By Mark Memmott

Good morning. It's Columbus Day, so many folks in the U.S. aren't at work, most schools are closed and the mail isn't being delivered.

But The Two-Way is up and running -- and we've already passed along the news that two Americans (and for the first time, a woman) won this year's Nobel Prize in economics. And, there's been word that North Korea has reportedly test-fired two more short-range missiles.

As for other stories making headlines, they include:

-- The New York Times -- "U.S. Can't Trace Foreign Visitors On Expired Visas": "Eight years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and despite repeated mandates from Congress, the United States still has no reliable system for verifying that foreign visitors have left the country. New concern was focused on that security loophole last week, when Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, a 19-year-old Jordanian who had overstayed his tourist visa, was accused in court of plotting to blow up a Dallas skyscraper."

-- The Associated Press -- "New Blast In Pakistan As Taliban Vow More Attacks": "The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Monday for a weekend siege on army headquarters and vowed to activate militant cells across the country for more attacks as another explosion in a market killed at least 41 people."

Related story on Morning Edition -- "Attack On Pakistani Army Spotlights Punjab Province": The region is a terrorist recruitment and training ground, NPR's Julie McCarthy reports:

-- CBS News -- "Gun Troubles For U.S. Troops In Afghanistan": The problems some U.S. troops have had with misfiring weapons during intense firefights raises a question -- "Eight years into the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, do U.S. armed forces have the best guns money can buy? Despite the military's insistence that they do, a small but vocal number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq has complained that the standard-issue M4 rifles need too much maintenance and jam at the worst possible times."

-- Morning Edition -- Expert Says Already Strapped U.S. Military Will Be Strained Even Further By Any Ramping Up In Afghanistan. John Nagl, a former lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and president of the Center for a New American Security, spoke with host Steve Inskeep:

Related story in The New York Times -- "Civilian Goals Largely Unmet In Afghanistan."

-- The Associated Press -- "Insurers Mount Attack Against Health Overhaul": "After working for months behind the scenes to help shape health care legislation, the insurance industry is now sharply attacking the emerging plan with a report that maintains Senate legislation would increase the cost of a typical policy by hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars a year."

Marchers gathered in DC to push President Barack Obama's administration and the U.S. Congress to live up to promises to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to advance civil rights. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

On the march. (Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images)

-- The Washington Post -- Gay Rights March Pushes Marital, Military Equality: "Tens of thousands of gay-rights activists marched Sunday in Washington to show President Obama and Congress that they are impatient with what they consider piecemeal progress and are ready to fight at the federal level for across-the-board equality, including for the right to marry and the right to serve in the military."

Contributing: Chinita Anderson of Morning Edition.

categories: Afghanistan, Foreign News, Health, Morning Roundup

8:25 - October 12, 2009

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