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AP Top News at 11:37 a.m. EST

States, banks reach foreclosure-abuse settlement
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. states have reached a $25 billion deal with the nation's biggest mortgage lenders over foreclosure abuses that occurred after the housing bubble burst. Federal and state officials announced the deal Thursday. It is the biggest settlement involving a single industry since a 1998 multistate tobacco deal.

Greek debt crisis eases, but drama is not over
More than two years after it came clean about its addiction to debt, Greece may finally have begun its long and painful road to recovery. Greece's political leaders struck a historic deal Thursday to make deep cuts in government jobs and spending to help save the country from a default that could shock the world financial system.

Syrian forces renew bombardment in Homs

BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian forces fired mortars and rockets that killed scores of people Thursday in the rebellious city of Homs, activists said, the latest strike in a weeklong assault as President Bashar Assad's regime tries to crush increasingly militarized pockets of dissent. During lulls in the onslaught, Syrians used loudspeakers to call for blood donations and medical supplies.

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Unemployment aid applications near a 4-year low

WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of people seeking unemployment aid neared a four-year low last week, a positive sign that strong hiring could continue in the coming months. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 358,000. That's the second-lowest level since April 2008.

Sources: Pentagon rules shift on women in combat

WASHINGTON (AP) - Pentagon rules are catching up a bit with reality after a decade when women in the U.S. military have served, fought and died on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. On Thursday, the Pentagon is recommending to Congress that women be allowed to serve in more jobs closer to the front lines. The change would open up about 14,000 additional jobs to women.

APNewsBreak: Official: 10 states get ed waiver
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Thursday will free 10 states from the strict and sweeping requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, giving leeway to states that promise to improve how they prepare and evaluate students, The Associated Press has learned. The first 10 states to receive the waivers are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The only state that applied for the flexibility and did not get it, New Mexico, is working with the administration to get approval, a White House official told the AP.

Hold the mystery meat: Military food gets upgrade
WASHINGTON (AP) - Hold the mystery meat: Military bases will soon be serving more fruits, vegetables and low-fat dishes under the first program in 20 years to improve nutrition standards across the armed services. First lady Michelle Obama and Pentagon officials planned to announce the effort Thursday during a visit to Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, where the military has been experimenting with the idea through a pilot program designed to improve the quality and variety of foods served on base.

Kodak to stop making cameras, digital frames

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - Eastman Kodak Co. said Thursday that it will stop making digital cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frames, marking the end of an era for the company that brought photography to the masses more than a century ago. Founded by George Eastman in 1880, Kodak was known all over the world for its Brownie and Instamatic cameras and its yellow-and-red film boxes. But the company was battered by Japanese competition in the 1980s, and was then unable to keep pace with the shift from film to digital technology.

Naomi Watts to star in Princess Diana biopic
LONDON (AP) - Producers say Naomi Watts will play Princess Diana in a film about the last years of the royal's life. Britain's Ecosse Films says "Caught in Flight" will focus on the two years before Diana's death in a Paris car crash in August 1997.

No. 10 Duke stuns No. 5 North Carolina 85-84

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Austin Rivers and his Duke teammates kept hanging around, doing just enough to keep North Carolina from blowing the game open until the Tar Heels finally gave them an opening. The freshman took advantage, burying a shot that will live on in the lore of this fierce rivalry.