Your Wednesday Briefing

Apple, North Korea, Florida | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, September 13, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Asia Edition [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By CHARLES MCDERMID Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: South Korean Defense Ministry , via Getty Images • President Trump [downplayed new U.N. sanctions against North Korea]( while his treasury secretary called the penalties for its nuclear program “historic” and [threatened to block China from the U.S. financial system]( if it did not comply. The North’s U.N. ambassador said that “forthcoming measures” from his country would cause [the U.S. the “greatest pain”]( it had ever suffered. Our podcast “The Daily” [looks at the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un]( who loves Whitney Houston, the Chicago Bulls and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Meanwhile, South Korea is pouring money into strategies, weapons and even [a “decapitation unit”]( that it hopes will keep the North on edge. Above, South Korean marines. _____ Mandel Ngan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • Trade was a major focus of [President Trump’s meeting with Prime Minister Najib Razak]( of Malaysia. Mr. Najib said that Malaysia Airlines would buy dozens of jets and Dreamliners from Boeing in a deal he said would be worth more than $10 billion within five years. Mr. Trump, in turn, praised Mr. Najib for his tough stance on terrorism, and for severing Malaysia’s business ties with North Korea. There was no public discussion of the U.S. investigation into a [corruption scandal implicating Mr. Najib.]( _____ Dan Kitwood/Getty Images • The U.N. launched a [major airlift of emergency supplies for Rohingya]( who have fled to Bangladesh, and the [Security Council will hold an emergency meeting]( today at the request of Britain and Sweden. As global concern mounts, [hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who arrived in Pakistan]( from an exodus decades ago are distraught. “We need world pressure behind us to end this violence, this hell,” said one. “Just issuing statements isn’t enough.” _____ Byron Kaye/Reuters • Australia’s Catholic Church has done less to protect children than its counterparts in similar countries, [according to a new report on sexual abuse]( by a research center at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. The church was rocked in June when Cardinal George Pell, one of the pope’s top advisers, became the highest-ranking Roman Catholic prelate to be formally charged with sexual offenses. He is due back in court in Melbourne in October. _____ Kevin Hagen for The New York Times • The damage from [Irma, now a post-tropical cyclone, is still being assessed]( across the southeastern U.S. as many families begin the journey home, often struggling through fuel shortages, spotty telecom service and sweltering heat. In the Florida Keys, residents who didn’t evacuate showed us the extent of Irma’s damage. [“We lost everything,” one said](. And every hurricane tells a story. A veteran Times reporter looks back on [decades of covering devastating storms](. Business Toby Melville/Reuters • More static disrupted Rupert Murdoch’s bid to take over Sky, the British satellite television giant, as Britain’s culture minister hinted at an intensive competition inquiry that would delay, if not scrap, the $15 billion acquisition. [Sky and Mr. Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox]( have 10 days to respond. • WeWork, the U.S. shared work space start-up valued at $20 billion, [is suing its well-funded Chinese rival, UrWork,]( for copyright infringement. • Tungsten and cobalt prices have surged this year on [fears of inadequate supplies from China]( a dominant producer of the rare earth metals, used to harden steel and make batteries for electric cars. • It distracted us. It gave us Uber. It made selfies a thing. Our tech columnist [reflects on the iPhone]( on its 10th anniversary, as [Apple unveiled the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X]( (pronounced “ten,” not “ex”). • U.S. stocks [were up]( a day after Asian shares [hit]( 10-year high](. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Jagadeesh Nv/European Pressphoto Agency • Thousands gathered in Bangalore to protest the killing of Gauri Lankesh, the journalist shot dead at her home last week. [[The New Indian Express]( • Turkey signed a deal to purchase a Russian surface-to-air missile system, complicating its relationship with NATO and making its European Union membership even more unlikely. [[The New York Times]( • Stephen Bannon, the former Trump strategist, appeared to mute his harsh line against China’s economic clout on a visit to Hong Kong, even praising President Xi Jinping. [[The New York Times]( • Evacuations of up to half a million people have begun as southeast China braces for the devastating power of Typhoon Talim. [[South China Morning Post]( • Cambodia’s Parliament approved the prosecution of Kem Sokha, an opposition leader, stripping his immunity in a relentless crackdown by Prime Minister Hun Sen. [[The New York Times]( • In the Philippines, lawmakers aligned with President Rodrigo Duterte voted to cut the budget of the human rights commission investigating the country’s violent war on drugs to $20. The commission had requested $34 million. [[BBC]( • Singaporeans are preparing for their first female president to take office, but many are questioning a qualification process so narrow that only one candidate made the cut, bypassing a vote. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Nathan Benn/Corbis, via Getty Images • Feeling older? [Embrace the positives](. • Worth it if you’re traveling by air: a cadre of [entertaining flight safety films](. • Recipe of the day: Parsnips are underrated. Toss them with [pasta, bacon and a creamy sauce](. Noteworthy Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times • In Macau, a battle over redeveloping a defunct ’60s-era casino, [the modernist Hotel Estoril]( has widened into an acrimonious debate over which sites in the rapidly changing city are worth preserving. • The Japan Art Association revealed [the winners of this year’s]( Imperiale]( the Nobel Prize of the arts, to be bestowed on Oct. 18: the Russian American dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov; the Senegalese musician Youssou N’Dour; the Iranian artist Shirin Neshat; the Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui; and the Spanish architect Rafael Moneo. • And remember Naruto, the [Indonesian monkey who took a selfie in 2011]( and became an internet celebrity? Under a new settlement, part of the profits from his pictures will help protect his species, the endangered crested macaque. Back Story Fritz Reiss/Associated Press When did World War II formally end? By one measure, it was not in 1945, but 1990. The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, [signed 27 years ago this week]( was the catchy title of an agreement that ended foreign-occupation rights in German territories, paving the way for German reunification. The “two-plus-four” agreement, as it was called, involved West and East Germany and the powers governing them after the war: the U.S., Britain, France and the Soviet Union. “Two plus four adds up to one Germany in a Europe whole and free,” James Baker, the U.S. secretary of state, said after the signing in Moscow, which came almost a year after [the fall of the Berlin Wall](. The treaty was [only a few pages long]( but negotiations took seven months. It was only in the last days that some disputes, [including the role of NATO]( were resolved. A day after the signing, [Germany and the Soviet Union]( initialed a “good neighbor” pact, and within a month [the Unification Treaty ended Germany’s 45-year division](. Families were reunited, [travel restrictions were removed]( and [frivolity unfolded](. Little more than a year later, [the Soviet Union itself fell](. Thomas Furse contributed reporting. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. 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](. If photographs appear out of order, please download the updated New York Times app [from iTunes]( or [Google Play](. 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. 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