International
Trump could testify next week in the final stretch of his criminal trial
The defense of the former president of the United States. Donald Trump (2017-2021) said on Thursday that the tycoon has not yet decided if he will go up to the stand to testify next week, the date that the judge of the case wants it to be the final stretch for this criminal trial that began a month ago with the jury selection.
On Friday there will be no session and next Monday it is expected that Michael Cohen, who was a lawyer and right-hand man of the former president and is the last witness of the Prosecutor’s Office, will continue with his testimony after having already spent three days on the stand.
Trump’s lawyers also left the door open to summon more witnesses and said that it would not take “long” to make the announcement of who they would be.
For his part, Judge Juan M. Merchan considered it appropriate to warn both parties that they were prepared for the final allegations on Tuesday. That could mean that the case will reach the jury to pronounce its verdict next week.
This week, Cohen testified that Trump ordered him to pay $130,000 to silence Stormy Daniels during the campaign, a porn star who claims to have had relations with Trump in 2006, and detailed how he later reimbursed him for his expenses.
During the examination of the star witness of the Prosecutor’s Office this Thursday, Trump’s chief lawyer, Todd Blanche, was more agitated than the witness, who, for his part, answered serenely and sometimes extremely slowly.
Trump’s defense focused on questioning Cohen’s honesty and morality before the jury and on reviewing in detail some of the evidence that has been shown so far in the trial.
Thus, he asked Cohen to tell the lies he told the Intelligence Committee of the 2017 House of Representatives, where he lied under oath, which cost him to be accused of perjury in 2018.
The defense also analyzed the relationship with Cohen’s press, who explained that journalists came to him to ask him to confirm or deny information about Trump during the almost ten years he worked for him, and acknowledged that with some of them he came to establish a friendly relationship.
The former lawyer said that he never made any statement without first consulting the Republican politician.
Blanche attacked Cohen’s professionalism by pointing out that he secretly recorded some of his conversations with the press, including about forty with The New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman, who has written 38 articles about him and was in the Manhattan Criminal Court room today following the case.
To which the former lawyer, who can no longer practice, justified – without receiving the question – that in the state of New York they consider it legal to record a phone call without letting the other person know.
However, Trump’s lawyer reproached him for also recording conversations with clients, something that is not allowed for lawyers in this state.
He also recorded conversations with Trump, one of them in 2016 that he used as evidence in this trial.
With regard to other conversations with the former president and his circle during the last stretch of the 2016 presidential elections, in which Cohen points out that the issue of payment was discussed to silence the extramarital relationship, Blanche questioned Cohen’s memory by pointing out that at that time he received an average of 50 calls a day.
Trump, who is in the middle of the electoral campaign but has to attend the trial four days a week, paid attention during the testimony of his former employee, thus breaking with his habit of “listening to the testimonies with his eyes closed”, especially after lunch.
Today the news was not only inside the room, but also outside, where dozens of large penis-shaped pink balloons flew over the vicinity of the court.
The balloons overprinted the faces of people like Merchan or that of the Manhattan prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, who has filed the accusation that Trump has in the dock.
International
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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