• Stephen Bannon, the former Trump strategist, appeared to mute his harsh line against China’s economic clout on a visit to Hong Kong, even praising President Xi Jinping. [The New York Times]

• Evacuations of up to half a million people have begun as southeast China braces for the devastating power of Typhoon Talim. [South China Morning Post]

• Cambodia’s Parliament approved the prosecution of Kem Sokha, an opposition leader, stripping his immunity in a relentless crackdown by Prime Minister Hun Sen. [The New York Times]

• In the Philippines, lawmakers aligned with President Rodrigo Duterte voted to cut the budget of the human rights commission investigating the country’s violent war on drugs to $20. The commission had requested $34 million. [BBC]

• Singaporeans are preparing for their first female president to take office, but many are questioning a qualification process so narrow that only one candidate made the cut, bypassing a vote. [The New York Times]

• The popularity of the horror film “It,” the Stephen King adaptation that broke weekend box office records, has Melbourne’s Hot Stuff the Clown worried about clowning’s reputation. [ABC News]

Smarter Living

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