NPR: Korva Coleman

Embassies of the U.S., Britain and Italy were attacked and burned this weekend after a NATO airstrike reportedly killed one of the sons of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi. NPR's Lourdes Garcia Navarro says Britain responded to the embassy attacks by kicking out the Libyan ambassador.

Reports are emerging from Syria about security troops attacking thousands of anti-government protesters gathering to express anger on this 'Day of Rage'. The AP says Syrian security forces are shooting people in the coastal city of Latakia. The BBC notes Syrian civilians are furious over their treatment by police and are gathering after Friday prayers conclude today.

Authorities in Morocco are starting to identify the people killed in yesterday's explosion in a Marrakesh cafe. Interpol says it's offered to help investigate the suspected suicide bombing at the Argana Cafe in the old city section of Marrakesh. CNN says the old city has been declared a World Heritage site by the UN.

More than 300 people died in the severe storms that crashed through six states yesterday, according to AFP.

CNN says President Obama will visit Alabama later today to observe storm damage; the state has seen at least 204 people killed and the worst storm damage this week.

At least 213 people are dead because of the violent storms pounding the South and pushing into the Mid-Atlantic. Here's what we know so far:

Alabama: Gov. Robert Bentley says 131 people died in his state because of the horrific storms and he expects the number of deaths to rise. One million people lack power.

An explosion in Morocco's southern city of Marrakesh has killed several people, according to Reuters. Morocco's official news agency says several people were killed and injured inside a cafe in the city but didn't offer a cause of the blast.

It's dreadful news from Alabama, where 128 people have died. But the death toll is even worse: CNN says at least 159 people are dead from horrific storms and tornadoes pulverizing the region. As The Atlanta Journal Constitution says 11 people died in Georgia.

The National Weather Service has issued a rare storm warning, saying the Midwest and South are at risk of deadly tornadoes today. The Birmingham News says the risk has already arrived in Alabama: forecasters clocked winds at 100 miles per hour in central Alabama and several people are trapped in debris.

Lobsang Sangay will take command of the Tibetan government-in-exile; Tibetans around the world cast ballots for the new job of Prime Minister, created when the Dalai Lama decided to give up political responsibilities of his job earlier this year. He'll keep his duties as Tibetan spiritual leader.

NATO says six coalition troops are dead in a 'shooting incident'. The Los Angeles Times says a veteran Afghan army pilot got into a disagreement with a foreign colleague and then opened fire. The victims haven't been identified.

Ford's first quarter profit results are in - and CNN reports they're the best since 1998. The automaker earned $2.6 billion dollars from January through the end of March, a 22% increase.

Lucky visitors to the Hawaii's Pana`ewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens got the heady, putrid scent of a blooming amorphophallus titanum plant - better known as the Corpse Plant. This weekend, the Honolulu Advertiser says people lined up before doors opened to catch a whiff of the plant during its rare blooming period.

'The town's gone,' according to AP's headline. Vilonia, Arkansas has been hit by a suspected tornado, killing two people and destroying at least 50 homes. Three more people died in flooding accidents. In Missouri, a waterlogged levee is restraining the Black River; if it's breached, 7,000 people are at risk.

At least seven people died when powerful storms blew through the Midwest overnight, according to Reuters. At least five people died in Arkansas, including a child who was crushed by a falling tree. The power is out in much of Little Rock, schools are closed and several highways are blocked.

The government says inflation at the consumer level rose 0.5% last month because Americans spent more on food and gasoline. The Labor Department's March Consumer Price Index is out; it finds the vast majority of price increases were in these two categories, although there were smaller increases in rent and medical care costs.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman wants to modernize how our tax returns are prepared. Shulman told NPR's Morning Edition that Americans file their income taxes much like they did half a century ago. First, they file returns and the IRS checks the paperwork about six months later. People who get audited don't find out for another 18 months. Shulman would like the IRS to get financial information from banks first and then compare that to tax return information filed by Americans:

Now that the federal budget for the current fiscal year is headed for President Obama's desk, the House is preparing to vote on next year's budget. The blueprint, prepared by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), has already been criticized by the President and Congressional Democrats for its re-working of Medicare and severe cuts to domestic programs. Ryan told AP the biggest threat to Medicare is the people who defend its status quo.

Ford is widening an earlier recall of its F-150 pickup trucks to about 1.2 million vehicles. The Transportation Department says it has 269 reports of airbags suddenly deploying in the vehicles produced in the 2004-2006 model years. The Detroit News reports the automaker resisted, but faced growing pressure from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

There's been several loud explosions in central Tripoli, according to NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro. The Guardian says NATO aircraft flew overhead, accompanied by the sound of gunfire and anti-aircraft weapons.

The Bahrain News Agency says Bahrain's Ministry of Justice is taking the main opposition group to court over its 'grave breaches' of the Persian Gulf kingdom's constitution. With that, the Sunni-led Bahraini government is widening the religious divide between it and the main opposition Shiite political group in the country.

Congress votes today on the vexing budget bill it settled upon last week and many lawmakers are surprised to find out just what's in it. NPR's David Welna tells Morning Edition about some examples, including pulling wolves off the endangered species list.

The former leader of Ivory Coast has been moved to a 'secure location' somewhere in his country, according to the BBC. Laurent Gbagbo was arrested Monday by forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of presidential elections. Gbagbo refused to step down last fall and the country plunged into violent chaos. Ouattara won't say where Gbagbo is now.

British tabloid News of the World made headlines this week by apologizing for hacking people's phone mail and secretly listening to their conversations for stories. NPR's David Folkenflik has more on the case, whose victims included politicians, the royal family, and celebrities. One of the victims, actor Hugh Grant, recently got a chance to return the favor.

President Obama presents his budgetary blueprint today during a speech at George Washington University. NPR's Mara Liasson tells Morning Edition Obama will embrace several points made by his bipartisan deficit reduction commission, including cuts to domestic and military spending, and overhauling the national tax code.

The Vatican says former Roman Catholic Belgian bishop Roger Vangheluwe can no longer perform the duties of a priest in public. Last year, the Brugge bishop admitted sexually abusing his nephew and resigned from his job. The AP says

NBC New York has the video of the taxiing Air France superjumbo jet striking the tail section of a Comair regional jet. Bloomberg says nobody was hurt in the collision at John F. Kennedy airport in New York although passengers in the smaller jet were jerked sideways. Both planes will have to be serviced, and the jumbo jet may need to have its wing replaced.

The American Library Association has issued its top 10 'List of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2010', the works most frequently challenged over a socially controversial message. The number one book succeeds:"And Tango Makes Three", is the story of two male Emperor Penguins hatching and parenting a baby chick at New York's Central Park Zoo.

A powerful aftershock off eastern Japan briefly triggered a tsunami warning today. The USGS says the quake's magnitude was 6.6; the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later canceled a tsunami warning. Kyodo reports there's no new damage. It's been one month since the Tohuku Quake and tsunami struck the country, killing thousands and wrecking several nuclear reactors in Fukushima prefecture. A strong aftershock last week killed two people.

Time is running out for agreement between Democrats and Republicans on a federal budget: the federal government will shut down tonight if a deal can't be reached. NPR's Audie Cornish tells Morning Edition House Republicans passed a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running for another week. But it cuts a further 12 billion dollars in spending and it would ban money for family planning services in Washington, D.C. Democrats aren't pleased.

Former Pennsylvania Rep. Curt Weldon is in Tripoli to urge Col. Moammar Gadhafi to immediately call a ceasefire and stop attacks on other Libyans. Weldon, a Republican, says he's visiting Libya at Gadhafi's invitation, according to AP.