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Michael Cohen described a hush-money deal
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former fixer, returned to the stand yesterday to face legal professionals for the Manhattan district legal professional’s workplace, in addition to Donald Trump’s authorized staff, within the case in opposition to the previous president.
Cohen instructed jurors that he obtained month-to-month checks — most bearing the previous president’s signature — that presupposed to be a part of a authorized “retainer” settlement, however that had been in truth reimbursements for hush cash he had paid to the porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleges that she had a sexual relationship with Trump. Cohen’s testimony was the primary and solely private account tying Trump to the paperwork on the crux of his case.
In a barrage of questions, Trump’s attorneys sought to painting 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 previous president, his personal felony historical past and his need to see Trump behind bars.
Analysis: The protection gave the impression to be attempting to painting Cohen as, “primarily, Trump’s stalker,” my colleague Maggie Haberman wrote — a person as soon as obsessive about the previous president who was now equally obsessive about getting revenge.
What’s subsequent: Trump’s legal professionals indicated that they might name an professional witness and that that they had not determined if they might name Trump himself.
Other particulars: In a blow to Trump, an appeals courtroom upheld the judge’s gag order.
Russia widened its purge of the Defense Ministry
Russian safety brokers detained Lt. Gen. Yuri Kuznetsov, a senior normal, early yesterday on an accusation of “large-scale” bribery, in keeping with Russia’s Investigative Committee, a federal regulation enforcement company. His detention got here days after Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, unexpectedly changed his long-serving protection minister, Sergei Shoigu.
Prosecutors stated that General Kuznetsov obtained a bribe from “industrial pursuits” between 2021 and 2023, when he was engaged on the safety of state secrets and techniques. The prosecutors claimed that safety brokers found money equal to $1 million and luxurious gadgets throughout a search of his dwelling.
U.N. adjusted its loss of life toll in Gaza
The U.N. has begun citing a a lot decrease loss of life toll for ladies and kids in Gaza, acknowledging that it has incomplete details about the casualties throughout Israel’s battle on the territory.
The group now cites 4,959 girls and seven,797 kids killed, down from not less than 9,500 girls and 14,500 kids earlier this month. While the overall variety of casualties — roughly 35,000 — remained broadly the identical, a U.N. official stated that the group was awaiting extra figuring out info for about 10,000 of the dead, so that they weren’t included within the new breakdown.
Background: The change got here as a result of the U.N. switched to citing a extra conservative supply for its numbers. The change has added gasoline to a debate over the credibility of these figures, although many worldwide officers and specialists say that the numbers are typically dependable.
Gaza: Israeli army leaders have grown more and more annoyed with the dearth of a plan for governing the territory after the battle.
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Britain’s butlers are nonetheless buttling — however not fairly as they as soon as did. These days, the function now entails not solely sharpening silver and folding napkins but additionally way of life administration, akin to a personal maitre d’.
Clients’ requests typically run to the weird. “The shopper pointed towards the shoreline and stated, ‘Tonight I’d prefer to have dinner on high of that mountain — please organize it,’” one veteran butler stated. A neighborhood restaurant was known as, then dinner and desk settings for six had been flown in with a helicopter.
Lives lived: Alice Munro, the Canadian author and Nobel laureate who was extensively thought of a grasp of the quick story, has died. She was 92.
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The struggle over New York City’s streets
New York City’s streets have all the time bustled, however these days they’re virtually dangerously unlivable.
Residents conflict over site visitors, parking and heaps of trash. Cars and taxis vie for house, as buses swerve to keep away from vans parked in bike lanes. E-bikes are all over the place. Far fewer pedestrians get killed by motorists as of late, however final yr was the deadliest for cyclists since 1999.
“All of these things is attempting to suit right into a grid that was designed in 1811,” my colleague Dodai Stewart explains in a video. Relief could also be on the way in which: The metropolis is about to enact the nation’s first congestion pricing plan, which might cost most drivers $15 to enter a lot of Manhattan beneath sixtieth Street.
