Morning Edition

Renee Montagne talks to financial writer Michael Lewis about societal problems underlying the Greek financial crisis: loss of trust, lack of civil society and refusal to pay and collect taxes.

Stephen Greenblatt's "The Swerve," a dramatic account of the Renaissance-era rediscovery of the Latin poet Lucretius, won for nonfiction. "Salvage the Bones," set in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, by Jesmyn Ward, won for fiction.

Campaigning in the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken a stormy turn. Veteran opposition politician and presidential candidate Etienne Tshisekedi proclaimed himself president, and ordered his supporters to stage jailbreaks to free their detained colleagues.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is planning a series of strikes and protests today on college campuses. The movement and its encampments are proving to be a challenge for administrators at some schools. They say they want to encourage free speech and political engagement, but can't tolerate unsanitary conditions, violence and drug use in the tent cities.

President Obama has one less thing to worry about, thanks to an Australian insurance company. On his visit down under, he's insured against a crocodile attack. When he gets to the town of Darwin, he'll be presented with a $51,000 policy.

Target is scheduled to open at midnight on Black Friday. Target employee Anthony Hardwick of Nebraska started the petition asking the retail chain to open later. He says before working all night, he'd have to miss a Thanksgiving gathering to get enough sleep.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep, good morning.

Let's remember a bit of very recent history. Back in August, Congress came close to defaulting on U.S. government debts. Republicans wanted big cuts in spending. They finally got some, but a deal with President Obama pushed more deficit reductions off to the future, to a bipartisan committee which has been meeting this fall, and now has one week left until its deadline to reach a deal.

At an Iowa town hall meeting Tuesday, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry laid out a plan to, as he put it, uproot and overhaul the federal government. Among other things, Perry would end life-time tenure for federal judges including those on the Supreme Court, and make members of Congress take a 50 percent pay cut.

Australia is the latest stop on President Obama's tour of the Pacific Rim countries that the president thinks should be the new focus of U.S. foreign policy. It is already the focus of a competition for influence with China.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And here's a follow-up to the dramatic scandal at Olympus, which we've been following on this program. It's one of Japan's most respected corporations - or it was. Now executives Olympus are facing criminal charges and prison sentences. The company may be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and may also go bankrupt. All this after revelations of dubious acquisitions and allegations of massive accounting fraud. From Tokyo, Lucy Craft has more.