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It's been a rough morning for many parents and their children in New York City, where about 8,000 school bus drivers and monitors have gone on strike — meaning about 152,000 students had to get to school some other way.

According to The New York Times:

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Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. Years ago, I had a drink at a bar called The Raven. Great name for a bar, invoking a poem by Edgar Allen Poe. A Massachusetts man would agree. He owns the Raven's Nest and the Mad Raven. The trouble is, he's in New England, and pro football's New England Patriots are prepping for a playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens. The bar owner did what he had to do. He temporarily renamed his bars the Patriot's Nest and the Mad Patriot. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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Good morning, I'm Renee Montagne with a message: Wayne Dobson does not have your cell phone. Many cell phones allow you to track them using GPS if they go missing. But the Las Vegas Review Journal reports that technical glitch has, for two years, directed some Sprint customers, who've lost their phones in Vegas, to the home of Wayne Dobson. Sprint says it's researching the problem. Meanwhile, Dobson has come up with his own low-tech solution, a sign on his door reading: No lost cell phones.

As President Obama prepares to start another term next week, Morning Edition has asked NPR's international correspondents to gauge worldwide expectations for the president's next four years. We begin in Mexico, where Mexicans hope to change the conversation between the two countries from drugs and violence to economics and prosperity.

The new figure predicts the world economy will grow by only 2.4 percent this year — lower than the 3 percent the World Bank predicted last June. Among the reasons the bank cited for the new forecast: the continued economic weakness of developed countries.

The online retailer Cafe Press is happy to sell you inaugural mouse pads, shot glasses, and mugs. And the merchandise is bipartisan, including a sweatshirt with the message: "I was Anti-Obama Before It Was Cool."

As the Middle East faces one of its harshest winters in decades, Syrian refugees are facing a humanitarian disaster. In the Zaatari refugee camp on the Jordanian border, heavy snow and rain flooded hundreds of tents last week.

The City of Austin, Texas, is singularly attached its favorite son, Lance Armstrong. His bike shop and Livestrong foundation are there. Now that Oprah Winfrey has confirmed that Armstrong confessed to doping and lied about it, can his foundation recover from the doping controversy?

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Yeah, it's Wednesday. It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

Victims of Hurricane Sandy are one step closer to getting a major infusion of federal disaster aid after a long delay. Last night, the House approved a $50 billion assistance package.

NPR congressional correspondent Tamara Keith reports.