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Lead attorney Tom Mesereau called Andrea Constand, the victim in the case, a "con artist" and "pathological liar" and grilled another woman on her past drug use. The withering tone and inflammatory words of the defense may have backfired with the jury of seven men and five women, which voted unanimously on Thursday to convict Cosby, 80, of drugging and sexually assaulting Constand at his home in 2004.

Thu, 26 Apr 2018 20:57:25 -0400

By Valerie Volcovici and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt on Thursday rejected a litany of ethics complaints against him as lies intended to derail President Donald Trump's agenda, and put much of the blame for any agency missteps on his staff. During two tense congressional hearings, Pruitt faced tough questions from Democrats and even some fellow Republicans in marathon high-stakes testimony as he seeks to avoid becoming the latest in a long list of Cabinet members and senior White House officials to have either been fired by Trump or quit.

Thu, 26 Apr 2018 20:54:16 -0400

By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's physician Ronny Jackson on Thursday withdrew from consideration to head the Veterans Affairs department after allegations that he had been lax with prescription drugs and drank alcohol on the job. The allegations, which Jackson categorically denied as false, had prompted the Senate to put a hold on his hearing for the job of leading the federal government's second largest department. The upset was the latest chaotic personnel decision to rock Trump's White House, which has been roiled by an unusually high number of firings and resignations.

Thu, 26 Apr 2018 20:52:53 -0400

NEW YORK/HOUSTON (Reuters) - An explosion at Husky Energy's refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, caused a fire that burned for several hours on Thursday and sent smoke billowing into the air, prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents, officials said. All of the refinery's workers were accounted for, Husky said. After flames were extinguished, an evacuation order remained in effect as officials verify the area is safe, Superior Mayor Jim Paine told a news conference.

Thu, 26 Apr 2018 20:52:22 -0400

California investigators tracked down the former policeman who they suspect is the Golden State Killer responsible for dozens of rapes and murders by comparing crime scene DNA to genetic information on genealogy websites, a prosecutor said on Thursday. The suspect, former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was arrested on Tuesday outside the Sacramento-area home where he has lived for at least two decades, not far from the first of eight murders he is charged with committing 40 years ago. DeAngelo is suspected in a dozen slayings as well as 45 rapes and scores of home invasions in a crime spree that spanned 10 years and 10 California counties during the 1970s and 1980s.

Thu, 26 Apr 2018 20:46:54 -0400