Civilians in the crossfire. Cosby in the courtroom. Ruckus at a rally. It’s Wednesday, and here are the 5 things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
1. Campaign 2016
Protesters raised a ruckus last night outside Donald Trump’s rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They broke a glass door, set fires, threw rocks — in other words, typical protester stuff. Police didn’t arrest anybody, just kept them away from the building where the rally was held. They might as well get used to The Donald. He won Washington state’s GOP primary last night, putting him less than 10 delegates shy of the nomination.
2. Bill Cosby
A Pennsylvania judge has decided there’s enough evidence to put Bill Cosby on trial — more than a decade after he was first accused of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home. No word on when the trial will start. But the 78-year-old disgraced comedian faces up to 30 years in prison if he’s convicted on any of the three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault.
3. Iraq
Troops advancing. ISIS entrenched. Civilians in the crossfire. That’s the situation in Falluja, and the United Nations is worried about 10,000 families trapped there. Iraq has dropped leaflets urging resident to leave, but ISIS won’t let them. Getting back Falluja is a big priority for Iraq because, along with Mosul, it’s one of the last two Iraqi cities still in ISIS’ clutches.
4. Taliban
The Taliban in Afghanistan has a new leader. Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada was picked to replace Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, who the U.S. killed in a drone strike. Akhundzada’s considered more of a religious scholar than a soldier or politician, but that doesn’t really matter, since no one expects the Taliban to suddenly change its murderous ways. Just yesterday, a Taliban suicide bombing in Kabul left 10 people dead.
5. Brain injuries
Iconic BMX biker Dave Mirra had CTE, making him the first extreme sport athlete to be diagnosed with the disease. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy has been diagnosed in a number of ex-pro football players. CTE’s believed to come from repeated blows to the head and results in memory loss, rage and mood swings. Mirra shot himself to death back in February.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
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Quote of the day:
“It’s a violent game that I personally don’t think humans are supposed to play.”
Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley, who’s been involved with the sport all his adult life, wondering if football is just too dangerous.
Content of the character
Twitter’s stretching its 140-character limit, giving us all more room for those “Game of Thrones” spoilers. Thanks, geniuses.
Breaking the bank
Not everybody in the music industry is broke. Sony’s got enough cash lying around to give Adele a record-breaking $130 million deal.
Web wonder
An Oxford professor wants to use spider webs to create implants for humans. Because that worked out really well for Peter Parker, right?
Phone flexibility
A bendable cell phone is coming. Isn’t that what an Apple Watch is?
Here’s a tip
A waitress gets a 350% tip and a life-affirming note: “Life is short, a friend of mine died last night. Please enjoy a night with someone you love!”
WHAT’S FOR LUNCH
Here’s what’s coming up later
Show and tell
The TSA will show off its new experimental screening lanes at the Atlanta airport – the world’s busiest. The lanes are supposed to speed things up. Yes please.
Number of the day
$2,500
The amount per month Switzerland may give to every adult citizen, if voters OK it.