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Update at 11:30 a.m. ET: Oil giant BP has agreed to plead guilty to criminal misconduct related to the 2010 Gulf Oil spill and will pay a record $4 billion in criminal penalties, the company just confirmed. And it will pay $525 million in civil penalties in a resolution with the Securities and Exchanges Commission. BP will make the payments over six years.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. First, they taxed the rich, and the people said nothing. Then they went after the Nutella. The French Senate approved a measure tripling the tax on palm oil and other vegetable oils. It would sharply raise the cost of making Nutella, a popular chocolate and hazelnut spread. The tax is meant to cut down on obesity, but has prompted an outcry from Nutella lovers. And the maker of the spread promises the recipe will not change. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

In Utah, a bully goat named Voldemort butted a paper boy off his bike, and the 14 year old climbed up a tree to hide out for a little while. During that time his parents reported him missing.

Along with the news about the Gen. David Petreus scandal, we've been hearing about lavish social events given in the Tampa, Fla., area. A lot of military brass from MacDill Air Force Base, where U.S. Central Command is headquartered, go to these events. Linda Wertheimer talks to Ben Montgomery, a reporter with the Tampa Bay Times, about how the scandal is playing out around Tampa.

Republicans claim President Obama's plan to raise taxes on the wealthy will cost the economy 700,000 jobs. Another study from the Congressional Budget Office puts the number of lost jobs as 200,000. But both studies also assume millions of new jobs will be created.

When President Obama sets off to Asia this weekend to highlight his so-called pivot to the region, he will make a bit of history: Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Myanmar.

The country, also known as Burma, was a pariah state for decades, ruled by a ruthless military dictatorship. That is changing, and the Obama administration has encouraged a dramatic reform process in the country. But it may be too early for a victory lap.

Though new Chinese leader Xi Jinping "didn't once mention Marxism or Mao Zedong" today as he stepped into his new role, the make-up of the "gang of seven" that he now heads "will disappoint those hoping for sweeping reform," NPR's Louisa Lim reports from Beijing.

Marine Gen. John Allen says he will "fully cooperate" with the Pentagon's Inspector General's investigation into his communication with Jill Kelley.

Allen has been at the center of a scandal that led to the resignation of CIA director and retired four-star general David Petraeus.

In a statement issued on his behalf by the Marine General Counsel, Allen also said he wants to resolve the matter in an expedient fashion.