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Asia and Australia Edition

Hurricane Irma, Apple, Myanmar: Your Monday Briefing

Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

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The storm hit Florida after leaving a path of destruction across the Caribbean.CreditCredit...Jason Henry for The New York Times

Hurricane Irma ripped through the Florida Keys and up the state’s west coast, moving on a new track that spared Miami a direct hit but threatened 15-foot storm surges in some areas.

More than 2.3 million Florida households are without power. The Caribbean death toll is at least 25.

Here’s the latest. And we continue to update our map of Irma’s path. Digital access to all storm news is free.

Journalists fanned out across the area, including our own, posted what they were seeing and hearing on social media.

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Credit...Yonhap/European Pressphoto Agency

President Trump returned to the White House on Sunday after monitoring the storm from Camp David, where he also held his fourth full cabinet meeting.

His U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, is expected to call for a Security Council vote today on tough new measures against North Korea, including an oil embargo. The North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, honored his government’s 69th anniversary not with another missile test, but with a party for the scientists who carried out the country’s most recent nuclear test, above.

Meanwhile, the White House and the Pentagon are scrambling to decide how to react if North Korea demonstrates that it can send missiles to Guam, or a distance equivalent to striking the West Coast.

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Credit...Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

• Indonesia is raising its challenges to China in the South China Sea, seeking to assert control over a waterway that has abundant resources, particularly oil and natural gas reserves and fish stocks.

It’s renaming waters China claims, building up its military in the Natuna Islands and planning to deploy warships. Above, an Indonesian patrol in the South China Sea.

But the calculations are difficult, as China is one of its biggest investors and trading partners.

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Credit...Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

The government of Myanmar spurned a one-month cease-fire announced by a militant group in Rakhine State, where fighting has forced as many as 270,000 Rohingya to flee into Bangladesh.

A government spokesman said Myanmar would not negotiate with “terrorists.”

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Credit...Saeed Khan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Australia’s postal vote on changing the country’s marriage act moves ahead Tuesday, with supporters of same-sex rights buoyed by what may have been the country’s largest “yes” rally.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, spoke at the event in Sydney, which drew some 20,000.

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Credit...Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

• Apple is unveiling its latest lineup of iPhones at a special 10th anniversary event on Tuesday, with a special edition that will start at about $1,000 and feature an edge-to-edge screen and augmented reality software. You can ask our consumer technology reporter questions about the new line.

• The biggest players in electric cars Volkswagen, General Motors, Renault-Nissan, and Ford Motor — are setting up joint ventures in China. The world’s largest car market, China has begun discussing a timetable for banning the sale and production of fossil-fueled vehicles.

• China promised Serbia jobs, cash and investments, but its “One Belt, One Road” initiative is on a collision course with the European Union’s projects in the region.

• The Equifax breach in the U.S. followed numerous other cyberattacks. Last year, 15.4 million Americans lost $16 billion to identity theft.

• The horror movie “It” made an eye-popping $117.2 million in estimated North American ticket sales and an additional $62 million overseas.

• Using Amazon’s own criteria, our Upshot team sorted out the U.S. city that should be the site of the online giant’s new $5 billion headquarters. Hint: It’s high altitude.

Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

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Credit...Ernesto Guzman/European Pressphoto Agency

• Pope Francis made a significant change to Roman Catholics worship by amending Vatican law to give national bishops greater authority in translating liturgical language. [The New York Times]

• In Iraq, the outcome of a referendum this month on Kurdish independence is a forgone conclusion — nearly every Kurd holds dear the dream of statehood — but the measure is opposed by every major power in the Middle East. [The New York Times]

• Thailand is preparing for the elaborate cremation next month of its beloved monarch of 70 years, Bhumibol Adulyadej. The funeral pyre alone cost $30 million. [Smithsonian]

• Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia, who is being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department over billions of dollars in missing funds, is to meet President Trump on Tuesday. [The New York Times]

• The death toll from Mexico’s powerful earthquake last week rose to 90. [The New York Times]

• In Hong Kong, hundreds of inmates listen to “Hour of Love,” a radio show hosted by a convicted American money launderer who sees the program as his “own personal penance.” [The New York Times]

• Australians should eat more kangaroo to bring their numbers under control, a veteran ecologist argued. [ABC]

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

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Credit...Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

• We have tips for travel that may be affected by major storms.

• Recipe of the day: Go for comfort with velvety Cheddar mashed potatoes.

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Credit...Khaled Desouki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

• Egyptian archaeologists found a modest but fascinating tomb — the 3,500-year-old resting place of a goldsmith in the desert province of Luxor.

• A new documentary lays out the heroism of a 24-year-old would-be firefighter in the World Trade Center during the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S., 16 years ago today.

• Ali Cobby Eckermann was taken from her family at birth as part of Australia’s “stolen generation” of Indigenous children. It led to abuse and isolation, but it also led to poetry.

• Rafael Nadal defeated Kevin Anderson in straight sets on Sunday to capture the men’s U.S. Open singles title. On Saturday, Sloane Stephens, ranked 957th early last month, defeated her good friend Madison Keys for the women’s title.

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Credit...Dave Saggs, via YouTube

This month in 1972, the South Pacific Forum of States recognized the Kingdom of Tonga’s sovereignty over two submerged atolls, ending the short life of a micronation unilaterally declared by an American and built on sand.

Michael J. Oliver, a Las Vegas real-estate tycoon with visions of a libertarian utopia, declared the Republic of Minerva nine months earlier. He laid claim to the Minerva Reefs, a pair of remote atolls a foot or so beneath the surface of the South Pacific, named for a ship that had foundered on one.

Morris G. Davis, a developer of the Minuteman missile, was appointed president.

The new country had its own flag and coins, and was free of taxes and regulation. To overcome the small matter of not having any dry land, they brought a barge in to dump sand.

But in June, King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV of Tonga landed at the north atoll with a brass band and a group of convict laborers. The Tongan anthem was played and the Minervan flag was taken down.

The Tongan annexation was soon ratified, setting off a continuing dispute with Fiji. Mr. Oliver went on to foment breakaway independence movements in Vanuatu and the Bahamas. Those failed too.

Penn Bullock contributed reporting.

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Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online.

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

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