Morning Edition

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Now that the Democratic convention is over, polls show President Obama pulling ahead of Mitt Romney, not by so much, but the change did show up in several surveys. Let's talk about that and more with Cokie Roberts, who joins us most Mondays.

Cokie, good morning.

COKIE ROBERTS, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.

INSKEEP: Any surprise in the polls over the weekend?

In the southwestern Indiana town of Evansville, people are a bit baffled after hearing that the town's Museum of Arts, History and Science has had a rare Pablo Picasso piece in storage for almost half a century. Curator Mary Bower says the work went unnoticed because of a clerical error.

"All the documentation associated with the gift indicated that this was by an artist named Gemmaux," she says, "which really happens to be the plural of the artistic technique."

The owners of the Star Princess cruise ship say that they have new video evidence that proves they are not responsible for ignoring a stranded fishing vessel 100 miles off the coast of South America in March.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP. HOST: And I'm Steve Inskeep. Hours after President Obama delivered his speech at the Democratic Convention, the latest unemployment report provided a reminder of what's at stake. The unemployment rate dropped in August, which sounds good, but the number of jobs created was below expectations for August.

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Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne with a story of a stellar MacGyvering. The International Space Station was faced with a malfunctioning electrical unit and couldn't screw down a new one because the exterior bolts were covered in debris. After two astronauts were stuck outside for hours, they hit on an idea - scrub the bolts clean with a toothbrush. It was a thrifty fix for the $100 billion space station and luckily the toothbrush was a spare. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

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This year's Paralympics have been the best-attended games since the movement began back in 1960. Over 4,200 athletes from 164 countries are taking part in games that end this weekend. Disabled athletes began competing after World War II when a doctor in Britain organized the international wheelchair games to coincide with the 1948 London Olympics. Tanni Grey Thompson is one of Britain's most successful paralympians.

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NPR's business news begins with strike two.

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A new line of tablet readers is at the top of NPR's business news.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

INSKEEP: They come from Amazon, which is rolling out its latest Kindle e-readers. They are faster, we're told, as well as cheaper. And as NPR's Steve Henn reports, they're aimed squarely at the youngest members of the family.

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And today's last word in business comes from China, and the word is: Wahaha. That's the name of China's third-largest beverage company. It sells soda, juice and other bottled drinks.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The name means laughing children. It turned out the man who runs it is the one with the most to laugh about.

INSKEEP: Zong Qing Hou is now the richest man in China, according to Bloomberg billionaire's index, which calculated his net worth to be $21.6 billion.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep.

As he accepted his party's nomination for a second term last night, President Obama said that building a better future will take him more time.

MONTAGNE: The president told his supporters at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte that the progress he'd made so far would be reversed if Mitt Romney won the White House.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep.

Throughout this program we've been hearing parts of President Obama's speech. The people watching that speech in Charlotte last night included Ramesh Ponnuru. He writes for National Review and for Bloomberg. And in a column this week he predicted that if President Obama should win reelection the next four years will look a lot like the past two.

Welcome back to the program, Mr. Ponnuru.

Many air bases across the country are clamoring to get the next generation of fighter jets. But the Burlington, Vt. area is bitterly divided over being one of the Air Force's preferred locations. Some residents say there are enough problems already with the F-16s — like noise.

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