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Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne, with a lesson on how to keep calm, sleep in and carry on.

Twenty-one-year-old Jack Oliver went to bed ready to represent Great Britain at the Olympics. That was until the weightlifter overslept by an hour on his big day. He was roused by his coach and got dressed in 30 seconds, he says, and still managed two personal bests, grabbing a fourth place finish. The sleep did me good, he said. I had less time to think about the competition.

The London Olympics have produced lots of fascinating moments in its early days. Records have been shattered, rules have been broken. And it's only the first week. NPR's Mike Pesca has been covering the games and joins Steve Inskeep.

We'll see where the count stands after another day of competition at the London Olympics but after Thursday, the United States is at the top with the most medals. Renee Montagne has results of Thursday night's Olympics competition.

A NASA rover called "Curiosity" is approaching Mars. After a more than eight-month journey, it's set to land on Mars late Sunday night. Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne report.

Kofi Annan will step down at the end of the month from his post as UN-Arab League envoy for Syria. Annan's resignation is the latest blow to the faltering efforts to find a solution to the crisis in Syria. Steve Inskeep talks about the implications with Robert Malley of the International Crisis Group.

Mitt Romney campaigned Thursday in Colorado, the first domestic appearances since returning from his trip to Europe and the Middle East. He huddled with Republican governors who heaped praise on him in Aspen, where he also held a fundraiser. And, NPR's Brian Naylor reports, he addressed a rally in a Denver suburb.

RBS, the Royal Bank of Scotland, is already in a tough spot. It's among several banks being investigated for allegedly rigging the interbank lending rate known as LIBOR. As Steve Inskeep reports, Friday it warned that it faced several potential lawsuits over those allegations.

New York City officials are experimenting with a new way to fund social programs normally paid for with tax dollars. New York City officials say the prison intervention program could keep many of the nearly four thousand adolescent males that enter the jail system each year from returning. WNYC's Colby Hamilton reports Goldman Sachs is set to make a nearly $10 million investment in a social impact bond.

The last word in business: women's intuition. Research shows that the stocks of companies that include women on their board of directors do better than companies with all-male boards. Renee Montagne and Steve Inskeep explain the report.