Military academy sex assault report

WASHINGTON — Students at the U.S. military academies often believe they have to put up with sexist and offensive behavior, according to a Pentagon report released Friday, reflecting a culture of disrespect that permeates the schools and their sports teams and fuels reports of sexual harassment and assaults.

The annual report on sexual assaults at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., identifies sports and club teams as an area where they need to expand prevention programs.

Overall, reported sexual assaults at the academies were down, from 80 to 70, during the school year that ended last May. Of those, almost twothirds were at the Air Force Academy. The assaults can range from unwanted sexual contact to rape.

Charges dropped in Annapolis

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A U.S. Naval Academy midshipman accused in a sexual assault case will not face charges, the school announced Friday, leaving just one of three original defendants in the case remaining.

A Naval Academy spokesman said charges against Midshipman Eric Graham of Eight Mile, Ala., were dismissed following a recommendation from prosecutors.

Prosecutors initially accused three men of sexually assaulting a woman, also a midshipman, in 2012.

Air Force drug probe

WASHINGTON — An Air Force investigation into alleged drug use in the ranks has expanded to include 10 officers at six bases in the U.S. and Britain.

Nine lieutenants and one captain are being investigated for illegal possession of recreational drugs, Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Brett Ashworth said Friday. The case began with the investigation of two officers at Edwards Air Force Base in California and quickly widened to several other bases, he said.

Top court to hear TV case

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to resolve a dispute between television broadcasters and Aereo, an Internet startup that the broadcasters say threatens the economic viability of their businesses.

Aereo uses an array of small antennas to stream over-the-air television signals to subscribers, allowing them to watch programs on their smartphones and computers. The broadcasters say this amounts to theft of their content and violates copyright laws. Aereo responds that it is merely helping its subscribers do what they could lawfully do since the era of rabbit-ear antennas: watch free broadcast television delivered over public airwaves.

Museum wins back painting

WASHINGTON — District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Va., ruled in favor of the Baltimore Museum of Art, deciding that a painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir supposedly bought at a West Virginia flea market rightfully belonged to the museum and not to the buyer, Marcia “Martha” Fuqua.

The painting, “Paysage Bords de Seine,” or “On the Shore of the Seine,” was painted on a linen napkin.

Nominees to Fed board

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday announced he will tap Stanley Fischer, the former governor of Israel’s central bank and a mentor to many of today’s top minds in economics, to serve as the Federal Reserve’s vice chairman.

The announcement comes only days after the Senate confirmed Mr. Obama’s nominee to lead the Fed, current Vice Chair Janet Yellen.

Compiled from news services