Monday Briefing: Khan arrested in Pakistan

By Amelia Nierenberg

Writer, Briefings

Good morning. We’re covering Imran Khan’s arrest, floods around Beijing and the success of “Barbie” in China.

Imran Khan sentenced to prison

Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, was taken into custody and sentenced to three years in prison on Saturday after a court found him guilty of illegally selling state gifts and concealing the assets. The verdict will most likely end his chances of running in general elections, set for this fall.

The verdict is the culmination of a nationwide political saga that has escalated since Khan was ousted in April 2022 after a vote of no confidence. It comes on the heels of a monthslong intimidation campaign by Pakistan’s powerful military, which was aimed at hollowing out Khan’s political party and stifling his comeback.

Reaction: In a sign of the effectiveness of the intimidation, there were no mass protests after Khan was sentenced.

Also in Pakistan: At least 30 people were killed yesterday after a train derailed, officials said. It was traveling from Karachi to Havelian, in the north.

Villages flooded to save Beijing

Chinese officials deliberately diverted floodwaters to villages around Beijing to spare the capital from the worst of last week’s record deluge. Residents were furious after nearly a million people were forced to evacuate in and around Hebei Province, which borders Beijing.

The leader of Hebei said that he had tried to “resolutely build a ‘moat’ for the capital.” The phrasing set off an outcry, as people denounced what they perceived as an effort to appease national leaders in Beijing, and the comment became a hashtag that amassed more than 60 million views before it was censored.

His decision inundated the city of Zhuozhou with water as deep as 23 feet (about seven meters). “No one ever informed us of the flood discharge or told us to prepare to evacuate,” a villager told The Times, adding, “Everything is soaked in water. I can barely calculate my loss.”

In other China news:

• The Times unraveled a financial network that stretches from Chicago to Shanghai and uses U.S. nonprofits to push Chinese talking points worldwide.
• The U.S. charged two Navy sailors for passing military secrets to China.
• China’s internet regulator proposed restrictions designed to get young people to spend less time on their smartphones.

Will Russia support Putin’s war?

My colleague Roger Cohen spent a month in Russia, searching for clues that might explain the country’s nationalist lurch into an unprovoked war and its mood 17 months into the conflict.

“I found a country uncertain of its direction or meaning,” Roger wrote. It’s torn between President Vladimir Putin’s glorious myths and the everyday struggle — especially in Russia’s poorest regions — of continuing a fight that U.S. diplomats think has now taken about 100,000 lives on each side.

Other Ukraine news:

• Ukraine hit Russian ships on Friday and Saturday, increasing the threat of violence in the Black Sea — and beyond.
• Aleksei Navalny received a new 19-year sentence on “extremism” charges.

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THE LATEST NEWS

• Three scouting organizations left the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea, citing safety concerns amid high temperatures.
• A woman in her 60s was the first person to die from the car rampage and stabbing attack in South Korea. Police arrested dozens in connection with online threats of copycat attacks.
• India’s Supreme Court cleared the way for Rahul Gandhi, the top opposition leader, to return to Parliament and run in next spring’s national elections.

• The head of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which makes the world’s most advanced microchips, said the company’s top talent would stay in Taiwan despite growing threats from China.
• The founder of TSMC told The Times that he did not give China much of a chance for semiconductor supremacy.
• Some Australians are concerned about plans to open the E-3 visa — which gives them a special avenue to move to the U.S. — to Irish citizens.

• At least 24 people were killed when a minibus crashed in Morocco.
• A social media streamer was charged with inciting a riot after thousands of people swarmed Union Square Park in New York because he promised free video game consoles.
• The influencer Andrew Tate has been released from house arrest in Romania while awaiting his human trafficking trial.

• A Palestinian fatally shot an Israeli security guard in Tel Aviv on Saturday, after a Palestinian was killed in a fight with Israeli settlers.
• In a breakthrough that could transform electronics, researchers said they had found a superconductor that works at room temperature. Experts are skeptical.
• Justice Clarence Thomas uses his R.V. to boost his down-to-earth persona. But it was funded by a wealthy friend.

• The U.S. is out of the World Cup. It lost to Sweden on penalty kicks.
• Japan eliminated Norway, and will face Sweden next.
• Simone Biles won the U.S. Classic, her first elite gymnastics competition since she withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics.

From an Indian village where “no one wanted girls,” one father of two daughters is taking on the patriarchy by fighting prenatal sex testing. In just four years, his campaign has improved the village’s sex ratio from 37 girls and 63 boys per hundred newborns to 51 girls and 49 boys.

Lives lived: Seiichi Morimura wrote a searing exposé of the Japanese Army’s secret biological warfare program in occupied China, describing how it forcibly infected thousands of prisoners with deadly pathogens. He died at 90.

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ARTS AND IDEAS

Why China loves ‘Barbie’

“Barbie” has exceeded box office expectations in China, as female moviegoers celebrate a film that addresses women’s rights. There’s only limited availability, but theaters have raced to add showings, and “Barbie” has been widely discussed on social media.

The movie has raked in $1 billion internationally, Warner Bros. said, but its success flies in the face of trends in China. There, U.S. movie revenues have been declining in general, in part because of controls on foreign films. And feminists have had to struggle against the government’s repression.

But the movie has touched off conversations — perhaps, one 27-year-old said, because its critique of patriarchy was ultimately gentle. (For instance: The subtitles translated “feminism” as “nu xing zhu yi,” or literally “women-ism,” rather than “nu quan zhu yi,” or “women’s rights-ism.”) Even some Chinese state media outlets have offered cautious praise of the movie’s themes.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

Stir grated Cheddar into mayo for great tomato and cheese toast.

“On Wars” seeks to uncover the causes of conflicts around the world.

“Shortcomings” is a charming comedy about a Japanese American man’s belated coming-of-age.

Play the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Roadside inn (five letters).

Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. See you tomorrow. — Amelia

P.S. MJ Franklin, an editor at The Times Book Review, shared some of his favorite short books to read in a day.

Questions? Write to us at briefing@nytimes.com.

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