Your Tuesday Briefing

Jakarta, North Korea, the Cranberries | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Tuesday, January 16, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Asia Edition [Your Tuesday Briefing]( By CHARLES MCDERMID Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Al Drago for The New York Times • “I’m not a racist.” President Trump defended himself [after three days of global uproar over vulgar remarks]( he is said to have made at a White House meeting on immigration. A few Republican lawmakers present at the meeting [remember his comments differently](. The outcry overshadowed key issues facing Washington, including efforts to protect young undocumented immigrants. And with government funding set to expire by the end of the week, Congress would need to pass a stopgap spending measure to avoid a shutdown on Saturday. _____ • North Korea agreed to send a [140-member orchestra to perform during the Winter Olympics]( in South Korea next month, another surprising easing of tensions after the lengthy standoff over the North’s weapons programs. The U.S. defense secretary, Jim Mattis, and Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have argued for diplomacy in addressing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. But recent military exercises suggest that the U.S. military is [preparing for the last resort](. _____ Reuters • In Iran, angry citizens are disputing the official line that two [young men detained in the wave of antigovernment protests killed themselves]( and that another was a terrorist who died in a clash with security forces. The men’s personal stories have struck a nerve with Iranians, who see glaring contradictions in the official accounts. Above, President Hassan Rouhani, center, in Tehran on Sunday. Their demand for an investigation suggests that while the protests have subsided, the fallout may be just beginning. _____ • The Philippines shut down an award-winning news website that has been critical of President Rodrigo Duterte. An industry group called the move a vendetta by Mr. Duterte and urged journalists to protest. [The outlet, Rappler, was said to have broken media ownership rules]( but industry groups saw an attack on press freedom. “The decision, which is tantamount to killing the online news site, sends a chilling effect to media organizations in the country,” one group said. _____ Associated Press • In Jakarta, a [balcony collapsed inside the Indonesia Stock Exchange]( building, sending people fleeing in panic and injuring more than 70 people, according to the police. A large number of university students were said to be on the balcony when it suddenly crumbled. A police spokesman ruled out the possibility of terrorism. In 2000, the stock exchange was struck by two rogue army soldiers who planted a car bomb in the building’s basement, killing 15 people. _____ Kevin D. Liles for The New York Times • The day before Martin Luther King’s Birthday, [our reporters spoke with African-Americans at churches across the U.S](. “There’s not a lot of honesty in the country now about who we are and where we are,” one activist said. And we imagined what it would have felt like in 1968 if phone alerts had existed then. From Dr. King’s assassination to dispatches from Vietnam, [this interactive imagines the flurry of notifications]( that would have announced each twist and turn. Business Robert Beatty • Artificial intelligence, it turns out, works better with new kinds of computer chips. Now [45 new companies are building processors]( just for A.I., and at least five have raised more than $100 million. • The Guardian, the left-wing British newspaper whose international expansion has brought losses, [switched to a tabloid format to cut costs](. • Automakers at the [Detroit auto show have reason to celebrate](. But three years of record sales mask signs of hard times ahead. • A 910-carat diamond was [discovered in Lesotho](. It’s the fifth-biggest gem-quality diamond ever found. • U.S. markets were closed for Martin Luther King’s Birthday. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Haidar Hamdani/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • In Iraq, two suicide bombers killed more than 24 people in Baghdad in the first major attack there since the defeat of the Islamic State. [[The New York Times]( • President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority said Israel had killed the Oslo Accords and criticized the Trump administration. [[The New York Times]( • A knife attack left at least 12 people wounded at a school in Russia. [[The New York Times]( • In California, the death toll from mudslides rose to 20, and more rain is on the way. [[The New York Times]( • Hawaii’s false missile alert and its delayed retraction added to criticism of the governor and raised fears about a hit to tourism. [[The New York Times]( • Clean-up teams are scrambling after an Iranian tanker carrying nearly one million barrels of oil sank in the East China Sea. [[South China Morning Post]( • The president of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena, rejected a plan to allow women to purchase alcohol. [[BBC]( • The Macquarie Dictionary picked “milkshake duck” as its word of 2017. It was coined by an Australian cartoonist. [[The Sydney Morning Herald]( • Three top U.S. tennis players — Sloane Stephens, Venus Williams and CoCo Vandeweghe — lost in the first round of the Australian Open. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Karsten Moran for The New York Times • Does magnesium, as is found in leafy green vegetables, [h]( you sleep]( • Here are four simple tips for [working from home](. • Recipe of the day: If you’re a fan of French cooking, you’ll love Mark Bittman’s [chicken with vinegar](. Noteworthy Hulton Archive/Getty Images • In 1968, [The Beatles spent weeks in Rishikesh, India]( writing songs. Now, the ashram they visited is being revived, with a new museum devoted to the band and their one-time guru. • Meet the meadow vole, a miraculous, tiny mammal that uses the mysterious and contradictory [qualities of snow to survive frigid winters](. • In memoriam. [Dolores O’Riordan]( 46, the lead singer of the Cranberries, the Irish band that found international fame. • Finally, here’s a look at some of [our most popular stories]( at the moment, and [an image of Monday’s front page](. Back Story Renee Perez/Associated Press The event 80 years ago today would be historic, [The Times announced]( The first swing concert at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. Benny Goodman, the jazz clarinetist, would perform. “The event will be decisive in the history of swing,” [a Times writer later declared](. “What will it sound like in this strange milieu of righteousness and uplift, and what will be its effect on swing?” Fans of swing were concerned that exposure to New York’s elite would eventually rob the grass-roots genre of its “elusiveness, its absolute freedom from technique or rules.” Those fears were dispelled by Mr. Goodman’s success in captivating the audience. Carnegie Hall “had never seen an audience that behaved this way: listeners who not only listened but swayed to the music, made sounds and seemed ready to break into some kind of hysterical dance,” [The Times reported](. Above, Mr. Goodman at Carnegie Hall in 1982. [Our critic found]( the music liberating in a dark era of totalitarian ideologies. “It is not so much a doctrine set to music as it is a revolt against doctrine.” “If the individual has his unhampered say in music, he may manage to have it in other fields,” he wrote. “Dictators should be suspicious of swing.” Patrick Boehler 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](. 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