Nation & World Glance
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — The jury in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault case ended a fifth day of deliberations Friday without reaching a verdict, testing the patience of defense lawyers and even the judge as it struggled to break a deadlock by making repeated runs through testimony given by the TV star, his accuser and others.
With deliberations passing the 50-hour mark, longer than the testimony of all the witnesses combined, the 79-year-old TV star’s lawyer complained that jurors were seeking a replay of the entire trial. Lawyer Brian McMonagle also worried that some jurors might compromise “their views and their values” for the sake of reaching a unanimous decision.
“I believe this jury is tired, is weary,” McMonagle said late Friday, as the jury wrapped up another marathon round of deliberations. “I believe they are being compelled to come back with a verdict.”
Uncertainty over Islamic State leader’s fate after airstrike
BEIRUT — Uncertainty and confusion surrounded the fate of the head of the Islamic State group Friday as Russia announced it may have killed him in an airstrike targeting a meeting of IS leaders just outside the group’s self-declared capital in Syria, but U.S. officials said there was no definitive proof of his death.
The demise of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would be a severe blow to the extremist group as it fights to hang on to its strongholds in Syria and Iraq, although it was not clear how much operational control he retains over the organization whose capabilities keep evolving on the battlefield and beyond.
Apart from Moscow’s claim that he may have been killed in the May 28 airstrike along with more than 300 militants, there was not much else to back it up. The Russian Defense Ministry said the information about his death was still “being verified through various channels.”
Amazon buying Whole Foods in bold move into brick and mortar
NEW YORK — Amazon is buying Whole Foods in a stunning move that gives it hundreds of stores across the U.S. — a brand-new laboratory for radical retail experiments that could revolutionize the way people buy groceries.
The deal valued at $13.7 billion unites the company that persuaded people to buy books — and then everything else — online with the grocery store chain that fell behind as shoppers found “good enough” alternatives to the organic and natural foods it helped popularize.
Amazon already offers grocery-delivery services in five markets, but the Whole Foods purchase would let it expand to many more. Amazon also offers grocery shipments elsewhere, but that’s tough with perishable foods.