Your Thursday Briefing

Stephen Hawking, Theresa May, School Walkout | View in [Browser]( View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, March 15, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Asia Edition [Your Thursday Briefing]( By CHARLES MCDERMID Good morning. Cold War-esque clash, a huge fine for stock manipulation, and an ocean voyage to the land of the long white cloud. Here’s what you need to know: Leon Neal/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • His mind and spirit soared past physical paralysis, making discoveries that changed our understanding of the universe. Tributes are pouring out for Stephen Hawking, the physicist and best-selling author, [who died at 76](. Our longtime science writer [notes in this appraisal]( that Mr. Hawking “not only overturned our imaginations, he became an icon of mystery, curiosity and determination.” Here’s a [recent video of Mr. Hawking]( speaking of using advanced technology to transcend human limitations. We also collected [six cultural moments]( he inspired and a [mix of memorable quotations](. Mr. Hawking was beloved around the world, but the respect he commanded in China was, [as the BBC put it]( in another universe. _____ Todd Heisler/The New York Times • Thousands of American students walked out of their schools in a nationwide demonstration against gun violence. [We’re following the events here](. The walkout, aimed at pressuring Congress to pass gun control legislation, adds pressure on a Republican Party in [disarray after tumult in the White House]( and a strong showing by a [Democrat in a special election in Pennsylvania](. ([New Zealand rebuked its second-ranking envoy]( to the U.S. after she tweeted that the Democratic Party needed to get its act together “or we will all die.”) _____ Maxim Shemetov/Reuters • Cold War-level tensions. Prime Minister Theresa May [suspended high-level contacts with Russia and expelled 23 Russian diplomats]( over the poisoning of a former Russian double agent on British soil. She vowed to crack down on Russian spies, corrupt elites and ill-gotten wealth in Britain. Our correspondent explains [why Moscow will never apologize]( for the attack on its former spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter. Above, President Vladimir Putin at a rally celebrating the fourth anniversary of his annexation of Crimea. Once asked what he could not forgive, Mr. Putin said “betrayal.” _____ Adriane Ohanesian for The New York Times • “This is going to be a catastrophe.” More than half a million [Rohingya]( [wh]( [fled]( [from]( in Myan]( face looming disaster when the impending storms of the monsoon season hit their camp in Bangladesh, above. A top U.N. official said this week that the Myanmar military’s campaign against the Rohingya bore “the hallmarks of genocide.” Senior Myanmar officials flatly [denied the accusation](. _____ Matthew Abbott for The New York Times • The land of the long white cloud. That was the name given to New Zealand by Kupe, the first Polynesian to reach the then-uninhabited island in the 10th century. (The actual Maori word is Aotearoa.) A group of sailors recently recreated his journey, steering double-hulled canoes, or waka hourua, on a four-week voyage. It was the biggest fleet of waka to [arrive in Wellington since the landing of Kupe]( whose story was told at the opening night of a three-week arts and culture event that runs through Sunday. Business Travis Dove/Bloomberg • Boeing, which sends 80 percent of its commercial planes abroad, has emerged as perhaps the [most vulnerable American target if]( retaliat]( against President Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum. Any loss of access to China, one of the fastest growing aircraft markets, could be especially challenging. • China’s sovereign wealth fund [sold its stake in Blackstone Group]( the U.S. private equity giant, severing an early and enduring link between Wall Street and the Chinese government. Not disclosed: the reason for the sale, and its size. • Xiamen Beibadao Group, a logistics company, was hit with [China’s largest ever punishment for stock manipulation](. Regulators fined it 5.5 billion yuan ($870 million), which they said represented six times the proceeds of the scheme. • Elizabeth Holmes, the tarnished Silicon Valley star, will [leave her blood-testing company Theranos]( and pay a $500,000 fine to settle fraud charges related to raising more than $700 million by falsely promoting a key product. • Google is joining Facebook in [banning advertising for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies](. (Together, the two account for the global majority of advertising on the internet in terms of revenue.) • U.S. stocks [were lower](. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Luis Ascui/EPA, via Shutterstock • In Australia, reporters were allowed for the first time to hear witness testimony against Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s third-highest-ranking priest, in a momentous sexual abuse case. [[The New York Times]( • A Chinese education agency accused Australia of blocking visas for Chinese graduate students. [[Sydney Morning Herald]( • Lee Myung-bak became the fifth former South Korean president to be questioned by prosecutors on corruption accusations since the 1990s. [[The New York Times]( • The Philippines plans to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. President Rodrigo Duterte said the court, which is investigating deaths tied to his drug crackdown, was painting him as a “heartless violator of human rights.” [[The New York Times]( • United Airlines apologized after a dog died on a domestic U.S. flight in an overhead compartment, where its owner had reluctantly placed it on the orders of a flight attendant. [[The New York Times]( • “I wanted my first kiss to be special.” The smooch of an aw-shucks teenager, delivered by the superstar Katy Perry on “American Idol,” turned out to be far from a sweet pop-culture moment. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Kacper Pempel/Reuters • Here’s how to protect a [laptop after it’s been stolen](. • For heart disease patients, [think exercise]( not weight loss. • Recipe of the day: Keep dinner comforting with a recipe for [chicken and rice](. Noteworthy Meridith Kohut for The New York Times • “The truth can be hard to look at,” reads the introduction to an exhibit in London of [images from the world’s]( spots by five New York Times freelance photographers](. “But we ignore our neighbors’ misery at our own peril.” • A new generation of bakers is [trying to reinvent]( the most iconic French patisserie, the croissant. Some fear the rise of “Frankenpastries.” • Finally, some early human resilience: The largest volcanic eruption of the last two million years, about 74,000 years ago, didn’t wipe out humanity. Instead, a new study suggests, [our ancestors thrived]( in its aftermath. Back Story Paramount Pictures It was an offer that the Times film critic Vincent Canby couldn’t refuse. “The Godfather,” which opened in New York on this day in 1972, was “one of the most brutal and moving chronicles of American life ever designed within the limits of popular entertainment,” [he wrote in his review](. The adaptation of Mario Puzo’s best-selling 1969 novel was directed by a young Francis Ford Coppola. [He was selected]( after numerous other directors turned down the job, and in part for his Italian heritage. The saga of the Corleones, an organized crime family in New York in the 1940s and ’50s, “The Godfather” became an almost instant classic. It was the top-earning film of 1972 and remains one of the highest-grossing (and [most critically acclaimed]( movies of all time. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 1973, “The Godfather” won three, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Marlon Brando, who played Vito Corleone, the family’s aging patriarch. Brando [famously declined to accept the award]( as a protest against Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans. “The Godfather” was “a superb Hollywood movie,” Canby wrote in 1972, “scaring the delighted hell out of us while cautioning that crime doesn’t (or, at least, shouldn’t) pay.” 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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