Thursday: Trump-Kim meeting shadowed by Michael Cohen

Spain, Kashmir, fetch View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, February 28, 2019 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Thursday Briefing]( By PENN BULLOCK AND MELINA DELKIC Good morning. Withering public testimony by Michael Cohen, the second day of the U.S.-North Korea meeting, and how to spot an undiscovered Rembrandt. Here’s the latest: [Michael Cohen appearing to wipe away tears toward the close of his climactic testimony to the House in Washington on Wednesday. He accused his former boss, President Trump, of corruption and cover ups.]Michael Cohen appearing to wipe away tears toward the close of his climactic testimony to the House in Washington on Wednesday. He accused his former boss, President Trump, of corruption and cover ups. T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times ‘He is a racist. He is a con man. And he is a cheat.’ That was Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer, describing Mr. Trump during testimony before a House committee. Mr. Cohen painted [the president and his inner circle]( as venal, corrupt, power hungry and a threat to democracy. Mr. Cohen said that the president had directed him to lie in 2018 about [hush payments to an adult film star]( and that Mr. Trump knew in advance of a WikiLeaks email release damaging Hillary Clinton’s campaign, among other statements. His testimony could create [new legal issues for Mr. Trump](. Mr. Cohen will soon start serving a three-year prison sentence, and Republicans took aim at his credibility. Go deeper: Here are some of the [most fiery exchanges]( plus [major takeaways]( and [full video](. ______ [North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, center right, responded to reporters’ questions as he met with President Trump at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday.]North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, center right, responded to reporters’ questions as he met with President Trump at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday. Doug Mills/The New York Times Cohen testimony casts shadow on Trump-Kim talks in Hanoi The high drama on Capitol Hill was on President Trump’s mind as he met with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, in Vietnam on Wednesday. Michael Cohen, the president tweeted, was “lying in order to reduce his prison time!” Mr. Trump then had a one-on-one exchange with Mr. Kim in downtown Hanoi. [Formal talks between the two sides take place today]( with a ceremony to sign a “joint statement” scheduled for the afternoon, raising expectations of some sort of diplomatic breakthrough. “I would not say I’m pessimistic,” Mr. Kim said. [You can follow our live updates here](. Media: [Four American journalists were barred]( from covering Mr. Trump’s dinner with Mr. Kim after two of them called out questions in an earlier appearance of the two leaders — a highly unusual retaliatory move at a closely watched foreign event. Analysis: Thae Yong-ho, a member of North Korea’s political elite who in 2016 became the highest-ranking diplomat to defect in years, said [in an interview with our Beijing bureau chief]( that Mr. Kim had no intention of giving up his weapons and was just buying time. ______ [Mariano Rajoy, the former Spanish prime minister, arriving at the Supreme Court in Madrid on Wednesday to testify in the trial of former Catalan separatist leaders.]Mariano Rajoy, the former Spanish prime minister, arriving at the Supreme Court in Madrid on Wednesday to testify in the trial of former Catalan separatist leaders. Benjamin Cremel/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Spain’s former leader testifies against Catalan separatists Mariano Rajoy, a former Spanish prime minister, told the country’s Supreme Court that [Catalan separatist leaders on trial should take the blame]( for chaos and clashes during a 2017 independence referendum. When the defense showed [video of the violent melees]( in which police officers hit voters with truncheons, he said: “If people had not been convened to an illegal referendum, nobody would have seen the injuries that some people suffered.” Background: In October 2017, separatists in Catalonia held a highly contentious independence referendum, and the separatist majority in the regional Parliament voted to secede from Spain. Mr. Rajoy responded by ousting the Catalan government. In the trial, 12 former leaders of Catalonia face prison sentences of up to 25 years if convicted on charges of staging a rebellion. Looking ahead: The trial is expected to last three months, taking it past April 28, when Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called a snap general election in which Catalonia’s status will be an overriding issue. ______ [At left, “Portrait of a Young Gentleman” hanging in the Amsterdam gallery of the art dealer Jan Six, who believes the painting is by Rembrandt. ]At left, “Portrait of a Young Gentleman” hanging in the Amsterdam gallery of the art dealer Jan Six, who believes the painting is by Rembrandt. Hellen Van Meene for The New York Times An obsessive aristocrat, rediscovered paintings and an art-world feud Peculiarities of a portrait in a Christie’s catalog [caught the eye of Jan Six]( — a 40-year-old Dutch art dealer, a descendant of a famous subject of Rembrandt’s portraits and scion of one of the Netherlands’ great art-holding families — in November 2016. Spotting telltale signs that the portrait of a man in the catalog was, in fact, by Rembrandt, the art dealer bought the painting at auction for $173,000 — pennies on the dollar if it were proven to be by Rembrandt, the most celebrated of Dutch old masters. But Mr. Six’s claim for the painting, while attracting worldwide attention last year, ran into the fine-grained ambiguities around art authentication, and devolved into a feud when a second art dealer stepped forward to claim that the discovery was a mutual endeavor in which he had been cheated. And that was before Mr. Six’s claim of a second new Rembrandt. ______ Here’s what else is happening India-Pakistan: Some experts predict de-escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors [after mutual incursions by fighter jets]( with an Indian pilot captured. [We explored the roots of their conflict]( in the bloody partition of British India in 1947, which produced an intractable territorial dispute over the snowy, mountainous region of Kashmir. Canada: In [testimony to the House of Commons]( Jody Wilson-Raybould, a former justice minister and attorney general, said that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, members of his staff and senior officials had used “political interference” and “veiled threats” in a campaign to get her to drop a criminal case against SNC-Lavalin, a Montreal-based engineering and construction company. Northern Ireland: More than two dozen women dragged suitcases across Westminster Bridge in London this week to [protest Belfast’s restrictive abortion rights and demand reform](. “Northern Ireland is now isolated as the only part of the U.K. and Ireland with a near total abortion ban,” one activist said. [A fire burning near the town of Diggle, England, on Wednesday.]A fire burning near the town of Diggle, England, on Wednesday. Jon Super/Reuters Britain: On the warmest February day in Britain since 1910, [wildfires broke out]( at some of the country’s beloved nature spots, including a forest made famous by A.A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh” books. U.S.: The federal government received [more than 4,500 complaints in four years]( about the sexual abuse of immigrant children who were being held at government-funded detention centers. Australia: The judge presiding over Cardinal George Pell’s sexual abuse case [set the sentencing for March 13](. The sexual abuse crimes could technically result in up to 50 years in prison. Egypt: At least 20 people were killed [when a train crashed]( and caught fire in Cairo’s main railway station. Egypt’s transport minister resigned hours afterward. Go fetch: Ever wondered why dogs are obsessed with chasing after and returning a ball or stick? Our science writer got to [the heart of the matter](. It has to do with the way the ancestors of today’s dogs took their kill back to the den to share or hoard. Eat like a Venetian: Next time you’re in Venice, [try eating at a bacarò]( a wine bar that serves infinitely varied, kaleidoscopically colorful small plates at affordable prices. Our Travel desk compiled seven of the best places to get cicchetti, essentially the Italian version of tapas. ______ Smarter Living Tips for a more fulfilling life. Craig Lee for The New York Times Recipe of the day: Bake a [Nutella banana bread]( for a friend, and one for yourself. Snoring at night and tired all day? [Here’s a guide]( to the common symptoms of sleep apnea, and what you can do if you have it. If you’re planning a wedding, include [a hashtag]( to enable your guests to share their photos of your special day in real time. Back Story This week is the start of the [Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo]( one of the largest such events in the world. It draws 2.4 million visitors, [hundreds of competitors]( and big-name musicians like Kacey Musgraves and Cardi B. But what is a rodeo? [A sometimes dangerous showcase]( based on skills traditionally used by cattle herders in Spain, Latin America, the U.S. and elsewhere. [A bareback rider competing at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in 2015.]A bareback rider competing at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in 2015. Josh Haner/The New York Times In Wyoming, South Dakota and Texas, it’s the official state sport, and students in Tucson, Ariz., where your Back Story writer grew up, get a two-day “rodeo vacation” each year. Other places, like Britain and the Netherlands, have banned rodeos over animal cruelty concerns. [Professional American rodeo]( has timed events like steer roping and barrel racing, and “roughstock” events — bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and, perhaps best known, bull riding. That requires staying on an [intensively bred bucking bull]( for an exhausting eight seconds. “It’s like the 100-meter race in the Olympics,” [one rider said](. Jennifer Jett, an editor based in Hong Kong, wrote today’s Back Story. ______ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings. [Check out this page]( to find a Morning Briefing for your region. (In addition to our European edition, we have Australian, Asian and U.S. editions.) [Sign up here]( to receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights, and [here’s our full range of free newsletters](. What would you like to see here? Contact us at [europebriefing@nytimes.com](mailto:europebriefing@nytimes.com?subject=Briefing%20Feedback%20(Europe)). LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. 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