Morning Edition on WEKU

Chris Weitz has directed a variety of movies from "About a Boy" and "American Pie" to "New Moon" of the "Twilight" series. Now he's out with a movie about an illegal immigrant from Mexico who's working as a gardener in Los Angeles, and is trying to keep his son out of gang life. Renee Montagne talks with Weitz about the film, "A Better Life."

Renee Montagne has the Last Word in business.

NATO says one of its airstrikes in the Libyan capital of Tripoli went astray and may have killed civilians. The military alliance said the errant strike early Sunday may have been due to "a weapons system failure." Libyan officials say nine civilians were killed, including two children.

California lawmakers got in a shoving match in the state assembly. Republican Don Wagner criticized a bill, comparing it to insurance sold by Tony Soprano. An Italian-American Democrat demanded an apology. Colleagues broke up the fight.

Author J.K. Rowling, Of Harry Potter fame, has launched a new website. There's not much there except illustrations of two owls and a link to a clock — counting down to six days from now, when the author plans to announce her mysterious new project. Rowling's publicists are only saying it is not a new book.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison is losing its chancellor. Carolyn Martin was embroiled in the recent political battles over the budget for higher education in her state. She's acknowledged the "turmoil" of the past year but wouldn't say how big a role it played in her departure. She'll become president of Amherst College in Massachusetts.

President Obama took his licks from progressives who are meeting in Minneapolis at the Netroots Nation Convention, the annual gathering of liberal bloggers and other social media activists.

The panel that drew one of the biggest crowds at Netroots Nation so far was called "What To Do When The President's Just Not That Into You."

"It's like the president's not our boyfriend anymore," Joan McCarter, an editor at the Daily Kos website, said during the discussion.

When one man first began writing about the uprising against the regime in Syria, he was terrified. But now he and other Syrians realize there is a certain measure of virtual freedom to be had online. He uses his real name in interviews now, and believes Syrians will not go back to living in fear of the authorities.

Throughout the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, Russia has kept analysts guessing. On Libya for example, the Russians refused to back a UN Security Council resolution and accused NATO of over-stepping its military mandate. But then, Moscow demanded Moammar Gadhafi leave power, and even offered to mediate his exit. NPR's David Greene has more on Russia's diplomacy.

Steve Inskeep has today's Last Word in Business.

Greece seems to be heading for early elections as the country digests the results of the political turmoil of the last three days. Prime Minister George Papandreou looks to be staying in power at least for now. But there is growing opposition to his policy of bowing to pressure from international lenders for more spending and benefit cuts.

Steve Inskeep has this morning's business news.

There was a time when The New York Times was known as a leader in daily news. Today, the new documentary Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times finds that paper struggling to get a footing in the new media landscape.

Beginning in 2009, filmmaker Andrew Rossi spent over a year embedded with the Times' media desk. Rossi tells NPR's Renee Montagne that he was attracted to the "play within a play" quality of shadowing media writers at a time when the paper was renegotiating its place in the media world.

Walter Dean Myers grew up in Harlem, the son of a janitor. He became an author, writing young adult fiction that's especially popular with teenage readers. But as he tells his son, Christopher, there was one person Myers always wanted his writing to impress: his dad.

"He bought you a typewriter at one point," Christopher says. "Why do you think he knew that that was important to you?"

Embattled Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner has told friends and House leaders that he plans to resign from Congress. The reports Thursday follow a sexting scandal in which Weiner sent lewd emails and tweets to several young women. NPR's David Welna talks to Steve Inskeep.

Lisa Cravener and her husband were on their way to a hospital in Colorado, but the baby wouldn't wait. They pulled over in a 7-Eleven parking lot and minutes later a baby boy arrived. People are calling him Big Gulp.

Lady Gaga's infamous meat dress goes on display at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Thursday. It's part of a Women Who Rock exhibit. The dress is made from layers of Argentine beef. It's been preserved in a meat locker, treated with chemicals and dried out by taxidermists.

Jamil Ahmad spent decades as a civil servant in the northwest tribal regions of Pakistan. He started writing stories about the people and tribes he met. Some 40 years later, those stories are published in the book The Wandering Falcon. Steve Inskeep sat down with Ahmad recently in Pakistan.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has ordered the military to crack down on a rebellious town in the north. In 1982, President Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, ordered a military operation that killed at least 30,000 people. Joshua Landis, who writes the blog "Syria Comment," talks to Renee Montagne about the Assad family's legacy.

The Boston Bruins have won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1972. They beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 in Game 7 of the finals Wednesday night.

Steve Inskeep and Sports Analyst Christine Brennan preview the U.S. Open Golf tournament, which begins Thursday at Congressional Country Club in suburban Washington, DC. Because of injuries, Tiger Woods will not be competing. The field is wide open, but Brennan says keep an eye on American Phil Mikkelson and English golfers Luke Donald and Lee Westwood.

As China continues to make inroads in markets around the world, many U.S. companies are trying to reach Chinese consumers. In our continuing series on China, Renee Montagne talks to James McGregor with business lobbying firm Apco Worldwide about what U.S. businesses need to do to be successful in China.

Steve Inskeep has business news.

Online music company Pandora is the latest Internet company to go public. Its shares soared on the first day. Analysts are mixed on the company's future.

Deputies in Johnson County, Kansas, are being equipped with micro video cameras. The Kansas City Star says the cameras are attached to helmets or earpieces. The company that makes the cameras says people behave when they know they're on video.

New York City recently made it legal for residents to keep bees, and that has led to swarms of them. Earlier this week, police had to divert traffic in Manhattan's Chinatown when 15,000 honey bees swarmed the area. They've also covered a mailbox in Little Italy and buzzed a fire escape Uptown.

The white-tailed deer was a rare creature across the East Coast 100 years ago. Now it is widely overpopulated, but what does that mean for forests? A decades-long experiment has found unsettling implications for bio-diversity and the long-term survival of forests.

Steve Inskeep has the Last Word in business.

The influential group, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, held a meeting Tuesday that featured heavy-hitters from the economic world, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. They warned that the budget crisis is worse than many people assume, and fixing it will be very painful.

A key debate in Washington is over how much the federal government should regulate industry. One unexpected battleground: power tools. NPR has learned that federal regulators are taking steps towards new safety requirements for table-saws. These saws have open spinning blades and can cause severe injuries. But the industry is resisting. NPR's Chris Arnold reports.