Morning Edition

Germany is regarded as one of the most generous countries in the world when it comes to helping women raise families. The government invests about $260 billion each year into 156 separate family-friendly benefits, including health care, generous parental leave, subsidized day care and tax breaks.

Yet on a continent with low birthrates, Germany has the lowest of all, with just 1.39 children per woman.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning, I'm David Greene. Being the first person to set foot on the moon would make anyone's heart skip a beat. Well, not apparently Neil Armstrong. An auction house in Amherst, New Hampshire, is about to take bids on Armstrong's EGK. It's a printout of the Apollo 11 astronaut's heart rate as he first stepped onto the surface of the moon in 1969. The printout is about six inches long and shows some fairly steady beats. Well, that's for one man. No word yet on mankind. It's MORNING EDITION.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning, I'm David Greene.

When thieves in a small Belgian town tried to shake the cops, they dumped the safe out of the getaway car. The safe popped open, spilling $1.3 million worth of cash. People scrambled to pick it up. One woman even brought out a broom. Well, it's now two weeks later and police are asking for the money. They have setup a mailbox for people to drop off cash anonymously. Only half the money has been returned so far. Oh, and somebody has already broken into the mailbox.

The London show will close in June after just six months on the stage. Scathing reviews and terrible ticket sales are to blame. The show reportedly has lost more than $7 million.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And we have Cokie Roberts on the line. She joins us most Mondays. Cokie, good morning.

COKIE ROBERTS, BYLINE: Hi, David.

GREENE: So one of those last words in Emily piece, tightrope, I mean, that...

ROBERTS: Right.

GREENE: ...feels like that's where President Obama is on Syria. I mean, he was already in a difficult position, and now we have an American ally we believe bombing Damascus. What sort of position is the White House in?

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

Syria has accused Israel of flagrantly violating international law after a series of airstrikes on targets near the Syrian capital over the weekend. Now, Israel has not officially accepted responsibility, but Israeli sources say the targets included Iranian-made missiles bound for Hezbollah fighters in neighboring Lebanon.

Reclusive author Harper Lee has filed a lawsuit against the son-in-law of her former literary agent, claiming he tricked her into signing away her copyright to her classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

Republican Mitch McConnell has been the Senate minority leader since 2007, and he's the longest-serving senator in the history of Kentucky. He's up for re-election next year — and polling in the state shows his popularity is suffering.

If the Republicans can snag a half-dozen more seats in the Senate in 2014, McConnell could finally become majority leader. But first, he has to convince Kentuckians he's not out of touch with them.

The economy may be on the rebound, but many cultural institutions are still struggling to regain their financial footing. That's especially true for one of the country's most recognized museums — the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Known internationally for its research as well as its exhibits, the Field Museum must pay off millions in bond debt — and toe an ethical line as it does.

Secretary of State John Kerry sets off for what he calls "a long overdue" trip to Russia on Monday, and Syria is likely to top the agenda.

But U.S.-Russian relations are frosty these days. The U.S. is imposing targeted sanctions on Russian human rights violators, while Moscow is preventing American families from adopting Russian children.

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NPR's business news begins with some good economic news.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 15,000 for the first time ever this morning. The S&P 500 also hit a record high. All of this came just after the release of a positive jobs report. The Labor Department says 165,000 jobs were created in April. Economist have been expecting about 150,000 new jobs last month.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm David Greene. You ever wonder why it took a big snowstorm to close school and on beautiful, sunny days there we are sitting in a classroom? Well, enter Bob Sampson. He's the principal at Bellingham Christian School in Washington state and he canceled school today to, quote, "celebrate an exceptionally nice day." The forecast there: 68 and sunny. No resentment here in the dark studio, all of us at work. Nope, not jealous, because it's always sunny at MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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Good morning, I'm David Greene with a summer job opportunity - if you're willing to move to the Arctic Circle and if you're not afraid of bears. The Norwegian government is looking for the polar bear spotters. Your job: to warn researchers when bears come in a little too close. A successful candidate should enjoy the outdoors and be competent with firearms. An official said polar bear spotters will not have to fire a gun as long as they have a loud voice to scare off bears. That's reassuring.

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This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene. President Obama says it is time to focus on the strong economic relationship between the United States and Mexico and not get bogged down on more contentious issues like cooperation on the war on the drugs.

Obama made his comments yesterday as he began a two-day visit to Mexico. He flies on to Costa Rica later today. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports.

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After any contentious debate in Washington, it's often interesting to see how a lawmaker is welcomed home, depending on how he or she voted. Some of the senators who voted down bipartisan gun control legislation last month are taking heat in the aftermath of December's mass killing at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the state of Connecticut. The bill would have expanded background checks, and the only New England senator who opposed it was New Hampshire Republican Kelly Ayotte. NPR's David Welna traveled to her state and sent this report.

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While ideological gridlock continues to immobilize Capitol Hill, another of Washington's institutions is morphing behind the scenes.

The lobbying industry is becoming more secretive — reversing a trend that dates back to the 1990s. And campaign money now looms ever larger as a critical element in the persuasion business.

Growing up in a rough housing project on Chicago's South Side during the early 1960s, Alexis Martinez had to hide that she was transgender.

Back then, her name was Arthur, Alexis tells her daughter, Lesley Etherly Martinez, on a visit to StoryCorps in Chicago.

"When I came out to my mom that I was transgender, I think I was 13 or 14," Alexis says. "And she called the police. And I always remember that when the police showed up, they just laughed and told her, 'You've got a fag for a son, and there's nothing we can do about it.' "

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with two new cabinet appointments.

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MONTAGNE: This morning, President Obama appointed Penny Pritzker to run the commerce department.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Pritzker is an heiress to the Hyatt hotel empire. She also served on the president's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and she is a long time financial backer of the president's political campaigns. Forbes ranks her as one of 300 richest Americans.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. Aiming to get more children to play outdoors, Britain's National Trust created a list of the 50 Things To Do Before You're 11 3/4. Things like climb a tree and cook on a campfire. Enough finished the 50 that the trust used social media to gather more ideas for getting kids away from social media.

Some are quite poetic: Catch a falling leaf. Jump over waves. Hold a scary beast. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm David Greene.

How much do you love your employer? Probably not as much as some employees at Rapid Realty in New York. Their boss offered a 15 percent raise to anyone willing to get a tattoo of the company logo, and 40 people took him up on it. We have something similar at NPR. For a marketing campaign, I got a mean MORNING EDITION tat on my forearm. There's a photo of it at our Facebook page. No raise involved. I do feel pretty cool, though that might last as long as the tattoo, which is temporary.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne. Mexico's agonizing war on its drug cartels is about to change and President Obama is about to hear it personally from Mexico's new president. On a trip to Mexico that begins today, Mr. Obama will also focus on trade and economic opportunities between the two countries.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Our last word in business today, is austerity at the French presidential palace.

President François Aland has already enacted several cost-cutting measures since being elected last year.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

He's cut a fleet of presidential and government cars and reduced ministerial salaries, and now he's raiding the wine cellars for which the presidential palace is famous.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with profits for Facebook.

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MONTAGNE: Facebook announced its latest quarterly results, reporting revenues just under $1.5 billion.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The company showed a profit of nearly $220 million for the quarter but this fell short of analysts' expectations. CEO Mark Zuckerberg blamed the missed target on higher costs. Company spending is up 60 percent this quarter over the previous one due to hiring and new developments.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

The Guantanamo Bay detention center had more or less faded from the news until this week, when President Obama called it unsustainable. He and others are paying attention now because of an ongoing and growing hunger strike of at least - as of this morning - 100 prisoners. More than 20 are being force fed to keep them alive.

The U.S. role in the civil war in Syria has been limited to humanitarian aid and nonlethal equipment for the rebels. But that may change with recent revelations about the use of chemical weapons.

Polls show that Americans are still not paying close attention to the conflict, but there is a reluctance to intervene — a byproduct of the experience in Iraq.

President Obama says he's weighing all options. Whatever he decides, he'll have to make a case to the U.S. public.

If you're under 21, you may soon have a hard time lighting up in New York City. Public health officials in New York want to raise the minimum age for buying cigarettes.

The initiative is one of three proposed tobacco regulations the City Council will debate at a hearing Thursday afternoon.

"We think if we can prevent people from taking up the habit before they're 21, we might just be able to prevent them from taking it up at all," says New York Health Commissioner Thomas Farley.