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Asia and Australia Edition

John McCain, Pope Francis, Myanmar: Your Monday Briefing

(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)

Good morning. A new era in Australia, the death of the lion of the U.S. Senate and allegations against the pope.

Here’s what you need to know:

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Credit...Lukas Coch/EPA, via Shutterstock

• What’s next in Australia?

The newly minted prime minister, Scott Morrison, named his cabinet, a mix of newcomers and holdovers. He said his “new generation team” would “begin the process of healing.”

But even as Mr. Morrison, above, promised continuity, it was clear that the Liberal Party’s rift — which produced Australia’s sixth prime minister since 2010 — is far from resolved. And that has implications for the country’s approach to climate change, immigration and the world.

The party vote that toppled Malcolm Turnbull on Friday also spurned Julie Bishop, the widely respected foreign minister and the party’s most popular figure with voters. She resigned, to be replaced by Defense Minister Marise Payne.

The ascent of Mr. Morrison, a champion of the coal industry, shows “what a potent political issue climate change and energy policy can be in a handful of countries with powerful fossil fuel lobbies,” according to our climate writer, “namely Australia, Canada and the United States.”

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Credit...Al Drago/The New York Times

• War hero. Maverick. Presidential contender.

Senator John McCain died on Saturday at his home in Arizona. Mr. McCain, 81, learned last year he had a malignant brain tumor.

A naval aviator who endured torture in Vietnam, he rose to the heights of power in Washington. Read our full obituary.

From our chief Washington correspondent: “Now he is gone, leaving behind a storied life and a tear in America’s political fabric at a time when national unity — always a McCain theme and ultimate goal — seems especially elusive.”

Mr. McCain will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda and receive a full dress funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral. We’re told that Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have been asked to offer eulogies.

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Credit...Maxwell Photography/World Meeting of Families 2018, via Associated Press

• A bombshell accusation.

Pope Francis wrapped up a two-day visit to Ireland aimed at trying to win back the confidence of Roman Catholics deeply scarred by the church’s child sexual and institutional abuse. At the revered Knock Shrine, above, he begged “the lord’s forgiveness,” and he offered Mass before thousands in Dublin.

But his task was made harder by the accusation of a former top Vatican diplomat, Carlo Maria Viganò, that Francis knew about the abuses of a disgraced American prelate, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, years before they became public.

Archbishop Viganò called on the pope to resign in a 7,000-word letter published in Italian and in English on sites critical of Francis.

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Credit...Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

• Dashed hopes in Seoul.

To many in South Korea, President Trump’s abrupt cancellation of his secretary of state’s planned visit to the North this week was another sign of Washington’s poor coordination on North Korea.

It has certainly left the South’s president, Moon Jae-in, above, in a bind.

And our Beijing bureau chief examines whether China is undermining efforts to disarm North Korea, as Mr. Trump suggested. (Not yet, analysts said. But one added: “It depends on how the United States trade war goes.”)

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Credit...Adriane Ohanesian for The New York Times

• In Myanmar, a verdict.

A judge in Yangon is set to deliver his verdict today in the trial of two Reuters reporters who were jailed in December on accusations of obtaining secret state documents, after they reported a mass killing of Rohingya Muslims. Here’s a timeline of events.

The reporters, and one police witness for the prosecution, testified that they were set up by the police.

Our Southeast Asia bureau chief’s latest report from Myanmar looks at how, a year after the military-led ethnic-cleansing campaign against the Rohingya, top officers have escaped any consequences.

And at a refugee camp in Bangladesh, above, another reporter gathered stories of torture by a town administrator back in Myanmar, who will most likely never face punishment.

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Credit...Greg Baker/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

• Didi Chuxing, China’s ride-hailing giant, fired two senior executives and suspended a car-pooling service after the second killing of a female passenger in three months.

• Google’s corporate parent, Alphabet, still has its eyes on China. The company’s driverless-car unit, Waymo, has registered a Shanghai subsidiary — yet hurdles are plentiful.

• Headlines to watch this week: Hearings allowing companies to give feedback on additional China tariffs wrap up today, and new U.S. consumer spending numbers will be released on Thursday.

• The weekend’s big film internationally was “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” which topped the foreign chart with more than $71 million, fueled by a $68 million debut in China. “Crazy Rich Asians” topped the North American box office for a second weekend in a row, and earned $6 million from its first 10 international markets, led by $1.8 million from Singapore, where the film is set.

• The London Stock Exchange is closed. Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

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Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

• A mass shooting at a video game tournament in Florida left “multiple fatalities.” [The New York Times]

• Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his candidacy for the leadership of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, putting him on track to become Japan’s longest-serving premier. [Reuters]

• South Korea’s impeached president, Park Geun-hye, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Friday. An appeals court found that she collected more bribes from Samsung than previously believed. [The New York Times]

• The head of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, Abu Saad Erhabi, was killed in an attack on the group’s hide-out in Nangarhar Province, officials said. He is the fourth Afghan leader of the group to be killed in recent years. [BBC]

• India turned down an offer of $100 million from the United Arab Emirates to help with recovery efforts in disaster-hit Kerala State. [The New York Times]

• Japan’s Emperor Hirohito was anguished until his death about his responsibility in World War II, according to an aide’s diary. The emperor ruminated about how much he was blamed for the atrocities of World War II. [The New York Times]

Tips for a more fulfilling life.

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Credit...Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

• Recipe of the day: Cauliflower Parmesan is delicious — and works with broccoli, too.

• Maybe your sleep problem isn’t a problem.

• Or maybe you’re too tired. But you’re not alone.

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Credit...Dora Cano-Ramirez and Antony Dodd, University of Bristol

• In Japan, balls of algae known as marimo are a protected species and official national treasure. The mysterious green orbs seem to follow a biological clock that helps them pursue sunlight while underwater.

• In memoriam: Neil Simon, 91, the wildly successful playwright who helped redefine popular American humor with hits like “Barefoot in the Park” (1963) and “The Odd Couple” (1965).

• And how does Ronny Chieng, the comedian and actor, spend his Sundays? The “Crazy Rich Asians” actor is generally in Chinatown getting massages and shopping. He’s also looking for stores willing to sell his new sock line.

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Credit...Louisa Gouliamaki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Tourism officials in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, have kicked off a sexually suggestive new advertising slogan that describes the city as the “G-spot of Europe”: “Nobody knows where it is, but when you find it — it’s amazing.”

The new slogan comes a month before Pope Francis begins a tour of Lithuania and other Baltic countries. Lithuanian priests criticized the campaign for using “women’s sexuality for advertising” and giving the “wrong ideas” about Vilnius as a sex tourism destination. The comedian John Oliver chimed in, too.

The news got us thinking about other tourism slogans around the world.

There are blanket invitations, like “Reveal your own Russia,” and, in the U.S., “All Within Your Reach.”

Some make bold claims: “There’s Nothing Like Australia.”

Some countries opt for alliteration: “Beautiful Bangladesh,” “Brilliant Barbados.”

There’s the straight-to-the-point approach: “Travel in Slovakia — Good Idea” and “Visit Armenia, It Is Beautiful.”

Life is “Best Enjoyed Slowly” in Latvia. “You’re Invited” to Iran.

Sometimes, the citizenry comes up with its own approach. In economically troubled Greece, the official line, “All Time Classic,” clearly left at least one person dissatisfied.

His or her alternative? “Welcome to Greece, The Land of Opportunity. Taxes, taxes and more taxes.”

Remy Tumin wrote today’s Back Story.

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Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. Sign up here to get it by email in the Australian, Asian, European or American morning. You can also receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights.

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