France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Australia and Canada all said they were kicking out Syria's ambassadors to their countries. The move ratchets up the pressure on the increasingly isolated Syrian regime. The expulsions come after the killings Friday in Houla, a collection of farming villages in Syria's Homs Province. The UN says 49 children were among the dead. French President Francois Hollande said after discussion with British Prime Minister David Cameron, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, it was decided to deploy a certain number of pressure tactics against Syria. The UN and International community have so far failed to get Assad to respect the peace plan. Germany said it hoped the unambiguous message would not fall on deaf ears in Damascus. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley.

 

 

Defense Secretary  Leon Panetta told the 1099 graduates from US Naval Academy today that they will be part of building US maritime strength across the Asia-Pacific region. 

China's military is growing and modernizing. We must be vigilant, we must be strong, we must be prepared to confront any challenge. 

Panetta says the future prosperity and security of the US are tied to its ability to advance peace and security along the arc extending from the western Pacific and east Asia, to the Indian Ocean and South Asia. Of this year's graduating class, 810 were commissioned as naval officers, another 267 were commissioned as officers in the Marine corp. 

 

 

A survey out today shows home prices are up in most major cities in the US, NPR's Dave Mattingly reports it's the latest evidence suggesting a slow recovery in housing. 

The Standard  & Poor's/Case-Shiller Index tracks home prices in 20 major cities. In March, prices went up in most of them, including Seattle, Phoenix, Dallas and Tampa. Chief economist Lawrence Yun, with the National Association of Realtors, says he expects more the same this year. 

Given that jobs are being created, the very high affordability convention, I anticipate home values will ** make an increase. And for the nation as a whole, you may be about 2% to 4% price appreciation this year.

Mortgage rates are at historical lows, though other economists point out, job growth remains too  weak to lower than nation's unemployment rate, putting a drag on home sales.  Dave Mattingly, NPR news, Washington.

 

 

That news along with optimism that China will act to reserve a slowdown in its economic growth appears to be helping push stocks higher on Wall Street at this hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 93 points  at 12,548; the NASDAQ Composite Index is up 26 points at 2,864 and the S&P is up 10 points  at 1,328. 

 

 

This is NPR News.

 

 

Thirteen new recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom will be honored at this hour at the White House. NPR's ** reports.

This year's honorees of what is considered the country's highest civilian award, represent a wide array of accomplishments. Political figures include retired former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, US Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens, and former senator and astronaut John Glenn. The world of Arts and entertainments celebrates Nobel Prize winning writer Tony Morrison and song writing giant Bob Dylan. Social activism has also acknowledged this year,  as the medal is ** on Girl Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon and civil rights figure Dolores Huerta. Coming from the world sports is recently retired Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in NCAA history. **, NPR News in Washington.

 

 

Texas voters are likely to put Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney over the top today in his campaign to be the GOP nominee for president. Romney is just 58 delegates short of the necessary 1,144 need to secure the nomination at the Republican convention this summer. The former Massachusetts governor is scheduled to attend the Las Vegas fundraiser today hosted by Donald Trump.

 

 

At least 15 people are dead in an earthquake that shook northern Italy today. The 5.8-magnitude quake follows another slight stronger  quake in the same area earlier this month. That killed seven people. News reports from region say some victims from today's quake are buried under the rubble. 

 

 

The perjury trial of former pitcher Roger Clemens in Washington is slowly running out of alternate jurors, a third juror had been excused after the death of her mother, previously two jurors were dismissed for sleeping during the case.