Your Wednesday Briefing

Jared Kushner, Russia, Angela Merkel | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, May 31, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Asia Edition [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By CHARLES MCDERMID Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Doug Mills/The New York Times • A long-anticipated shake up in White House appears to have started with the [resignation of the]( of communications](. [President Trump was back on Twitter]( to criticize Germany for what he said were underpayments to NATO, and dismissed the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election — and the possibility that Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, above, [sought a back channel with the Kremlin]( — as “fake news.” Russian state media chimed in with a tweet that may not help Mr. Trump’s denials, saying that the foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, does want an open channel. _____ KCNA, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • North Korea said that the ballistic missile it tested this week could be rapidly launched and could strike with great precision. It is the latest in a series of [advances in missile technology]( claimed by Pyongyang. Separately, the president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, ordered an investigation into why he was not informed that [four additional launchers for Thaad]( a contentious American missile-defense battery, had been brought into his country. The U.S. defense secretary, Jim Mattis, will be in Singapore and Australia this week. _____ European Pressphoto Agency • Bangladesh is grappling with the [damage from]( Mora](. The storm killed four people, destroyed the homes of thousands of Rohingya refugees who had fled Myanmar, and forced the evacuation of 450,000 people in affected areas. Mora is losing power as it heads inland, but fears of flooding are intensifying. “There isn’t a single refugee home that hasn’t had its roof blown off,” a Rohingya said. _____ Ye Aung Thu/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • In Myanmar, rights groups are demanding action after another video surfaced that appears to [show security forces abusing detainees]( this time in Shan State where rebels are fighting government forces. In the video, interrogators kick and strike prisoners and threaten them if they do not comply. “I will cut your throat and kill you,” one soldier says. _____ Francis R. Malasig/European Pressphoto Agency • “They claim they are holy warriors — what is holy with killing people?” A young man [in Marawi, a city in the southern Philippines]( told our reporter about bodies in the streets and the sheer terror that has been unleashed by militants loyal to the Islamic State. As the fighting entered its second week, the death toll stood at 65 fighters, 24 civilians and 20 government troops. Business Lukas Coch/European Pressphoto Agency • Wall Street is in a bidding war for [Fairfax Media, an Australian company]( that publishes The Sydney Morning Herald and other newspapers, and operates [Domain]( the lucrative real estate website. • Vietnam’s VNG Corp., a game developer, [plans to go public in](. It will be the country’s first foreign tech I.P.O. • India’s new bankruptcy law and its efforts to tackle bad debt are providing exciting incentives for investors to reconsider delving into [the nation’s distressed market](. • Singapore’s central bank [fined Credit Suisse and United Overseas Bank]( a total of $1.2 million on money laundering violations related to Malaysia’s scandal-plagued state fund 1MDB. • Many hotels, under pressure from home-sharing sites like Airbnb, are [seeking to offer more than a place to sleep](. • U.S. stocks [were weaker](. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Karim Kadim/Associated Press • A pair of attacks shook Baghdad, in one instance killing three children, ages 4, 6 and 8, who were out for ice cream with their families — creating a wrenching scene like the one in Manchester last week. The bombings killed a total of 31 people, and injured at least 66. [[The New York Times]( • Australia plans to ban convicted pedophiles from traveling overseas in what the government called a move to protect children in Southeast Asia. [[Associated Press]( • A liquor bottle that was smuggled out of China last year, with a label commemorating the 1989 crackdown on demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, has made a trip around the world arriving in Hong Kong just days before the 28th anniversary of the massacre. [[The New York Times]( • In Indonesia, the hard-line leader of the Islamic Defenders Front faces pornography charges stemming from a sexually explicit dalliance online. [[The New York Times]( • An Australian male choir from the town of Mullumbimby is a sensation in Russia for performing classic Russian folk songs — though none of its members speak Russian. [[Sputnik International]( • A “faceless fish” has been found at depths of over 13,000 feet in the first exploration of Australia’s’s deep-sea abyss. [[ABC]( Smarter Living The New York Times • We’ve all been stuck in bad meetings. Here’s how to run [an effective meeting](. • Research on Russian cosmonauts suggests that salt makes you hungry but not thirsty, and [may help burn](. • If you’re craving an old-school recipe, [tuna-macaroni salad]( is an excellent option. Noteworthy Tim Laman/National Geographic Creative • Why is there beauty, and so much of it? A scientist ponders [whether]( judgments about mates]( are tied to traits we see as adaptive and worth passing on. Or, does beauty just “happen”? • In memoriam: Manuel Noriega, the brash [former dictator of Panama]( and sometime ally of the United States, died at 83. His ties to drug trafficking prompted his ouster in 1989, in what was then the largest American military action since the Vietnam War. • And we review “Anatomy of Terror,” a former F.B.I. agent’s book about terrorism [since the death of Osama bin Laden](. It’s a cancer, the author writes, that has “metastasized across the Middle East and North Africa and beyond.” Back Story Associated Press In a speech to graduates of Rhode Island College (now Brown University) in 1774, Barnabas Binney made a plea for an “infant” [America to uphold religious freedom](. The Revolutionary War surgeon was an early voice in American history to offer words of wisdom to graduating students. It is unclear when universities and military schools started to invite sitting presidents to address the outgoing class. The American Presidency Project’s first commencement speech on record dates to 1914, when [Woodrow Wilson addressed the U.S. Naval Academy](. But it wasn’t until the 1940s that presidents began to make regular appearances at graduations, where they took on noble ideals and offered inspiration into the next generation. Topics ranged from education and [civil rights]( to [technological achievement]( and [courage](. Harry S. Truman spoke about the [importance of public service in 1947]( at Princeton University. [John F. Kennedy tackled the topic of world peace]( under a growing nuclear threat at American University in 1963. Notre Dame holds the record of nonmilitary schools for hosting the most sitting presidents (6), while Barack Obama holds the record for [giving the most]( commencement speeches (24). Donald J. Trump has already given two. Is it a uniquely American tradition for sitting presidents to address college graduates? Share your graduation traditions with us at briefings@nytimes.com. Danielle Belopotosky contributed reporting. _____ This briefing was prepared for the Asian morning. We also have briefings timed for the [Australian]( [European]( and [American]( mornings. You can sign up for these and other Times newsletters [here](. Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. What would you like to see here? Contact us at [asiabriefing@nytimes.com](mailto:asiabriefing@nytimes.com?subject=Briefing%20Feedback%20(Asia)). 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. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018