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Here\u2019s what you need to know:
\u2022 President Trump plunged into Middle East peacemaking in a meeting with the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, at the White House .
And Rex W. Tillerson laid out his vision as secretary of state, saying the U. S. had been far too accommodating to emerging nations and longtime allies.
Mr. Trump now prepares to meet with Australia\u2019s prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, in New York for the first time since a testy phone call in January.
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\u2022 No U. S. Navy ship has gone within 12 miles of any of the disputed islands in the South China Sea since President Trump took office, Pentagon officials said.
The decision to avoid the area comes as the Trump administration looks to President Xi Jinping of China for help in dealing with North Korea.
But fundamental strategic differences are likely to undermine any personal ties Mr. Trump says he has forged with the Chinese leader, our correspondent writes.
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\u2022 Article 9 of Japan\u2019s Constitution calls for the complete renunciation of war. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced a plan to change it.
Mr. Abe\u2019s plan comes as Japan steps up its show of military force amid concerns over North Korea.
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\u2022 \u201cThere is a scramble to win over the heart and mind of President Duterte.\u201d
That\u2019s what one analyst said after President Xi Jinping spoke with President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines spoke by phone just days after President Trump placed a similar call.
Separately, lawmakers in the Philippines rejected the woman Mr. Duterte appointed as acting environment secretary.
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\u2022 Voters in both South Korea and France will head to the polls soon. The final round of voting in the French presidential race happens Sunday. In South Korea, the election is May 9.
The French candidates \u2014 the pro-Europe Emmanuel Macron and the far-right populist Marine Le Pen \u2014 me t in a televised debate .
Here\u2019s a look at the leading candidates in South Korea. Above, politicians last month in Seoul.
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\u2022 From the suburbs of Sydney, we bring you an uplifting story about refugees and a basketball club, the Savannah Pride .
Some of the members, who fled South Sudan\u2019s civil wars years ago, are being recruited to play for elite schools in the U. S.
The gym that hosts the club has become an enclave unto itself. \u201cIt\u2019s brought me brothers. It\u2019s brought me fathers, \u201d said a coach.
\u2022 Journalists at two of Australia\u2019s biggest papers began a weeklong strike after Fairfax Media said it would cut 125 jobs at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
\u2022 HNA Group, a secretive Chinese conglomerate with ties to the Communist Party, became the biggest shareholder in Deutsche Bank. Here\u2019s what we know about this emerging global deal maker.
\u2022 A U. S. auto boom might be history. A fourth straight monthly sales decline is putting a dent in automakers\u2019 shares. \u201cThe market is tapped out, \u201d one dealer said.
\u2022 The maiden flight of China\u2019s 158-seat C919 passenger aircraft, the country\u2019s rival to Airbus and Boeing, is scheduled for Friday.
\u2022 U. S. stocks were weaker. Here\u2019s a snapshot of global markets.
\u2022 In Afghanistan, at least eight civilians were killed and three U. S. soldiers wounded when a suicide bomber attacked an American military convoy in Kabul. [The New York Times]
\u2022 James B. Comey, the F. B. I. director, said any suggestion he affected the outcome of the U. S. presidential election made him \u201cmildly nauseous.\u201d [The New York Times]
\u2022 North Korea confirmed it was holding an American citizen who was detained while trying to leave the country. [The New York Times]
\u2022 An Australian man\u2019s detention in the U. S. has been the subject of global attention, but the details are more complicated than first reported. [The New York Times]
\u2022 In Perth, a Taiwanese delegation was ejected from a meeting hosted by Australia\u2019s foreign minister after Chinese delegates disrupted proceedings. [The Sydney Morning Herald]
\u2022 Another viral video of an airline fracas: An American man who started a fistfight on a flight about to leave Tokyo has been charged with assault. [The New York Times]
\u2022 Some judges in India are taking action against their rivals by ordering them to undergo court-mandated mental health evaluations. [BBC]
\u2022 A band of Thai protesters stands in the way of China\u2019s plan to blast open more of the Mekong River for cargo ships. [Reuters]
\u2022 Feeling intellectually under-stimulated? Here\u2019s how to foster great conversations .
\u2022 Fear gets in the way of finishing our pet projects, or pursuing our passions. Learn to work with it.
\u2022 Recipe of the day: For diner-style hamburgers, get out a sturdy spatula.
\u2022 Women from the Philippines now dominate home care in Israel \u2014 but many still feel invisible.
\u2022 China\u2019s leaders have beamed about a state campaign to plant trees, but a new study suggests that official estimates overstated its successes, and even mistook shrubs for forests.
\u2022 A report found that 125 people or families seeking asylum in the U. S. were turned back at entry points \u2014 a violation of international law.
When President Trump appears with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia to honor the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, they\u2019 ll be on the deck of the Intrepid.
Let\u2019s take a moment to examine the battle and the ship, a former Navy aircraft carrier docked in the Hudson River.
Intrepid fought in World War II \u2014 scars from Japanese kamikaze attacks led to its nickname, the U. S. Decrepit \u2014 but not in the battle being commemorated this week.
The ship later served in the Vietnam War, on NATO missions and as the recovery ship for the Gemini and Mercury space missions. It became a museum in 1982 and a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
In the Battle of the Coral Sea, fought this week in 1942, U. S. and Australian forces drove back the Japanese and stopped an invasion of Australia.
It was the first air-sea battle and a strategic victory for Allied forces.
An American sailor, Otis G. Kight, described the fighting:
\u201cUp to the time of Coral Sea, I had only read in Hemingway\u2019s novels about \u201cthe sweet smell of death.\u201d The area was a full disaster, and I realized what the \u201csweet smell of death\u201d really was. There were parts and particles; some ship, some shipmate.\u201d
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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.
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