- Hezbollah fires at Israel as wars rage on Yom Kippur
- Analysts warn more detail needed on new China economic measures
- China tees up fresh spending to boost ailing economy
- China says will issue special bonds to boost ailing economy
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Dodgers drop Padres 2-0 to advance in MLB playoffs
- Alexei Navalny wrote he knew he would die in prison in new memoir
- Last-minute legal ruling allows betting on US election
- Despite hurricanes, Floridians refuse to leave 'paradise'
- Israel observes Yom Kippur amid firestorm over Lebanon strikes
- Trump demonizes migrants in dark, misleading speech
- X says 'alert' to manipulation efforts after pro-Russia bots report
- US, European markets rise before Boeing unveils sweeping job cuts
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Comoros shock Tunisia, Salah, Mbeumo strike in AFCON qualifiers
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Germany win in Nations League as 10-man Dutch rescue point
- Undav brace sends Germany to victory against Bosnia
- Israel says fired at 'threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- Ecuador's last mountain iceman dies at 80
- Milton leaves at least 16 dead, millions without power in Florida
- Senegal set to announce breakaway development agenda: PM
- UN says 2 peacekeepers wounded in south Lebanon explosions
- Injury-hit Australia thrash 'embarrassing' Pakistan at Women's T20 World Cup
- Internal TikTok documents show prioritization of traffic over well-being
- Israel says fired at 'immediate threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- New US coach Pochettino hails Pulisic but worries over workload
- Brazil orders closure of 2,000 betting sites
- UK govt urged to raise pro-democracy tycoon's case with China
- Sculptor Lalanne's animal creations sell for $59 mn
- From Tesla to Trump: Behind Musk's giant leap into politics
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- Supercharged hurricanes trigger 'perfect storm' for disinformation
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Djokovic proves staying power as he progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Sheffield Utd boss Wilder 'numb' after Baldock death
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- Fans immerse themselves in Marina Abramovic's first China exhibition
- Israel says conducting review after UN peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Djokovic 'overwhelmed' after 'greatest rival' Nadal's retirement
- Zelensky in Berlin says hopes war with Russia will end next year
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Djokovic proves staying power as progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Hurricane Milton leaves at least 16 dead as Florida cleans up
- Britain face 'ultimate challenge' in America's Cup duel with New Zealand
- Lebanon calls for 'immediate' ceasefire in Israel-Hezbollah war
Trump, ex-confidant Cohen set for showdown in NY trial
Donald Trump arrived at his New York civil fraud trial Tuesday blasting his former right-hand man Michael Cohen as a "liar," ahead of testimony by the disgraced lawyer that could expose his old boss's intimate business secrets.
Cohen has become one of the former US president's -- and leading Republican 2024 candidate's -- most vocal critics. He delivered searing testimony to Congress while Trump was still president and his appearance now as a witness in the New York trial, delayed last week for health reasons, is hotly anticipated.
Having served Trump as his lawyer and general fixer for years, Cohen has been privy to many of the scandal-embroiled populist's private and business dealings.
Ahead of their possible courtroom confrontation, Trump amped up the feud, telling reporters: "He's a liar. He's trying to get a better deal for himself but it's not going to work."
"We did nothing wrong," Trump added.
Trump is not required to attend the proceedings, but he has shown up sporadically, using his appearances to portray himself as the victim of a supposed Democratic Party plot to interfere with his 2024 presidential campaign.
The 77-year-old and his two eldest sons are accused of vastly -- and fraudulently -- inflating the value of the Trump Organization's real estate assets to receive more favorable bank loans and insurance terms.
The former president does not risk going to jail in the fraud trial, but New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, is seeking $250 million in penalties and the removal of Trump and his sons from management of the family empire.
Cohen, once known as Trump's "Pitbull," has been taunting the former president on social media ahead of his testimony.
He said Monday he "will continue to speak truth to power... no matter Donald's continued smear and harassment campaign against me."
On Tuesday, as he left a hotel apparently heading for the courthouse, Cohen insisted his credibility was intact and "I'm looking forward to the reunion" in court.
It was Cohen's testimony before Congress in 2019 that sparked the investigation by New York authorities into whether Trump artificially inflated his net worth.
- Trump ally pleads guilty -
Cohen is also expected to be a star witness in a separate criminal case facing the former president in New York for allegedly paying election-eve hush money to a pornographic actress.
Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with the payment. He has pleaded not guilty.
Cohen was sentenced in 2018 to three years in prison for crimes including the hush-money case and tax evasion, but was released after a little over a year and served the remainder of his sentence in home confinement.
Trump's defense lawyers are expected to attack Cohen's credibility during his testimony in the civil fraud trial by bringing up his criminal record.
Earlier this month, Trump withdrew a lawsuit he filed against Cohen in April seeking $500 million for alleged breach of attorney-client privilege and a confidentiality agreement.
No reason was given for Trump dropping the suit, but Cohen, 57, noted that it came just days before the former president was scheduled to sit for a deposition.
The civil fraud and hush money cases are only two of the multitude of legal battles facing Trump as he seeks to recapture the White House.
He is to go on trial in Washington in March for conspiring to overturn results of the 2020 election and in Florida in May on charges of mishandling secret government documents.
Trump also faces racketeering charges in Georgia for allegedly conspiring to upend the election results in the southern state after his 2020 defeat.
Compounding his legal woes, a third former Trump lawyer who worked on the Trump 2020 campaign pleaded guilty in the Georgia case.
Jenna Ellis struck a deal Tuesday with prosecutors, and in a tearful statement before Judge Scott McAfee, she expressed regret for her actions following Trump's election loss to Joe Biden.
"I look back on this whole experience with deep remorse," she told the court, after pleading guilty to a charge relating to false claims of voter fraud that were made to the Georgia state Senate.
"If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges," she said.
L.Harper--AMWN