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Donald Trump’s attorneys attempted to portray Michael Cohen as an opportunist. Seth Wenig/Associated Press |
Michael Cohen described a hush-money deal
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former fixer, returned to the stand yesterday to face lawyers for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, as well as Donald Trump’s legal team, in the case against the former president.
Cohen told jurors that he received monthly checks — most bearing the former president’s signature — that purported to be part of a legal “retainer” agreement, but that were in fact reimbursements for hush money he had paid to the porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleges that she had a sexual relationship with Trump. Cohen’s testimony was the first and only personal account tying Trump to the documents at the crux of his case.
In a barrage of questions, Trump’s attorneys sought to portray Cohen as an opportunist. Trump’s lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, pressed Cohen about his social media posts, his efforts to monetize his feud with the former president, his own criminal history and his desire to see Trump behind bars.
Analysis: The defense seemed to be trying to portray Cohen as, “essentially, Trump’s stalker,” my colleague Maggie Haberman wrote — a man once obsessed with the former president who was now equally obsessed with getting revenge.
What’s next: Trump’s lawyers indicated that they could call an expert witness and that they had not decided if they would call Trump himself.
Other details: In a blow to Trump, an appeals court upheld the judge’s gag order.
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The Defense Ministry, in Moscow. Alexander Nemenov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
Russia widened its purge of the Defense Ministry
Russian security agents detained Lt. Gen. Yuri Kuznetsov, a senior general, early yesterday on an accusation of “large-scale” bribery, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee, a federal law enforcement agency. His detention came days after Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, unexpectedly replaced his long-serving defense minister, Sergei Shoigu.
Prosecutors said that General Kuznetsov received a bribe from “commercial interests” between 2021 and 2023, when he was working on the protection of state secrets. The prosecutors claimed that security agents discovered cash equivalent to $1 million and luxury items during a search of his home.
Global diplomacy: Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, made a surprise visit to Kyiv yesterday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin of Russia is expected to go to China later this week to visit Xi Jinping, China’s leader.
Ukraine: Last month, Russian soldiers suddenly showed up in the small town of Ocheretyne. It was clear that something had gone wrong.
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The U.N. now cites 4,959 women and 7,797 children killed. -/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
U.N. adjusted its death toll in Gaza
The U.N. has begun citing a much lower death toll for women and children in Gaza, acknowledging that it has incomplete information about the casualties during Israel’s war on the territory.
The organization now cites 4,959 women and 7,797 children killed, down from at least 9,500 women and 14,500 children earlier this month. While the total number of casualties — roughly 35,000 — remained broadly the same, a U.N. official said that the organization was awaiting more identifying information for about 10,000 of the dead, so they were not included in the new breakdown.
Background: The change came because the U.N. switched to citing a more conservative source for its numbers. The change has added fuel to a debate over the credibility of those figures, though many international officials and experts say that the numbers are generally reliable.
Gaza: Israeli military leaders have grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of a plan for governing the territory after the war.
MORE TOP NEWS |
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Arpad Benedek/Alamy |
Climate: The summer of 2023 was the hottest in the Northern Hemisphere in 2,000 years, a study found.New Caledonia: The French territory in the South Pacific imposed a curfew after a proposed constitutional change led to violent protests. See a video here.Trade: President Biden will sharply raise tariffs on about $18 billion worth of Chinese products, including a major increase on electric vehicles.India: The death toll in the billboard collapse in Mumbai has risen to at least 14. Strong winds toppled the sign, which officials said had been put up without permission.Iran: The director Mohammad Rasoulof fled the country after a court sentenced him to eight years in prison for his movies.U.S.: The Biden administration ordered a company with Chinese origins to shut down and sell a cryptocurrency mine near a nuclear missile base in Wyoming.Westminster Dog Show: Sage, a miniature poodle, took the top prize. See behind-the-scenes photos from the competition. |
Europe
France: A manhunt is underway for armed assailants who ambushed a prison convoy, killing at least two prison guards and freeing an inmate.Britain: The government summoned the Chinese ambassador a day after police charged three men with assisting Hong Kong’s intelligence service.Germany: A court fined a far-right politician for using a banned Nazi slogan during a 2021 campaign speech. |
Roman Polanski: A French court ruled that he did not defame an actress, who had accused him of raping her, when he called her a liar in an interview in 2019.Orcas: Two sailors were rescued on Sunday after an attack by the animals capsized a boat near the Strait of Gibraltar, in the fifth such sinking in recent years. |
MORNING READ |
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Billy Barraclough for The New York Times |
Britain’s butlers are still buttling — but not quite as they once did. These days, the role now involves not only polishing silver and folding napkins but also lifestyle management, akin to a private maitre d’.
Clients’ requests sometimes run to the unusual. “The client pointed toward the coastline and said, ‘Tonight I’d like to have dinner on top of that mountain — please arrange it,’” one veteran butler said. A local restaurant was called, then dinner and table settings for six were flown in with a helicopter.
SPORTS NEWS |
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Andrew Couldridge/Action Images, via Reuters |
Oliver Glasner: The manager has transformed Crystal Palace in his three months in charge and now has now Bayern Munich’s attention.
Premier League title permutations: Arsenal and Manchester City’s pathways to the top.
W.N.B.A.: Caitlin Clark made her professional debut against the Connecticut Sun.
P.G.A. Championship: The story of Akshay Bhatia begins at Valhalla.
ARTS AND IDEAS |
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Leon Edler for The New York Times |
The fight over New York City’s streets
New York City’s streets have always bustled, but lately they’re almost dangerously unlivable.
Residents clash over traffic, parking and heaps of trash. Cars and taxis vie for space, as buses swerve to avoid trucks parked in bike lanes. E-bikes are everywhere. Far fewer pedestrians get killed by motorists these days, but last year was the deadliest for cyclists since 1999.
“All of this stuff is trying to fit into a grid that was designed in 1811,” my colleague Dodai Stewart explains in a video. Relief may be on the way: The city is about to enact the nation’s first congestion pricing plan, which would charge most drivers $15 to enter much of Manhattan below 60th Street.
RECOMMENDATIONS |
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Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. |
Cook: These humble beans can become a spicy, spectacular meal.