LOS ANGELES: A Los Angeles judge on Thursday sentenced Harvey Weinstein to 16 years in prison after a jury convicted him of the 2013 rape and sexual assault of an Italian actor and model.
The sentence comes on top of the more than 20 years the 70-year-old Weinstein has left to serve for a similar 2020 conviction in New York, furthering the fall of the onetime movie magnate who became a #MeToo magnet.
Weinstein directly appealed to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench, saying: “I maintain that I’m innocent. I never raped or sexually assaulted Jane Doe 1.” The woman who Weinstein was convicted of raping sobbed in the courtroom as he spoke.
Moments earlier she had told the judge about the pain she felt after being attacked by Weinstein. “Before that night I was a very happy and confident woman. I valued myself and the relationship I had with God,” the woman, who was identified in court only as Jane Doe 1, said. “I was excited about my future. Everything changed after the defendant brutally assaulted me. There is no prison sentence long enough to undo the damage.”
Lench handed down the sentence Thursday after rejecting a motion by Weinstein’s lawyers for a new trial.
Jurors in December convicted Weinstein of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault against the woman who at the trial’s opening in October gave a dramatic and emotional account of him arriving uninvited at her hotel room, talking his way in and assaulting her during a film festival.
The jury spared Weinstein an even longer sentence when they acquitted him of the sexual battery of a massage therapist and failed to reach verdicts on counts involving two other women.
The defense contended during the trial that Weinstein had consensual sex with two of the women he was charged with assaulting and that two others — including the one who led to his conviction — were making up the incidents entirely.
Last week, Lench rejected a request from Gloria Allred, an attorney for some of the women who testified at trial, to allow others to make similar statements in court about the man who has for five years been a magnet for the #MeToo movement.
“I’m not going to make this an open forum on Mr. Weinstein’s conduct,” Lench said at the time.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually assaulted.
Legal uncertainties will remain on both coasts for Weinstein.
New York’s highest court has agreed to hear his appeal in his rape and sexual assault convictions there. And prosecutors in Los Angeles have yet to say whether they will retry Weinstein on counts they were unable to reach a verdict on.
It is not yet clear where he will serve his time while these issues are decided.
His New York sentence would be served before a California prison term, though a retrial or other issues could keep him from being sent back there soon.
Weinstein is eligible for parole in New York in 2039.
Harvey Weinstein gets 16 years for rape, sexual assault
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Harvey Weinstein gets 16 years for rape, sexual assault
- Victim spoke about the trauma of the attack and urged the judge to sentence Weinstein to the maximum term
Man in jail for nearly four decades for murder acquitted by London court
- Peter Sullivan was sentenced to life in 1987 for the murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall
- “Our client Peter Sullivan is the longest-serving victim of a miscarriage of justice in the UK,” said his lawyer
LONDON: A man who has spent nearly 40 years in jail for murder had his conviction overturned by a London court on Tuesday after advancements in DNA testing techniques cast doubt on his guilt.
Peter Sullivan, believed to be the victim of the longest miscarriage of justice in Britain, was sentenced to life in 1987 for the murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall, who was found dead after leaving her place of work in the northwest England town of Bebington, close to Liverpool, the previous year.
He applied to the Criminal Cases Review Commission — an independent body that investigates potential miscarriages of justice — in 2021, raising concerns about his police interviews, bite-mark evidence presented in his trial, and what was said to be the murder weapon, the commission said in a statement.
The commission then obtained DNA information from samples taken at the time of the offense and found that the profile did not match that of Sullivan. His case was then sent to London’s Court of Appeal, which quashed the conviction on Tuesday based on the new evidence.
“This is an unprecedented and historic moment. Our client Peter Sullivan is the longest-serving victim of a miscarriage of justice in the UK,” his lawyer told reporters outside the court.
Reading a message from Sullivan, the lawyer said: “What happened to me was very wrong, but it does not detract or minimize that all of this happened off the back of a heinous and most terrible loss of life.”
Sullivan had applied to the CCRC questioning DNA evidence in 2008, but forensic experts advised at the time that any further testing would be very unlikely to produce a DNA profile.
The techniques used in the testing that led to his case being referred were not available at the time of his first application, the CCRC said.
Merseyside Police, which reopened the investigation in 2023, said there was no match for the DNA identified on the national DNA database, adding that they were committed to doing “everything within our power” to find to whom it belonged.
“The truth shall set you free ... As we advance toward resolving the wrongs done to me, I am not angry, I am not bitter,” Sullivan said in his message.
Over 84,000 people affected by Somalia floods since mid-April: UN
- “Since mid-April, flash floods caused by heavy seasonal rains have killed 17 people and affected over 84,000 people in several areas,” OCHA said
- “Critical infrastructure has been damaged“
NAIROBI: More than 84,000 people have been affected by flash floods in Somalia since mid-April, the United Nations said Tuesday, leaving at least 17 people killed.
The Horn of Africa is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change, and extreme weather events are becoming increasingly frequent and intense.
“Since mid-April, flash floods caused by heavy seasonal rains have killed 17 people and affected over 84,000 people in several areas,” UN humanitarian agency OCHA said.
The figure includes people who have displaced, lost shelter, now have a lack of access to humanitarian assistance, or suffer water shortages.
Jubaland, Hirshabelle, South West, Galmudug, Puntland states and Banadir region — which includes capital Mogadishu — were most impacted, OCHA said, leaving more than 8,100 people displaced.
“Critical infrastructure has been damaged,” it added, noting that water points had been submerged and almost 200 latrines were destroyed.
It comes just days after torrential rain in southeastern Banadir killed at least nine people and affected approximately 24,600 others.
“The rains significantly impacted internally displaced people,” OCHA said, citing local authorities.
According to the UN report, meteorologists have warned that more rain is expected in the coming days across southern and central Somalia.
Somalia was hit by intense floods in 2023. More than 100 people were killed and over a million displaced after severe flooding caused by torrential rains linked to the El Nino weather pattern.
Harvard loses another $450 million in grants in escalating battle with Trump administration
- A federal antisemitism task force said Harvard will lose grants from eight federal agencies
- Harvard has faced escalating sanctions from the White House after becoming the first US university to openly defy the government’s demands to limit pro-Palestinian activism
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration is cutting another $450 million in grants to Harvard University a day after the Ivy League school pushed back against government allegations that it’s a hotbed of liberalism and antisemitism.
In a letter to Harvard on Tuesday, a federal antisemitism task force said Harvard will lose grants from eight federal agencies in addition to $2.2 billion that was previously frozen by the Trump administration.
The letter said Harvard has become a “breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination” and faces a “steep, uphill battle” to reclaim its legacy as a place of academic excellence.
“There is a dark problem on Harvard’s campus, and by prioritizing appeasement over accountability, institutional leaders have forfeited the school’s claim to taxpayer support,” the letter said.
It was signed by officials at the Education Department, Health and Human Services and the General Services Administration.
University officials did not immediately provide comment on the letter.
Harvard has faced escalating sanctions from the White House after becoming the first US university to openly defy the government’s demands to limit pro-Palestinian activism and end diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
Trump, a Republican, has said he wants Harvard to lose its tax-exempt status, and the Department of Homeland Security has threatened to revoke the school’s eligibility to host foreign students.
Last week, the Education Department said Harvard will receive no new federal grants until it meets the government’s demands.
The Trump administration has demanded Harvard make broad leadership changes, revise its admissions policies and audit its faculty and student body to ensure the campus is home to many viewpoints.
The demands are part of a pressure campaign targeting several other high-profile universities. The administration has cut off money to colleges including Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University, seeking compliance with Trump’s agenda.
Harvard is suing to block the federal funding freeze.
Harvard President Alan Garber disputed the government’s allegations in a Monday letter, saying Harvard is nonpartisan and has taken steps to root out antisemitism on campus. He insisted that Harvard is in compliance with the law, calling the federal sanctions an “unlawful attempt to control fundamental aspects of our university’s operations.”
The government’s letter on Tuesday said Harvard has repeatedly failed to address racial discrimination and antisemitism on campus. It cited the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision striking down Harvard’s use of race in the admissions process, along with a recent internal report at Harvard detailing cases of antisemitic harassment.
___ Collin Binkley has covered Harvard for nearly a decade — most of the time living half a mile from its campus.
Bulgarian parliament rejects president’s euro referendum proposal
- Kiselova said it did not comply with several articles of the Bulgarian constitution
- The constitutional court has previously rejected a petition for a referendum on joining the euro
The constitutional court has previously rejected a petition for a referendum on joining the euro
SOFIA: The speaker of the Bulgarian national assembly Nataliya Kiselova has dismissed President Rumen Radev’s proposal for a national referendum on adopting the euro, saying it violated the constitution, the BTA news agency reported on Tuesday.
On Monday, Radev had suggested a referendum on Bulgaria’s plans to adopt the euro next year with the question: “Do you agree that Bulgaria should introduce the single European currency ‘euro’ in 2026?” His proposal was criticized by the government, with one minister saying it was an attempt to sabotage its efforts to join the single currency.
Sending back the proposal, Kiselova said it did not comply with several articles of the Bulgarian constitution and related European Union treaties, and was inconsistent with rulings from the country’s constitutional court.
The constitutional court has previously rejected a petition for a referendum on joining the euro.
The government aims to adopt the euro next January, pending confirmation from the European Commission and the European Central Bank in June that all membership criteria have been met.
Economists say that Bulgaria, whose lev currency has long been pegged to the euro, would attract more foreign investment if it adopted the single currency and would secure credit ratings upgrades that could cut its debt financing costs.
However, Bulgarians are split on the euro’s adoption, with concerns that it might lead to price hikes, similar to what occurred in Croatia when it switched to the euro in 2023.
Germany’s Merz: EU to tighten sanctions on Russia if no progress on Ukraine this week
- Merz said EU leaders had agreed with Zelensky that he could take part in talks with Russia
- “I believe more compromise and more concessions are no longer reasonable“
BERLIN: The European Union is ready to impose tougher sanctions on Russia if progress on ending the war in Ukraine is not made this week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday, adding a new package of sanctions was prepared.
“We are waiting for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s agreement and we agree that if there is no real progress this week, we want to work together at European level for a significant tightening of sanctions,” Merz said at a news conference with his Greek counterpart.
“We will be looking at other areas, such as the energy sector and also the financial market,” he said.
Merz said EU leaders had agreed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he could take part in talks with Russia in Istanbul this week on the condition that Russian bombardment and attacks on civilians in Ukraine must stop.
While saying he admired Zelensky’s willingness to compromise if it could help a ceasefire, Merz added:
“I believe more compromise and more concessions are no longer reasonable,” said Merz.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the EU must be at the center of any peace settlement.
