Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
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Good morning. The North Korea meeting in limbo, a Malaysian opposition leader’s return and Indian elections. Here’s what you need to know:
• The White House brushed aside North Korea’s threats to cancel the summit meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un next month, saying the U. S. was “hopeful” it would happen but would be fine if it did not.
After objecting to military exercises, North Korea also rejected Washington’s demand that it quickly dismantle its nuclear program. And it singled out John Bolton, above right, Mr. Trump’s new national security adviser, for criticism: “We do not hide our feelings of repugnance towards him.”
The State Department said it would continue planning for the meeting in Singapore, but the news was a familiar pattern from Pyongyang: diplomatic outreach, followed by erratic behavior.
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• “We must cast aside illusions and rely on ourselves,” President Xi Jinping of China said last month.
Now, as a top Chinese policymaker meets with the Trump administration this week in hopes of heading off a trade war, Washington and Beijing are anticipating a time when they don’t need each other so much. But both sides acknowledge full disengagement is impossible.
Also this week: Business owners, trade groups and industry representatives will testify before U. S. officials on the administration’s plan to impose tariffs on more than 1,300 Chinese imports such as steel, above.
And we fact-checked President Trump’s assertion that his decision to review restrictions on ZTE, a Chinese telecommunications company, were part of “the larger trade deal.” We also looked at why the U. S. is unnerved by China’s rise .
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• “I hope at least that each bullet was justified.”
Israelis grappled with the casualty reports from the Gaza protest on Monday: 60 Palestinians killed and more than 1,700 hospitalized, according to Palestinian officials. Israel justified the use of force, saying some protesters were armed.
In contrast with Washington’s full-throated support of Israel, Europe’s response has been more critical. European officials also started working to save the nuclear accord with Iran, which President Trump pulled out of last week.
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• Code name: Crossfire Hurricane .
The Russia investigation began with a top-secret F. B. I. mission to London to interview the Australian ambassador.
President Trump has dismissed it as a “witch hunt” — but the F. B. I. repeatedly took steps that benefited him.
And a Senate panel released thousands of pages of documents on the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Trump campaign officials and a self-described Kremlin informant.
Also on Wednesday: Mr. Trump released his financial disclosure, which revealed that he paid more than $100,000 to his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, above, for an unspecified reimbursement. Mr. Cohen paid $130,000 to the adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, who claims she had an affair with Mr. Trump.
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• A remote town in northeastern China has long cherished its special, if fraught, connection to Japan.
Fangzheng was once part of the Japanese imperial puppet state Manchuria, and the Sino-Japanese Friendship Garden there, above, holds the graves of 5,000 Japanese who died when Soviet forces swept in during World War II.
But the town, like its cemetery, has been caught in the complex and tortured history that still divides Japan and China. In 2011, nationalists shut down the garden and branded the residents, many of whom have family ties to Japan, as traitors.
Now, warming relations between Tokyo and Beijing have given some hope. “It’s torture for people like me who love both countries,” one resident said.
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• Didi Chuxing, China’s popular ride-sharing service, said it would overhaul its app and security practices after a 21-year-old passenger was allegedly raped and killed by a driver.
• The Los Angeles Times suspended its Beijing bureau chief, Jonathan Kaiman, after accusations of sexual misconduct, outlined in a letter addressed to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China.
• As tech companies contend with questions about the role of social media in politics, our most recent episode of “The Daily” looks at how inflammatory Facebook posts stirred ethnic violence in Sri Lanka.
• Uniqlo, the Japanese clothing giant, is teaming up with the designer Tomas Maier for a resort-focused collection. We spoke with Mr. Maier about the collaboration.
• U. S. stocks were up. Here’s a snapshot of global markets.
• The longtime Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, above, has been pardoned and will return to politics after his alliance’s election victory. [ The New York Times]
• Four men wielding swords were shot dead at a security checkpoint, the latest in a wave of apparent terrorist attacks in Indonesia. [ The New York Times]
• Michigan State University has agreed to pay $500 million to victims of the physician Larry Nassar, who sexually abused more than 300 young women. [ The New York Times]
• Taliban insurgents overran the Afghan city of Farah, killing 30 people, and then retreating. [ The New York Times]
• President Trump met with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan in an effort to start a new era of closer cooperation and to press for greater political and economic openness. [ The New York Times]
• A Hong Kong journalist was roughed up and detained by the Beijing police while covering the disciplinary hearing of a human rights lawyer. [ The New York Times]
• Aleksei Navalny, the Russian opposition figure, was sentenced to 30 days in jail for organizing an unsanctioned rally days before President Vladimir V. Putin’s inauguration. [ The New York Times]
• With no clear winner in crucial state elections in Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party was invited to try to form a government. [ The Times of India]
• As air-conditioning is adopted more widely in countries like India and China, there is growing concern about increasing emissions and the burden on power grids. [ The New York Times]
Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.
• Recipe of the day: Frying can be messy, so make baked fish and chips instead.
• Doing something for fun can be its own reward .
• In this week’s Australia Diary, the joyful image above captures two defining aspects of the country’s culture: sportsmanship and mateship .
• Anne Frank covered up some pages in her diary that had dirty jokes and “sexual matters.” Researchers uncovered the hidden text using new digital technologies.
• Laurel or Yanny? People are questioning one another’s hearing — and their own — after an audio clip went viral on the internet. Which do you hear?
Just after the “Seinfeld” finale began, on May 14,1998, a 911 call came from Frank Sinatra’s home in Beverly Hills.
