World
Star witness Cohen to testify against Trump in hush money trial
Former lawyer’s testimony viewed as key in former president’s criminal prosecution six months ahead of election.
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, Michael Cohen, is set to take the stand to testify against the former president.
Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, is due in court on Monday. The Manhattan district attorney hopes that the testimony of the key witness would help influence the verdict in the first-ever criminal case against a US president, sitting or former.
Cohen’s expected appearance in the New York courtroom signals that the closely-watched trial is entering its final stretch. Prosecutors say they may wrap up their presentation of evidence by the end of the week.
Cohen is set to testify about his role in arranging hush money payments on Trump’s behalf, including to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Daniels told jurors last week that a payment of $130,000 that she received in 2016 was meant to prevent her from going public about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump at a celebrity golf tournament a decade earlier.
Trump is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse Cohen for the payment on the eve of the 2016 presidential election when the story could have proved politically fatal. Prosecutors say the reimbursements were logged as legal expenses to conceal their true purpose.
The Republican presidential candidate has denied the allegations.
Defence lawyers are expected to try to paint Cohen, who once said he would “take a bullet” for Trump, as untrustworthy. They are also expected to cast him as vindictive and agenda-driven.
Since their fallout, the fixer-turned-foe has emerged as a relentless and sometimes crude critic of Trump. Last week he appeared in a live TikTok stream wearing a shirt featuring a figure resembling Trump behind bars and wearing handcuffs.
Five years ago, Cohen pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the payments and to lying to Congress. Trump’s defence will highlight the prosecution’s reliance on a witness with such a record.
Other witnesses, including former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and former Trump adviser Hope Hicks, have testified at length about the role Cohen played in arranging to stifle stories that were feared to be harmful to Trump’s 2016 candidacy.
Jurors also heard an audio recording of Trump and Cohen discussing a plan to buy the rights to a story of a Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who has said she had an affair with Trump.
The trial is taking place six months before the November election, when the presidential hopeful will try to defeat Democratic President Joe Biden.
World
Map: 6.0-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Off Mexico’s Coast
Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 3 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “weak,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown. The New York Times
A strong, 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck in the Gulf of California on Tuesday, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The temblor happened at 1:45 p.m. Mountain time about 47 miles southwest of El Progreso, Mexico, data from the agency shows.
As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.
Subsequent quakes have been reported in the same area. Such temblors are typically aftershocks caused by minor adjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the initial earthquake.
Aftershocks detected
Quakes and aftershocks within 100 miles
Aftershocks can occur days, weeks or even years after the first earthquake. These events can be of equal or larger magnitude to the initial earthquake, and they can continue to affect already damaged locations.
The New York Times
When quakes and aftershocks occurred
Sources: United States Geological Survey (epicenter, aftershocks, shake intensity); LandScan via Oak Ridge National Laboratory (population density) | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Mountain time. Shake data is as of Tuesday, June 30 at 2:02 p.m. Mountain time. Aftershocks data is as of Tuesday, June 30 at 6:01 p.m. Mountain time.
World
Boy, 2, pulled alive from rubble six days after Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes
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Emergency workers in Venezuela on Tuesday rescued a 2-year-old boy who had been trapped beneath the rubble for six days, marking the only reported rescue of a survivor on the sixth day of operations following last week’s devastating earthquakes.
Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez said in a Telegram post that Jordanian emergency workers pulled the child from a collapsed building in La Guaira, an area hit the hardest by last week’s earthquakes.
The child, identified by authorities as Klieber Moran, was rescued after spending six days trapped beneath the rubble, Rodríguez said.
Moran was taken to a hospital for treatment, she added.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PLEDGES $150M IN AID, DEPLOYS NAVY WARSHIPS AFTER DEADLY VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES
A Jordanian team works to rescue a child trapped under rubble following earthquakes in Venezuela, in a location given as Caracas, Venezuela. (Jordan Public Security/Handout via REUTERS)
National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said in a televised address Tuesday that officials remain hopeful more survivors will be found.
“We must hold onto the hope of continuing to find people alive beneath the rubble,” Jorge said. “Early this morning, a 2-year-old boy was rescued and is currently receiving care at a health center in Caracas.”
Rescue efforts have continued since magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck Venezuela’s northern coast last Wednesday.
DEATH TOLL FROM VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES RISES TO AT LEAST 235, WITH THOUSANDS REPORTED MISSING
Emergency workers rescued a 2-year-old boy after he spent six days trapped beneath the rubble following last week’s earthquakes in Venezuela. (Jordan Public Security/Handout via REUTERS)
The death toll from the twin earthquakes rose to 1,943 on Tuesday, with more than 10,500 people injured, according to Venezuelan officials. On Monday, the death toll stood at 1,719.
Tuesday’s rescue marked another glimmer of hope amid the disaster that has devastated the South American country.
On Saturday, the U.S. State Department shared video showing American search-and-rescue teams pulling an infant alive from beneath the rubble in Venezuela.
EX-MLB PLAYER SAYS WIFE DIED IN DEVASTATING VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES
A child receives emergency medical attention after being rescued by a Jordanian team from under rubble following earthquakes in Venezuela. (Jordan Public Security/Handout via REUTERS)
The infant, who is 9 months old, was rescued along with her mother, the State Department told Fox News Digital. Both suffered only minor injuries, according to the rescue team.
“Against impossible odds, hope endures,” the State Department posted on X.
On Tuesday, a shipment from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) containing 47 metric tons of humanitarian supplies arrived in Venezuela.
FORMER METS PITCHER NARROWLY ESCAPES DEATH IN VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES THANKS TO ELEVATOR MALFUNCTION
Emergency workers rescued 2-year-old Klieber Moran from beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in Venezuela six days after the country’s devastating earthquakes, according to Venezuelan officials. (Jordan Public Security/Handout via REUTERS)
The shipment includes emergency health kits for urgent medical care, including supplies for safe births, newborn care, disease prevention and treatment, according to the United Nations.
Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams from Virginia, California and Florida were dispatched to Venezuela on Friday to help search collapsed buildings.
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According to the State Department, the three USAR teams include 312 personnel and 18 canine teams, made up of firefighters, physicians, structural engineers and canine search specialists, and deployed with more than 200,000 pounds of specialized rescue equipment.
Reuters contributed to this report.
World
World’s oceans experience hottest June ever, scientists say more heat ahead
European Union monitors say the first half of 2026 was ‘marked by sustained and exceptional ocean warmth’ and forecast more to come.
Published On 1 Jul 2026
The world’s oceans experienced their “warmest June ever observed” and could see further record-breaking highs in the months ahead as El Niño and climate change push temperatures higher, according to a new report.
The European Union’s Copernicus Marine Service said on Wednesday that “record global sea surface temperatures” of 21.0 degrees Celsius (69.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in June beat the previous records in the same month in 2023 and 2024.
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“The first six months of 2026 were characterised by persistently elevated sea-surface temperatures and widespread marine heatwaves across much of the global ocean,” the EU’s marine environment monitor said in a statement.
“Marine heatwaves expanded steadily throughout the period, ultimately affecting around 82 percent of the global ocean,” said Simon van Gennip, lead oceanographer for the Copernicus Marine Service.
“The Mediterranean, the central North Atlantic and the equatorial Pacific all emerged as hotspots, and these regional signals paint a consistent picture of an ocean under sustained thermal stress,” Van Gennip said in a statement.
The onset of a potentially powerful El Nino weather pattern could boost global heat in the oceans and atmosphere even further in 2026, and into next year, according to scientists.
“Current conditions could indicate the beginning of a new phase, leading, once more, to uncharted territory,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the EU’s climate monitor.
“With ocean temperatures at these levels and El Nino on the horizon, we are likely to see more temperature records fall in the coming months,” Buontempo said in a statement.
El Nino is marked by unusually warm waters in parts of the Pacific Ocean, releasing more heat into the atmosphere and influencing wind, cloud and weather patterns around the globe. This can raise the risk of weather extremes, ranging from floods in Peru to droughts in parts of Africa and wildfires in Australia.
Land and sea temperatures reached an all-time high in 2024 at the tail end of the last El Nino, and 2026 could be among the warmest years recorded with the onset of the next El Nino this year.
The Copernicus report follows a warning issued in a major UN scientific assessment last month, which declared that the world’s oceans were in a “deepening crisis” as seas were warming and rising faster.
Oceans are a key regulator of Earth’s climate because they absorb some 90 percent of the excess heat caused by humanity’s release of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide.
Warmer oceans increase moisture in the atmosphere, providing fuel for tropical cyclones and destructive rainfall.
Hotter seas also directly contribute to sea-level rise – water expands when it warms up – and create unbearable conditions for tropical reefs, whose corals can bleach and die during prolonged marine heatwaves.
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