FIRST SHOTS: President heads to ‘Daily Show’, popularity grows for year-round school

The Upshot

Welcome to "First Shots," a daily roundup of early-bird news and a preview of what's to come.

• The president is heading to Comedy Central to tape an appearance on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." (Bloomberg Businessweek)

• A Congressional Oversight Panel will grill Treasury today in the first hearing on the foreclosure robo-signings scandal. (ABC)

• Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton departs today for a a 13-day trip in the Asia-Pacific. She recently added China to her list of stops. (Reuters India)

• At this late stage in the game, Democrats are catching up on election spending. (Washington Post)

• After weeks of protest, a controversial proposal to change France's pension system could become law today. (CNN)

• One-fifth of the world's vertebrates face extinction but conservation efforts are having a positive impact, according to a global study released today. (AFP)

• The Pentagon now says a power outage caused a break in communication with 50 nuclear missiles this weekend at Wyoming's Warren Air Force base. (AP)

• Year-round or "balanced" school schedules are gaining popularity across the U.S. (MSNBC)

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