Morning Edition

Michael Sullivan made many trips to Myanmar, also known as Burma, when he was NPR's correspondent for Southeast Asia. He recently returned, and found a country changing at a dizzying pace.

I get off the plane and almost immediately feel like I've come to the wrong country. There's a large blue sign at immigration that reads: "Attention journalists covering the by-election: please register at the Media Counter."

"Media Counter"? My kind has never been welcome here.

It's the first surprise in a trip full of them.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

At some point, you likely received a present from a prepaid gift card from the person who wasn't exactly sure what you'd want. Residents of New Jersey may not be able to buy them for much longer. American Express has pulled its gift cards from the state, and other big industry players are threatening to do the same. They oppose a new law that would allow New Jersey to claim unused gift card balances after two years. NPR's Joel Rose reports.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

With college basketball and the Master's behind us, many sports fans are turning their attention to baseball. We are through the first weekend of the Major League regular season, and already there are some early surprises. NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman joins us to talk about that.

Good morning.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Renee.

MONTAGNE: Let's start with the city of New York, where the two teams are doing a bit of a role reversal.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with labor woes at AT&T.

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MONTAGNE: AT&T and union officials have agreed to extend contract negotiations, preventing a mass walkout by some 40,000 unionized workers. The deadline to agree on the new contract had been yesterday. AT&T is seeking concessions from its workers, including cuts in pension contributions, and also an increase in health care premiums. The union is calling those concessions unrealistic.

The artist was known for scenes of cottages, country gardens and churches in dewy morning light. Kinkade repeatedly claimed to be the most collected living artist.