VOL. CLXVII . . . No. 58,039 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, MONDAY, JULY 30, 2018

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Even then, no one was quitesure what to make of CynthiaNixon.

It was 2009, nearly a decade be-fore her campaign for governor ofNew York, and Ms. Nixon was inAlbany lobbying lawmakers on amarriage equality bill. One Re-publican senator began theirmeeting clutching a printout thatsuggested Ms. Nixon had beenhypocritical. “Married people arethe enemy,” the senator read, cit-ing a quote attributed to her on theinternet.

Ms. Nixon cut him off. She hadindeed said that. As MirandaHobbes, her character on “Sexand the City.”

“He just kind of folded up thepaper and put it away,” Ms. Nixonrecalled as she sat in her kitchenin Manhattan, where a birthdaycard from her in-laws showed Gov.Andrew M. Cuomo’s face beingpunched by a golden fist. “Somany people think they know me.They know one slice of me, and theslice that they know is reallymostly a fictional character.”

For months now, Ms. Nixon, 52,has been straining to introducenew slices of herself, challenging

Mr. Cuomo in a Democratic prima-ry on a platform of boundless pro-gressivism, disdain for squishycentrism and higher taxes on therich to finance much of heragenda. She is a lifelong NewYorker trying to convey urban au-thenticity — surely the only candi-date in history who said she hadno trouble performing nude ontelevision because she had al-ready breast-fed on the No. 2train. But she is also a figure witheffectively zero government orexecutive experience asking vot-

Outgunned, 30 Points DownBut Running Like a Favorite

By MATT FLEGENHEIMER

Continued on Page A16

Cynthia Nixon is challengingAndrew Cuomo for governor.

TODD HEISLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

GUA MUSANG, Malaysia —Norazila and Ayu were bestfriends and they shared every-thing that girls do: sleepovers,selfies, musings about cute boys.

But their friendship, which hadblossomed in their placid hamletin northern Malaysia, was de-stroyed late last month when No-razila, 14, discovered that Ayu, 11,had secretly become her father’sthird wife.

“My best friend is my step-

mother now,” said Norazila,whose family name is Che AbdulKarim, as she scrolled through herFacebook page filled with posts ofthe girls posing with adolescentpouts and fingers forming peacesigns. “It doesn’t make anysense.”

Ayu’s marriage to Che Abdul

Karim Che Abdul Hamid, a 41-year-old rubber trader with aprominent role at his mosque anda fleet of fancy cars, has reigniteddebate in Malaysia about the per-sistence of conservative Islamictraditions in this modern, multi-ethnic democracy.

In its election manifesto, the op-position coalition that won powerin May promised to outlaw childmarriage.

“This is a practice from manycenturies ago and at this stage in

Wed at 11: Child Bride Ignites Debate in MalaysiaBy HANNAH BEECH

Norazila, 14, at her family’s restaurant in Malaysia. Her father, 41, married her 11-year-old friend.LAUREN DeCICCA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A5

‘My Best Friend Is MyStepmother Now’

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/ASSOCIATED PRESS

California officials said they could be near a turning point in fighting the Carr Fire, which claimed its sixth life on Sunday. Page A11.Gaining Ground on an Inferno

He had perfect scores — on hisSAT, on three SAT subject testsand on nine Advanced Placementexams — and was ranked first inhis high school class of 592. An ad-missions officer who reviewed hisapplication to Harvard called him“the proverbial picket fence,” theembodiment of the Americandream, saying, “Someone we’llfight over w/ Princeton, I’dguess.”

But in the end, the student waswait-listed and did not get in.

Generations of high school stu-

dents have applied to Harvardthinking that if they checked allthe right boxes, they would be ad-mitted.

But behind the curtain, Har-vard’s much-feared admissionsofficers have a whole other set ofboxes that few ambitious highschool students and their parentsknow about — or could check evenif they did. The officers speak a se-

cret language — of “dockets,” “thelop list,” “tips,” “DE,” the “Z-list”and the “dean’s interest list” —and maintain a culling system inwhich factors like where appli-cants are from, whether their par-ents went to Harvard, how muchmoney they have and how they fitthe school’s goals for diversitymay be just as important as scor-ing a perfect 1600 on the SAT.

This arcane selection processhas been illuminated by a lawsuitaccusing Harvard of violating fed-eral civil rights law by using racialbalancing to shape its admissionsin a way that discriminatesagainst Asian-Americans. Har-

Z-Lists, and Other Secrets of Harvard AdmissionThis article is by Anemona Harto-

collis, Amy Harmon and MitchSmith.

Continued on Page A10

Suit Alleging Anti-AsianBias Provides Look at

Selection Process

NEWS ANALYSIS

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Fora nation often in the news for allthe wrong reasons — suicidebombings, horrific school massa-cres — Pakistan has reached aturning point that could possiblyalter its dysfunctional trajectory.

Imran Khan, the cricket starand A-list celebrity whose poli-tical party won this past week’selections, could use his fame andcharisma to reset Pakistan’stroubled relations with the West.

Mr. Khan also may move Paki-stan much closer to the expand-ing sphere of China, a neighborhe has praised conspicuously asa role model.

Or Mr. Khan could simplyfollow the same path as manyPakistani leaders before him,supporting harsh Islamic lawsand showing sympathy for mili-tant groups, policies that havekept Pakistan isolated for years.

Still, Mr. Khan brings some-thing new: more star power andmystique than any recent Paki-stani leader and perhaps a betterchance to change the country’snarrative, even though the elec-tion was widely consideredtainted.

“Relatively few Pakistanileaders have won over the West,”said Michael Kugelman, deputydirector for the South Asia Pro-gram at the Woodrow WilsonCenter in Washington. “ButKhan is familiar with operatingin the international world. Healready has strong name recog-nition. He doesn’t need to beintroduced.”

Oxford-educated and oncemarried to a wealthy Britishwoman, Mr. Khan is clearlycomfortable in the highest circlesof Western power brokers. Hewas close friends with PrincessDiana. (Shortly before she died,Mr. Khan has said, he was tryingto help her find a new husband.)

Still, the old Mr. Khan is notnecessarily the new Mr. Khan. Inrecent years, he has undergone acomplex metamorphosis, dis-tancing himself from his days asa star athlete and ladies’ man.He now expresses sympathy forthe Taliban and for Pakistan’sharsh blasphemy laws, whichinclude the death penalty, posi-

Pakistan’s PathMay Now Rest On Star Power

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

Continued on Page A6

NEWARK, Ohio — His Republi-can opponent doesn’t say muchpublicly about the Trump tax cuts,but on a warm night in a small-town union hall an hour outsideColumbus, Danny O’Connor washappy to talk about them — a lot.

“We just saw, this last Decem-ber, a $2 trillion swipe of the na-tional credit card, a giveaway tobig corporations,” Mr. O’Connor,the Democrat in a special electionon Aug. 7 for an open congres-sional seat here, told the crowd,drawing nods. “That doesn’t doanything for us. It doesn’t do any-thing for working people.”

That seems to go against whatRepublicans intended. Party lead-ers in Washington talk frequentlyabout the tax cuts and a “Trumpboom” that will doom the “bluewave” this election year — or atleast shrink it to a ripple. News onFriday that the economy grew at arobust 4.1 percent between Apriland June seemingly suppliedmore ammunition to a messagecentered on tax cut-fueled pros-perity.

But so far, that is not how it isplaying out on the campaign trail.

With little more than a week togo before voters here head to thepolls, the airwaves are insteaddominated by more general prom-ises to create jobs and, from Re-publicans, by dark warnings onwedge issues such as immigra-tion, meant to rally the conserva-tive base. A Republican “superPAC” is blitzing the Ohio air-waves, contending that electingMr. O’Connor will mean “morecrimes, more drugs.”

“Danny O’Connor would jointhe resistance,” the CongressionalLeadership Fund ad concludes,with the Democrat flanked bythree women: Hillary Clinton,Representative Nancy Pelosi andSenator Elizabeth Warren.

A Wesleyan Media Project anal-ysis of national advertising datafrom Kantar Media/CMAG alsoshows Republicans are rarelybragging to voters about the econ-omy’s strength.

Republicans have reason todoubt the efficacy of an economicmessage in hotly contestedmidterm campaigns, which have

‘Trump Boom’Just a WhisperOn the Stump

Republicans Reluctantto Dwell on Tax Cuts

By JIM TANKERSLEY

Continued on Page A13

WASHINGTON — Congres-sional Republicans, already facinga difficult election landscape, con-fronted a prospect on Sunday theyhad worked feverishly to avoid: athreat by President Trump to shutdown the government over fund-ing for a border wall.

“I would be willing to ‘shutdown’ government if the Demo-crats do not give us the votes forBorder Security, which includesthe Wall!” Mr. Trump wrote onTwitter. “Must get rid of Lottery,Catch & Release etc. and finally goto system of Immigration basedon MERIT! We need great peoplecoming into our Country!”

Last week, Republican leadersthought they had reached a dealwith Mr. Trump to delay a con-frontation on funding for the walluntil after the November midtermelections, according to a personfamiliar with their discussion.

But Mr. Trump’s shutdownthreat, in which he also demandedseveral pieces of a comprehensiveimmigration overhaul that isstalled in Congress, has openedthe door to a politically bruisingspending fight as the fiscal yearends in September.

With the election coming justweeks later, the party can ill afforda disruption that voters — alreadydisgusted by Washington dys-function — may hold the presidentaccountable for.

A shutdown would also distractfrom Senate Republicans’ mainbusiness in September: their pushto confirm Judge Brett M. Kava-naugh to the Supreme Court.

“We’re going to have a challeng-ing midterm anyway, and I don’tsee how putting the attention onshutting down the governmentwhen you control the governmentis going to help you,” Representa-tive Tom Cole, Republican of Okla-homa, said in an interview.

Representative Steve Stivers ofOhio, the chairman of the commit-tee charged with electing Republi-

PRESIDENT PLAYSSHUTDOWN CARD,FLUSTERING G.O.P.

WANTS MONEY FOR WALL

Tweets Stoke Worries ofBacklash Just Before

the Midterm Vote

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

Continued on Page A11

Dozens of churches in Quebec havebeen repurposed into condos, cheeseemporiums and reading rooms. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-8

The Pulpit Becomes a Gym

In the 1970s, the city turned deteriorat-ing buildings over to low-income ten-ants to save their homes. But many ofthe co-ops have foreclosed. PAGE A14

NEW YORK A14-17

Afraid of Losing Their Homes

Despite sharp opposition, constructionis underway on California’s high-speedrail project. PAGE A9

NATIONAL A9-13

The Future or a Boondoggle?

With their eyes on blockchain jobs andrevenue, small countries and territoriesare competing to become the go-todestinations for entrepreneurs andprojects. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-5

Bitcoin Island

Gala Dalí was her husband’s muse,model and publicist, and, as a Spanishshow demonstrates, much more thanthat. Above, a portrait from 1952. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

The Other Dalí, Reconstructed

Six players were enshrined in the Base-ball Hall of Fame before 53,000 fans inan annual celebration. PAGE D1

SPORTSMONDAY D1-6

New Class at CooperstownA.G. Sulzberger issued a bluntlyworded rebuttal to the president’s de-scription of their meeting. PAGE A12

Times Publisher vs. Trump

When high schoolers fill in college-planning surveys that come with SATpapers, they often unwittingly giveaway personal details that are sold andused in turn to target them. PAGE B1

Scooping Up Teenagers’ Data

Ahed Tamimi, 17, got a hero’s welcomeafter her release from jail for kickingand slapping an Israeli soldier. PAGE A4

Palestinian Teenager Is Freed

After three decades watching the wa-ters off Montauk, the woman who livesin the lighthouse is moving on. PAGE A15

Vacating the ‘Snow Globe’

Charles M. Blow PAGE A19

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A18-19

Late EditionToday, periodic clouds and sunshine,high 84. Tonight, cloudy, more hu-mid, low 70. Tomorrow, afternoonshowers or thunderstorms, high 82.Weather map appears on Page A12.

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