Morning Edition

The U.S. women's soccer team beat Brazil in a stunning penalty-kick shoot-out in the quarterfinals of the women's World Cup Sunday.

Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, the No. 2 U.S. officer in Afghanistan, steps down from his post today. The commander met last month with U.S. troops in Helmand Province.

Mary Louise Kelly has business news.

In recent years, Brazil has flexed its economic muscles and gotten the world's attention. But Brazil has also turned heads by reducing poverty for tens of millions of people. Now the country's new president is on a crusade to eliminate extreme poverty. Much of the government's efforts are centered in the far northeast, which is a traditionally poor area, but also a region with China-like economic growth.

Shannon Walker, who was selected as an astronaut in 2004, checks in with NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce at Kennedy Space Center, where cheers went up as Atlantis departed for its 33rd and final voyage. Nearby, among throngs of spectators, NPR's Greg Allen talks about the mood along Florida's Space Coast as the shuttle program ends after 30 years. Atlantis will drop supplies at the International Space Station and return to Earth on July 20.