Your Monday Briefing

Kim Jong-un, Kashmir, Gaza Strip | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Monday, April 2, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Asia Edition [Your Monday Briefing]( By CHARLES MCDERMID Good morning. Pope Francis calls for peace, Kim Jong-un takes in some K-pop, and Tesla faces more trouble. Here’s what you need to know: Tom Brenner/The New York Times • President Trump blamed Democrats and the [Mexican government for a “dangerous” flow of unauthorized immigrants]( and threatened to walk away from the North American Free Trade Agreement. His comments, most delivered via Twitter, came on a holiday weekend at his Palm Beach resort, Mar-a-Lago. Among those accompanying him was Stephen Miller, a senior policy adviser who has shaped much of the administration’s hard-line stance on immigration. _____ Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images • In Afghanistan, the Taliban are increasingly [attacking security forces using night-vision goggles]( and lasers that U.S. military officials said were either stolen from Afghan and international troops or bought on the black market. And a retired U.S. lieutenant general who led the war effort in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005 said advanced equipment, like drones and precision weapons, is being seized by extremist groups in other global conflict zones. “It’s going to change how we operate,” he said. _____ Habib Naqash/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • “For every 10 killed, 20 more will join.” That was a protester in the Kashmir Valley on Sunday, after the [Indian Army killed at least 12 militants](. It was the largest one-day toll of insurgents in recent years, in a brutal territorial conflict between India and Pakistan that has endured for decades. At least three soldiers and four civilians also died, and about 70 other people were reported wounded. _____ Beck Diefenbach/Reuters • Tesla appears to be in real trouble. Concerns that [Elon Musk’s electric-car company is burning through cash]( have damaged its credit rating and raised questions about whether it could run out of money by the end of the year. And its stock fell in after-hours trading last week, after Tesla disclosed that [a fatal crash in California]( on March 23 occurred while Autopilot, its semiautonomous driving system, above, was engaged. _____ Ahn Young-Joon/Associated Press • Pope Francis celebrated [Easter Mass with a plea for peace](. He cited a need to end the “carnage” in “the beloved and long-suffering land of Syria” and urged “reconciliation” in the Middle East. The pope also pressed for “the fruits of dialogue” to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula, above, where 10,000 Christians gathered in Seoul to pray. At St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney, Australia, the Anglican archbishop Glenn Davies said the redemption of Easter gave hope of forgiveness to all who faced moral failure — including [the disgraced Australia]( team](. Business Amazon, via YouTube • Tech companies apply for a dizzying number of patents every year, many of which are never used. But [recent filings by Amazon and Google do offer a peek]( at how the companies could seek to mine data from smart speakers and other household devices. (Above, Amazon’s Alexa Super Bowl ad.) • Eight years after [Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster]( bringing together the world’s largest concert promoter with the world’s leading ticket provider, U.S. regulators are looking into accusations that the company uses threats and pressure to rule ticketing. • “Ready Player One,” Steven Spielberg’s nostalgia-soaked science-fiction adventure, took in [more than $181 million]( on its debut weekend. Chinese ticket buyers [turned out]( in particular force. • Facebook’s latest uproar: a 2016 memo from a top executive [defending]( at any cost]( — even if a lethal terrorist attack were organized on the platform. As Facebook lurches from crisis to crisis, only a few tech industry leaders have [spoken out against their struggling rival](. (Silicon Valley hates bad karma.) • The list of Chinese products [that will be hit with new U.S. tariffs]( is expected to be announced within days. Here are [other headlines to watch]( for this week. • Markets are closed in Australia, Hong Kong, London and Milan. Here’s a snapshot of other [global markets](. In the News Korea pool, via EPA/Shutterstock • North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and South Korea’s culture minister, Do Jong-hwan, were in the audience when South Korean K-pop singers performed in the North for the first time in more than a decade. [[The New York Times]( • “Like a Dream.” The Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai made an emotional return home to Pakistan’s Swat Valley, where the Taliban tried to kill her in 2012. [[The New York Times]( • The U.N. announced new measures against North Korea, blacklisting 27 ships, 21 shipping companies and one individual accused of helping the North evade sanctions. [[The New York Times]( • Israel warned that it would target groups inside Gaza if violence along the border continued. On Friday, at least 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire. [[The New York Times]( • A Kuwaiti court sentenced a Lebanese man and his Syrian wife to death by hanging in the case of a 29-year-old Filipina maid, whose body was found in a freezer in Kuwait this year. Both defendants are in custody in other countries. [[Agence France-Presse]( • The Chinese space lab Tiangong-1 is expected to burn into Earth’s atmosphere within hours. Here’s a look at the rise and fall of China’s first space station. [[The New York Times]( • April Fools’ Day on the internet: Australia’s public broadcaster navigated some of this year’s biggest joke headlines, including “drop bears” and chocolate burgers. [[ABC]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. • Working out is great for you. [Here’s how to start](. • For a versatile home-cooked option, stock your pantry with [dried legumes](. • Recipe of the day: Start the week with [vegetarian tortilla soup]( flavored with chipotles in adobo. Noteworthy Joakim Eskildsen for The New York Times • Why would a 70 year old kayak across the Atlantic Ocean (for the third time)? “To feel alive,” said [the man who did it](. • A landmark ruling in Israel allows babies to be conceived from [frozen embryos or sperm of people who have died](. But is it ethical? • And “The Last Wild Men of Borneo” by [Carl Hoffman tells the stories]( of an environmental activist accepted by an indigenous tribe as one of its own, and a man who became one of the world’s most successful tribal art collectors. Back Story Library of Congress The annual [White House Easter Egg Roll]( is scheduled to take place today on the South Lawn of the White House. The tradition dates to 1878, when Rutherford B. Hayes was president, though some accounts suggest that informal egg-rolling parties began under Lincoln. Above, the Egg Roll in 1929. The first lady, Melania Trump, will host guests who won a public lottery held in February. In the signature activity, children guide the eggs across the lawn with a wooden spoon. There will be live music and other activities, including a reading nook staffed by White House figures like Kellyanne Conway, the president’s counselor, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the press secretary. New this year: bowling. “The elaborate and labor-intensive Egg Roll is among the most daunting social events a presidential staff has to plan,” [The Times noted last year](. Guests receive a souvenir wooden egg as they leave, a tradition that began when Nancy Reagan was first lady. This year, the commemorative eggs were made from birch [by a company in Maine]( and they’re also [available for sale online](. The White House says that more than 21,000 guests attended last year. That was down from about 37,000 in recent years. They expect 30,000 people today. Karen Zraick contributed reporting. _____ This briefing was prepared for the Asian morning. 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