10 Things to Know for Today: 7-29

7/29/2013
ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Italy-Bus-Plunges

    Rescuers stands in the wreckage of a bus which crashed off a highway near Avellino, southern Italy, Monday, July 29, 2013. Rescuers wielding electric saws cut through the twisted wreckage of an Italian tour bus for survivors of a crash in southern Italy that killed at least 37 people after it crashed into traffic and plunged into a ravine on Sunday night. Reports said as many as 49 people, mostly Italians, had been aboard the bus when it ripped through a guardrail, then plunged some 30 meters (100 feet) off a viaduct near a wooded area. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

  • Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

    1. MIDEAST NEGOTIATORS HEAD TO US

    Israeli and Palestinian officials will meet in Washington today after Israel approved the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners.

    2. ITALY TOUR BUS CRASH KILLS 37

    Police said the bus filled with Italian pilgrims smashed into several cars in heavy traffic and plunged into a ravine.

    3. CHARGES OF SPYING ON JOURNALIST DENIED

    New Zealand officials denied a report that said U.S. surveillance agencies joined in tracking phone records of a McClatchy freelancer working in Afghanistan.

    4. DRIVER CHARGED IN SPAIN TRAIN CRASH

    Francisco Jose Garzon Arno, charged with 79 counts of homicide, has said the brakes didn’t work when he tried to slow the speeding train before a curve.

    5. DOZENS KILLED IN BAGHAD BOMBINGS

    A wave of car bombs in and around Baghdad killed at least 47 during morning rush hour in the latest coordinated insurgent attack.

    6. WHITEY BULGER DEFENSE BEGINS

    But lawyers haven’t said whether the 83-year-old charged with 19 killings and racketeering in Boston will take the stand himself.

    7. HUGE HEIST ON THE RIVIERA

    A haul of $53 million worth of diamonds and other jewels were stolen from a Cannes hotel featured in the Hitchcock film “To Catch a Thief.”

    8. FLOSSIE HEADS TO BIG ISLAND

    The weakened tropical storm is still expected to bring 18-foot-high waves, flooding and high winds to Hawaii.

    9. THE INTELLIGENCE OF FARM ANIMALS

    Rights advocates say that pigs, chickens and cows may be as smart and sociable as dogs, hoping to boost the ranks of vegetarians in the U.S.

    10. WHAT PENN STATE KNEW ABOUT ABUSE SCANDAL

    The university’s former president, vice president and athletic director appear today at a preliminary hearing on charges they tried to cover up charges against Jerry Sandusky.