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The risky lending business has been booming, but now its problems are becoming increasingly visible on Wall Street and beyond.

Qatar's ties to Hamas are controversial but useful. A top Qatari official tells NPR why the Gulf Arab state hosts senior Hamas figures and why Gaza is a policy priority.

The country's second-biggest health insurer says hackers obtained personal information such as names, birthdates and social security numbers of policyholders. No credit card data was compromised.

Criminals around the world are discovering tools that let them spy on hundreds of thousands of people over the Internet. And they're stealing credit card numbers, bank account passwords, and other sensitive information in much greater numbers. NPR's Chris Arnold reports.

Award-winning reporter and MSNBC blogger Bob Sullivan has been covering issues of online fraud and privacy on the internet for over 12 years. His new book is Stop Getting Ripped Off, a guide to sensible consumption. He shares tips with Terry Gross on how to avoid getting scammed by car salesmen and credit card companies alike.

Newlyweds are increasingly in debt from student loans, credit cards and, of course, their big wedding day. In her new book, The Big Payoff, Sharon Epperson offers advice to help them navigate sometimes choppy waters of joint finances.

Rite Aid took the same step, leading many observers to note that the two companies are part of a group of retailers that's developing its own payment system, called CurrentC.

Beverly Loan Company in Beverly Hills, Calif., is among several pawnbrokers which accepts fine wine as collateral. In Britain, someone brought in a case of 1989 Chateau Petrus to secure a loan of $24,000. A spokeswoman at a similar firm in Paris says people there offer a lot of Bordeaux as collateral.

The Bush administration is setting a new course for its massive $700 billion economic rescue plan. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says the government won't be buying distressed assets after all, and will look for other ways to shore up the financial industry.

For the first time in the pageant's history the two branches of the organization — the pageant and the foundation — will be led entirely by women, who also happen to be former Miss Americas.