Steve Inskeep

The fledgling U.N. monitoring mission in Syria is under sharp criticism from activists who say the team is failing to enforce the terms of the agreement drafted by special envoy Kofi Annan. Violence is down in some areas but flaring up in others.

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The Secret Service scandal has now cost three men their jobs. The government says they were involved in misconduct in South America, and they are leaving the agency. Agents, as well as military personnel, allegedly hired prostitutes in advance of President Obama's recent trip to Colombia.

NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson has been following this story. She's in our studios. Good morning.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: OK, so who are the three men who lost their jobs?

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(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)

IINSKEEP: That's the sound of people on Washington D.C.'s National Mall, this morning, looking up as the shuttle Discovery past low over head. It is on the back of a 747 airplane, making a final bow, on its way into its final retirement at a museum. And I have to confess, people across Washington D.C. have been watching it as it circles the nation's capital, this morning. People are on the roof of this building, NPR headquarters. I was up there just a little while ago. Quite a view. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce has been watching from the Mall. And Nell, what have you seen?

Yeah.

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In the southern French city of Toulouse, police are in a stand-off with a man suspected of carrying out a series of shootings. The suspect is described as a 24-year-old French citizen, of North African heritage. He is said to be an al-Qaida sympathizer.

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Some new research throws into question things we say all the time about the Internet. The research focuses on Twitter, the service that lets many millions of people send short messages to each other from computers or cell phones. It's commonly said that social networking like this is revolutionary, that it's created new communities, even that it's obliterated geography. You can connect with people who share common interests, not just people who happen to live nearby. NPR's Shankar Vedantam is here to explode all that. Hi, Shankar.

SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.

INSKEEP: OK. What does the research is wrong with our assumptions?

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The U.S. economy is improving, even though Americans keep having to look over their shoulders at Europe. The state of the economy affects everything in American politics right now, from the presidential election to the budget that the White House lays out today.

NPR's Cokie Roberts has some analysis, as she does the most Mondays. Cokie, good morning.

COKIE ROBERTS, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.

INSKEEP: OK, so what does the president's budget tell us?

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Let's learn a little more now about the deal between five major banks and the states' attorneys general. They, along with federal officials, all signed off on a $26 billion settlement over the banks' handling of foreclosures. The agreement means some relief for troubled homeowners. It also means the banks will pay a penalty for robo-signing - that is, trying to rush through foreclosures by cutting corners on legal documents.

NPR business correspondent Yuki Noguchi has been following this issue, and joins us now to discuss it.

Hi, Yuki.

YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.