Police chief steps aside in Fla. shooting

By Kyle Hightower

The police chief and prosecutor criticized for not arresting a neighborhood watch volunteer in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager both left the case Thursday.

Alan Purdy was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of aiding a suicide after paramedics found his wife dead inside their home.

A former foster mother of a 6-year-old Philadelphia boy allegedly starved and fatally beaten by his parents said they should not have been granted custody three years ago.

By Ahmed al-Haj

Al Qaeda’s Yemen branch said Thursday it killed the teacher for trying to spread Christianity in the country.

Suspect in French killings slain after standoff

By Richard Berry, Scott Sayare and Steven Erlanger

A 23-year-old who boasted of killing seven people in France died after jumping from his window, gun in hand, in a fierce shootout with police.

India’s government lost billions of dollars by selling coalfields to companies without competitive bidding, says a leaked report.

LAWRENCE HARMON

The case for orphanages

By Lawrence Harmon

Is the state’s "family first" policy really always best?

opinion | JOAN WICKERSHAM

By Joan Wickersham

Why does it go on, this strange minuet of omission and belated confession between parents and their adult children?

SCOT LEHIGH

The economy, generically oversimplified

By Scot Lehigh

Mitt Romney is arguing that the economic recovery would be stronger but for the president’s policies. Yet he'd sound more convincing if his indictment of Obama weren’t so familiar and generic.

Cat survives fall from 19th-floor window

By David Abel and Alli Knothe

Sugar, a white domestic shorthair, was unharmed after falling from an open window, a surprisingly common result for cats who plunge from great heights.

OKLAHOMA CITY

Former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi is being held in a federal prison in Oklahoma City, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons website.

WORCESTER

Authorities say two people have been arrested in connection with the disappearance last week of a Worcester teenager.

MARKET MOVERS

Sonic misses on sales, but not on profit

Sonic Corp. reported quarterly revenue of $115.1 million, missing the average estimate.

Sanofi loses patent appeal

The French drug maker lost an appeals court ruling on its patent-infringement claims against Roche Holding AG’s Genentech and Biogen Idec Inc. for cancer drugs.

Johnson & Johnson executives decided in 2009 to phase out a hip implant and sell off its inventories for use in patients just weeks after the Food and Drug Administration asked the company in a letter for safety data about the implant, administration documents and corporate records show.

Joan Rubin, 81, volunteer; aided rights panel

By Bryan Marquard

Mrs. Rubin, who served for many years on Newton’s Human Rights Commission and volunteered with the state’s consumer affairs office, died in her Newton home.

Ada Sharpton, at 87; was civil rights activist’s mother

The mother of the Rev. Al Sharpton has died. His spokeswoman said Ada Sharpton passed away in Dothan, Ala., following a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Lincoln Hall, 56; climber rescued from Mount Everest

Mountaineer Lincoln Hall, who was rescued a day after being given up for dead near the summit of Everest in 2006, died Wednesday of cancer.

Golf Roundup

Roundup: Wi has bounce-back day at Bay Hill

Tiger Woods, a six-time champion at Bay Hill, shot a 69 without breaking a sweat but was three shots behind leader Charlie Wi.

By Paul Newberry

At Kentucky, the bar is set a lot higher than most places. National championship or bust.

Louisville 57, Michigan St. 44

Louisville swats away Michigan St.

By John Marshall

Dominating inside, Gorgui Dieng blocked seven shots and altered several others to anchor a stifling defense that helped Louisville knock off top-seeded Michigan State.

Theater Review

In ‘Futurity,’ the Lisps’ visions run out of steam

By Don Aucoin

A lack of passion deflates the musical musing on war and technology's good intentions.

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