The world at 9:15 p.m. All times EDT.
At the Nerve Center, news producers Mike Stewart and Coralie Carlson can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, James Nieves (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, (ext. 7636). Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact customersupport(at)ap.org or call 877-836-9477.
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NEW & DEVELOPING
— ROMNEY-CHENEY — Fundraiser in Jackson Hole, Wyo., is under way.
— Adds JUSTICE-FAIR LENDING
Has moved:
— AIRLINE PILOT SHORTAGE — Demand for nearly half a million new airline pilots over next 20 years raises safety concerns.
— OBAMA-INSPIRATION — Obama says he needs to do a better job of inspiring the public in a second term.
— GIRL-CHICKEN COOP — Authorities say a 15-year-old Georgia girl told investigators she spent days at a time locked inside a small outhouse and a chicken coop, and was forced to wear a shock collar. AP photos.
— TODDLER-GLUED TO WALL — Dallas mother who glued 2-year-old daughter’s hands to wall pleads guilty to child injury.
— IMMIGRATION-LESBIAN MARRIAGE — Lesbian couple files federal lawsuit hoping to halt deportation of same-sex spouses.
— ITALY-CREDIT RATING — Moody’s downgrades Italy’s government credit rating 2 notches, keeps negative outlook.
TOP STORIES
PENN STATE-ABUSE
PHILADELPHIA — Joe Paterno and other top Penn State officials buried child sexual abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky more than a decade ago to avoid bad publicity, according to a scathing report that exposes a powerful “culture of reverence” for the football program and portrayed the Hall of Fame coach as more deeply involved in the scandal than previously thought. By Geoff Mulvihill, Genaro C. Armas and Mark Scolforo.
AP photos by Matt Rourke, Brynn Anderson and Gene Puskar, and member The Centre Daily Times. AP video, audio, interactive.
— PENN STATE-PATERNO’S LEGACY — For many, Freeh report erases any lingering goodwill toward Paterno, once-pristine legacy. AP photos.
— PENN STATE-ABUSE-PATERNO-FREEH — The Freeh report compared with Paterno’s previous statements on 1998, 2001 complaints.
— PATERNO-NIKE — Nike president taking Joe Paterno’s name off child care center.
— PENN STATE-ABUSE-REACTION
— PENN STATE-ABUSE-EXCERPTS
— PENN STATE-ABUSE-CHARACTERS
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
WASHINGTON —Documents filed by Mitt Romney’s former company conflict with the Republican presidential candidate’s statements about when he gave up control of the private equity firm Bain Capital. President Barack Obama’s campaign seizes on the discrepancies to charge that Romney was lying about his background. Romney, in turn, says Obama is the one being dishonest, rolling out a hard-hitting television ad that accused the president of launching “misleading, unfair and untrue” attacks about the Republican’s role in outsourcing U.S. jobs. By Julie Pace and Kasie Hunt.
AP photos.
— BIDEN-NAACP — Vice President Joe Biden tells the NAACP that Obama has “the character of his convictions” — countering a speech a day earlier by Romney.
— ROMNEY-CHENEY — Romney holds an evening fundraising event in Wyoming with former Vice President Dick Cheney as the Republican inches closer to becoming the party’s official standard-bearer.
SYRIA
BEIRUT — Syrian activists reported a new massacre late Thursday in the central Homs province, saying regime forces killed more than 100 people in shelling and other attacks. Meanwhile, a string of high-profile defections from the Syrian regime has stirred hopes in the West that President Bashar Assad’s inner circle will start abandoning him in greater numbers, although the tightly protected regime has largely held together. By Elizabeth A. Kennedy.
AP photos, video.
JUSTICE-FAIR LENDING
WASHINGTON — Wells Fargo Bank will pay at least $175 million to settle accusations that it discriminated against African-American and Hispanic borrowers in violation of fair-lending laws, the Justice Department announces. The bank’s discriminatory lending practices resulted in more than 34,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers in 36 states and the District of Columbia paying higher rates for loans solely because of the color of their skin, the government says. By Pete Yost.
UTILITY SCAM
MADISON, Wis. — As much as President Barack Obama wants your vote, he’s not actually offering to pay your monthly bills. But thousands of Americans have been persuaded otherwise, falling victim to a fast-moving scam that claims to be part of an Obama administration program to help pay utility bills in the midst of a scorching summer. By Scott Bauer.
AP photos, video.
OLY-BRITAIN-BAD NEWS DAY
LONDON — With the Olympics two weeks away, the city’s aging infrastructure kept offering unpleasant surprises as the main road near Heathrow Airport remained closed following emergency repairs. The British mobile phone company O2 said thousands were affected by network outages — a bad omen ahead of the first iPhone games. Logistical problems over traffic, communications, staff and security made preparations seem as gloomy as the weather. By Danica Kirka.
AP photos.
INTERNATIONAL
FRANCE-AVALANCHE
CHAMONIX, France — They set out before dawn, hoping to conquer a mountaineering classic: Mont Blanc, Western Europe’s highest peak. But below the prized summit, a climber is believed to have accidentally caused a slab of ice to snap off, triggering an avalanche that swept nine climbers to their deaths and injured a dozen others. By John Heilprin and Angela Charlton.
AP photos, video.
MEXICO-CENTRAL AMERICAN MIGRANTS
TULTITLAN, Mexico — Deported from the United States after years working construction in New Jersey, Hector Augusto Lopez decided to rebuild his life in Honduras. But in March, robbers killed three people at the shoe store where he worked, and he soon made the dangerous 1,000-mile journey north. More Central Americans are heading to the U.S. this year, a surge fueled in large part by rising violence at home. By Olga R. Rodriguez.
AP photos by Miguel Juarez, Marco Ugarte, Alexandre Meneghini and Felix Marquez.
ISRAEL-OLMERT
JERUSALEM — Could Ehud Olmert be plotting his return? Though the ex-premier denies it, that’s the buzz in Israel after he was acquitted of corruption charges that forced him to resign three years ago. The momentum is driven by the displeasure of many with successor Benjamin Netanyahu, the sense that the current opposition chiefs lack the chops to unseat him, and the suspicion that in bringing down Olmert during critical negotiations with the Palestinians, prosecutors might have cost Israel its chance for peace. By Josef Federman.
AP photos.
AP INTERVIEW: AFGHAN-US AMBASSADOR
KABUL, Afghanistan — The outgoing U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan tells the AP that moderate Taliban figures have expressed interest in peace negotiations — a deal that becomes even more elusive with recent suicide attacks and bombings. Ryan Crocker also says he doesn’t think the country will plunge into civil war when foreign combat troops leave by the end of 2014. By Deb Riechmann.
AP photos by Musadeq Sadeq.
— IRAQ-HEZBOLLAH PRISONER — The White House is asking Iraq to hand over a Hezbollah commander who is accused of masterminding a 2007 attack that killed five American soldiers. AP photo.
NATIONAL
AMBULANCES-EXPIRED DRUGS
SALEM, Ore. — When paramedics ran out of a critical drug used to treat irregular heartbeats, an Oregon fire department dug into its stash of expired medications, loaded up the trucks and kept treating patients. Drug shortages have lead several states to relax rules on using expired drugs in emergency situations. There are risks the drugs will lose effectiveness, but some emergency medical workers say expired drugs are better than nothing. By Jonathan J. Cooper.
AP photos.
ASIAN CARP-SCIENCE
HAVANA, Ill. — As scientists aboard a research boat activate an electric current, the calm Illinois River transforms into a roiling, silvery mass. Asian carp by the dozen hurtle from the water as if shot from a gun, soaring in graceful arcs before plunging beneath the surface with splashes resembling tiny geysers. Biologists, however, fear a different kind of horror story may be taking shape underwater: a war for survival between the aggressive Asian carp newcomers and native species. By John Flesher.
AP photos, video.
BUSINESS
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
WASHINGTON — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits plunged last week to the lowest level in four years. But a major reason for the drop was that some automakers skipped traditional summer shutdowns, leading to fewer temporary layoffs of autoworkers. The Labor Department says weekly applications dropped by 26,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000. Economists expect most of the decline will be reversed in the coming weeks. By Economics Writer Christopher S. Rugaber.
BANK EARNS PREVIEW
NEW YORK — It has been a scandal-filled few months for banks. JPMorgan Chase revealed a $2 billion trading loss, triggering an investigation by the government and hearings in Congress. Then the large banks were implicated in a global furor over interest rate manipulation. All this happened amid signs of a slowdown in the U.S. and Chinese economies and a debt crisis in Europe, which won’t help the banks as they report their financial results for April through June. A guide to what to expect when the big banks start reporting second-quarter earnings Friday. By Pallavi Gogoi.
LIFESTYLES
BACK TO SCHOOL-YEAR-ROUND CALENDARS
NEW YORK — Year-round school calendars were once seen as a cure-all for everything from overcrowding to low test scores. But some districts that embraced them are now returning to traditional schedules. By Beth J. Harpaz.
AP photos.
ENTERTAINMENT
BRITAIN-ROLLING STONES
LONDON — Mick Jagger may rethink the words he sang more than 45 years ago — “What a drag it is getting old.” Thursday marks 50 years since Jagger played his first gig with a band called the Rolling Stones, and the group is marking its half-century with no letup in its productivity or rock ‘n’ roll style. By Jill Lawless.
AP photos and photo gallery.
MORE ON OLYMPICS
DIVIDED KOREAS
PYONGYANG, North Korea — They met as enemies and parted as friends, and champions. Table tennis star Li Pun Hui of North Korea and her archrival, South Korea’s Hyun Jung-hwa, fondly recall their roles in the “ping pong diplomacy” of 1991 — the first “unified Korea” team in international sports competition. With relations on the Korean Peninsula at a low point, the cooperation is not about to be repeated at the London Olympics. By Jean H. Lee.
AP photos.
— US UNIFORMS-MADE IN CHINA — Burn ’em! Lawmakers outraged U.S. Olympic uniforms are made in China.
— OLY-LONDON 2012-THAMES HIGHWAY — If the worst transportation predictions come true during the Olympics, the streets of London will be hopelessly clogged. Luckily for London’s super rich, the River Thames will be an uncluttered highway, providing quick access to parties and events. AP photos, video.
ALSO GETTING ATTENTION
— TV-AMERICAN IDOL-TYLER — Steven Tyler exiting as ‘American Idol’ judge after 2 seasons, says Aerosmith comes first. AP photos.
— NIGERIA-FUEL TANKER EXPLOSION — A truck carrying fuel veers into a ditch and explodes in Nigeria, killing at least 95 people who had rushed in to scoop up fuel.
— CHIMPS ON THE LOOSE — One chimp dead, one tranquilized after escaping Las Vegas home, jumping on car.
— TV-DYLAN’S GUITAR — Bob Dylan, ‘History Detectives’ dispute ownership of Newport electric guitar. AP photos.
— KRISTIN CHENOWETH — Actress Kristin Chenoweth is out of the hospital after being injured on the set of the CBS drama “The Good Wife.”
— YAHOO-HACKING — Yahoo confirms theft of 450,000 users’ email addresses and passwords.
— STOWAWAY KITTEN — Kitten survives freighter trip from Shanghai to Los Angeles without food, water. AP photo.
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