Turmoil in the financial markets has coincided with an annual fishing trip for economists and top executives deep in the woods of Maine near the Canadian border. While the economists were together, Standard and Poor's took the unprecedented step of downgrading the U.S. government's credit rating.

A majority of Navy SEALs who died when their helicopter was shot down over the weekend in Afghanistan were based in Norfolk, Va.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

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

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Good morning. This is one of those mornings when we remember how interconnected the world economy has become. Asian investors are worried about their exports to America. Europeans are responding to their own continent's debt problems, even as they react to the Standard and Poor's downgrade in its rating of U.S. credit. And of course the Dow Jones Industrials, we'll find out how they do today.

Renee Montagne talks to NPR's Sylvia Poggioli about the response in Italy to the S&P downgrade of the U.S. government's credit rating.

Steve Inskeep has business news.

With Hollywood movies dubbed over in Spanish and steadfast trade with Latin America, Spaniards haven't needed to be bilingual until now. Globalization and a recession have sparked a run on language classes in Spain. But it's not English proficiency they're after. German academies are seeing a surge in enrollment, as Spaniards look northward for jobs in Europe's strongest economy.

Want your child to love veggies? Start early. Very early. Research shows that what a woman eats during pregnancy not only nourishes her baby in the womb, but may shape food preferences later in life.

At 21 weeks after conception, a developing baby weighs about as much as a can of coke – and he or she can taste it too. Still in the womb, the growing baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid daily. That fluid surrounding the baby is actually flavored by the foods and beverages the mother has eaten in the last few hours.

Want your child to love veggies? Start early. Very early. Research shows that what a woman eats during pregnancy not only nourishes her baby in the womb, but may shape food preferences later in life.

At 21 weeks after conception, a developing baby weighs about as much as a can of Coke — and he or she can taste it, too. Still in the womb, the growing baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid daily. That fluid surrounding the baby is actually flavored by the foods and beverages the mother has eaten in the last few hours.

Part of an ongoing series on obesity in America.

About the only thing all real fat people have in common is that they weigh more. Beyond that, they are as diverse in style, background and personality as people who aren't overweight. But on the small screen, fat people get shrunk into the same stereotypes.

A year ago, most of the world had never heard of Copiapo, Chile, nor given much attention to the lives of the miners who went down into its copper mines daily. That was until Aug. 5, 2010, when a cave-in at the San Jose copper mine trapped 33 men more than 2,000 feet underground.

Once the Chilean government knew the men were alive, they focused on a massive rescue effort, and after 69 days, the men ascended as celebrities of sorts. A year on, the movie rights have been sold, but fame has not brought the fortune they expected.