3 university grads suing Rolling Stone

RICHMOND, Va. – Three University of Virginia graduates and members of a fraternity profiled in a debunked account of a gang rape in a retracted Rolling Stone magazine story filed a lawsuit against the publication and the article’s author Wednesday, court records show.

The three men, George Elias IV, Stephen Hadford and Ross Fowler, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York. They are also suing Rolling Stone’s publisher, Wenner Media.

A lawyer for the men said they suffered “vicious and hurtful attacks” because of inaccuracies in the November 2014 article, which was written by journalist Sabrina Rubin Erdely.

In their lawsuit, the three 2013 graduates said the article “created a simple and direct way to match the alleged attackers” from the alleged gang rape to them based on details provided in the story.

Israel tearing down West Bank housing

JERUSALEM – Israeli bulldozers began demolishing a contested housing complex in a West Bank settlement Wednesday as the prime minister’s office announced the “immediate construction” of some 300 new units at another location in the same settlement and advanced plans for about 500 new units in east Jerusalem.

The move, which is likely to draw international rebuke, comes amid a standoff in the Beit El settlement, to the north of Jerusalem.

The standoff escalated sharply Wednesday, after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition to overturn its initial ruling to demolish a complex in Beit El.

Associated Press