Donald Trump, Rex Tillerson, Rodrigo Duterte: Your Morning Briefing

Rand Paul Questions Secretary of State Nominee Rex Tillerson

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Photo Credit Jim Lo Scalzo/European Pressphoto Agency

The intrigue over a sensational but entirely unverified dossier on Mr. Trumps ties to Russia deepened. The ex-spy who compiled the information disappeared from his home in Britain, saying he feared for his safety.

Mr. Trump discussed the dossier with James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence. They had radically different takeaways from the conversation.

And the Justice Department said it would investigate the decision by James B. Comey, above, the F.B.I. chief, to inform Congress about a new review in the Hillary Clinton email investigation ahead of the election.

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Photo Credit Francis R. Malasig/European Pressphoto Agency

Japans prime minister, Shinzo Abe, ended a two-day visit with President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines in which he promised the country about $8.7 billion worth of business deals, investments and equipment.

Mr. Abe is on four-nation diplomatic push that will continue with stops in Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Separately, Mr. Duterte ordered government agencies to provide free contraception to women, especially the poor, in a move that is likely to face strong resistance from Catholic leadership in the country.

Above, protesters in the Philippines.

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Photo Credit Jean Chung for The New York Times

Prosecutors in South Korea are planning to use revelations about a cultural blacklist to strengthen the impeachment charges against President Park Geun-hye.

So far, two versions of the blacklist have been reported by the news media, citing anonymous sources. One version listed more than 9,000 people, including some of the countrys most beloved filmmakers, actors and writers.

Above, Hong Sung-dam, one of the artists who was reportedly blacklisted.

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Photo Credit Chaideer Mahyuddin/Agence France-Presse Getty Images

And we look at Aceh Province, Indonesia, which began enforcing Shariah law in 2001. Women are required to wear head scarves, alcohol is prohibited, and many offenses from adultery to homosexuality to selling alcohol are punishable by public whipping.

The Muslim-majority nation has drifted in a conservative direction, but one Aceh politician says that a silent majority thinks the local government has gone too far.

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BusinessPhoto Credit Josh Haner/The New York Times

Indias largest conglomerate, the Tata Group, named Natarajan Chandrasekaran, 53, to be chairman of its holding company, Tata Sons, ending months of turmoil after the previous chief, Cyrus Mistry, was ousted.

Health care stocks tumbled after Mr. Trump denounced pharmaceutical companies for shifting manufacturing abroad. But many of the imports are generic drugs a large percentage of which are manufactured in India that help keep costs down.

The Environmental Protection Agency accused Fiat Chrysler of cheating on emissions tests on at least 104,000 diesel vehicles, a case with echoes of the Volkswagen scandal.

Vietnams industrial policy will take a hit if Mr. Trump follows through on his pledge to scrap the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but companies have their own plans for going global.

U.S. stocks were down. Heres a snapshot of global markets.

In the NewsPhoto Credit Najim Rahim/Associated Press

A U.S. military investigation found that 33 civilians were killed and 27 others wounded during a firefight and airstrike in northern Kunduz Province in November. [The New York Times]

New rules will make it easier for the National Security Agency to share globally intercepted personal communications with other U.S. intelligence agencies. [The New York Times]

A renewed push by Iraqi forces brought them closer to controlling the eastern half of Mosul, the Islamic States last major stronghold in the country. [Reuters]

An Australian Supreme Court jury found a Sydney man, Robert Xie, guilty of bludgeoning to death five members of his extended family. [ABC]

Hong Kongs chief secretary, Carrie Lam, leaves her post today. She submitted her resignation and, if approved, will run for chief executive. [Hong Kong Free Press]

In Bangladesh, a popular restaurant in Dhaka"s diplomatic quarter reopened after a terrorist attack in July that killed 22 people. [The New York Times]

Wilbur Ross, the billionaire chosen by Mr. Trump to manage trade with China, once volunteered to be part of project by a famous Chinese artist. [South China Morning Post]

Star Wars was the inspiration for the common name scientists gave to the worlds newest primate the Skywalker hoolock gibbon which was discovered in Chinas Yunnan Province. [BBC]

Smarter Living: Morning EditionPhoto Credit Daniel Leal-Olivas/Agence France-Presse Getty Images

(In this new section, well help you start your day right.)

Were not saying you will need this tomorrow, were simply presenting it for your consideration: Heres how to nurse a hangover (and how to head one off). Have a great weekend!

An inspiring story of weight loss and its aftermath: Brooklyns borough president reversed his Type 2 diabetes through diet and exercise, without taking medication.

Recipe of the day: Give baked sweet potato fries a shot.

NoteworthyPhoto Credit Benjamin Haselberger

Portraits of addiction. A German photographer spent a year traveling in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines to explore the regions underworld of ice, or crystal methamphetamine.

The Handmaiden, an erotic period drama from South Korea, earned six nominations for the Asian Film Awards. I Am Not Madame Bovary, from the Chinese director Feng Xiao Gang, earned five. Heres the list.

The newly expanded World Cup may have the biggest impact in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, where it will offer a chance for smaller teams to reach the global stage.

Back StoryPhoto Credit Ian Willms for The New York Times

If youre superstitious, today isnt your day.

But Friday the 13th isnt universally feared. Many countries disregard it. In Greece and some Spanish-speaking countries, Tuesday the 13th is the dreaded day. Its Friday the 17th in Italy.

The number 4 is unlucky in parts of Asia its Chinese pronunciation is close to the word death making April 4 (4/4) a day to stay inside.

A maneki-neko, a cute charm showing a cat with a raised paw, is used to ward off the bad luck.

Other animals believed to combat bad omens include pigs. In Germany, marzipan pigs are given as gifts on New Years Eve.

And if a cricket is chirping in your house, dont kill it. Across Asia, Africa and Europe, the insects are viewed as harbingers of wealth.

Magpies have great significance in Britain. Seeing a single magpie can be bad luck, it is believed, though saluting one can ward off ill fortune. But if you spot a group, you may be in luck, according to an old nursery rhyme that goes:

One for sorrow,

Two for joy,

Three for a girl,

Four for a boy,

Five for silver,

Six for gold,

Seven for a secret never to be told.

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Des Shoe contributed reporting.

Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings.

What would you like to see here? Contact us at asiabriefing@nytimes.com.

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In Rocky Hearing, Rex Tillerson Tries to Separate From Trump

WATCH LIVE: Rex Tillerson confirmation hearing

Mr. Tillerson came to the hearing acutely aware that his first task was to allay concerns that his four decades at Exxon had left him too close to Mr. Putin and dictators around the world. So he staked out his turf early in the hearing, arguing that if he had been in office when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, he would have recommended that the United States provide arms and intelligence support to the government of Ukraine, even though it is not a member of NATO.

What the Russian leadership would have understood is a powerful response, he said, casting the Obama administrations reaction as too weak. His message to the Russian leadership, he said, would be, Yes, you took Crimea, but this stops right here.

But Mr. Tillerson dodged a series of questions about whether Exxon Mobil, under his leadership, had lobbied against the sanctions imposed on Russia, which prevented the company from fulfilling huge contracts for oil exploration on Russian territory.

On climate change, mr. tillerson said he did not view it as the imminent national security threat that some others did. Although he surprised many in the oil business by acknowledging the dangers of global warming and even embracing carbon taxes, as he did again on Wednesday, he said that much of the literature on the issue remained inconclusive, despite the overwhelming consensus of the scientific community about the role of humans.

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Rex W. Tillerson, former chief executive of ExxonMobil and Donald J. Trumps nominee to be secretary of state, has conducted his own brand of oil-oriented diplomacy during his 41-year career at Exxon, a company that has often cut deals with authoritarian leaders of politically unstable countries.

Mr. Tillerson showed a deep familiarity with many of the most contentious issues in American foreign policy, including the rules governing transactions with the Cuban government and the outlines of the Iran nuclear deal. It was on Iran that he tried to strike a middle ground between Republicans who said the deal should be scrapped including Vice President-elect Mike Pence and those who simply call for tougher enforcement of its provisions.

He promised a comprehensive review that would include confidential side agreements, largely between Iran and international nuclear inspectors, that have long been a subject of Republican suspicions. But his real complaint about the 2015 accord is that its key restrictions on Iran expire in 2030, and he said he feared Iran would go back to where they were, trying to build a nuclear weapon.

At one point Mr. Tillerson complained that there was no provision to keep Iran from buying a nuclear weapon, though later, after a break, he corrected himself to acknowledge that both the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the Iran agreement itself contain prohibitions on any acquisition of a nuclear device.

Protesters shouted out regularly, interrupting Mr. Tillerson, and he did not look at them, pausing expressionless as they were removed. He told the committee repeatedly that he would not act on human rights abuses, such as the summary executions underway in the Philippines, until he received corroboration, presumably from American intelligence agencies. That inflamed Mr. Rubio, who charged that Mr. Tillerson was ignoring easily verifiable news reports. It also angered Human Rights Watch, the nongovernmental organization that monitors such violations.

Rex Tillersons reluctance to acknowledge human rights abuses by Russia, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines raises serious questions about whether he can effectively serve as secretary of state, the group said in a statement. Numerous independent observers, U.N. investigators, media, and humanitarian and human rights groups have published extensive and detailed reporting about the Russian governments highly problematic domestic human rights record and war crimes in Syria, and the killing in the Philippines of 6,200 suspected drug users in the last six months.

Photo Rex W. Tillerson, center, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil and Mr. Trumps choice for secretary of state, before the start of his confirmation hearing. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

Mr. Tillerson said he simply had an engineers view of the need for evidence.

Some of the days most fascinating moments came as Mr. Tillerson tried to weave a fairly conventional, hard-power view of American influence into a tapestry that clearly rejected some of Mr. Trumps views. Although the president-elect has said that he doubted the usefulness of the United States-led sanctions against Russia for its incursion into Ukraine, Mr. Tillerson took the opposite view. He said he looked forward to working with the Senate particularly on the construct of new sanctions against Moscow in an effort to cause modifications in Russias positions.

At the same time, in a tense series of exchanges, Mr. Tillerson said he could not say whether Exxon had lobbied against Russia sanctions after the annexation of Crimea, even though the company had submitted filings saying that it was lobbying on the topic. Lets be clear, the company said on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon. We engage with lawmakers to discuss sanction impacts, not whether or not sanctions should be imposed.

There were other attempts to separate from positions Mr. Trump took last year. Mr. Tillerson indicated that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria would ultimately have to leave power the Obama administrations position and assailed Mr. Assads bombing of civilians. Mr. Trump had talked about allying with Mr. Assad and Russia to fight the Islamic State, even while acknowledging the Syrian leader is a bad guy.

Pressed on Mr. Trumps calls for a national registry of Muslims, Mr. Tillerson said he would need to have a lot more information around how such an approach would even be constructed.

Democrats questioned Mr. Tillerson on whether his 41 years at the worlds largest oil company would affect his view of American national interests. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, got to the Democrats key critique of Mr. Tillerson, arguing that having a view from the C-suite at Exxon is not at all the same as the view from the seventh floor of the Department of State, Mr. Cardin said, referring to where the secretarys office is.

And those who suggest that anyone who can run a successful business can, of course, run a government agency do a profound disservice to both, he said.

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