The NYT Morning Briefing April 27, 2023 : Morning Briefing, Asia Pacific Edition April 27, 2023 By Amelia Nierenberg covering nuclear diplomacy between the U.S. and South Korea. Also, China’s outreach to Ukraine. President Biden and President Yoon Suk Yeol, center left, celebrated the 70-year alliance between the U.S. and South KoreaDoug Mills/The New York Times South Korea’s nuclear deal The U.S. has agreed to give South Korea a central role in the strategic planning for the use of nuclear weapons in any conflict with North Korea. In return, South Korea agreed to not pursue its own nuclear arsenal. The deal, announced during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to Washington, is meant to assure South Korea that the U.S. will use its nuclear arsenal, if needed, to dissuade or respond to a nuclear attack from the North — even if that risks a strike on an American city. The concept is called “extended deterrence.” The accord is an admission that disarming North Korea is no longer plausible. In the past four years, the North’s arsenal has grown so fast that U.S. and South Korean officials have stopped trying to keep a precise count. Volodymyr Zelensky, left, spoke with Xi Jinping for nearly an hour.Omar Marques/Getty Images; Thibault Camus/Associated Press Xi speaks with Zelensky Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, had long requested a conversation with China’s leader, Xi Jinping. Yesterday, the two spoke by phone — their first known contact since Russia’s invasion. Both framed the call carefully. China’s official account notably omitted the words “Russia” and “war,” and referred instead to the need for a “political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.” Zelensky said the discussion was “long and meaningful.” Despite Xi’s conversation with Zelensky, China and Russia remain closely aligned: Last month, Xi met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and the two also spoke little of the war, though China has floated a potential peace plan. Xi has also been trying to burnish his image as a global statesman by helping to restore ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and by welcoming President Emmanuel Macron of France to China. In Asia: As China threatens Taiwan, the Philippines is growing more assertive, holding its largest joint military drill ever with the U.S. yesterday. Pope Francis, seen here in St. Peter’s Square yesterday, has steadily given women more of a voice in the church.Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters More power to Catholic women Pope Francis will let women vote at a meeting of bishops for the first time, an important step toward giving them more say in the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church. The meeting, of an advisory committee called the Synod of Bishops, periodically takes place at the Vatican to discuss issues like divorce. In 2021, the pope amended church laws to let women be Bible readers at Mass, serve at the altar and distribute communion — practices that were already common in many places. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Ad THE LATEST NEWS Asia A vigil in Singapore for Tangaraju Suppiah, who was hanged.How Hwee Young/EPA, via Shutterstock Singapore hanged a man for conspiring to traffic cannabis. Human rights groups called the punishment excessive. China detained a Taiwan-based publisher, who puts out books critical of the Communist Party, while he was on a trip to the mainland. British American Tobacco agreed to pay $635 million for violating sanctions by selling cigarettes to North Korea. The War in Ukraine Aleksei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition leader, said he faced a new charge that could lead to life imprisonment. Russia nationalized the local subsidiaries of two European energy companies, escalating an economic standoff with the West. Russia pounded Zaporizhzhia, in southern Ukraine, ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive. Business News “World of Warcraft” is one of Activision Blizzard’s blockbuster games.Martin Meissner/Associated Press British antitrust regulators blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover bid for the video game giant Activision Blizzard. U.S. regulators also oppose the deal, and the E.U. is expected to weigh in next month. Two Anheuser-Busch executives were placed on leave after a Bud Light marketing campaign with a transgender influencer set off right-wing outrage. The Bank of England’s top economist said Britons needed “to accept that they’re worse off” as inflation continued to outstrip wages. Other Big Stories Disney sued Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, claiming “a targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company has criticized a controversial state law. At least 55 people drowned after their boat sank off Libya. The Taliban killed the leader of the Islamic State cell responsible for a deadly bombing at Kabul’s airport in 2021, U.S. officials said. Parts of China and Australia are among the places that are most at risk from a heat wave, a new study shows. A Morning Read A gorilla spinning in a kiddie pool at the Dallas Zoo.Dallas Zoo Humans love the dizziness that comes from spinning in circles. Apparently, so do other primates, like the gorilla in a now-viral video. “They seem to do it for the same reason that children do — because it’s fun and exhilarating,” said an author of a new study that looked at why apes spin. Subscribe Today We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times with this special offer. ARTS AND IDEAS The girls go through bowling and batting drills at their village grounds.Atul Loke for The New York Times Indian girls’ cricket dreams This spring, a new professional cricket league for women in India held its inaugural season — a $500 million bet on female talent in the country’s most popular sport. The Women’s Premier League is already creating new opportunities for female athletes, as seen in one village in Punjab, where a team of girls ranging in age from 9 to 14 dream of becoming professional cricketers. Their coach takes them to see games far away. He pours his salary into their team and brings recruiters to watch them play. He builds their confidence, encouraging them to see cricket as an escape from the confines of Indian village life, where women perform most of the domestic labor. “This is what it looks like to chip away at India’s rigid gender divide,” writes Mujib Mashal, our South Asia bureau chief. PLAY, WATCH, EAT What to Cook Julia Gartland for The New York Times These meatballs, inspired by traditional Korean barbecue, bring the savory-sweet flavors of caramelized meat without the need for a grill. What to Listen to Readers of The Amplifier newsletter suggest 12 motivating workout songs. What to Watch “Trenque Lauquen,” a wondrous, multipart Argentine epic, traces a mysterious disappearance. Health Most melatonin gummy products are mislabeled. Now Time to Play Play the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Up to this point (five letters). Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here. That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — Amelia

 

April 27, 2023

By Amelia Nierenberg Writer, Briefings

Good morning. We’re covering nuclear diplomacy between the U.S. and South Korea. Also, China’s outreach to Ukraine.

President Biden and President Yoon Suk Yeol, center left, celebrated the 70-year alliance between the U.S. and South KoreaDoug Mills/The New York Times

South Korea’s nuclear deal

The U.S. has agreed to give South Korea a central role in the strategic planning for the use of nuclear weapons in any conflict with North Korea. In return, South Korea agreed to not pursue its own nuclear arsenal.

The deal, announced during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to Washington, is meant to assure South Korea that the U.S. will use its nuclear arsenal, if needed, to dissuade or respond to a nuclear attack from the North — even if that risks a strike on an American city. The concept is called “extended deterrence.”

The accord is an admission that disarming North Korea is no longer plausible. In the past four years, the North’s arsenal has grown so fast that U.S. and South Korean officials have stopped trying to keep a precise count.

Volodymyr Zelensky, left, spoke with Xi Jinping for nearly an hour.Omar Marques/Getty Images; Thibault Camus/Associated Press

Xi speaks with Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, had long requested a conversation with China’s leader, Xi Jinping. Yesterday, the two spoke by phone — their first known contact since Russia’s invasion.

Both framed the call carefully. China’s official account notably omitted the words “Russia” and “war,” and referred instead to the need for a “political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.” Zelensky said the discussion was “long and meaningful.”

Despite Xi’s conversation with Zelensky, China and Russia remain closely aligned: Last month, Xi met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and the two also spoke little of the war, though China has floated a potential peace plan.

Xi has also been trying to burnish his image as a global statesman by helping to restore ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and by welcoming President Emmanuel Macron of France to China.

In Asia: As China threatens Taiwan, the Philippines is growing more assertive, holding its largest joint military drill ever with the U.S. yesterday.

Pope Francis, seen here in St. Peter’s Square yesterday, has steadily given women more of a voice in the church.Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters

More power to Catholic women

Pope Francis will let women vote at a meeting of bishops for the first time, an important step toward giving them more say in the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church.

The meeting, of an advisory committee called the Synod of Bishops, periodically takes place at the Vatican to discuss issues like divorce. In 2021, the pope amended church laws to let women be Bible readers at Mass, serve at the altar and distribute communion — practices that were already common in many places.

Continue reading the main story

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THE LATEST NEWS

Asia

A vigil in Singapore for Tangaraju Suppiah, who was hanged.How Hwee Young/EPA, via Shutterstock

Singapore hanged a man for conspiring to traffic cannabis. Human rights groups called the punishment excessive. China detained a Taiwan-based publisher, who puts out books critical of the Communist Party, while he was on a trip to the mainland. British American Tobacco agreed to pay $635 million for violating sanctions by selling cigarettes to North Korea.

The War in Ukraine

Aleksei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition leader, said he faced a new charge that could lead to life imprisonment.

Russia nationalized the local subsidiaries of two European energy companies, escalating an economic standoff with the West. Russia pounded Zaporizhzhia, in southern Ukraine, ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Business News

“World of Warcraft” is one of Activision Blizzard’s blockbuster games.Martin Meissner/Associated Press

British antitrust regulators blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover bid for the video game giant Activision Blizzard. U.S. regulators also oppose the deal, and the E.U. is expected to weigh in next month. Two Anheuser-Busch executives were placed on leave after a Bud Light marketing campaign with a transgender influencer set off right-wing outrage. The Bank of England’s top economist said Britons needed “to accept that they’re worse off” as inflation continued to outstrip wages.

Other Big Stories

Disney sued Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, claiming “a targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company has criticized a controversial state law. At least 55 people drowned after their boat sank off Libya. The Taliban killed the leader of the Islamic State cell responsible for a deadly bombing at Kabul’s airport in 2021, U.S. officials said.

Parts of China and Australia are among the places that are most at risk from a heat wave, a new study shows.

A Morning Read

A gorilla spinning in a kiddie pool at the Dallas Zoo.Dallas Zoo

Humans love the dizziness that comes from spinning in circles. Apparently, so do other primates, like the gorilla in a now-viral video. “They seem to do it for the same reason that children do — because it’s fun and exhilarating,” said an author of a new study that looked at why apes spin.

Subscribe Today

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times with this special offer.

ARTS AND IDEAS

The girls go through bowling and batting drills at their village grounds.Atul Loke for The New York Times

Indian girls’ cricket dreams

This spring, a new professional cricket league for women in India held its inaugural season — a $500 million bet on female talent in the country’s most popular sport.

The Women’s Premier League is already creating new opportunities for female athletes, as seen in one village in Punjab, where a team of girls ranging in age from 9 to 14 dream of becoming professional cricketers.

Their coach takes them to see games far away. He pours his salary into their team and brings recruiters to watch them play. He builds their confidence, encouraging them to see cricket as an escape from the confines of Indian village life, where women perform most of the domestic labor.

“This is what it looks like to chip away at India’s rigid gender divide,” writes Mujib Mashal, our South Asia bureau chief.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to Cook

Julia Gartland for The New York Times

These meatballs, inspired by traditional Korean barbecue, bring the savory-sweet flavors of caramelized meat without the need for a grill.

What to Listen to

Readers of The Amplifier newsletter suggest 12 motivating workout songs.

What to Watch

“Trenque Lauquen,” a wondrous, multipart Argentine epic, traces a mysterious disappearance.

Health

Most melatonin gummy products are mislabeled.

Now Time to Play

Play the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Up to this point (five letters).

Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee.

You can find all our puzzles here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — Amelia