While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Nov 30

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleads guilty to lying to Congress 

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former longtime personal lawyer, pleaded guilty on Thursday (Nov 29) to lying to Congress about a proposed Trump Organization skyscraper in Moscow, prompting Trump to lash out at Cohen as a “liar” and “weak person.”

The plea stemmed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign conspired with Moscow to boost his chances, and put new pressure on the president. 

Cohen, who in the past described himself as Trump’s “fixer,” entered his guilty plea in federal court in Manhattan to one count of making false statements to two congressional committees about a real estate project Trump was pursuing while running for president in 2016. 

READ MORE HERE

G-20 leaders arrive in Argentina, talks on communique “very, very difficult”

G-20 member nations were still struggling to reach agreement on major issues including trade, migration and climate change as world leaders began arriving in Buenos Aires ahead of a summit starting on Friday (Nov 30).

“This is not a good year for multilateralism,” said a German government source about talks on a final communique that the leaders are due to issue at the end of their meeting on Saturday.

The negotiations are “very, very difficult,” the official told Reuters.

READ MORE HERE

German competition watchdog launches probe against Amazon

The Federal Cartel Office said it would look closely at Amazon’s business practices after receiving “many complaints” from retailers and manufacturers selling goods through its German website amazon.de.

“Amazon functions as a kind of ‘gatekeeper’ for customers”, Andreas Mundt, head of Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, said in a statement.

READ MORE HERE

One in three women in the Americas suffer abuse from partners, study shows


One in three women in the Americas has suffered violence at the hands of their domestic partner at some point in their life, according to a study released Thursday (Nov 29) by the Pan American Health Organization.

“In our region, intimate partner violence is the most prevalent form of violence against women, affecting one in every three women in the Americas,” said Isabella Danel, the deputy director of the organization.

She said rates vary from country to country across the region, with some nations recording a rate of 14 per cent and others, such as Bolivia, as much as 60 per cent.

READ MORE HERE

Rare Van Gogh photo is of Vincent’s brother, say experts 


For decades, the bright-eyed boy in the photograph was believed to be the legendary artist Vincent Van Gogh at the age of 13.

But experts revealed Thursday (Nov 29) that the picture is most likely not the Dutch “Sunflowers” painter but his brother Theo, who was 15 at the time.

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam announced the shock discovery about what was previously thought to be one of only two photos of Vincent, and which has appeared in dozens of books.

READ MORE HERE

Source: Read Full Article