Your Wednesday Briefing

North Korea, Xi Jinping, Extreme Weather | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, February 28, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Asia Edition [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By INYOUNG KANG Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Ammar Suleiman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • North Korea has likely been [helping the Syrian government build chemical weapons]( according to U.N. experts. The New York Times reviewed an unreleased U.N. report written by a panel assessing the North’s compliance with U.N. sanctions. It cites years of North Korean shipments of necessary components to Syria and the presence of North Korean technicians at Syrian chemical weapons facilities. It is unclear when, or even whether, the report will be released. Above, the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus last week. Separately, President Trump said [the U.S. was open to talks with Pyongyang](. Within hours, his top diplomat on North Korea announced plans to retire. _____ Fayez Nureldine/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • More sweeping change in Saudi Arabia. Now it’s [the leadership of the kingdom’s military and security services]( Royal decrees ousted dozens of officials and elevated younger successors. The shifts come at a time of rapid economic and social changes propelled by the ascendance of the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. _____ Jason Lee/Reuters • With China scrapping term limits, President Xi Jinping has new authority to pursue his drive to make the country a dominant global power. Chinese analysts see the risk of a [new Cold War](. The U.S. has tried to build a stronger coalition with Australia, India and Japan to counter China’s rise, but the analysts said Beijing would not think much of the effort because the U.S. was unwilling to spend on increased military cooperation and infrastructure. _____ Joao Silva/The New York Times • China’s contracting coal sector is finding new life abroad, testing the country’s climate leadership. A Kenyan port town that was designated a Unesco world heritage site could soon be home to the country’s [first coal-fired power plant](. It’s one of hundreds of that Chinese multinationals are helping to build or finance around the world. _____ Max Rossi/Reuters • Weather extremes: In Italy, Romans took to the streets after [snow fell]( on the capital, above, for the first time in six years. The same Siberian weather front, nicknamed the Beast from the East, brought frigid temperatures across Europe and has now blanketed London. And record high temperatures in the Arctic are [alarming scientists:]( “This is an anomaly among anomalies.” Keep abreast of the latest with our “Climate Fwd:” newsletter. [Sign up here.]( _____ Andrew Gombert/European Pressphoto Agency • In the U.S., a snowballing effort to boycott the National Rifle Association had a moment of pause. The lieutenant governor of Georgia threatened to block a [proposed tax cut for Delta]( after the airline eliminated a discount for members of the N.R.A. President Trump, who continues to weigh responses to the mass shooting at a high school in Florida, [said]( would have rushed into the school]( even unarmed. _____ Business • Beijing’s takeover of [Anbang Insurance Group]( one of China’s biggest spenders, has regulators worldwide struggling to understand what that means for the company’s properties. • Comcast, the broadcasting and cable global giant, [bid $31 billion for the British satellite broadcaster Sky]( potentially derailing 21st Century Fox’s efforts to acquire full control. • Jerome Powell, in his first public appearance as chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, [told Congress]( he would continue to bolster strong growth but avoid “overheating” the economy. • An emerging field called [digital phenotyping]( is trying to assess people’s physical and mental health based on their interactions with their devices. • A new generation of cameras can understand what they see, creating intriguing and sometimes eerie possibilities, [our tech columnist writes](. • U.S. stocks [were down](. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Andreas Gebert/Getty Images • A German court has ruled that diesel vehicles can be banned from some streets as part of efforts to improve air quality in urban areas. [[The New York Times]( • South Korean prosecutors are seeking a 30-year jail term for the former president, Park Geun-hye. If she is found guilty of corruption, her sentencing is expected April 6. [[The Korea Times]( • The U.S. cited “recent setbacks to democracy” in its decision to cut aid to assistance programs in Cambodia. [[Phnom Penh Post]( • An American tourist who was arrested in Japan now faces charges of disposing of and damaging a body in connection with the murder of woman in Osaka. [[The New York Times]( • In India, the governing Bharatiya Janata Party is hoping to extend its influence in the country’s northeast. Results of Tuesday elections for State Assembly in Meghalaya and Nagaland, along with those from an earlier vote in the state of Tripura, will be announced Saturday. [[The Times of India]( • Taiwanese consumers are in a near panic over a shortage of one of modern life’s basic necessities: toilet paper. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Roberto Pfeil/Associated Press • Sniffling? Learn [the right way to sneeze]( to avoid making others sick. • A shopping ban can help you reassess [what you really need](. • Recipe of the day: Fresh paprika makes for a superlative [chicken paprikash](. Noteworthy Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery • The Tasmanian tiger, a doglike marsupial hunted to extinction in the early 1900s, has revealed some of its secrets. [CT scans of rare baby specimens]( preserved in jars pinpoint exactly when their development left the marsupial inheritance to shift toward the canine. • How do the elite live when their country is constantly on the brink of collapse? A Spanish photographer looked into the world of [Lebanon’s 1 percent](. • Eido Tai Shimano, 1932-2018: He led a group in New York for [his branch of Japanese Zen Buddhism]( but resigned in 2010 after a sex scandal. Murray Close/Twentieth Century Fox • It took a dance dream team to [transform Jennifer Lawrence into a credible ballet dancer]( — a Bolshoi prima, no less — for her role in the dark spy thriller “Red Sparrow.” Back Story Associated Press [Our recent obituary for the Rev. Billy Graham]( referred to the Scopes “monkey trial,” so we thought we’d revisit the case. It was a turning point in the acceptance of evolution in the U.S. In 1925, after Tennessee barred schools from teaching evolution, the American Civil Liberties Union offered to defend anyone who [challenged the law](. Residents of Dayton convinced a young teacher named John Scopes to do so, in a bid for publicity. They got it. The proceedings became a nationally watched showdown between science and religion, each represented by a prominent figure: Clarence Darrow, a lawyer and agnostic, defended Scopes; William Jennings Bryan, a Christian orator, prosecuted him. Dayton officials encouraged the spectacle. They considered moving the trial to a baseball field. [A barbecue pit was dug]( in the courthouse’s lawn. And [The Times described a display]( of “two chimpanzees and a strange-appearing man who is called the ‘missing link.’ ” In [the trial’s climactic moment]( Darrow called Bryan as a witness, grilling him on biblical literalism. Darrow declared that he wanted to keep “bigots and ignoramuses from controlling” education. Bryan retorted that he needed to protect religion from the country’s “greatest atheist and agnostic.” In the end, Scopes was convicted after eight minutes of jury debate and fined $100, a decision later overturned on a technicality. But it was Darrow’s impassioned critique of fundamentalism that won hearts and minds across the country. Jillian Rayfield 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, or 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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