World Briefs: Trump's ex-lawyer pleads guilty

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen

Trump's ex-lawyer pleads guilty

NEW YORK • Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty yesterday to a new federal charge and agreed to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, admitting that he lied to Senate investigators about his former boss' business plans in Russia.

Cohen admitted to lying last year to Senate intelligence committee members who had asked about Mr Trump's plans for a Moscow real estate project.

The new charge is notable because it is brought by investigators on Mr Mueller's team who are looking into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russians in the 2016 US presidential election.

Mr Trump bashed the Mueller probe yesterday, writing on Twitter: "When will this illegal Joseph McCarthy style Witch Hunt, one that has shattered so many innocent lives, ever end-or will it just go on forever?"

Mr Trump was referring to the period during the 1950s named for Republican senator Joseph McCarthy, in which hundreds of Americans were accused of being communists or communist sympathisers.

WASHINGTON POST


Trump, Putin to meet at G-20

MOSCOW • The Kremlin said yesterday Washington has confirmed a one-on-one meeting between United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at noon tomorrow at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina.

Mr Trump had previously cast the Buenos Aires sit-down into doubt, telling The Washington Post he might cancel seeing Mr Putin after Russia seized Ukrainian vessels and crew members over the weekend, sparking global condemnation and a sharp escalation in tensions between the neighbours.

WASHINGTON POST


Vietnam bank's ex-head arrested

HANOI • The former chairman of Vietnam's second-largest listed bank has been arrested for alleged violations of banking regulations, the South-east Asian country's public security ministry has said.

Mr Tran Bac Ha, former head of the state-owned Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, was accused of "violating regulations on banking operations", the Ministry of Public Security said on its website yesterday.

REUTERS


WWII workers to get compensation

SEOUL • South Korea's top court has ruled that Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries must compensate 28 South Koreans for their forced labour during World War II, a ruling that drew an immediate rebuke from Tokyo.

The decision yesterday echoed the Supreme Court's landmark verdict last month that ruled in favour of South Koreans seeking compensation from Japan's Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp for their wartime forced labour.

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 30, 2018, with the headline World Briefs: Trump's ex-lawyer pleads guilty. Subscribe