of up to 100 miles per hour, lightning and heavy rain, hail and flooding. [[The New York Times]( • A U.S. court convicted a Turkish banker of taking part in a billion-dollar scheme to violate sanctions against Iran, a case that also cast suspicion on Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. [[The New York Times]( • A U.S.-based firm said it is entering a possible search area for missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370, and it expects to win a contract from Malaysia “in coming days” to resume the hunt. [[ABC]( • Akita Inu dogs, once unseen outside Japan, are now more popular overseas than in their native country. Breeders credit a 2009 Hollywood film based on the story of the loyal dog immortalized by a statue near Tokyo’s Shibuya Station. [[The Asahi Shimbun]( • One of China’s richest tycoons, Richard Liu, asked the public to help trace his lineage. Social media users predicted the discovery of many unknown relatives. [[South China Morning Post]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. • If you’re sick, stay away from work. If you can’t, [here’s what to do](. • Can kindness [be taught]( • Recipe of the day: For [a lasagna night]( swap the meat for broccoli rabe. Noteworthy Bryan Denton for The New York Times • In northeastern China, an entire [factory town is devoted to making — and celebrating — the saxophone]( an instrument long denounced for “decadent music.” Some residents even set their ringtones to Kenny G. • In memoriam. [John Portman]( 93, the architect who revolutionized hotel designs with futuristic atriums and transformed Asian skylines from Shanghai to Mumbai; [Thomas Monson]( 90, president of the Mormon Church. • Finally, sync your [calendar with the solar system]( so you’ll never miss an eclipse, rocket launch or meteor shower, [like]( Quadrantids]( which have just begun to peak. Back Story Agence France-Presse A new year can bring many changes, but 1999 saw what [the Times’s Op-Ed page called]( the “most audacious gamble in the history of currency”: the launch of the euro, the common European currency. Almost 40 years in the works, the euro was toasted with champagne by finance ministers in the 11 countries where it debuted. Though [euro bank notes and coins wouldn’t be released until 2002]( European banks were required to use the currency in transactions as soon as markets opened on Monday, Jan. 4. Fears of technical glitches meant [banks brought in employees en masse]( In Frankfurt, one bank alone had 3,200 people working to reprogram its computers. London had 30,000 workers on trading floors and in back offices, even though Britain wasn’t even adopting the euro. The switchover took more than a year of planning, months of rewriting software, and full-scale dress rehearsals. But the reward for the banking world’s tireless efforts was simply [a smooth debut when world markets opened for business](. Others received something more concrete to mark the launch: For sharing a birthday with the new currency, each baby born in France on New Year’s Day [received 100 euros]( from the Finance Ministry. Anna Schaverien 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. And our Australia bureau chief offers [a weekly letter]( adding analysis and conversations with readers. 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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