Your Friday Briefing

North Korea, Republican Party, Alibaba | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, February 2, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Asia Edition [Your Friday Briefing]( By MIKE IVES AND CHARLES MCDERMID Olympic security, political strongmen and talking orcas. Here’s your Morning Briefing: Ed Jones/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • The Winter Games open in South Korea next week under a shadow that rivals any in Olympic history: The threat of nuclear war. Security is already ultratight: The [South mobilized tens of thousands of security personnel]( — including 50,000 soldiers — to protect the 100,000 spectators expected to converge each day on Pyeongchang, just 50 miles from North Korea. Even the arrival of Pyongyang’s athletes hasn’t convinced everyone. “North Korea will cause trouble one way or another,” said one analyst. _____ Mohamed El-Shahed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • Secrets and security. Across the world, autocratic leaders are engaging in increasingly brazen behavior — [rigging votes, muzzling the press and persecuting opponents](. The global tide is being driven by a bewildering range of factors, among them surging populism, waves of migration crises, economic inequality and the disappearance of rebukes from the U.S. President Trump “has barely paid lip service to the promotion of universal human rights,” our Cairo bureau chief writes. Experts say his embrace of hard-line leaders, like President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, shown above on a poster, has encouraged their excesses. _____ Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • A secret Republican memo that has divided Washington could be released as early as today — after [President Trump paved the way for it to be declassified](. The memo, written by staffers for Devin Nunes of California, above, [purports to show how the F.B.I. and the Justice Department]( abused their authority to obtain a warrant to spy on a former Trump campaign adviser. The president’s decision came despite a chorus of warnings from national security officials. The F.B.I. warned that [it had “grave concerns”]( about making the memo public. _____ Adam Dean for The New York Times • “Who wouldn’t do the same to feed a family?” That was our correspondent on the front lines of the Rohingya crisis, describing how [some Rohingya refugees]( tales of suffering]( to compete for relief supplies. The false narratives, while understandable, can buttress Myanmar’s denials of ethnic cleansing, she says. And she emphasizes that the Muslim minority’s collective suffering is all too real. Nearly 700,000 have been driven out of Myanmar in recent months by [a military campaign of]( rape and other atrocities](. Above, Rohingya children at a refugee camp in Bangladesh. _____ Arindam Dey/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • Health care shake-ups. In India, the government says it will [offer 100 million families up to about $7,860 a year]( in coverage. No word, however, on where the money would come from. And Amazon and two other U.S. companies caused a stir this week by announcing a plan to [form an independent health care company]( for their employees. But in China, [Alibaba and Tencent have been disrupting the health care sector for years]( often by developing A.I. applications that aid doctors. _____ Marineland • Way beyond whalesong. Wikie, a killer whale, [can mimic]( sounds]( like “Amy” “bye-bye” (and a very rude raspberry). [Listen to her say hello](. The research suggests that orcas learn to communicate with one another through a social process, the lead researcher said — and adds to a growing case against capturing them. Business • HNA of China, the big Chinese conglomerate struggling under an estimated $90 billion in debt after a global shopping spree, appears to be [trying to get its employees to bail it out](. We obtained emails in which they were offered big returns — as high as 40 percent — to hand over money. • Investors are worried about the health of [Bitfinex, a widely used Bitcoin exchange]( which was recently subpoenaed by a U.S. regulatory agency. (Our columnist calls Bitcoin “[a bubble wrapped in techno-mysticism inside a cocoon of libertarian ideology]( • Alibaba’s revenue rose by [more than half in the last quarter of 2017](. It was the company’s slowest growth rate in a year, but still better than expected, and its stock more than doubled last year. • U.S. stocks [were flat](. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Yuya Shino/Kyodo News, via Associated Press • A fire in Sapporo, Japan, ravaged a wooden housing facility for impoverished citizens, killing eight men and three women. [[The Asahi Shimbun]( • In the Philippines, the police arrested a top leader of a decades-old Communist insurgency, the latest sign that President Rodrigo Duterte is not interested in resuming peace talks. [[The New York Times]( • A Chinese military aircraft crashed this week during drills in Guizhou province, killing at least 12 crew members and exposing the limits of the air force’s technology. [[South China Morning Post]( • A dozen U.S. lawmakers nominated Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, and its student leader, Joshua Wong, for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The move is certain to provoke anger from Beijing. [[Reuters]( • The water supply in Cape Town, South Africa, is dangerously close to running dry. Officials say taps for the city’s four million residents could be shut off in less than three months if the current drought continues. [[The New York Times]( • Three Danish tourists survived after driving into a river in northern Australia that was known to be full of crocodiles. They spent the night on the roof of their car. [[ABC]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Dina Litovsky for The New York Times • Aiming to up your workout this weekend? Check out the rigorous gym sessions that [keep the American skier Lindsey Vonn from wiping out](. • Kitchen advice: [Learn the best ways to cut almost anything]( (without hurting yourself). • Stuck waiting months for the replacement iPhone battery Apple promised? [We have tips](. Noteworthy Sankar Bose • Soumya Sankar Bose, a photographer in the Indian city of Kolkata, explored the psychological ramifications of India’s anti-L.G.B.T.Q. laws and culture. The result was [this dreamlike, melancholic portrait series](. • “Art belongs to life,” our film critic writes. So if you think that Woody Allen is guilty of sexual abuse, [should you stop watching his movies]( • The Times, in other words: Here’s an image of [our latest front page]( and links to our [Opinion content]( and [crossword puzzles](. Back Story Keith Srakocic/Associated Press Today is Groundhog Day, and if you’re unfamiliar with this annual American event — it’s exactly as strange as it sounds. The groundhog, for its part, is a simple creature. A close [relative of the squirrel]( it digs burrows and can reach a furry 15 pounds. It’s known in some areas as a whistle pig, for its short, sharp cries, but more commonly, as a woodchuck. That’s where the day’s simplicities end. The [tradition of predicting weather]( by when animals wake from hibernation goes back centuries. It arrived in the U.S. with European immigrants and — though there are many Groundhog Day events — the most celebrated ceremony is in Punxsutawney, Pa. Each Feb. 2, a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his winter’s nap at a place called Gobbler’s Knob. (In fact, he’s looking for a mate.) Tradition holds that if Phil sees his shadow, it means six more weeks of winter. No shadow, and an early spring is on the way. It’s all in fun, of course. And that’s a good thing for the poor groundhog: Since 1887, [according to one tally]( he’s been right only 39 percent of the time. _____ This briefing was prepared for the Asian morning. You can also [sign up]( to get the briefing in the Asian, European or American morning, or to receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights. 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? 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