The Obamas celebrated the holiday season Sunday with "The Rock" and singers Rita Ora and Darius Rucker.

President Barack Obama and his family attended the 33rd annual "Christmas in Washington" concert Sunday at the National Building Museum. The event is a benefit for the Children's National Health System.

Before the concert, Obama, his wife, Michelle, and daughters, Sasha and Malia, presented gifts— including a basket of children's books— to former patients of the center. The six youngsters, dressed as elves, posed for portraits with the first family.

"Fast and Furious" actor Dwayne Johnson, also known as "The Rock," hosted the concert and sang his own rendition of "Deck the Halls."

Other performers at the Christmas celebration included Christina Perri, Aloe Blacc and Earth, Wind and Fire. Obama bopped his head to Hunter Hayes' version of the Chuck Berry hit "Run, Run Rudolph."

Following the carols, Obama reminded guests of the reason for the holiday.

"Jesus lived a life of peace, love, kindness and forgiveness," he said. "During the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, may we all do our best to follow his example."

Obama also thanked service members for their sacrifices.

The concert will be broadcast Friday evening on TNT.

AP

 Butch Jones appears to have Tennessee's football heading in the right direction, and the university rewarded him with a raise and two-year contract extension Monday.

Jones' contract will now run through the 2020 season and pays him $3.6 million a season., up from $2.95 million. The raise takes effect in 2015.

"Butch Jones is our coach and will be our coach for a very long time," Tennessee 

athletic director Dave Hart said at a news conference.

Hart said the contract addendum noting the extension and raise would "go through appropriate university channels" and would then be released. Hart also said he planned to give raises to Jones' assistant coaches without detailing the extent of those increases.

"I'm very appreciative and grateful to be the head football coach at the University of Tennessee," Jones said. "Our administration since day one has shown tremendous, tremendous support."

The 46-year-old Jones has an 11-13 record in two seasons at Tennessee. But the Volunteers (6-6) will make their first bowl appearance since 2010 when they face Iowa (7-5) in the TaxSlayer Bowl on Jan. 2 at Jacksonville, Florida.

Jones has a career head coaching record of 61-40 in eight seasons. He coached Central Michigan and Cincinnati for three seasons each before coming to Tennessee.

Hart believes Jones' accomplishments go beyond Tennessee's won-loss record.

Jones showed his recruiting skills in February by signing a class that was ranked among the top five in the nation by multiple recruiting services. Tennessee has played 23 true freshmen this season, the most of any Football Bowl Subdivision program. Tennessee started only three seniors when it beat Vanderbilt 24-17 in its regular-season finale.

Tennessee had an average announced home attendance of 99,754 this season. That represented a 4.4 percent increase over 2013 and a 10.9 percent rise from 2012, the year before Jones' arrival.

Hart noted that Tennessee also had upgraded its classroom performance under Jones. Tennessee had been at risk of facing penalties until it dramatically improved its performance last year in the Academic Progress Rate, which the NCAA uses as a real-time academic measure of every Division I team. Tennessee's football APR solely for 2012-13 was the highest score in program history.

"We have the right man leading our football program at the University of Tennessee," Hart said. "Butch Jones has clearly re-energized our fan base. He is an outstanding ambassador for our university, which transcends his role as head football coach."

AP

Prince William's wife, Kate, has toured a child development center with New York City's first lady.

The Duchess of Cambridge shook hands with Chirlane McCray before both entered the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem on Monday.

The two spent about an hour at the center. It provides educational and mental health services to about 3,300 children and families each year.

Kate was greeted with cheers from a crowd of several dozen spectators standing behind police barricades across the street.

Meanwhile, Prince William went to Washington to meet with President Barack Obama at the Oval Office and discuss illegal wildlife trafficking.

It's the royal couple's first visit to the U.S. since 2011.

AP

The U.S. National Security Agency's mass surveillance is a trade barrier for European Internet companies trying to provide services in the United States, a top EU official said on Monday.

U.S. citizens are deterred from using European e-mail providers because they do not get the same protection as they would by using U.S. providers, said Paul Nemitz, a director in the European Commission's justice department.

"The law ... which empowers the NSA to basically grab everything which comes from outside the United States, is a real trade barrier to a European digital company to provide services to Americans inside America," Nemitz, who is overseeing an overhaul of the EU's 20-year-old data protection rules, said at a conference on data protection in Paris.

In other words, an American in the United States using a European service does not have the same level of protection as he would if he used an American service. Using a European service, his communication is transmitted outside the United States, so it is subject to interception.

The comments underscore the widespread unease within Europe about access to people's data by both security services and companies. They also come at a time when Brussels and Washington are renegotiating a data-sharing agreement - called Safe Harbour - used by over 3,000 companies.

The Safe Harbour agreement makes it easier for U.S. companies to do business in Europe by certifying that their handling of user data meets EU data-protection laws.

Last year's revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden about the agency's surveillance of Europeans' electronic communications sent shockwaves across Europe. It prompted the Commission to demand concessions from the United States as a condition for not suspending the Safe Harbour agreement.

Under U.S. law, broad collection of e-mail to, from or about foreigners is allowed. Privacy campaigners say that under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, security services do not have to prove that intercepting a foreign citizen's electronic communications is necessary for national security reasons.

The Commission is pushing for Washington to guarantee that it will only access Europeans' personal data for national security reasons when it is strictly necessary, as it does with U.S. citizens' data.

The EU is also negotiating a new pan-European data- protection law which would impose stiff fines on companies mishandling personal data in Europe.

Companies in both the United States and the EU have lobbied against some parts of the new rules, arguing that they will impose too much red tape on businesses.

But French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said at the same data-protection conference that high standards of privacy would attract companies looking to regain customers' trust in the wake of the Snowden revelations.

"The European standard of data protection is not an obstacle to economic activity," Valls said. "Europe must make data protection an argument for attractiveness and competitiveness."

Reuters

President Barack Obama on Friday touted "slow and steady progress" in the fight against Islamic State militants as he committed to increase aid to Jordan, a key ally in the Arab coalition battling the extremists.

The president made the comments in an Oval Office meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan, one of five Arab nations that have participated in U.S.-led airstrikes against the militants in Syria. Obama called Jordan a "rock solid partner" to defeat the Islamic State.

Obama said Jordan is a "small, resource-poor country that consistently steps up" to shoulder its international responsibility. He said he planned to ask Congress to nearly double U.S. annual assistance to Jordan from $660 million to $1 billion.

"The Jordanian military has been working side by side with U.S. and other militaries from around the world in making slow but steady progress, providing assistance to Baghdad, providing assistance to the moderate opposition inside of Syria and to begin culling back some of the gains that ISIL has made," Obama said. "We recognize that it's a long-term and extremely complex challenge, but it's one that we feel optimistic that we'll be able to succeed in."

Abdullah thanked the American people for supporting Jordan as he said the country is holding almost 1.5 million Syrian refugees. "It comes at a very difficult time," Abdullah said.

In an earlier interview with CBS, the king said he's consulting with other Arab leaders about taking a stronger stand against the Islamic State group and cast it as "a fight between good and evil."

"This is a war inside of Islam," Abdullah said. "So we have to own up to it. We have to take the lead. And we have to start fighting back."

Obama and Abdullah also discussed their efforts to reduce tensions between Israel and Palestine. Jordan's U.N. envoy said Tuesday she will be trying to get the U.N. Security Council to agree on a resolution before Christmas that would press for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The push for Security Council action follows the failure of U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians led by Secretary of State John Kerry, this summer's 50-day war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian faction that controls the Gaza Strip and the recent upsurge in violence sparked by disputes over Jerusalem's hilltop complex that is revered by both Muslims and Jews.

"The environment has not been conducive for the sort of peace initiatives that we'd like to see," Obama said. "But we are going to continue to share ideas, recognizing that ultimately what's going to be good for the Israelis and the Palestinians is their capacity to live together side by side in peace and security and for Palestinians to have their own state."

AP

Pele has recorded a video message from his hospital room to thank his fans around the world for praying for him while he underwent treatment for a urinary tract infection.

Pele said in the video posted on Friday on his Twitter and Facebook accounts that he is "doing fine" and has "recovered" from the ailment that has kept him hospitalized for nearly two weeks.

The 74-year-old former player said he knows "everybody worried" about his health but guaranteed that he is "OK."

The video begins with Pele playing a guitar while seated next to family members.

Doctors said Pele continues to improve steadily and has no more signs of the infection. He stayed several days in an intensive care unit to undergo hemodialysis to help support his only kidney.

AP

More than 175 Nigerian medics arrived in Liberia and Sierra Leone on Friday to join the fight against Ebola, the first of 600 volunteers promised by the regional giant which contained its own outbreak earlier this year.

The medics will boost weak local health systems that are also struggling to contain other preventable diseases as Ebola discourages people from going to clinics for fear of contracting the fever.

The worst outbreak of Ebola on record has killed at least 6,187 people in the three worst-affected countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - according to the latest data from the World Health Organization.

"This is the African spirit you are showing, this is the Nigerian spirit,” Nigeria's ambassador to Liberia, Chigozie Obi-Nnadozie, told 76 Nigerian medics who landed there.

Another 100 volunteers landed in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Months into the Ebola response, experts say they are still short of medical personnel to staff treatment centers.

The United Nations said one of its peacekeepers in Liberia had contracted Ebola, making him the third infected member of the mission. The two others have both died.

Sixteen people who came into contact with the peacekeeper while he was symptomatic had been identified, the United Nations said.

The condition of an Italian doctor who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone and was flown home last month has worsened, a Rome hospital said on Friday.

Liberia - the country with the highest number of cases - has succeeded in lowering infection rates, and the virus is now spreading fastest in Sierra Leone. The former British colony recorded 537 new cases in the week to Nov. 30.

U.N. child agency UNICEF on Friday began a campaign to provide 2.4 million people in Sierra Leone with anti-malarial drugs to ease the strain on the healthcare system and allow Ebola cases to be identified more easily. The two diseases have similar symptoms, including headaches, fever and aching joints.

Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf issued an order banning rallies and public meetings ahead of a Senate election scheduled for later this month, saying the move was part of the fight against Ebola.

Amid signs of a slowdown in the epidemic in Guinea - where the virus was first detected in March - neighboring Guinea-Bissau said it would reopen their shared border by next week.

Reuters

 British spies did not break laws guaranteeing human rights when they used mass monitoring techniques revealed by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, the country's surveillance watchdog ruled on Friday.

A host of civil rights groups and privacy campaigners, including Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union, had argued the tactics used by Britain's three security agencies and disclosed by Snowden to the media last year did not comply with the UK's Human Rights Act.

"The 'Snowden revelations' in particular have led to the impression voiced in some quarters that the law in some way permits the Intelligence Services carte blanche to do what they will. We are satisfied that this is not the case," Britain's Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) said in its ruling.

Snowden caused an international uproar when he disclosed details of the extent of surveillance and electronic monitoring by the NSA and its British equivalent, the General Communications Headquarters, or GCQA.

He told newspapers the NSA was mining the personal data of users of Google, Facebook, Skype and other U.S. companies under a secret program codenamed Prism, while GCHQ was accused of bypassing British laws by gaining access to communications without proper authority.

GCHQ was also accused of tapping fibre-optic cables that carry international phone and internet traffic and sharing the data with the United States.

"We have ruled that the current regime, both in relation to Prism and Upstream (another NSA program) when conducted in accordance with the requirements which we have considered, is lawful and human rights-compliant," the IPT said.

Rachel Logan, legal adviser for Amnesty UK, said the decision would be appealed to the European Court of Human Rights.

"The government has managed to bluff their way out of this, retreating into closed hearings and constantly playing the 'national security' card," she said.

"The government's entire defense has amounted to 'trust us' and now the tribunal has said the same. Since we only know about the scale of such surveillance thanks to Snowden, and given that 'national security' has been recklessly bandied around, 'trust us' isn't enough."

The new head of GCHQ said last month the security services needed greater access to Facebook and Twitter because of their importance to militant groups, while spy chiefs have argued Snowden's revelations have damaged their capabilities and put operations at risk.

Reuters

Though it may sound like one, this is no joke: Two miniature horses trotted into a hospital.

Doctors and patients did double-takes when the equine visitors ambled down long corridors in the pediatric unit at Chicago's Rush University Medical Center. Wide-eyed youngsters hooked up to IV poles stepped into hallways to get a glimpse, and kids too sick to leave their rooms beamed with delight when the little long-lashed horses showed up for some bedside nuzzling.

Mystery and Lunar, small as big dogs, are equines on a medical mission to offer comfort care and distraction therapy for ailing patients. It is a role often taken on by dogs in health care settings — animal therapy, according to studies and anecdotal reports, may benefit health, perhaps even speeding healing and recovery.

Mini-horses add an extra element of delight — many kids don't know they exist outside of fairy tales.

"I want one," said 14-year-old Elizabeth Duncan, stroking Mystery's nose from her propped-up hospital bed.

These horses and two others belong to the animal-assisted therapy group Mane in Heaven, based in Lake in the Hills, a suburb northwest of Chicago. They have visited nursing homes and centers for the disabled, but this November visit was their first-ever inside a hospital. It was also the first horse-therapy visit for Rush, and more are planned.

"We have long had animal-assisted therapy here at Rush and just seen the enormous benefits that animals can have on most children — just the joy that they bring, the unconditional love," said Robyn Hart, the hospital's director of child life services.

Mini horses "are something that most people whether kids or adults have never seen before, and so that builds in a little more excitement and anticipation. They almost look like mythical animals, like they should have wings on," Hart said.

Some people confuse these horses with better-known Shetland ponies, but minis are less stout, with a more horse-like build. The therapy they offer contrasts starkly with the austere high-tech hospital environment — soft ears to scratch, fluffy manes to caress, big soulful eyes to stare deeply into.

"They're so nice and they don't judge and they're so sweet," said epilepsy patient Emily Pietsch, 17, after gently tracing Lunar's heart-shaped muzzle with her fingers.

Mane in Heaven's owner, Jodie Diegel, a former obstetrics nurse, says the minis bring "smiles, joy, love and laughter and that's the true healing in action."

Some research has suggested that animal-assisted therapy may reduce pain and blood pressure, and decrease fear and stress in hospitalized children. But much of it is based on patients' reports.

A review of 10 years of studies about in-patient therapy using dogs, published in April in the Southern Medical Association's journal, concluded that it's safe and can be effective. Dr. Caroline Burton of Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, a co-author of the review, owns seven dogs, four regular horses and a donkey, and strongly supports animal-assisted therapy.

Burton acknowledged that skeptics dismiss it as "touchy-feely" and lacking hard evidence of any meaningful medical benefits. She said studies are needed on whether animals in hospitals can shorten patients' stays and reduce readmission rates — something her hospital is looking into with dogs and heart failure patients.

While some worry about animals bringing germs into hospitals, Burton's review found no associated infections in patients.

Guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that animal-assisted therapy in health care settings stems from evidence that having pets at home helps some patients recover more quickly from medical procedures. The guidelines focus mostly on infection control procedures and hand-washing for patients and hospital staff.

Diegel, Mane in Heaven's owner, and her horse helpers carry lots of hand sanitizer and a pooper scooper on therapy visits. Diegel doesn't feed the horses beforehand, to help avoid accidents. Even so, one of the horses pooped in a hallway during the Chicago hospital visit, but the volunteers cleaned up in a flash and no one seemed fazed.

The horses were "a smashing success," Hart said. "We're looking forward to having them visit monthly."

___

Jimmy Fallon plans to take a third day of paternity leave from his "Tonight Show" duties.

NBC says it will air a repeat "Tonight Show" episode Friday so Fallon can spend another day with his new daughter, Frances Cole Fallon.

The scheduled Wednesday and Thursday "Tonight" tapings had already been canceled after her arrival Wednesday morning.

Little Frances joins big sister Winnie Rose, 1. Both daughters were born to Fallon and wife, Nancy, via a surrogate.

Fallon, who took over hosting "The Tonight Show" last February, has a book deal for a children's picture book, "Your Baby's First Word Will Be Dada," scheduled for release in June.

AP

Wind gusts and sticky fuel valves conspired to keep NASA's new Orion spacecraft on the launch pad Thursday, delaying a crucial test flight meant to revitalize human exploration.

NASA promised to try again Friday morning as tens of thousands of disappointed and weary launch guests hustled out. But the weather report wasn't promising: NASA forecasters expected more wind, clouds and rain, with only a 40 percent chance that  conditions        would allow for a launch.

"I'm running on no hours of sleep, zero, zero hours," said Sarah McNulty, a space educator who was helping NASA escort the several-hundred news media on hand. She said she'd be back again by sunrise, "bright and early."

NASA's new countdown clock got a workout as problem after problem cropped up in the final four minutes, and the count switched back and forth.

A stray boat in the launch-danger zone kicked things off badly. Then excessive wind twice halted the countdown, followed by valve trouble on the unmanned Delta IV rocket that could not be fixed in time. Declining battery power in the rocket's video camera system reinforced the decision to quit for the day.

"It was a roller coaster: We're going, we're not going," McNulty said. "But that's how the launch business is."

At least one group was pleased by the launch delay: all the sold-out hotels and the restaurants surrounding the space center, which lost considerable business when the space shuttles stopped flying in 2011.

Orion is how NASA hopes to one day send astronauts to Mars. This inaugural flight, while just 4 1/2 hours, will send the unmanned capsule 3,600 miles into space.

It's the first attempt to send a spacecraft capable of carrying humans beyond a couple hundred miles of Earth since the Apollo moon program.

The ultimate goal, in the decades ahead, is to use Orion to carry people to Mars and back.

An estimated 27,000 guests gathered for the historic send-off — roads leading into Kennedy Space Center were packed well before dawn — and the atmosphere was reminiscent of the shuttle-flying days. "Go Orion!!" urged a hotel billboard in nearby Cocoa Beach.

A Thursday launch would have been special for another reason: NASA launch commentator Mike Curie noted that it was the 16th anniversary of the launch of the first U.S. piece of the International Space Station, by shuttle Endeavour. "That was the beginning of the space station, and today is the dawn of Orion," he said.

Among the dozen or so active astronauts in attendance — and even more former ones — was Anna Fischer, one of NASA's original spacewomen, and now assigned to the Orion program. Like so many others, Fisher voiced disappointment at the delay, but noted: "It's way more important to have a successful flight."

"It was so much fun to come out here and have that same atmosphere as before a shuttle launch," Fisher said. "We really miss that. That's why we're here. This is what we love."

Orion is aiming for two orbits on this inaugural run. On the second lap around the home planet, the spacecraft should reach a peak altitude of 3,600 miles, high enough to ensure a re-entry speed of 20,000 mph and an environment of 4,000 degrees. Splashdown will be in the Pacific off the Mexican Baja coast, where Navy ships already are waiting.

NASA's Mission Control in Houston was all set to oversee the entire 4 1/2-hour operation once the rocket was in flight, with legendary Apollo 11 and 13 flight director Gene Kranz showing up to watch. The flight program was loaded into Orion's computers well in advance, allowing the spacecraft to fly essentially on autopilot. Flight controllers could intervene in the event of an emergency breakdown.

The spacecraft is rigged with 1,200 sensors to gauge everything from heat to vibration to radiation. At 11 feet tall with a 16.5-foot base, Orion is bigger than the old-time Apollo capsules and, obviously, more advanced. As NASA's program manager Mark Geyer noted, "The inside of the capsule is totally different."

NASA deliberately kept astronauts off this first Orion.

Managers want to test the riskiest parts of the spacecraft — the heat shield, parachutes, various jettisoning components — before committing to a crew. The earliest Orion might carry passengers is 2021; asteroids are on the space agency's radar sometime in the 2020s and Mars, the grand prize, in the 2030s.

Lockheed Martin Corp., which is handling the $370 million test flight for NASA, opted for the powerful Delta IV rocket this time around. Future Orion missions will rely on NASA's still-in-development megarocket known as SLS, or Space Launch System. The first Orion-SLS combo launch is targeted for 2018.

NASA's last trip beyond low-Earth orbit in a vessel built for people was Apollo 17 in December 1972, the last time men set foot on the moon.

"It's a thrilling prospect when you think about actually exploring the solar system," space station commander Butch Wilmore said from orbit as the Orion countdown entered its final hour. "Who knows where it will take us, who knows where it will go. We'll find out as time goes forward, but this first step is a huge one."

AP

The House on Thursday headed toward passage of a $585 billion defense policy bill that gives President Barack Obama the authority to expand U.S. military operations against Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria.

The sweeping legislation authorizes spending for the nation's defense, from construction of ships, planes and war-fighting equipment to a 1 percent pay raise for the troops, while maintaining the prohibition on transferring terror suspects from the federal prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States.

The bipartisan legislation traditionally garners strong support, but several lawmakers complained that they were barred from a fresh vote on authorizing military force. In an effort to expedite the bill in the lame-duck session, leadership allowed no amendments.

"These wars deserve a debate," said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. "We're getting more deeply involved in the war in Iraq and Syria."

If passed as expected, the measure heads to the Senate, where Republicans are divided over the inclusion of unrelated provisions expanding wilderness areas in the West. Proponents of the bill hope to finish the bill next week and send it to Obama for his signature.

This year, work on the bill has added poignancy as the chairmen of the Armed Services committees in the Senate and House are retiring. Democrat Carl Levin is leaving after representing Michigan for 36 years in the Senate; California Republican Howard "Buck" McKeon is stepping down after a 22-year career in the House.

The bill is named for both men.

The overall legislation endorses Obama's latest request to Congress in the 4-month-old war against Islamic State militants who brutally rule large sections of Iraq and Syria. Obama sought billions for the stepped-up operation and the dispatch of up to 1,500 more American troops; the bill provides $5 billion.

The administration also pressed for reauthorization of its plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels battling the forces of President Bashar Assad, with that mandate expiring Dec. 11. The legislation would extend that authority for two years.

The bill would provide the core funding of $521.3 billion for the military and $63.7 billion for overseas operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, where fighting has lasted more than a decade.

The bill would prohibit the retirement of the A-10 Warthog, the close-air support plane often described as ugly but invaluable.

The Pentagon sought cuts in military benefits. Lawmakers compromised by agreeing to make service members pay $3 more for co-pays on prescription drugs and trimming the growth of the off-base housing allowance by 1 percent instead of the Pentagon's deeper 5 percent recommendation.

The legislation would change the military justice system to deal with sexual assault cases, including scrapping the nearly century-old practice of using a "good soldier defense" to raise doubts that a crime has been committed.

The bill includes a bipartisan plan crafted by three female senators — Democrat Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Republicans Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Deb Fischer of Nebraska — that would impose a half-dozen changes to combat the pervasive problem of rape and sexual offenses that Pentagon leaders have likened to a cancer within the ranks.

The measure would give accusers a greater say in whether their cases are litigated in the military or civilian system and would establish a confidential process to allow victims to challenge their separation or discharge from the military. In addition, it would increase the accountability of commanders and extend all changes related to sexual assault cases to the service academies.

Officials told The Associated Press that the number of sexual assaults reported by military service members increased 8 percent in 2014, suggesting victims are far more willing to come forward and seek help or file complaints than in years past.

AP

A lawsuit by a woman who claims Bill Cosby molested her when she was 15 years old has moved allegations of sexual misconduct against the comedian from the court of public opinion into the courthouse.

Judy Huth's lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles accuses Cosby of forcing her to perform a sex act on him in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion around 1974. She is the latest woman to accuse the comedian of sex abuse, and is the first one since 2005 to file a lawsuit.

Cosby has been beset for weeks by allegations by more than a dozen women that he drugged and sexually assaulted them in incidents spanning several decades. The comedian has not been criminally charged and many of the claims are so old, they are barred by statutes of limitations.

Huth's lawsuit, however, contends that she became aware of the serious effect the abuse had on her within the past three years. California law allows victims of sex abuse when they were minors to bring a claim after adulthood if they discover later in life that they suffered psychological injuries as a result of the abuse.

Cosby has not been criminally charged, but Netflix and NBC have scuttled projects featuring the comedian and several shows on his comedy tour have also been canceled.

His attorney Martin Singer did not return an email message seeking comment Tuesday night.

Huth's sexual battery and infliction of emotional distress lawsuit states that she and a 16-year-old friend first met Cosby at a Los Angeles-area film shoot and the comedian gave the girls drinks a week later at a tennis club.

The lawsuit states that Cosby took them to the Playboy Mansion after several drinks, and told the teenagers to lie and say they were 19 years old if asked. Her lawsuit states Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him with her hand.

"This traumatic incident, at such a tender age, has caused psychological damage and mental anguish for (Huth) that has caused significant problems throughout her life," the lawsuit states.

Huth's lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court is the first time a woman has gone public claiming Cosby abused her when she was underage. A second woman told Pittsburgh television station KDKA last month that Cosby drugged her to the point of unconsciousness in the 1980s when she was 15.

The suit does not specify how much Huth is seeking from Cosby.

Singer has denied previous accusations or said the women raising the claims in interviews had been discredited.

Singer's statement does not apply to a lawsuit brought in 2005 by Andrea Constand, who claimed Cosby drugged and molested her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004. Constand, who worked for the women's basketball team at Temple University, and Cosby settled the case before trial.

Cosby resigned from the university's board of trustees on Monday. He had been the school's public face, appearing in advertisements, fundraising campaigns and delivering commencement speeches.

AP