Your Monday Briefing

North Korea, Xi Jinping, Trade War | View in [Browser]( View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Monday, March 12, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Asia Edition [Your Monday Briefing]( By CHARLES MCDERMID Good morning. Global recalculations, no fun for Toys “R” Us and the most ignorant man in America. Here’s what you need to know: Julian Smith/Epa-Efe/Rex/Shutterstock/Julian Smith/Epa-Efe/Rex/Shutterstock • A global trade war? Or just a skirmish? America’s allies are using persuasion, threats, personal appeals and diplomatic leverage [to]( for exemptions from new U.S. tariffs on aluminum and steel](. Australia joined Canada and Mexico as possible winners after deploying Greg Norman, the golfing legend who counts President Trump as a friend. But South Korea, which made an impassioned appeal based on its role trying to defang North Korea, is still waiting. In the end, which countries get a reprieve, and which end up retaliating, will [determine the severity of the disruption to global trade](. Our Op-Ed columnist, Paul Krugman, a Nobel laureate for his research on trade, writes that “the tariffs could unwind the whole global trade system built, largely under U.S. leadership, over the past 80 years.” He’s taking questions from readers on the subject. [Ask yours here](. _____ Kevin Frayer/Getty Images • The Chinese legislature’s vote was almost unanimous. [Presidential term limits]( are gone, as expected, allowing Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely. Here’s a look at how the limits came to be, and a fuller picture of [what is at stake]( — not least of which is a return to the Mao-era danger of concentrating power in one supreme, unassailable leader. _____ Credit South Korean Presidential Office • President Trump’s abrupt “yes” to a meeting with North Korea, throwing aside caution and decades of conventions, is [a case study in Trump-era international relations](. The idea is so risky — and seemingly far-fetched — that [some of Mr. Trump’s aides believe]( it will never happen. (Note that [summits of geopolitical adversaries]( haven’t always worked out so well.) Here’s a fresh look at [what we know about Kim Jong-un]( the North’s enigmatic young dictator. And we have the back story of how two [South Korean envoys brought his invitation]( to Washington. Above, one with Mr. Trump last week. The American moves on trade and North Korea have injected fresh uncertainty into strategic calculations in Asia. [China has an opening](. And [Japan feels left in the cold](. _____ Ne Boltai Collection • Vladimir Putin said he did not “care” about [U.S. allegations of Russian election interference]( suggesting in an interview broadcast over the weekend that the culprits might be “Ukrainians, Tatars or Jews, but with Russian citizenship.” President Putin’s comments, which [drew criticism from Jewish groups and U.S. lawmakers]( came as an [exhibition in Vienna explored the debt the Russian Revolution]( communism and socialism owe to Jewish philosophers, politicians and artists. Above, an election poster from the show. _____ Damon Winter/The New York Times • The most ignorant man in America? Since President Trump’s election victory, [an Ohio man has blocked out the news]( — completely. He’s managed to become shockingly uninformed. Extreme as it is, it’s a path that likely holds some appeal for liberals these days — a D.I.Y. version of leaving the country. “I am bored,” he said. “But it’s not bugging me.” Business Marvel/Disney • “Black Panther” pushed past [$1 billion in global box office sales]( with what the Walt Disney Company estimates was a $66.5 million opening in China. • Toys “R” Us is [preparing to liquidate its bankrupt operations]( in the U.S., and is in talks to unload its growing Asian business. • Dropbox, the U.S.-based file sharing service, is expected to set a price range for its offering as soon as this week and to trade on the stock market by the end of March. When it does, its 35-year-old founder, Drew Houston, [will become a billionaire](. • The Kushner Companies and the [Trump Organization]( stepping up their real estate collaborations]( blurring the line between family, business and politics. Both companies have dismissed ethics concerns. • The International Solar Alliance, a treaty-based organization launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, received [a $862 million]( France](. The I.S.A. aims to mobilize $1 trillion for global solar projects. • Market watchers, please note that U.S. clocks have moved forward an hour. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Kin Cheung/Associated Press • Hong Kong held by-elections Sunday to fill four Legislative Council seats once held by pro-democracy lawmakers, who were ousted over invalid oaths of office. Results are expected today. [[A.P.]( • In the Philippines, the army said its forces killed at least 44 pro-Islamic State militants and wounded 26 more, after days of fighting and shelling in southern Maguindanao province. The rebel group is known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, or BIFF. [[Reuters]( • Andrew Barr, the chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory, announced a plan to bypass traditional news media. “I hate journalists,” he said. “I’m over dealing with the mainstream media.” [[The Canberra Times]( • Recent scandals in Australia’s halls of power have exposed a pervasive culture of sexual harassment in the country’s politics. Our reporter takes the measure of the national reckoning. [[The New York Times]( • Wash clothes and use baby wipes. A week after a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent in England, the authorities issued some advice but said the risk to the public remained “low.” [[The New York Times]( • U2’s frontman, Bono, said he was “furious” after a charity he co-founded was accused of fostering an atmosphere of bullying and abuse, including an attempt at sexual coercion. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Craig Lee for The New York Times • Recipe of the day: Start the week off simply with[homemade mushroom soup](. • Go green and save by [skipping hotel housekeeping](. • Want an easier way to buy art? [There’s an app]( for that. Noteworthy Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times • In Japan, a girl turned to her Buddhist faith to help rebuild her village temple destroyed in the tsunami in 2011. Our photographer and photo editor, Hiroko Masuike, has been [following her efforts for seven years](. • China’s heavy-handed attempts to drive tens of thousands of migrant workers out of big cities have inspired [a backlash of paintings, songs and poetry](. • In the Times Magazine music issue, we write about [25 songs that show where music is going](. Check it out: The digital presentation plays each song as you scroll through the article. Back Story Stephen Crowley/The New York Times News from Washington often isn’t so pleasant these days. But one of the U.S. capital’s most-celebrated springtime traditions begins this coming weekend: Its famed cherry trees [are predicted to be in peak bloom](. More than 3,000 of the trees were [presented as a gift by the city of Tokyo]( in 1912. The gesture of international good will has a rich history, but one of its more contentious episodes occurred 80 years ago: [the Cherry Tree Rebellion](. The trees had already become a favorite of Washingtonians by 1938, when construction was set to begin on the Jefferson Memorial. The site for the monument was along the Tidal Basin, where many of the trees had been planted. The planned removal of the trees [was opposed by parts of Washington society]( in particular by the city’s newspapers. A group of women even briefly chained themselves to a tree on the site in an effort to stop construction. [An exasperated President Franklin D. Roosevelt]( dismissed the controversy — which died down soon after the memorial’s groundbreaking — as a “flimflam game” designed to sell newspapers. “If anybody wants to chain herself to the tree and the tree is in the way, we will move the tree and the lady and the chains, and transplant them to some other place,” he said. Chris Stanford contributed reporting. _____ This briefing was prepared for the Asian morning. You can also [sign up]( to get the briefing in the Australian, European or American morning. [Sign up here]( to receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights. Browse our full range of 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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