Michael Cohen to call Donald Trump a ‘racist’, ‘cheat’ and ‘conman’ in first public hearing

President’s former lawyer expected to say Trump knew of Roger Stone’s contact with WikiLeaks during 2016 campaign

Michael Cohen is to accuse Donald Trump of being a “conman” and a “cheat” who had advanced knowledge that a longtime adviser was communicating with WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign, according to opening testimony he will deliver to Congress on Wednesday.

Cohen’s prepared remarks, confirmed by the Guardian, include a series of explosive allegations about the presidential campaign.

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Kim Jong-un arrives in Hanoi for Vietnam summit with Donald Trump

North Korean leader to meet US president on Wednesday for dinner after three-day overland trip

Kim Jong-un has arrived in Hanoi, after transferring from train to car for the final leg of his overland trip to Vietnam where the North Korean leader is scheduled to have a private dinner and meeting with Donald Trump on Wednesday.

Kim will meet the US president for a brief one-on-one conversation, followed by a social dinner, at which they will each be accompanied by two guests and interpreters, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

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US negotiating position in disarray ahead of summit with North Korea

Trump says he would be happy if rogue state continues with nuclear testing ban, handing diplomatic initiative to Kim Jong-un

Donald Trump has said the US will be “happy” if North Korea simply agrees to continue its moratorium on nuclear and missile testing at this week’s summit in Hanoi.

The US president’s remarks on Sunday night represented a lowering of already modest expectations for his second meeting with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, due to begin on Wednesday.

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Ex-campaign staffer says Trump kissed her without consent – live updates

Alva Johnson files lawsuit alleging Trump kissed her in August 2016 outside rally in Tampa, and says ‘I immediately felt violated’

Donald Trump has complained about a “racist hit” he said Spike Lee carried out on him at the Oscars.

The film-maker, 61, won his first competitive Academy Award, best adapted screenplay, for his film BlacKkKlansman, which was also nominated for best picture. Lee received an honorary Oscar in 2015.

A former staff member of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has filed a federal lawsuit against the president, claiming he kissed her without consent.

Alva Johnson, who served as Trump’s campaign’s director of outreach and coalitions in Alabama in 2016, told the Washington Post that Trump “grabbed her hand and leaned in to kiss her on the lips”, as the then-candidate exited an RV at a rally in Tampa on August 24 2016.

Johnson said she turned her head and the unwanted kiss landed on the side of her mouth, which she called “super-creepy and inappropriate.”

“I immediately felt violated because I wasn’t expecting it or wanting it,” she said. “I can still see his lips coming straight for my face.”

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Trump sets more realistic tone ahead of second North Korea summit

President and secretary of state lower expectations as they prepare for meeting amid no sign of concessions from Pyongyang

Donald Trump and his most senior diplomat moved on Sunday to lower expectations for this week’s summit with North Korea, having previously overstated their progress in blocking its pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

Related: Kim Jong-un boards train for two-day journey to meet Trump in Vietnam

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Donald Trump delays tariff hike on Chinese goods after ‘great’ trade talks

The US president says he will hold a summit with Xi Jinping to conclude an agreement to end the year-long standoff

Donald Trump has said he will delay an increase in tariffs on Chinese goods that had been scheduled for Friday, citing “substantial progress” in trade talks with China over the weekend.

Related: When multilateralism crumbles, so does our rules-based order | Mark Medish

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Schiff threatens to call Mueller to testify if Trump-Russia report not made public

A top Democrat threatened on Sunday to call special counsel Robert Mueller to testify on Capitol Hill, subpoena documents and take the Trump administration to court if necessary, if the full report on the Russia investigation is not made public.

Related: Trump faces a legal reckoning – but are his worst troubles yet to come?

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Mueller: Paul Manafort is hardened criminal who ‘repeatedly’ broke law

Special counsel’s team say Trump campaign chairman deserves second prison sentence which could total 10 years

Paul Manafort is a hardened criminal who “repeatedly and brazenly” broke the law even while serving as Donald Trump’s campaign chairman, special counsel Robert Mueller has said.

Related: 'Even Nixon wasn’t like him': Trump's bid to upend Russia inquiry unprecedented, experts say

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Trump picks up two Razzies as Holmes & Watson dominates worst of Hollywood

Trump wins for worst actor and worst screen combo, but the Will Ferrell detective comedy scores for worst film and director

President Donald Trump and a comedy movie take on Sherlock Holmes on Saturday topped the annual Razzie awards for the worst performances and films of 2018.

Holmes & Watson, starring Will Ferrell and John C Reilly, was the biggest winner, taking four trophies including worst film and worst rip-off. Reilly also was named worst supporting actor in what Razzie founder John Wilson called the “clueless parody” of the classic detective tale.

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Vietnam threatens to deport Trump and Kim impersonators before ‘sensitive’ summit

Authorities unhappy with pair walking the streets of Hanoi and causing a ‘disturbance’

Vietnamese authorities were not amused when an impersonator of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, wandered the streets of Hanoi on Friday, just days before the second summit between Kim Jong-un and the US president, Donald Trump.

Howard X, an Australian, said Vietnamese authorities questioned him and another impersonator dressed as Trump and warned them they could be deported after they had taped an interview at a local TV station. The interview was not aired.

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Trump ally Roger Stone in court over Instagram post targeting judge – live

Longtime Trump confidante is back in court over photo that showed the judge with what appeared to be crosshairs near her head

Judge Amy Berman Jackson, presiding over the Roger Stone hearing, has taken a break before ruling on Stone’s fate.

David Smith is reporting that Stone claimed one of his “many” volunteers who operate out of his house could have posted the photo. Stone was unable to identify which volunteer posted it, however.

Kravis: The defendant continued to give interviews to amplify the coverage. "That conduct amounts to... a desire to manipulate media coverage to gain favourable attention." That increased the "risk to the jury pool".

Jackson to Rogow: "After he apologised, he continued talking every single day. What will get him to stop talking other than a court order... How would you craft a court order that he will find clear enough to follow?"

Guardian reporter David Smith is tweeting from inside the DC court where Roger Stone is appearing.

Stone has told the court that he is “heartfully sorry” and admitted abusing the court order that originally allowed him out on bail.

Stone: I believe there was "a media distortion" of my intent. "I did not have a malicious intent, your honour... I'm not seeking to justify it. It was just an error."

Stone: "I felt the media was falsely saying that I was posing a danger, which was not my intention. This was not a crosshair, in my opinion, and I did not wish to be blamed for something that was not my intention."

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House Democrats to file measure aimed at blocking Trump’s emergency declaration

Lawmakers’ move, planned for Friday, sets up clash over presidential powers and immigration but is likely to fail

House Democrats will file a resolution Friday aimed at blocking the national emergency declaration that Donald Trump has issued to help finance his wall along the Southwest border, teeing up a clash over billions of dollars, immigration policy and the constitution’s separation of powers.

Though the effort seems almost certain to ultimately fall short – perhaps to a Trump veto – the resulting votes will let Democrats take a defiant stance against Trump that is sure to please liberal voters. They will also put some Republicans from swing districts and states in a difficult spot.

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Immigration, rail funding and lawsuits: why California and Trump are at war

The state, which styles itself as the Democratic-led ‘resistance’, has launched 46 lawsuits against the Trump administration

The Trump administration’s plans to pull millions in federal funding from California’s high-speed rail project is just the latest in the ongoing antagonism between the president and the state that stands on the opposite end of his party’s ideological spectrum.

Governor Gavin Newsom called the move “political retribution” for the state’s lawsuit against Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency, but California and Trump have been at it since before he was even elected president.

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Trump-Russia: FBI had ‘backup plan’ to save investigation evidence – live

Plan created after Comey firing to ensure information would survive firings or reassignments of top officials

Attorneys for the Kentucky student filmed in an apparent confrontation with a Native American elder at the Lincoln Memorial filed a lawsuit against the Washington Post on Tuesday, accusing the news organization of engaging “in a modern-day form of McCarthyism.”

Here is the Complaint filed today against The Washington Post on behalf of Nick Sandmann. All members of the mainstream & social media mob of bullies who recklessly & viciously attacked Nick would be well-served to read it carefully. https://t.co/P3H4x0srlX

CNN hired a longtime Republican operative as the political editor charged with coordinating 2020 campaign coverage, Vox is reporting.

According to a CNN spokesperson, Isgur, who most recently worked as the Department of Justice’s main spokesperson under then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, will coordinate the network’s political coverage for the 2020 election cycle on TV and on CNN’s website. Isgur starts work next month, and will not be involved in coverage of DOJ. She will occasionally appear on TV.

Isgur’s LinkedIn page indicates she has no journalism experience. She has, however, worked for a variety of right-wing organizations and campaigns, including the Carly Fiorina and Mitt Romney presidential bids, the Republican National Committee, and a Ted Cruz US Senate campaign.

I've received a lot of partisan fundraising emails from Sarah Isgur Flores, who will reportedly "coordinate political coverage for the 2020 campaign at" CNN (https://t.co/WrQRFBZZFV), over the years. Here's one in Oct. 2014 in which she said Obama's policies would be "DOOMSDAY." pic.twitter.com/xUhXYYJMZf

CNN's new political editor, ex-flack for Carly Fiorina's campaign and the Sessions DOJ "has no experience in news but a long history as a political operative"

Lots and lots of experienced journos have lots their jobs in the last few months, just sayin'https://t.co/M5OymJoWgl

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House investigates ‘White House plan’ to share nuclear technology with Saudis

Top Trump officials pushed plan to share technology despite objections, according to House oversight committee report

Top White House officials pushed a plan to share nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia, despite objections from career national security staff, according to a new congressional report.

Related: A public holiday and gold-plated gun: Saudi crown prince feted on Asia tour

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Trump might have a solid case for emergency declaration, analysts say

Though Trump himself suggested there is no real emergency, courts are unlikely to second-guess a presidents’ broad leeway

Many legal analysts who watched Donald Trump declare a national emergency over immigration on Friday thought the president had weak legal grounds for doing so. In particular, many thought Trump hurt his own case by admitting, right there in the White House Rose Garden: “I didn’t need to do this, but I’d rather do it much faster.”

“This quote should be the first sentence of the first paragraph of every complaint filed this afternoon,” tweeted George Conway, a top Washington lawyer and the husband of Trump aide Kellyanne Conway.

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Roger Stone ordered to appear in court over Instagram post targeting judge

Stone has formally apologized for the post, which showed the judge with what appeared to be crosshairs near her head

Donald Trump’s longtime confidant Roger Stone was ordered to appear in court Thursday after a post he made on Instagram targeting the judge in his case.

Related: Democrats investigate 'White House plan' to share nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia – live

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Bernie Sanders announces run for presidency in 2020: ‘We’re gonna win’

Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont whose 2016 presidential campaign helped energize the progressive movement and reshaped the Democratic party, has entered the 2020 race for the White House.

Related: Can Bernie Sanders repeat his surprising success this time around? | Robert Reich

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Donald Trump’s direct appeal to Venezuelan military to back Juan Guaidó – video

Donald Trump has used a speech in Miami, Florida, to issue a direct appeal to members of the Venezuelan military to back opposition leader Juan Guaidó. The influential Venezuelan military has so far remained largely loyal to current president,  Nicolás Maduro. The US president told the crowd: 'We seek a peaceful transition of power, but all options are open'

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Syrian Kurdish leader calls for international force to protect Kurds

Ilham Ahmed says Kurds want observers on the border to ensure Turkey does not attack

The leader of the Syrian Kurds has called for a small international observer force to be stationed on the Turkey-Syria border to protect Kurds from what she says is the threat of crimes against humanity committed by Turkish forces.

Ilham Ahmed is co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council – the political arm of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which have been responsible for liberating much of north-eastern Syria from Islamic State.

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