Your Wednesday Briefing

Iran, North Korea, Malaysia | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, May 9, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Asia Edition [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By INYOUNG KANG Good morning. The Iran decision, Malaysian elections and the Intellectual Dark Web: Here’s what you need to know. Doug Mills/The New York Times • President Trump declared he was withdrawing the U.S. from the [Iran accord]( calling it a “horrible one-sided deal” that didn’t bring peace and never would. The move isolated the U.S. from many allies and raised the prospect of increased tensions with China and Russia. The U.S. is preparing to reinstate all sanctions it had waived as part of the nuclear accord and to impose additional economic penalties, adding to the troubles facing [Iran, where a sense of crisis]( runs deep and wide. Our national security correspondent sees Mr. Trump’s decision as [a grand, highly risky bet that he can “break the regime.”]( _____ Kwak Sung-Kyung/Reuters • Leaders from China, Japan and South Korea are meeting in Tokyo today to discuss the denuclearization of the North, and the secretary of state, [Mike Pompeo, is en route to Pyongyang](. The burst of activity comes after [Kim Jong-un’s trip to meet with President Xi Jinping of China]( this week, the North Korean leader’s second surprise visit in two months. It is without modern precedent for a North Korean leader to make back-to-back visits to China; Beijing is trying to keep up with the flurry of diplomatic moves. _____ Sasha Maslov for The New York Times • #MeToo reverberations. New York State’s highest-ranking law enforcement official, Attorney General [Eric Schneiderman, above, abruptly resigned]( after a report that four women had accused him of physical assault. It was a [stunning fall for a politician]( who had long cast himself as a champion of women and took on President Trump. Eleven [top executives are leaving Nike]( raising to 11 the number of top managers departing amid allegations of harassment and bias against female employees at the company’s Oregon headquarters. And in Australia, a “Four Corners” report on a rape case in Sydney that dragged on for almost five years set off a debate in the country about [what constitutes sexual consent](. _____ Matthew Abbott for The New York Times • “We suffered. But we didn’t do anything wrong.” That’s a Sydney resident, reflecting on the ancestors who first began immigrating from China in the long era when Australian policy kept out nonwhite people. Above, her family. This is [the 200th year of Chinese migration to Australia]( and many such descendants are navigating new regional tensions and demanding greater recognition of their history and contributions. _____ Tony Cenicola/The New York Times • Your questions about “The ISIS Files.” Our recent investigation into thousands of internal Islamic State documents led to [a five-part podcast, “Caliphate,”]( and [an in-depth article](. Some readers have asked about The Times’s right to collect and keep the papers, if researchers will be able to use them, and whether names should have been redacted. If you have legal or ethical questions, [we’d like to hear them](. _____ Business Christie’s Images Ltd. 2018 • Christie’s New York begins a three-day auction of [a Rockefeller family art collection]( that could be the largest single-owner sale, and the largest charitable one, in history. Above, one of five Monets on offer. • Japan largest acquisition, ever: [Takeda Pharmaceutica]( agreed to buy a European rival, Shire]( for $62 billion, in yet another shakeout in the global drug industry. But buying growth isn’t the only option for Japan, the [world’s third-largest economy](. Our writer in Tokyo sees the country beginning to dominate by making robotics, technical components and other hardware — “the stuff that makes the stuff for today’s digital revolution.” • Could Bitcoin go mainstream? The New York Stock Exchange’s parent company is considering a trading platform that would [allow large investors to buy and hold the virtual currency](. • Digital currencies and artificial intelligence are turning a once-obscure [computer chip]( into a coveted but scarce commodity. • U.S. stocks [were down](. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News CCTV, via Associated Press Video, via Associated Press • A Chinese court sentenced a former top Communist Party official, Sun Zhengcai, above, to life in prison for criminal corruption, though political disloyalty also appears to have played a major role. [[Associated Press]( • Malaysia’s ruling coalition has lost more ground ahead of the general election on Wednesday, according to an independent poll, but it could still win enough parliamentary seats to ward off a triumph by a bloc led by Mahathir Mohamad, the 92-year-old former prime minister. [[Reuters]( • In the U.S., it’s decision day for contested Republican Senate primaries in three key Trump states: Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia. [[The New York Times]( • An ancient virus similar to H.I.V. is spreading across Australia’s Northern Territory, hitting indigenous communities particularly hard. Doctors warn that its “prevalence is off the charts.” [[CNN]( • An Afghan airstrike on a Taliban gathering last month killed or wounded more than 100 people. Most of them were children, a new U.N. report says. [[The New York Times]( • Faux pas: The Israeli press is filled with accounts of outrage that, at a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, was served dessert in a shoe-shaped vessel. [[The Japan News]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Craig Lee for The New York Times • Recipe of the day: [Broccoli comes to life]( with orange and sesame. • Organize your home to [create a more relaxed]( and efficient life. • You need a good 10-foot charging cable [for your phone](. Noteworthy Damon Winter/The New York Times • The theme of this year’s [Met Gala]( was the influence of Catholicism on fashion, and stars like Rihanna, above, filled the red carpet with papal tiaras, halo, bejeweled crucifixes and angel wings. • In memoriam: [Jhoon Rhee]( 86, a taekwondo grandmaster. He trained with Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee and taught hundreds of congressman how to spar, popularizing the Korean martial art in the U.S. • And in one of our most-read stories today, our Op-Ed columnist Bari Weiss looks at the [Intellectual Dark Web]( an alliance of iconoclastic thinkers, academic renegades and media personalities that is making an end run around the mainstream conversation, and drawing attention around the world. “People are starved for controversial opinions,” one member said. Back Story J.M. Barrie, via Sotheby's, via Getty Images Peter Pan helps sick children. Not fictionally; financially. The author J.M. Barrie, who was born on this day in 1860, donated the rights to his most famous creation to the Great Ormond Street children’s hospital in London in 1929. In [a front-page report at the time]( The New York Times estimated their worth at “roughly $10,000 a year,” which it said was equivalent to a sixth of the hospital’s income. It would have been clear that the gift was of lasting value: The boy who never grows up was introduced in 1902, becoming the subject of a hit play two years later, and then a novel. He had already inspired [a statue in a London park]( and even [begun his long career in movies](. But few would have guessed quite how long Peter Pan would pay. [The copyright first expired in Britain]( at the end of 1987, 50 years after Barrie’s death. Within months, however, [Parliament passed a measure]( granting Great Ormond Street a permanent right to royalties from the stage play and adaptations of it. Peter Pan’s adventures in America are also still helping the hospital; according to its website, [the U.S. copyright does not expire until 2023](. Peter Robins wrote today’s Back Story. _____ 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](. ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Morning Briefing: Asia Edition newsletter. 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