1. KOMEN LEADER RESIGNS AFTER PLANNED PARENTHOOD FLAP
The fallout over Susan G. Komen for the Cure's brief decision to end Planned Parenthood's funding reverberated at the breast-cancer foundation's top levels on Wednesday, as President Liz Thompson resigned and Nancy Brinker gave up day-to-day management duties. In January, Komen cut off breast-cancer-screening funding to Planned Parenthood — a frequent target of conservatives for its birth control and abortion services. The foundation quickly reversed its decision, but the pink-ribbon charity's foray into abortion politics hurt its fundraising and spurred five other recent resignations. [Associated Press]
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2. BEACH VOLLEYBALL STARS WIN GOLD... AGAIN
Beach volleyball legends Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings took the gold medal in their third straight Olympics, beating fellow Americans Jennifer Kessy and April Ross in two straight sets, 21-16, 21-16. No other beach volleyball team of either gender has won two Olympic titles in a row, let alone three. When the match ended Wednesday, May-Treanor, who's retiring, and Walsh Jennings fell to their knees in the sand and hugged. "It truly feels surreal," said Walsh Jennings. "And it didn't feel like that the first two times." [Reuters]
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3. CURIOSITY SNAPS EARTH-LIKE MARS IMAGES
The car-sized Curiosity rover beamed home its first high-quality panoramic images of the surface of Mars on Wednesday, revealing a surprisingly "Earth-like" landscape that NASA scientists likened to California's Mojave Desert. "Kind of makes you feel at home," said John Grotzinger, lead scientist for the Mars Science Laboratory mission. Curiosity had already transmitted video of its Sunday landing and low-quality photos from small cameras, but it couldn't capture high-resolution snapshots until it raised its mast, which is packed with sophisticated navigation gear. [Los Angeles Times]
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4. ELECTED LEADERS TAKE OVER IN LIBYA
The transitional leadership council that took over in Libya after the fall of the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi formally handed over power to the country's first elected assembly on Wednesday. It was the first peaceful transfer of power in Libya's modern history. Libya still faces major challenges, including rival militias that have refused to unite under a national army. But the handover ceremony was punctuated by chants such as "the blood of the martyrs will not go in vain." [Associated Press]
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5. MIAMI VICTIM DESCRIBES FACE-CHEWING ATTACK
A Miami TV station has obtained a tape of a July police interview in which Ronald Poppo, the homeless victim of a bizarre attack that gripped the nation, sums up how he was mauled by Rudy Eugene. "He just ripped me to ribbons," Poppo matter-of-factly told detectives. "He chewed up my face. He plucked out my eyes. Basically that's all there is to say about it." Poppo also thanked Miami police, saying he would probably have died if an officer hadn't arrived and shot Eugene dead. [CBS News]
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6. OBAMA OPPOSES BOY SCOUT GAY BAN
A White House spokesman says that President Obama opposes the Boy Scouts of America's controversial policy banning gay Scouts and troop leaders. President Obama believes that Scouting has helped to educate and build character in boys, White House spokesman Shin Inouye said in a statement reported Wednesday, but "he also opposes discrimination in all forms, and as such opposes this policy that discriminates on basis of sexual orientation." [NBC News, Washington Blade]
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7. REPORT: CHINESE OFFICIAL'S WIFE ADMITS MURDER
Gu Kailai, the wife of former Chinese Politburo member Bo Xilai, has admitted poisoning British businessman Neil Heywood, a court official told reporters Thursday. Gu's butler has also allegedly confessed. Premeditated murder carries the death penalty in China, but the court official suggested that Gu might be spared because she feared Heywood would harm her son, 24-year-old Bo Guagua, over a financial dispute. [Los Angeles Times]
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8. RANDY TRAVIS ACCUSED OF NAKED DUI
Country music star Randy Travis was arrested after allegedly being found "drunk and naked" near a crashed Pontiac Trans Am in North Texas. Before Travis' arrest late Tuesday, a convenience store clerk called 911 to report that a nude man — a regular customer who had always worn clothes before — had come in trying to buy cigarettes. Travis was released on $21,500 bail on Wednesday. In addition to the alcohol case, Travis also was accused of threatening to "shoot and kill" the officers who arrested him. Travis' rep had no immediate comment. [Los Angeles Times]
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9. SYRIAN ARMY FORCES REBEL RETREAT IN ALEPPO
Syrian rebels, running low on ammunition, retreated from parts of the country's largest city, Aleppo, as government forces made a push to retake lost ground. The Free Syrian Army had taken control of large swaths of the strategic prize of Aleppo in a recent offensive, but government forces stepped up their shelling of contested neighborhoods on Wednesday. One rebel commander said the retreat was merely tactical, and rebels would return once they got hold of more supplies. [New York Times]
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10. POLICE HUNT FOR EVIDENCE IN ETAN PATZ CASE
Investigators returned on Wednesday to a Manhattan basement where Pedro Hernandez, a former convenience store stock clerk, says he killed 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979. The first-grader's disappearance, on the first day he was allowed to walk to a school bus stop by himself, has haunted New York City for 33 years. Hernandez, who was arrested in May, says he lured Patz into the store's basement and strangled him, but police need physical evidence — clothing, blood, DNA — so the case won't hang solely on his confession. [ABC News]
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