Morning Edition

Jordan is hosting major military exercises known as Eager Lion 2013. More than 15,000 soldiers from 18 countries, including the U.S., will be participating. The war games kicked off as Syria's civil war rages next door.

In northern Lake Michigan, explorers are stepping up their effort to find a ship that sank in 1679. French and American archeologists are on the lake looking for the ship sailed by French explorer Rene-Robert Sieur de la Salle. So far, the excavation has uncovered a wooden beam that looks like the mast of a ship.

Moderate cleric Hasan Rouhani replaces Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has been in power since 2005. David Greene talks to Thomas Erdbrink, a reporter for The New York Times in Tehran, about Iran's newly elected president.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

OK, Scott just made clear economic issues have some competition for top billing at the G 8 Summit in Northern Ireland. We do, though, want to drill down into one economic question this morning, and that's why interest rates here at home are going up. The bond market has pushed them to the highest levels in 15 months, and that includes mortgage rates.

Let's turn, as we often do, to David Wessel. He's economics editor of The Wall Street Journal. David, good morning.

DAVID WESSEL: Good morning.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with an acquisition for Lowe's.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

GREENE: The home-improvement retailer, Lowe's, has reportedly agreed to buy Orchard Supply Hardware Stores. The sale price is expected to top $200 million. Now Orchard is a California-based hardware-and-garden chain. It was once owned by Sears, and is now about $230 million in debt.