Michael Cohen on the stand
Michael Cohen — the do-anything fixer who as soon as boasted about burying Donald Trump’s secrets and techniques and spreading his lies — testified yesterday at Trump’s felony trial. In an important passage, he mentioned that the hush-money cost that he made to Stormy Daniels got here at Trump’s course.
“He expressed to me, ‘Simply do it,’” Cohen mentioned on the stand, including, “I used to be doing the whole lot and extra to guard my boss.”
Right here’s the most recent.
Cohen’s testimony is essential to efforts to tie Trump to allegations of a conspiracy to safeguard his presidential marketing campaign in 2016 by burying Daniels’s account of a 2006 sexual encounter. Cohen admitted to mendacity and bullying for Trump, shopping for and suppressing unfavourable tales whereas appearing the a part of a “thug.”
Cohen, who nonetheless faces cross-examination from the protection, additionally floor down some key assertions.
Trump’s attorneys argue that Trump was oblivious to his fixer’s machinations; Cohen described his boss as a micromanager. Trump’s crew has additionally tried to color its consumer as a household man deeply fearful about how Daniels’s accusations would hurt his marriage. Cohen described Trump as callous, saying that it “was all concerning the marketing campaign.”
A brand new Russian protection minister for a protracted conflict
President Vladimir Putin’s shock decide to guide Russia’s sprawling protection ministry made his first public look in his new position yesterday and spoke extra about forms fairly than the battlefield in Ukraine.
The appointment of Andrei Belousov, a soft-spoken knowledgeable on financial coverage, signaled that Putin is specializing in subordinating Russia’s financial system to its navy wants to be able to maintain a conflict of attrition with Ukraine.
In his remarks, Belousov didn’t reference the scenario on the entrance, the place Russian forces are mounting a brand new offensive within the northeast. He described his priorities as enhancing requirements of care and residing for troopers, veterans and their households.
“It’s completely unacceptable” that troopers are redirected to overcrowded hospitals when on depart, Belousov mentioned. “This challenge must be resolved.”
On the battlefield: A prime Ukrainian normal mentioned its navy was confronting a “vital” scenario within the northeast because it tries to repel the Russian offensive. Ukraine is more and more failing to cease Russian missiles because it awaits extra weapons to bolster its air defenses.
How Hamas spied on Palestinians
The Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar has for years overseen a secret police drive in Gaza that performed surveillance and constructed recordsdata on younger individuals, journalists and those that questioned the federal government, in line with intelligence officers and inside paperwork reviewed by The Occasions.
“Tremendous Dimension Me,” a documentary launched 20 years in the past, led to a backlash in opposition to McDonald’s, an emblem of the hegemony of American capitalism. But it surely didn’t stick.
Not solely is McDonald’s now greater than ever, with practically 42,000 world areas, however quick meals basically has boomed.
CONVERSATION STARTERS
What to search for at Cannes
The Cannes Movie Pageant begins at this time within the south of France. Kyle Buchanan, a Occasions tradition reporter, wrote concerning the films, artists and occasions we’ll be maintaining a tally of.
Some 45 years after “Apocalypse Now” received the Palme d’Or, Francis Ford Coppola is again with “Megalopolis,” starring Adam Driver as a visionary architect decided to rebuild a metropolis after a catastrophe. It’s arduous to think about a friendlier place for the movie’s debut than Cannes, the place Coppola is revered.
However the largest film premiere shall be “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.” Anticipate a serious red-carpet second from Anya Taylor-Pleasure, who takes over the title character originated by Charlize Theron.
Actual-world controversies could bleed into the glitzy competition. The competition’s staff may strike, annoyed by their contracts. And the French movie business is reckoning with #MeToo, with extra accusations rumored to come back through the competition.
RECOMMENDATIONS
P.S. “The Retrievals,” a podcast from Serial Productions and The Occasions about deceit at a Yale fertility clinic, received a Peabody Award.
That’s it for at this time. See you tomorrow. — Amelia
You possibly can attain us at briefing@nytimes.com.
