Ever since the peak of the financial crisis, we've been treated to the occasional spectacle that leaves the market and its hangers-on in a tizzy: unveiling the terms of new bailout programs, revealing bank stress-test results, and, not long ago, JPMorgan Chase's chief executive

2011 was a banner year for state laws restricting abortion. And 2012 looks like runner-up.

That's the central finding of the midyear report from the Guttmacher Institute, the reproductive policy research group that keeps track of such things.

President Obama may have disappointed the NAACP by appearing only via brief video message Thursday at the civil rights group's annual gathering — especially after Mitt Romney had personally taken the stage a day earlier.

But sending in Vice President Biden to stir things up, just 24 hours after Romney was booed while delivering a conservative message meant to resonate beyond the walls of the Houston convention center, seemed to work out just fine for Obama.

The fallout from the independent report on how Penn State handled the sexual abuse allegations by Jerry Sandusky has begun.

Nike has announced that it has removed the name of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno from its child care center in Oregon. Mark Parker, Nike's president and CEO, said he was "deeply saddened" by the results of the investigation.

Three years might not seem like a big deal when looking back over Mitt Romney's two-decade career with Bain Capital.

But a growing number of journalists — and the Obama campaign — think it is.

Wells Fargo Bank agreed to pay at least $175 million Thursday to resolve allegations it discriminated against black and Latino home buyers, in what the Justice Department called the second largest settlement over fair lending violations.

Under international pressure, Saudi Arabia has decided to send two women to the Olympics in London.

That means that for the first time ever, the Olympic games will include women from every competing country. NPR's Howard Berkes filed this report for our Newscast unit:

"Saudi Arabia now joins Qatar and Brunei as the last countries to enter women into Olympic competition. Seven athletes once banned because of their gender will compete in judo, track, swimming, table tennis and shooting events when the London Olympics begin later this month.