Good morning. Here are some of the stories we're following today:
1. Mystery Wreckage Is ‘Major Lead’ in MH370 Hunt
The discovery of an airplane fragment on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean is being viewed as a "major lead" in the hunt for missing Flight MH370, officials said early Thursday. The wreckage appears to be a piece of a flap from a wing of a 777. There is only one such aircraft missing in the world right now — MH370. Read more in NEWS.
2. How Currents Could Have Carried Plane Debris
Deep ocean currents can carry objects thousands of miles. Such currents usually don't move in a straight line, meaning any debris could be carried in a wide arc of directions — including to Reunion, which is about 4,000 miles southwest of MH370's last known position. Read more in NEWS.
3. Cincinnati Cop Indicted for Murder in Traffic Stop
Ray Tensing, the white University of Cincinnati police officer who shot unarmed black man Samuel Dubose during a July 19 traffic stop, was indicted Wednesday on a murder charge. Prosecutors lambasted the cop for his "unnecessary" actions, and he was immediately terminated from his job. He will be arraigned at 10 a.m. ET. Read more in NEWS.
4. U.S. Lion Killer Apologizes to Dental Patients
Walter James Palmer, the Minnesota dentist at the center of a global controversy over his killing of Cecil, a Zimbabwean lion, has apologized — but only for the "inconvenience" for his dental patients. "I apologize profoundly for this inconvenience and promise you that we will do our best to resume normal operations as soon as possible," the letter says. Read more in NEWS.
5. Suspected Serial Killer Investigated in Nine States
Neal Falls, the Oregon man who was killed this month by an escort he had met online, is now being investigated in connection with the deaths and disappearances of sex workers in at least nine states from coast to coast, authorities told NBC News. Read more in NEWS.
6. UVA Grads Sue Rolling Stone Over Rape Article
Three members of a University of Virginia fraternity caught up in a firestorm of criticism over a since-retracted Rolling Stone article alleging a sexual assault have filed a lawsuit against the publication and its author. Read more in NEWS.
7. Tom Brady and Agent Hit Back on NFL Suspension
Agent Don Yee defended his client, the New England Patriots quarterback, in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday, instead suggesting that the league's commissioner upheld Brady's four-game suspension over under-inflated balls to distract the public from his own criticism. The NFL accused Brady of obstructing the investigation by destroying evidence in the scandal on his cellphone, which the football star has denied. Read more in SPORTS.
Nightly Spotlight
Twelve-year-old Matthew Flores had no books at home and no money for bus fare to the library, so he turned to his mailman for junk mail to read — what happened next went viral.
