Comedian Bill Cosby will likely learn his fate this week as the sentencing phase in his sexual assault trial begins Monday near Philadelphia.

Cosby was convicted in April on three counts of aggravated indecent assault against former Temple University administrator Andrea Constand.

Under sentencing guidelines, Cosby could get as much as 30 years in prison, which would be a life sentence for the 81-year-old entertainer.

His attorneys are expected to appeal to the judge to sentence Cosby to house arrest because of his fragile health. Cosby is legally blind.

The judge could also sentence Cosby to a short stay in prison.

Two women who say Cosby sexually assaulted them in the 1980s say he deserves to spend time in prison.

One of the alleged victims, Chelan Lasha, told reporters Sunday she wants Cosby to get the maximum time in prison, saying she still has nightmares about the assault.

After a mistrial during the first case against him in 2017, a jury convicted Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting Constand at his Philadelphia home in 2004. Constand came to Cosby’s house seeking career advice because he was a Temple alumnus.

Cosby denied the charge and said any sexual contact he had with Constand was consensual.

About 60 women have alleged Cosby sexually assaulted them dating back to the 1960s, when Cosby became famous. Constand’s case is the only one to come to trial.

Cosby is best known for his 1980s television series The Cosby Show, which solidified his now destroyed image as a wise and genial family man.
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A timeline between the 79th and 80th victories on the PGA Tour for Tiger Woods:

Aug. 4, 2013 — Wins the Bridgestone Invitational for his 18th World Golf Championship title and 79th victory on the PGA Tour.

March 31, 2014 — Has back surgery and announces he will miss the Masters for the first time.

June 26, 2014 — Returns to the PGA Tour and misses the cut at the Quicken Loans National.

Aug. 8, 2014 — Misses the cut in the PGA Championship and says he will take the rest of the year off, including the Ryder Cup, to get healthy.

Dec. 7, 2014 — Returns at the Hero World Challenge and ties for last in an 18-man field at Isleworth, his home course, 26 shots out of the lead.

Feb. 1, 2015 — Looking like an amateur with his short game, shoots 82 in the Phoenix Open to miss the cut. A week later at Torrey Pines, withdraws after 11 holes and says he could never get his glutes activated.

Feb. 11, 2015 — Announces he is taking time off to work on his game, saying that “my play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf.”

April 9, 2015 — Returns at the Masters, his chipping issues gone, and ties for 17th.

June 6, 2015 — Shoots an 85 in the third round of the Memorial, his highest score as a professional.

Aug. 14, 2015 — Misses the cut in his third straight major at the PGA Championship.

Aug. 23, 2015 — After sharing the 36-hole lead, ties for 10th in the Wyndham Championship and fails for the first time to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs when playing at least 10 times on the PGA Tour.

Sept. 16, 2015 — Has a second back surgery.

Oct. 28, 2015 — Has a third procedure on his back.

Dec. 1, 2015 — In a somber press conference at his Hero World Challenge, Woods says of his future, “So where is the light at the end of the tunnel? I don’t know.” He says he wants to play again and anything else he achieves will be “gravy.”

Dec. 4, 2016 — Returns to competition at the Hero World Challenge, makes 24 birdies and finishes 15th in an 18-man field, 14 shots behind.

Jan. 27, 2017 — Makes first PGA Tour start since the Wyndham Championship in 2015 and misses the cut at Torrey Pines.

Feb. 3, 2017 — After opening with a 77 at the Dubai Desert Classic in calm conditions, withdraws before the start of the second round because of back spasms.

April 19, 2017 — Has a fourth surgery, this one to fuse his lower back.

May 30, 2017 — Woods is arrested and briefly jailed in Jupiter, Florida, on suspicion of DUI. Police find him asleep behind the wheel of his car in the early morning with the engine running. He attributes it to a bad combination of pain medication.

Sept. 27, 2017 — A vice captain at the Presidents Cup, Woods says he has no idea what his future holds because he’s only hitting 60-yard shots.

Oct. 7-23, 2017 — Woods posts three videos on Instagram of a smooth iron swing, a driver and his stinger.

Oct. 27, 2017 — Woods pleads guilty to reckless driving and agrees to enter a diversion program. Prosecutors drop the DUI charge under the plea agreement.

Dec. 3, 2017 — Returns to competition at the Hero World Challenge, posts three rounds in the 60s and ties for ninth against an 18-man field, 10 shots behind.

Jan. 28, 2018 — In his return to the PGA Tour, makes the cut on the number and ties for 23rd at Torrey Pines.

Feb. 20, 2018 — Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk announces Woods as one of his vice captains, says Woods still wants to make the team.

March 11, 2018 — Before enormous crowds at Innisbrook, makes par on the 18th hole to finish one shot out of the lead at the Valspar Championship.

March 18, 2018 — One shot behind in the final round at Bay Hill, yanks tee shot out-of-bounds on the 16th hole and ties for fifth.

July 22, 2018 — Takes the lead in the final round of the British Open, only to make double bogey on the 12th hole and finish in a tie for sixth.

Aug. 12, 2018 — Closes with a 64, his lowest final round ever in a major, and is runner-up to Brooks Koepka in the PGA Championship.

Sept. 4, 2018 — Announced as a captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup, his first playing appearance since 2012.

Sept. 23, 2018 — Wins the Tour Championship for his 80th career victory on the PGA Tour.

 
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The United Nations, the World Bank and the International Committee of the Red Cross are partnering with technology powerhouses to launch a global initiative aimed at preventing famines.

“The fact that millions of people — many of them children — still suffer from severe malnutrition and famine  in the 21st century is a global tragedy,” World Bank President Jim Young Kim said announcing the initiative.

The global organization will work with Microsoft, Google and Amazon Web Services to develop the Famine Action Mechanism (FAM), a system capable of identifying food crisis area that are most likely to turn into a full-blown famine.

“If we can better predict when and where future famines will occur, we can save lives by responding earlier and more effectively,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement.

The tech giants will help develop a set of analytical models that will use the latest technoligies like Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to not only provide early warnings but also trigger pre-arranged financing for crisis management.

“Artificial intelligence and machine learning hold huge promise for forecasting and detecting early signs of food shortages, like crop failures, droughts, natural disasters and conflicts,” Smith said.

According to the U.N. and World Bank, there are 124 million people experiencing crisis-level food insecurity in the world today.

FAM will be at first rolled out in five countries that “exhibit some of the most critical and ongoing food security needs,” according to the World Bank, which didn’t identify the nations. It will ultimately be expanded to cover the world.
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Fatal drug overdoses increased to a record 4,854 last year in Ohio, a 20 percent rise compared with the previous year, according to information reported to the state.

Data on unintentional drug deaths provided to the Ohio Department of Health show 2017 was the eighth year in a row that drug deaths increased, The Columbus Dispatch reported Sunday. Ohio’s county coroners logged 4,050 fatal overdoses in 2016.

The newspaper’s review of the data shows the synthetic opioid fentanyl continued to fuel the drug epidemic, accounting for nearly three-fourths of last year’s overdose deaths and killing 3,431 people. That was 46 percent higher than in the previous year. Cocaine-related deaths increased 39 percent from 1,109 in 2016 to 1,540 last year.

Positive news shown by the data included a 46 drop in heroin deaths to 987 last year for the fewest deaths in four years.

Fatal overdoses from prescription opioids also fell in 2017 to 523. That was the lowest number in eight years, down from a peak of 724 deaths in 2011, the newspaper reported.

Russ Kennedy, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health, says while review of the data confirms fentanyl is “driving overdose deaths in the state,” Ohio also is seeing “significant progress in reducing the number of prescription opioids available for abuse.”

Kennedy confirmed Sunday that the health department expects to release its own analysis of 2017 drug deaths this week. He also noted that the information shows the number of unintentional overdose deaths in Ohio declined during the second half of 2017 by 23 percent.

A recent state report on drug trends stated that “drug cartels have flooded Ohio” with fentanyl, and many users don’t realize they’ve taken the opioid because it’s being cut into heroin and cocaine and even “pressed” into prescription opioids.

“Drug dealers are flooding communities with different drugs to see what takes. They are very smart businesspeople,” said Lori Criss, chief executive officer of the Ohio Council of Behavioral Health & Family Services Providers.

Cheri Walter, chief executive officer of the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities, said the state’s death toll was high, but could have been much worse.

“The reality is, we’ve focused on opioids and heroin, and now we’re seeing more deaths involving other drugs, so we’ve got to (broaden our) focus on treatment” for all kinds of addiction, Walter said.

Gov. John Kasich’s administration is spending more than $1 billion a year to fight the drug epidemic, most of it to provide addiction treatment though Medicaid expansion. The state also is investing in providing the opioid-overdose antidote, naloxone, to first responders and others and in supporting efforts including drug courts, housing for recovering addicts and educational programs.
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Iran’s president on Sunday accused an unnamed U.S.-allied country in the Persian Gulf of being behind a terror attack on a military parade that killed 25 people and wounded 60, further raising regional tensions.

Hassan Rouhani’s comments came as Iran’s Foreign Ministry also summoned Western diplomats over them allegedly providing havens for the Arab separatists who claimed Saturday’s attacks in the southwestern city of Ahvaz.

The Iranian moves, as well as promises of revenge by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard, come as the country already faces turmoil in the wake of the American withdraw from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. The attack in Ahvaz, which saw women and children flee with uniformed soldiers bloodied, has further shaken the country.

Rouhani’s remarks could refer to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates or Bahrain — close U.S. military allies that view Iran as a regional menace over its support for militant groups across the Middle East.

“All of those small mercenary countries that we see in this region are backed by America. It is Americans who instigate them and provide them with necessary means to commit these crimes,” Rouhani said before leaving for the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Iran meanwhile summoned diplomats from Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands early Sunday for allegedly harboring “members of the terrorist group” that launched the attack. Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen condemned the attack and stressed that there would be “consequences” if it turns out that those responsible have connections to Denmark.

The ministry later summoned the UAE’s envoy as well over what it called the “irresponsible and insulting statements” of an Emirati adviser, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. The UAE did not immediately acknowledge the summons.

Saturday’s attack, in which militants disguised as soldiers opened fire on an annual Iranian military parade in Ahvaz, was the deadliest attack in the country in nearly a decade. Women and children scattered along with once-marching Revolutionary Guard soldiers as heavy gunfire rang out, the chaos captured live on state television.

The region’s Arab separatists, once only known for nighttime attacks on unguarded oil pipelines, claimed responsibility for the assault, and Iranian officials appeared to believe the claim. The separatists accuse Iran’s Persian-dominated government of discriminating against its ethnic Arab minority. Khuzestan province also has seen recent protests over Iran’s nationwide drought, as well as economic protests.

The attack killed at least 25 people and wounded 60, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. It said gunmen wore military uniforms and targeted a riser where military and police commanders were sitting. State TV hours later reported that all four gunmen had been killed.

At least eight of the dead served in the Revolutionary Guard, an elite paramilitary unit that answers only to Iran’s supreme leader, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. The Guard responded to the attack on Sunday, warning it would seek “deadly and unforgiving revenge in the near future.”

Tensions have been on the rise in Iran since the Trump administration pulled out of the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran in May and began restoring sanctions that were eased under the deal. It also has steadily ramped up pressure on Iran to try to get it to stop what Washington calls its “malign activities” in the region.

The U.S. government nevertheless strongly condemned Saturday’s attack and expressed its sympathy, saying it “condemns all acts of terrorism and the loss of any innocent lives.”

The Islamic State group also claimed responsibility for the attack in a message on its Amaaq news agency, but provided no evidence it carried out the assault. They also initially wrongly said the Ahvaz attack targeted Rouhani, who was in Tehran. The militants have made a string of false claims in the wake of major defeats in Iraq and Syria.

On Sunday, IS militants posted a video online of three men, two of whom who spoke in Arabic extolling the benefits of martyrdom. A third who spoke in Farsi said they wanted to attack the Guard. The video included no time stamps, nor any specific references to the Ahvaz attack.

The attack dominated Iranian newspaper front pages on Sunday. The hard-line daily Kayhan warned that Iranians would demand Saudi Arabia feel the “hard slap” of the country’s power.

Iran’s government declared Monday as a nationwide public mourning day, state-run IRNA news agency reported Sunday.

Also all governmental organizations, banks, schools and universities in southeastern Khuzestan province will be closed on Monday, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

An overnight impromptu candle-light vigil in Ahvaz honored the dead and wounded. Among the dead is 4-year-old Mohammad Taha, who was captured by a photographer being carried away from the attack by a Guardsman in full dress uniform and sash. The photograph, showing the boy bloodied and helpless, shocked Iran.

A doctor interviewed on state television said Mohammad had been up the night before marking Ashoura, a commemoration of the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussein, one of Shiite Islam’s most beloved saints. Mourners wear black in honor of his 7th century death in the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq.

“He was wearing a black shirt when he was martyred,” a doctor said, standing next to the boy’s tiny corpse, now wrapped in a blue body bag.
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