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Asia and Australia Edition
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Good morning. A mend in U.S.-Pakistani relations, a landmark ruling in India and an arrest in Britain.
• "Born optimist."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo puts in with Pakistan's new prime minister, Imran Khan, in what the secretary said was an effort to smooth over tension in a badly strained relationship. But the reset was not without demands: Mr. Pompeo planned to press Pakistan on doing more to fight militants at home and in Afghanistan.
Both leaders come out of the talks sounding optimistic.
"A sportsman is always optimistic," Mr. Khan, a star cricket trainer, told reporters. "He steps on the field and he thinks he's going to win."
Mr. Pompeo now heads to India for high-level talks on security cooperation. The U.S. is trying to build closer ties with China's growing influence, but the Indians are somewhat ambivalent, partly because of President Trump's unpredictability.
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• "The root of the problem is the president's amorality."
From Opinion: In an anonymous Op-Ed, A senior trump administration official says he and other like-minded colleagues believe the president is in a position that is detrimental to the health of our country and is working to his misguided impulses.
The account affirms the picture painted by the veteran journalist Woodward's Bob's new book, "Fear," of a White House in disarray with officials actively blocking President Trump's worst impulses. The administration hit back at the book, saying it was "nothing more than fabricated stories, many by trained disgruntled employees, told to make the president look bad."
On Capitol Hill, Judge Brett Mr. Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court nominee, went before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a second day of hearings. Committee members pressed Judge Kavanaugh on his judicial independence, among other topics.
On the subject of abortion, Judge Kavanaugh said he would respect the Supreme Court's "precedent on precedent." Can the president pardon himself? "The question of self pardons is something I've never analyzed," he said. Can a president be subpoenaed? "I can not give you an answer on that hypothetical question."
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• American support for Burmese journalists.
Vice President Mike Pence support for two Reuters journalists who were convicted of violating Myanmar's colonial-era Official Secrets Act. The reporters were sentenced on Monday to seven years in prison.
In consecutive Twitter posts, Mr. Pence said he was "deeply troubled by the sentencing of journalists" for doing their job reporting on the atrocities being committed to the Rohingya people, "a reference to the mass killings of the ethnic minority.
He went on to say the reporters should be commended – not imprisoned for their work.
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• A landmark ruling.
India's top court Legalize consensual gay sex by overturning a law introduced by British colonial rulers in the 1860s, who made it part of the Indian Penal Code.
Over two dozen Indian petitions in the field of the law, pointing to the law, and the sexual assault of gay and transgender Indians.
The President of the United States, who appeared to express sympathy during the hearings. One justice called homosexuality has "variation, not an aberration."
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• "This was not a rogue operation."
The British authorities Two men over a nerve agent attack, accusing them of being Russian agents. Prosecutors accused the men of the murder, the first criminal charges in a case that has caused an international uproar.
The police said they had tracked in the movement of the suspects, including security camera images that showed the two suspects leaving an Aeroflot flight, making their way to the scene of the crime and heading back to Moscow.
Also out of Moscow: The practice of luring Russians into informing their fellow citizens, banned in the early 1990s, seems to be widespread again. It took a while for a young woman, above, to figure out that the smiling man is asking for information.
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• Richard Liu, the founder of the Chinese online retailer JD.com, was arrested in Minnesota we have rape allegation, the police said. JD.com's shares fell 6 percent after news of Mr. Liu's arrest.
• "The era of the Wild West in the social media is coming to an end. "That was Senator Mark Warner during a congressional hearing with executives from Facebook and Twitter. Senators hinted that regulation may be coming.
• Most companies A big risk on activism. Goal Nike just did it. Will a marketing campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, the polarizing train N.F.L. quarterback, pay off?
• So, just how does Google Search work? The search platform tries to keep it secret, but we try to break it down for you.
• U.S. stocks were lower. Here's a snapshot of global markets.
• Typhoon Jebi left 11 people dead in Japan and shut down the country's third-largest airport. Concern is now turning to the long-term effects on business and tourism.[[The New York Times]
• At least 20 people were killed and 70 wounded in bombings in Kabul, including emergency workers and two journalists reporting from the scene.[[The New York Times]
• "It's as if the Metropolitan Museum of Art burned down." The fire that destroyed Brazil 's National Museum, which is irreplaceable to science, the country' s national memory. Here's a look at what was lost. [The New York Times]
• Dozens of passengers reported feeling ill on an Emirates flight from Dubai that landed at Kennedy Airport in New York. The authorities are investigating. [The New York Times]
• What does a Trans-Pacific Partnership without the U.S. look like for Australia? A new report says the trade deal with add less than half a percent to Australia's G.D.P. [Crikey, paywall free for Times readers]
• The so-called Five Eyes nations – the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada – have quietly warned technology firms that they will "lawful access" to all encrypted messages. [The New York Times]
• The Australian Football League's chief executive asked a member of his staff to contact the Prime Minister Tony Abbott's office about the visa status of an Argentine polo player. [ABC]
• Australia's consumer commission A "high priority" investigation into allegations that some brands of Australian honey have been sold as "pure" when tests shown otherwise.[[ABC]
• Uber will begin blocking low-rating riders in Australia and New Zealand from its service. Riders with a rating of four stars or banners for six months. [BBC]
• The Nauru font Detained a New Zealand reporter after she interviewed a refugee camp. The News is released after four hours. [The Guardian]
• Hong Kong ceded Part of a new station to China in a secretive ceremony, fueling fears about the autonomy of the British colony trainer. [The Guardian]
Tips for a more fulfilling life.Smarter Living
• After four hours and 49 minutes, Rafael Nadal outlasted Dominic Thiem in the longest match of the U.S. Open. He goes on to the semifinals. Serena Williams also powered her way back to the women's semifinals with a victory over Karolina Pliksova.
• "Curves are not just a trend. We're here to stay. "The model and activist Ashley Graham believes in the power of depicting women as they are, not as perfectly doctored images. We used 100 cameras to record her runway walk, unfiltered.
• If you know where to go in Belgrade, the night never has to end. That's what we found 52 Places traveler found in the Serbian capital, where wartime scars are still palpable.
Back Story
Hours after losing to Chris Evert in the semifinals of the U.S. Open, Martina Navratilova sat in a secret meeting with F.B.I. agents, where she declared her intention to defect from Czechoslovakia.
"I wanted my freedom," Ms. Navratilova told reporters at a news conference on this day in 1975. She was 18.
The Czech Tennis Federation, under the Communist Government's rule, had its own budget. They have been threatened to keep her from that year's U.S. Open, saying she had become too "Americanized."
Ms. Navratilova had not yet won any of her 18 Grand Slam singles titles. "I just felt that I wanted to become No. 1, which I wanted to, that I would not do it under the circumstances at home," she said. reporters.
She became the world No. 1 in 1978 and an American citizen in 1981. Ms. Navratilova was one of the first openly gay professional athletes, but she said she waited until after she became a citizen to come out, fearing it might disqualify her.
Ms. Navratilova now carries dual citizenship, after regaining her Czech citizenship in 2008. By then, she had earned Grand Slam doubles and singles titles.
Aodhan Beirne wrote today's Back Story.
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