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NPR asked four economists to dream a little. If they could set aside the partisanship in Washington and do one thing to fix what they see as the economy's biggest problem — what would it be? Of course, even the potential solutions have downsides.

A court sentenced the three members of the female punk band Pussy Riot to two years in jail after they were found guilty of hooliganism and religious hatred. The group had staged an anti-Putin protest in Moscow's main cathedral last February.

When it comes to the search for life beyond Earth, most of the focus is in on Mars. But a growing number of scientists are looking at Saturn's moon, Enceladus, instead. Scientists believe the moon has water and organic materials that are the building blocks of life.

Adam Steltzner, the leader of the Mars rover's entry, descent and landing engineering team, says he was terrified of "a false positive celebration" in the control room. Fortunately for him, Curiosity landed perfectly. Now he's eyeing Jupiter's moon.

Mitt Romney's new running mate has authored some provocative policy proposals to cut budget deficits and overhaul Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. But Rep. Paul Ryan has also been an advocate for a different course for the Federal Reserve.

Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is expected to tap a veteran U.N. troubleshooter to take over from international envoy Kofi Annan. At the same time, U.N. military observers are wrapping up their mission. By next week, all of the unarmed U.N. military observers will be out of Syria.

From the London Games' opening ceremony through 302 medal events, these Summer Olympics have fed fans a rich diet of history and spectacle. I can only wish that I'd been able to eat it all — but part of the allure of the Olympics is that there's no way to watch everything.

Both the Romney and Obama campaigns agreed to a laundry list of rules for the debates. That "Memorandum of Understanding" is 21 pages long and covers everything from air conditioning to props. Whether the candidates obey the rules is another story.

Lana Peters, who died last year, defected to the U.S. in 1967. The Associated Press, citing newly declassified documents, says the FBI was trying to gauge how the former Svetlana Alliluyeva's defection was affecting international relations.

After a series of controversial decrees by President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's judges are now preparing to strike. One young judge talks about how he sees the crisis.