THREE ACCUSERS CONFRONT “SERIAL RAPIST” COSBY
PA» Decades after NORRISTOWN, they say Bill Cosby knocked them out with intoxicants and sexually assaulted them, three of his accusers confronted the 80year-old comedian in court Wednesday, with one woman pointedly calling him a “serial rapist” and another asking him through her tears, “You remember, don’t you, Mr. Cosby?”
The women’s charged rhetoric prompted several mistrial requests from Cosby’s lawyers — which were denied — as prosecutors built their case that Cosby was one of Hollywood’s biggest predators long before he met Andrea Constand, the chief accuser in his sexual assault retrial.
Now well into middle age, the accusers spoke of entering Cosby’s orbit as starstruck young women seeking career help or, in the case of a casino bartender from Reno, Nevada, simply looking for a fun time. All of them testified they wound up unconscious from the pills or alcohol he gave them, unable to say no or resist as he had his way with them.
Yemeni rebel missiles, drones target Saudi capital.
SOUTH
Saudi Arabia faced a flurry of attempted attacks by Yemen’s rebels on Wednesday, with the kingdom’s defense forces saying they intercepted missiles that targeted Riyadh and another city, and drones targeting an airport and an Aramco oil facility in the country’s south.
The attacks underscore how the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, continue to retain a range of potentially lethal and disruptive ways to hit the kingdom, despite more than three years of devastating Saudi airstrikes on Yemen to try and roll back Houthi control of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and other northern strongholds.
Parkland massacre suspect: Donate my inheritance to victims.
FORT LAUDERDALE,
Nikolas Cruz wants the victims of his Valentine’s Day rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and their families to choose a charity to receive any money he’s got coming to him, his lawyer said Wednesday.
He doesn’t want any money from his mother’s life insurance policy or any other source of income, defense attorney Melisa McNeill said.
“He would like that money donated to an organization that the victims’ families believe could facilitate healing in our community,” she said.
California OKs limited troop deployment.
SACRAMENTO,
CALIF.» Gov. Jerry Brown agreed Wednesday to deploy 400 National Guard troops at President Donald Trump’s request. But not all will head to the U.S.-Mexico border as Trump wants, and none will enforce federal immigration enforcement.
“This will not be a mission to build a new wall. It will not be a mission to round up women and children or detain people escaping violence and seeking a better life,” Brown, a Democrat, wrote in a letter to the Trump administration.
Trump wants up to 4,000 troops sent to the border to combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking and has already won commitments for about 1,600 from the Republican governors of the other states that border Mexico — Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
Vermont’s GOP governor signs new gun restrictions.
» Vermont on MONTPELIER, VT.
Wednesday raised the age to buy firearms, banned high-capacity magazines and made it easier to take guns from people who pose a threat — the first significant gun ownership restrictions in state history, signed into law by the Republican governor.
Top State Dept. nominee says soft Russia policy “now over.”
» Outgoing CIA WASHINGTON
Director Mike Pompeo will tell senators weighing his confirmation as secretary of state that years of soft U.S. policy toward Russia are “now over.”
That’s according to excerpts of his opening statement obtained by The Associated Press before his Senate hearing Thursday.