Nation and World briefs for February 3
Former DA takes stand in Cosby case
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NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The former district attorney who declined a decade ago to bring sex-crime charges against Bill Cosby testified Tuesday that the decision was intended to forever close the door on prosecuting the comedian.
Former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor took the stand during a pretrial hearing in a bid by Cosby’s lawyers to get the case against the TV star thrown out because of what they say is a non-prosecution agreement with Castor.
The current district attorney previously said there is no record of any such agreement.
Sexually-transmitted case of Zika virus confirmed in Texas
DALLAS (AP) — Health officials in Texas on Tuesday reported the first case of the Zika virus being transmitted within the United States amid the current outbreak in Latin America — a person who was infected through sex.
Dallas County health officials said the unidentified person had not traveled but had sex with a person who returned from Venezuela and fell ill with Zika, which has been linked to birth defects in the Americas. The virus is primarily spread through mosquito bites, but investigators were exploring the possibility it could be sexually transmitted.
There was a report of a Colorado researcher who picked up the virus in Africa and apparently spread it to his wife in 2008, and it was found in one man’s semen in Tahiti.
The CDC says it will issue guidance in the coming days on prevention of sexual transmission of Zika virus, focusing on the male sexual partners of women who are or might be pregnant. The CDC already recommended pregnant women postpone trips to more than two dozen countries.
Syria allows aid into rebel-controlled area as peace talks stall
GENEVA (AP) — The Syrian government allowed aid into a rebel-held area near Damascus on Tuesday in what appeared to be a goodwill gesture after U.N.-mediated indirect peace talks got off to a rocky start in Geneva.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent delivered 14 trucks of aid provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross to the al-Tal suburb, said Damascus-based ICRC spokesman Pawel Krzysiek. He told The Associated Press the delivery included food and hygiene kits for some 3,500 families as well as 25 metric tons of bulk food.
The Syrian opposition had demanded that aid be allowed into 18 besieged areas throughout the country and that Syrian and Russian forces halt the bombardment of rebel-held areas ahead of the talks, which officially began Monday.
But as U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura has shuttled between the government and opposition delegations in Geneva, Syrian troops backed by Russian airstrikes have captured three villages north of the city of Aleppo. The military offensive and the continuing blockade of rebel areas has infuriated the opposition and thrown the future of the talks into question.
Opposition official Ahmad Ramadan dismissed the aid shipment to al-Tal as an empty gesture, saying “the only way” to save the negotiations is for “the United Nations and the United States to force an end to bombardment and the targeting of civilians.”
Explosion forces plane to make emergency landing in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — An explosion and fire blew a gaping hole in a commercial airliner forcing it to make an emergency landing at Mogadishu’s international airport late Tuesday, officials and witnesses said.
Two people were slightly injured as 74 passengers and crew of the plane were evacuated after the plane made a safe landing, Somali aviation official Ali Mohamoud said.
The plane, operated by Daallo Airlines and headed to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, was forced to land minutes after taking off from the Mogadishu airport, said Mohamoud.
The Serbian pilot, Vladimir Vodopivec, was quoted by Belgrade daily Blic as saying he believed the explosion was caused by a bomb.
“I think it was a bomb,” he said. “Luckily, the flight controls were not damaged so I could return and land at the airport. Something like this has never happened in my flight career. We lost pressure in the cabin. Thank god it ended well,” the 64-year-old pilot said.
Indiana lawmakers abandon efforts to strengthen gay rights
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Republican lawmakers abandoned for the year efforts to add protections for lesbian, gay and bisexual people to anti-discrimination laws, leaving in place a religious objections law that sparked a national campaign to boycott the state when it was originally passed last spring.
Republican Sen. Travis Holdman, who had sponsored the gay rights bill, said in a Senate speech on Tuesday that he was disappointed but realized there wasn’t enough support for it to win approval.
The measure had been criticized from all sides. Democrats and LGBT rights activists faulted it for not including transgender people and allowing broad religious exemptions. Religious conservatives said it would still require people to provide services for same-sex marriages even if they had religious objections.
“It just does not appear the time is right for this piece of legislation and I regret that deeply,” Holdman said.
Indiana faced a national backlash and threats of boycotts last spring after Republican Gov. Mike Pence signed a religious objections law that critics said allowed discrimination against gay and lesbian people. The law was later softened but left both sides hoping for further changes this year.
Fast-growing motorcycle group is largely for law enforcement
DENVER (AP) — One of the nation’s fastest-growing motorcycle clubs is composed largely of military, police officers and prison guards. It also embraces the regalia and traditions of outlaw biker gangs — a choice that has provoked deadly clashes with other groups.
The Iron Order club insists it is a law-abiding, charitable brotherhood of family men who just like to ride. But experts say its members are increasingly becoming entangled in violence with other biker groups, blurring the line between professionals who are sworn to uphold the law and a biker culture with a long history of criminal activity.
“It’s almost like they are playing dress-up on the weekend and acting out what their perception of an outlaw gang is,” said David Devereaux, a spokesman for the National Council of Clubs, which represents hundreds of motorcycle groups. “They create aggressive situations with other motorcycle clubs in opposition to the culture.”
The latest skirmish happened Saturday, when the Iron Order and the Mongols motorcycle club clashed in a brawl that left a Mongols member dead.
The two groups blame each other for inciting the violence at the Colorado Motorcycle Expo, a gathering of biker groups from across the country. Police are not sure what set off the fight, which left seven other people shot, stabbed or beaten. More than one person fired a weapon during the melee, including a Colorado Department of Corrections officer who wore patches that clearly identified him as a member of the Iron Order.
Lady Gaga to sing national anthem at Super Bowl
NEW YORK (AP) — Lady Gaga is set to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl on Sunday.
The NFL told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Gaga will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, where the Carolina Panthers will take on the Denver Broncos.
Academy Award winning actress Marlee Matlin will perform in American Sign Language during the national anthem.
Super Bowl 50 will air on CBS, and halftime show performers include Coldplay and Beyonce.
Gaga’s upcoming performance during the Super Bowl is another notch in her belt: She won a Golden Globe for her role in “American Horror Story: Hotel” last month and she’s nominated for best original song at the Academy Awards on Feb. 28 with “Til It Happens to You,” the song she wrote with Diane Warren for the sexual assault documentary, “The Hunting Ground.” The song is also nominated for a Grammy at the Feb. 15 awards show, where Gaga will pay tribute to David Bowie with a performance.
Prosecutor: Virginia girl stabbed to death day she vanished
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Seventh-grader Nicole Madison Lovell was stabbed to death the same day she climbed out of her bedroom window, by a Virginia Tech student who got help from a fellow freshman both before and after the crime, authorities said Tuesday.
David Eisenhauer, the engineering major accused of kidnapping and killing the 13-year-old girl, said “I believe the truth will set me free” after he was arrested on Saturday, police said.
Nicole’s mother discovered her missing last Wednesday morning, setting off an intense hunt. Police quickly zeroed in on Eisenhauer, and then found Nicole’s body on Saturday, hidden off a North Carolina road, two hours south of campus.
Stacey Snider, a neighbor of the family whose 8-year-old twins played with Nicole, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that before she vanished, Nicole showed her girls Eisenhauer’s picture and a thread of texts they had shared through Kik, a messaging app popular with young teens.
Snider said Nicole told her girls that she would be sneaking out that night to meet him. Nicole said she had been seeing Eisenhauer repeatedly, and described him as her “boyfriend,” Snider said.
