Pakistan, Laos Dam, Michael Cohen: Your Thursday Briefing

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Good morning. A secret Trump recording, violence at Pakistan’s polls and a flag fracas for Australia. Here’s what you need to know:

• A betrayal or “a new path”?

President Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, released a secret recording in which Mr. Trump appears to have direct knowledge about hush money paid to a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump. Here’s how the audio clip has unraveled a web of false statements by Mr. Trump and his aides.

Mr. Trump reacted at once: “What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad!” But Mr. Cohen’s lawyer said that his client is “on a new path — it’s a reset button to tell the truth and to let the chips fall where they may.”

Separately, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended Mr. Trump before Congress, saying he had “proof” that the president is willing to confront Moscow for its interference in American elections and misbehavior around the world.

The White House, meanwhile, said a planned follow-up meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia will be postponed until after the investigation of the special counsel is concluded.

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• A leader emerges in Pakistan.

Polls have closed in a crucial national election in which Imran Khan, the charismatic cricket star with close ties to Pakistan’s influential military, appears poised to become the country’s next prime minister.

At least 31 people were killed in a suicide bombing outside a polling station in Quetta, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, where an attack earlier this month killed more than 150 people.

The attack on Wednesday raises the death toll in what has already been one of the bloodiest elections in the country’s history.

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• “Every single house, gone.”

In Laos, the death toll is climbing from the devastating flood released when an auxiliary dam, part of a billion-dollar hydroelectric project, collapsed under heavy rains.

At least 26 people have been reported killed, and Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, said 131 people were still missing. More than 3,000 are homeless. Many had been rescued from rooftops and trees after their villages and farms were flooded.

“Everyone here lost everything — animals, our houses,” a farmer told a Times reporter on the scene. “All we have left is our lives.”

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• Greece declared three days of mourning after wildfires that killed at least 80 people in vacation areas outside Athens. In addition to those killed by smoke or fire, or who drowned in the sea while trying to flee, 187 people were hospitalized, more than 20 of them children.

The death toll, our correspondent reports, seems likely to grow as the authorities begin the grim task of inspecting the torched cars and wrecked homes in which some evacuees sought escape or refuge, only to find themselves trapped.

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• Cross over the “Stars and Crosses.”

Since New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, stepped down for maternity leave, tensions between her country and Australia have been on the rise.

That’s been primarily because of Australia’s policy of deporting New Zealanders convicted of crimes. But this week, Winston Peters, Ms. Ardern’s stand-in, accused Australia of copying New Zealand’s 116-year-old flag. He even demanded that Australians come up with a new design.

“And they should actually change their flag and honor the fact that we got there first,” Mr. Peters said.

Could this flag spat become a major international incident? Almost certainly not. But here’s what it’s all about.

We collected nine examples of such “doppelgänger” flags. Can you match the flag with the country?

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Business

• A major trade shift: The European Union agreed to lower tariffs and other trade barriers, and to buy billions of dollars of American exports.

The surprise announcement, made by President Trump and the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, temporarily defused a trade battle that began with Mr. Trump’s tariffs on European steel and aluminum exports and threatened to escalate to its automobiles.

• A bow to Beijing: American Airlines, Delta and United started to remove “Taiwan” from their websites. The U.S. carriers were among the last holdouts against China’s effort to force all airlines to drop any references to Taiwan as a separate country.

• Unfriended: It seemed as if Facebook finally had a foothold in China. Then the government changed its mind.

• Exchange 106 tower in Kuala Lumpur is the shining centerpiece of a $10 billion project to promote Malaysia as a global finance hub. But it’s been mired by charges of corruption, embezzlement and fraud.

• U.S. stocks were up. Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

In the News

• Japan knows hot, sweaty summers — but this year has been an aberration. Last week, close to 23,000 people were hospitalized for heat-related illnesses, almost twice the previous weekly record. And no immediate respite is in sight. [The New York Times]

• Yosemite National Park is ordering evacuations in large areas during peak tourist season amid worsening danger from the 38,000-acre Ferguson Fire. There have been seven injuries and one death connected to the fire. [The New York Times]

• A Swedish student activist stopped the deportation of an Afghan man by refusing to take her seat on a packed flight. Her video of the tense standoff has gone viral. [The New York Times]

• Nine days of charity and prayer: The Thai boys and their soccer coach who were trapped in a cave for more than two weeks were ordained as Buddhist monks. The widow of the diver who died during the operation to save them attended the ceremony. [The New York Times]

• No ninja shortage: The perplexed mayor of Iga, Japan, denied a report on a U.S. radio show that his city was recruiting ninja for as much as $85,000 per year. The city was inundated with calls from hopeful ninja from around the world. [The Asahi Shimbun]

Smarter Living

Tips for a more fulfilling life.

• Summer hair inspiration for men.

• Make your partner’s parents more woke.

• Recipe of the day: Delivery can be tempting, but pan-roasted salmon takes about 15 minutes.

Noteworthy

• Is one path more peaceful than another? A trip to Nepal and Bhutan promised a pre-60s couple “something big, something different.” There was only one possible stumbling block: the organized tour they signed up for.

• In memoriam. Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga, 93, a critic of the World War II internment of Japanese-Americans who discovered evidence that isolating the ethnic group was motivated by “race prejudice,” not by military necessity.

• Australian expats are bringing their food and mellow lifestyles to New York, and the Australian breakfast is taking hold. Our food reporter: “This cooking style features bright mash-ups of foods that are healthy, natural and luxurious all at once.”

Back Story

The man who has been verified by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest celebrated his 113th birthday on Wednesday.

Masazo Nonaka was born on the Japanese island of Hokkaido in 1905, the same year that Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity and the Wright brothers conducted some of their early powered flights.

The problem faced by most supercentenarians — people who are more than 110 years old — is that their age can’t be validated unless they have birth records and possess multiple documents from throughout their life.

So while gerontologists say the number of documented supercentenarians, including Mr. Nonaka, is around 150, the unverified total might be closer to 1,000.

A man who died earlier this year in Chile claimed to be 121 years old, and a man who died in Indonesia last year said he was 146. But neither man’s age was independently verified.

Although Mr. Nonaka is the oldest validated living man, he’s only the 17th oldest person, according to the Gerontology Research Group, whose listing of supercentenarians is dominated by women.

The world’s oldest person ever authenticated is a title currently held by Jeanne Louise Calment of France, who lived to 122.

Anna Schaverien wrote today’s Back Story.

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