Morning Edition on Wyoming Public Radio

Video shot by Occupy protesters shows people linking arms and sitting down to block a sidewalk on the campus of California Davis. A campus police officer steps up with an oversized spray can and calmly douses them with pepper spray. Two campus police officers have been placed on administrative leave, the university says.

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We take a lot of products and technology for granted, like bar codes, compact discs, even cruise control on cars. These products and hundreds of others would not exist if not for a non-profit whose name few people are familiar with. It's called Battelle Memorial Institute. It's one of the world's largest independent research and development groups. It's based in Central Ohio. Niala Boodhoo of the Midwest reporting project Changing Gears takes us to Columbus to a place where hundreds of companies go for R&D.

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And today's last word in business retail convergence. The worlds of cyber consumption and real shopping are coming together.

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Many brick-and-mortar retailers have tried to sell on the Web. And now one of the biggest e-commerce companies is setting up a brick-and-mortar store - if only a temporary one.

Linda Wertheimer talks to NPR's Cokie Roberts about fallout from the anticipated failure of the congressional bipartisan committee to reach an agreement to cut the deficit.

Oil prices briefly rose above $100 a barrel last week on news of a pipeline deal that would cut a glut of U.S. inventories. Prices have dipped since then, but not enough to soften historic highs for diesel or home heating oil.

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This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer.

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The mountain of debt accumulated by Greece and Italy crushed those countries' prime ministers. Spain, too, is ushering in new leadership after Sunday's parliamentary elections. Spaniard Jorge Belena says, "All politicians are very boring," but incoming Prime Minister Mariano Rajo is "especially boring."

India is celebrating the birth of a baby to two of its biggest Bollywood stars. Commentator Sandip Roy explains why it's making headlines.

Last week, India got the tweet it was holding its breath for. It's a girl.

Aishwariya Rai Bachchan, the Bollywood actress often called the most beautiful woman in the world, gave birth to a daughter. The proud dad, Abhishek Bachchan, a Bollywood hero in his own right, sent out the first tweet. Followed moments later by his dad, Bollywood's biggest superstar, Amitabh Bachchan.

In these hard times, Britain's Royal Academy of Chemistry has come up with the cheapest meal of all: a toast sandwich. They found the recipe in the Victorian bestseller: Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management. It's a piece of toast between two buttered slices of bread and costs 12 cents to make.

The Columbia University Marching Band is known for its sense of humor. But their joke, a song parody, fell flat at a recent football game against Cornell. The Athletic Department wasn't amused, and it banned the marching band from the final game of the season.

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The outcome in Italy is, of course, of huge importance to Germany. Germany is the strongest economy in the eurozone and has a deep historical interest in the euro's success. We asked the economist Nicolas Veron to remind us of Germany's role in this grand monetary experiment.

The Los Angeles auto show is open to the public beginning Friday. It's the first of the U.S. car shows, and it helps set the pace for the new year in the auto industry. Some of the hottest cars there are big luxury vehicles, and the tiny one are terrific too.

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Let's consider now, those vehicles that offer something really cheap - the food trucks that have become so popular. At the L.A. Auto Show, Nissan has on display a new truck specially designed for mobile restaurateurs. Our last word in business today is: culinary concept car.

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The Los Angeles Auto Show begins today. It's the first of America's car shows and it's where manufacturers put their best foot forward or try to reinvent themselves. One those carmakers is Honda. Honda's production was badly hurt by Japan's earthquake and tsunami, and as it was getting back on track, the floods in Thailand crippled production again. But as NPR's Sonari Glinton reports from the L.A. Auto Show, natural disasters may be the least of Honda's problems.

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NPR's business news starts with oil prices hovering around $99 a barrel. Oil has gone up sharply since last month, partly because of signs of improvement in the U.S. economy. Also because of tensions in some oil producing regions, which could affect supplies. Still, the debt crisis in Europe is holding prices below that psychologically important $100 a barrel mark. Benchmark crude was trading in Asia this morning at about $98.90. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

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Italy's new prime minister has pledged far-reaching reforms. An economist himself, Mario Monti has managed to win a vote of confidence for his new national unity government by an overwhelming majority in Italy's senate. Still, Europe's debt crisis is gathering more steam and now pushing borrowing costs for Spain and France sharply higher. As NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports, pressure is mounting on the European Central Bank to act to stem the crisis.

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