Plus: Israel marks Memorial Day amid Gaza war, and China's space ambitions. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. We are back in the New York courtroom where Donald Trump is facing his hush-money criminal trial. Today it's Michael Cohen's turn to take the stand - the prosecution's star witness. I have plenty more news coming from Israel, South Africa and Mount Everest. But first, an update on a BBC investigation I shared with you last week. | |
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QUESTIONS ANSWERED | The man who could make or break Trump |
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|  | "What I was doing, I was doing at the direction of and for the benefit of Mr Trump," Michael Cohen said. Credit: Reuters | Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen testified at a New York court in the ex-president's criminal trial. Cohen, who pleaded guilty to eight felony counts in 2018, is saying he paid hush money at his former boss's direction. |
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| | What's Michael Cohen's role in the trial? | He is the prosecution's star witness. He's the one who made the hush-money payment at the centre of the case, a sum which the prosecution alleges was fraudulently reimbursed by Mr Trump. Prosecutors clearly want to corroborate as much of Cohen's testimony as they could before he took the stand, since he has credibility issues. | What are those issues? | Ahead of his testimony, Cohen has not exactly helped the prosecution's case. He has mocked Mr Trump on X, calling him "sleepy Donald" and posting memes that appear to show Mr Trump in prison-uniform orange. Cohen's actions went too far for Justice Juan Merchan, who warned prosecutors to tell Cohen to stop commenting on the case. | What's the defence's plan? | Todd Blanche, Mr Trump's lead attorney, tried to undercut Cohen as a witness in his opening statement. He said Cohen remained "obsessed" with Trump "to this day," and that he "rants and raves" about the former president. His team could call into question his motivation for providing damaging testimony against Mr Trump. They already have alleged Cohen is profiting off Mr Trump's legal problems through his podcast. | | - Witnesses of history: Some members of the public join the courtroom queue in the dead of the night in hopes to see the trial up close. Here are their stories.
- Election year: The trial is becoming a campaign stop for Republican politicians, writes Anthony Zurcher.
- As it happened: Kayla Epstein and Madeline Halpert are in court to report on Cohen's first day of testimony, which should end soon after you receive this newsletter. Find all about it on our live page.
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| Israel marks Memorial Day in heavy times |  | Benjamin Netanyahu's determination to continue fighting in Gaza is creating growing conflict at home too. Credit: Reuters | Sirens have sounded across Israel to mark Memorial Day, honouring the country's war dead. Israelis are also commemorating the victims of last October's Hamas attack, which triggered the current war in Gaza. Israel's defence ministry says the names of 826 people from the security forces were added to the list of the country's fallen this year. |
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| | Lucy Williamson, BBC News |
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| | Faced with the human cost of his current war, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, offered a reminder of why he was asking families to pay it. "It's either us - Israel; or them - the monsters of Hamas," he said. "It's either existence, liberty, security and prosperity; or annihilation, massacre, rape and subjugation. We are determined to win." Despite the support from some families, this Memorial Day is a sensitive moment for Israel's prime minister. Beneath the national unity shown for the country's war dead are growing questions - and growing divisions - about Israel's war aims, and their results.
Standing before the grave of his daughter Rebecca, Robert Baruch said there was family history scattered around the cemetery. "I don't know how we'll look back on this in twenty years - I hope we'll say this was a last terrible phase in something that ended in good. But at what cost?" |
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| | - Watch: Israelis held a moment of silence while the sirens were sounding. Take a look.
| - War latest: Fierce fighting has been reported in Jabalia in northern Gaza, where the Israeli military said Hamas had regrouped. "We don't know where to go," one resident who fled said.
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THE BIG PICTURE | Whistles, whips and guns |
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| |  | The volunteers will stop people and question anyone they think is suspicious. Credit: BBC | South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, according to UN figures. Teams of volunteers from various communities across the country are patrolling the streets to fight back. Some carry the sjambok, a traditional leather whip. Others are armed with guns. But some of what they do is not legally sanctioned. |
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FOR YOUR DOWNTIME | China's space ambitions | The Chang'e-6 lunar mission is a stepping stone to the country's space exploration. | |
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And finally... on Mount Everest | The world's tallest mountain saw two record-breaking climbs on Sunday. A Nepali sherpa set a record for the most summits ever, and a British climber did the same, but for a foreigner. | |
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