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Imagine how tough life would be if raindrops weighed 3 tons apiece as they fell out of the sky at 20 mph. That's how raindrops look to a mosquito, yet a raindrop weighing 50 times more than one can hit the insect and the mosquito will survive.

How?

Put yourself in a mosquito's shoes — or rain boots — for a moment and step outside into a downpour of seemingly gigantic raindrops.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Tyler Sullivan will return to class Monday with a note explaining why he skipped school on Friday. The fifth-grader had gone with his dad to a Honeywell plant outside Minneapolis, where President Obama was speaking. When the president shook Tyler's hand, he offered to write an excuse note for him.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Let's turn to Syria now. Syria's president gave his first public speech in five months yesterday. Bashar al-Assad told the Syrian Parliament that his government was not responsible for the massacre in Houla last month, in which more than 100 people were killed, nearly half of them children. Also, there is new Syria-related violence in northern Lebanon, near the Syrian border. And to talk about this we've reached NPR's Kelly McEvers.

Kelly, good morning.

KELLY MCEVERS, BYLINE: Good morning.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Bad economic headlines have not stopped the celebration in Britain. Britons are in the midst of a four-day holiday celebrating Queen Elizabeth's 60 years on the throne. And yesterday the queen herself led a flotilla of a thousand boats on the Thames. It was described as the largest such river pageant in more than 300 years, and Vicki Barker was there.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The summer tourism season is what keeps Branson, Missouri thriving. Last year, Branson's live music venues helped draw more than seven million visitors. And so when a tornado tore through the city's popular strip this past February, Branson's future seemed uncertain. As Missy Shelton of member station KSMU reports, city leaders are working hard to let people know that Branson is open for business.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

We have just come from a week when officials of the European Union openly warned of the possible downfall of the euro. Billionaire investor George Soros has gone even further. He says the euro crisis could bring down the entire E.U. Teri Schultz reports from Brussels.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

In Egypt, protests continue against the verdicts in the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak and various people in his old regime. Mubarak was handed a life sentence in connection to the deaths of protesters during last year's revolution. But critics say the judge's ruling all but ensured the former president's sentence will be overturned on appeal.

NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson has the story from Cairo.

JUDGE AHMED REFAAT: (Foreign language spoken)