Morning Edition

The dream of high speed rail in California is running into tough realities. Cost estimates have more than doubled — to nearly $100 billion — since the project was approved by voters in 2008. The date of completion has been pushed back to 2030.

Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History dismisses claims that the apocalypse is coming. Some people predict catastrophe in 2012, based on Mayan forecasts. Anthropologists now say there are two, not just one, ancient references to December 2012. But they warn modern forecasters of doom have "twisted the Mayan cosmovision."

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Good morning, I'm Linda Wertheimer. The world's worst soccer team finally won a game. In 17 years of international play, American Samoa has scored just a dozen goals, compared to the 229 they've allowed. But they scored two this week, to beat Tonga 2-1 in a World Cup qualifying match.

The American Samoans hope their win will raise their ranking. They currently sit at 204th in the world.

It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

The housing crisis has stalled home building but apartment construction is undergoing a bit of a renaissance. There's now a huge pool of people forced to rent because they can't afford to buy a home, or they were a victim of foreclosure. In Denver, there aren't enough apartment vacancies. Colorado Public Radio's Ben Markus has the story.

For the past week, New York Police and the FBI have been at odds over a terrorism case which involves an American of Dominican descent named Jose Pimentel. New York police say he was an al-Qaida sympathizer planning to bomb targets in the city. The FBI declined to get involved with the case because it didn't see him as threat. Law enforcement officials on both sides have been airing the dispute over the case publicly, and that could help Pimentel build a defense.

Steve Inskeep has the Last Word in business.

This week in New York Magazine, two writers from different political parties each critiqued their own side. On Thursday, we heard from conservative David Frum, who argues Republicans lost touch with reality. In the same issue, liberal writer Jonathan Chait also uses the word "fantasy" in describing liberals. He tells Steve Inskeep liberals have become unreasonable.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Rhode Island had one of the most underfunded pension systems in the country until last week. That's when an overwhelming majority of state lawmakers passed big changes, mostly affecting future retirees. Now those lawmakers are facing angry unions, which are preparing for a legal fight. As Catherine Welch of Rhode Island Public Radio reports, the unions are also hinting at a political battle against those who supported the plan.

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China's "one-child" policy has repressed and stabilized the number of births, but the market for baby products has exploded. The growth is driven by rising incomes and the intense focus on the single child with interesting twists. For instance, baby formula sales have gone way up because people are now spending more money on foreign formula products because they no longer trust Chinese companies after the melamine poisoning of several years ago.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

In Afghanistan, a media boom followed the ouster of the Taliban in 2001, but there have been problems. Watchdog groups report hundreds of cases of violence and intimidation against journalists, including murder. Afghan reporters have learned which topics are off-limits, and they take great care to avoid offending the country's powerful. NPR's Ahmad Shafi reports from Kabul.