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Anti-Bashar Assad forces in the Syrian city of Aleppo now have at least a few tanks, rocket-propelled grenades and improved explosives.

And that has U.N. observers warning about the deadly consequences of heavy weapons being used by both sides within such a "confined urban area," NPR's Anthony Kuhn said earlier on Morning Edition. The fear, of course, is that even more non-combatants will be caught in the crossfire.

The number of people filing first-time clams for unemployment insurance rose by 8,000 last week, to 365,000 from 357,000 the week before, the Employment and Training Administration says.

It adds that the "4-week moving average," which is supposed to give a slightly broader look at the trend in claims, "was 365,500, a decrease of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average of 368,250."

But according to The Associated Press:

Update at 2:40 p.m. ET. FAA Disputes Report:

The Associated Press writes that "none of the three commuter jets that flew too close together near Washington was ever on course to collide head-on with the others, U.S. officials said Thursday. "During a news conference, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood strongly disputed media reports characterizing the incident as a near-miss."

A University of Colorado Denver psychiatrist was so worried about James Holmes' behavior that in early June she began the process of getting the school's "threat assessment" team involved in his case, sources with knowledge of the investigation into the movie theater shooting suspect are telling two Denver news outlets.

This month we are collecting your stories about the good things Americans are doing to make their community a better place. Some of your contributions will become blog posts and the project will end with a story that weaves together submissions to make a story of Americans by Americans for Americans.

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In women's archery at the Olympics, a sole American competitor remains. Khatuna Lorig beat many competitors, including the one holding up Bhutan's archery tradition, Sherab Zam. NPR's Mike Pesca reports a Bhutanese tradition may be the reason for its ranking.

New Zealand's Olympians have some extra motivation to win a medal: they are also competing for marmite. The country's only marmite maker was shut down in an earthquake, but one grocery chain found a stash and is awarding the jars to medal-winning athletes.

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Amazon is positioning itself to be a bigger player in the digital music and movie market. This week, the company announced that it would be offering its movie and music apps on more devices, including Apple's iPad.

NPR's Laura Sydell reports.

LAURA SYDELL, BYLINE: Netflix has been a dominant player streaming movies online, and its app is on almost every device, from Xboxes to iPads. Now, Amazon's added a movie and TV app to the iPad.

Should Netflix worry?

SARAH ROTMAN EPPS: Netflix should worry.

Federal regulators are trying to piece together what happened in the stock market Wednesday morning. Just after the opening bell, the prices of dozens of stocks began to gyrate up and down. The swings were soon traced to a software glitch at a New Jersey brokerage firm called Knight Capital. NPR's Jim Zarroli joins Steve Inskeep with more.

In Libya, now that the revolution is over, you can have a Cinnabon. That cinnamon smell that flavors the air in food courts and airports around this country is now wafting through downtown Tripoli, Libya's capital.

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This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

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And I'm Steve Inskeep, good morning.

Fighters for the Free Syrian Army are getting their hands on heavier weapons than normal. They used a captured tank to open fire on a government airbase. That happened outside the country's largest city, Aleppo, where despite a clear advantage in numbers and weapons, the government has not been able to take the city back after five days of intense fighting.

A top foreign policy adviser to Mitt Romney on Wednesday defended statements the Republican presidential candidate made in Israel about the cultural differences between Israelis and Palestinians.

The NCAA said today that it has appointed former Sen. George Mitchell as an Athletics Integrity Monitor of Penn State. His job will be to make sure the university is complying with the sanctions put in place after the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

Mitchell has been appointed for a five-year term that begins immediately.

The Federal Trade Commission is proposing some tougher rules to control the privacy of children online. According to The Washington Post, the proposed rules would make it more difficult for advertisers and social networks to collect information from children.

Reuters adds:

U.S. Olympic boxing team captain Jamel Herring lost his light welterweight bout yesterday, but it's not the first setback he's faced — and he says he won't let his team lose its momentum in the London Olympics because of his defeat.

As the AP reports:

"After surviving two tours in Iraq and returning to boxing after the sudden death of his infant daughter in her crib three years ago, Herring knows a bit about composure and focus."

American swimmer Nathan Adrian's name hasn't been on everyone's mind, the way that Michael Phelps' or Ryan Lochte's has. But he did something that even Lochte couldn't do this week: beat Yannick Agnel in a head-to-head race.

Adrian's time of 47.52 seconds in the men's 100-meter freestyle gave him his first individual gold medal, as he also beat James Magnussen of Australia, who came in second, and Brent Hayden of Canada.

The call from conservatives such as former Republican presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum to short support for Chick-fil-A and company President Dan Cathy's stand against same-sex marriage has produced long lines at the fast-food chain's restaurants today, judging from news reports:

Government prosecutors in Russia have brought criminal charges against a leading dissident, Alexei Navalny.

Navalny writes a popular blog that points to alleged corruption in the Russian government, and he helped lead the anti-government protests in Moscow this past winter.

He says the charges — that he stole timber from a state-owned company — are part of a campaign to crack down on opposition by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime.

Here's a curious little bit of news from the BBC:

"New Zealand competitors who win medals at the London Olympics have been offered an unusual reward — food parcels containing jars of Marmite."

"The spread has been in short supply since March, after the manufacturer was forced to close its only factory because of earthquake damage."