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Added on the 08/04/2024 19:52:19 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
The United States says it does not consider Israel's deadly hostage rescue operation in Rafah to be a full-scale operation and still opposes an offensive without a plan to protect civilians. "Without such a plan that is credible, and that they can execute, we do not support a full-scale military operation," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller tells reporters. SOUNDBITE
American stand-up comedian and actor Bill Cosby attended a pre-trial hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, where the former actor faces three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault. Judge Steven O'Neill set the trial date at June 5, 2017. Prosecutors also decided to include the testimony of 13 out of 50 other women, who accuse the star of similar assaults. The 79-year old was charged in December with drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004. Constand, a former Temple University employee, alleges that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in his home in Cheltenham. Constand previously settled a civil case against Cosby for an undisclosed sum in 2006. Cosby and his legal team have denied the allegations, claiming the encounter was consensual. If convicted, Cosby could face up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Cosby maintains his innocence.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday paints a dark picture of the situation in the Middle East, warning that spiraling tensions over the war in Gaza and Iran's attack on Israel could devolve into a "full-scale regional conflict." SOUNDBITE
Israel has not shared a date for an assault on Gaza's Rafah with the United States, which will keep raising concerns, Secretary of State Antony Blinken says, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the time was set. "No, we do not have any date for an operation, at least one that's been communicated to us by the Israelis," Blinken tells reporters. SOUNDBITE
The motorcade carrying former US President Donald Trump arrives at a criminal court in New York ahead of a hearing to set a new date in his trial over payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. IMAGES
U.S. President Barack Obama attends an outdoor arrival ceremony in heavy rain, as the first sitting U.S. president to visit Laos. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).