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Bill Cosby countersues woman accusing him of underage sexual harassment
Bill Cosby, the comedian currently facing sexual assault allegations from more than 20 women, with incidents dating back to the ‘70s, is countersuing over alleged extortion. Cosby has taken legal action against Judith Huth, the woman accusing him of assaulting her in 1974 when she was 15. According to the documents filed, Huth’s lawyer approached Cosby’s representatives asking for $250,000 to stop her from making her story public. The documents also say her allegations are false. Cosby is seeking $33,000 for legal fees. [Source: BBC]
Apple deleted music from iPods and forced factory resets, court hears
Between 2007 and 2009, Apple purposefully deleted music not bought through iTunes from users’ iPods, a court heard during an antitrust suit against the company. In those cases, Apple forced a factory reset of the iPod, plaintiffs told the jury in what is possibly a $1-billion lawsuit. “You guys decided to give them the worst possible experience and blow up” a user’s iPod music, attorney Patrick Coughlin a court in Oakland, California. Augustin Farrugia, Apple’s security director, said the company deleted the files for security reasons. [Source: The Guardian]
Second night of protests over Eric Garner ruling
Protests spilled onto the streets of New York City Thursday night in the second night of rallying against the recent cases of black men killed by white police officers. Similar protests took place in Chicago, Boston, and again in Ferguson, Missouri, the community where Michael Brown, unarmed, was shot in the middle of the street by a police officer. The NYC protests began Tuesday after a grand jury decided not to indict the police officer, who put Eric Garner in a chokehold that resulted in his death. New York Police have made some arrests in connection with the protests, but not violence has been reported. [Source: Mashable]
VIDEO: NASA’s Orion spacecraft launches, makes Mars one step closer
NASA’s Orion spacecraft launched into space Friday morning, in a test flight foreshadowing what some are hoping will be our eventual vehicle to Mars. Orion will fly about 5,8000 kilometres above the Earth’s surface, reentering our atmosphere during its second orbit, when it will crash into the Pacific Ocean near California. Watch the video below. It’s really quite stunning.
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEuOpxOrA_0″ width=”540″ height=”420″][su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzLbjD6rN14″ width=”500″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXexeL3IQbI[/su_youtube][/su_youtube]
Chimpanzees don’t have human rights, court rules
So, in case you thought otherwise, chimpanzees are not eligible for legal personhood status, according to a New York appeals court. Attorney Steven Wise, an outspoken advocate of the Nonhuman Rights Project, is seeking the status for Tommy the chimp, a primate he claims is being unlawfully kept in a New York State shed owned by Patrick Lavery. It’s the first such case asking for a court to extend human rights to an animal. The five-judge panel concluded that while Tommy exhibits autonomous behavior, he is incapable of shouldering the responsibility that comes with having legal rights. “Needless to say, unlike human beings, chimpanzees cannot bear any legal duties, submit to societal responsibilities or be held legally accountable for their actions,” wrote Justice Karen Peters. [Source: Reuters]
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