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At first, the complaint from the left was that news organizations had ignored the movement. But as they swung their gaze, journalists weren't quite sure how to characterize what they saw. Lacking easy labels, Occupy Wall Street proved difficult for the media to categorize — and to cover.

As love stories go, Mary Ann Allen and John Klein's relationship started in an unusual place. And they were something of an unusual couple, too. But as it turned out, none of that meant a thing.

If you've ever thought that most of politics is game-playing, you're right. Political scientists often use mathematical game theory to describe how Congress works. And when they look at the current battle over how to handle the deficit, the game that comes to mind is chicken.

The North Carolina city is perhaps best known as the home of Bank of America. But Mayor Anthony Foxx, banks aren't the city's only job engines. Other big sectors include energy, health care and transportation. Energy workers now compete with bankers for a sunny spot to lunch downtown.

Votes are due for parliament in December and president next March. Voters feel confident they already know who will win, though, and are not energized by the campaign. The challenge for Kremlin-approved and opposition parties is to get people to vote when they don't feel that anything will change.

This week, the European Union imposed new sanctions against Syria's government, freezing the assets of the Commercial Bank of Syria. But despite how economic pressure is hurting ordinary Syrians, many say the sanctions are unlikely to change government policy.

In Seattle, Victoria Liss was angry when a guy left no tip and wrote that she could stand to lose some weight. But her Facebook rant exposed the wrong guy. It's another lesson about when to pause before hitting send.

A grand jury has indicted the Roman Catholic bishop of Kansas City for failing to report suspected child sexual abuse. Bishop Robert Finn has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor count of not reporting to police that he had seen child pornography on a priest's computer. It's the first time a bishop has been indicted since the church abuse scandal became public 25 years ago. NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports.

Occupy Wall Street protests are planned in cities around the country Saturday. On Friday in New York, a planned clean-up of Zuccotti Park near Wall Street was postponed. NPR's Margot Adler reports on daily life in the Lower Manhattan park where the protest movement began. At first glance, the lives of the protesters may seem loose and anarchistic, but there's actually lot of invisible technology, infrastructure, innovation and even some sophisticated finance going on.

Liberia held presidential elections this week. The front runner and current president of Liberia is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this month. But awards notwithstanding, Liberia remains a place recovering from a 14-year-long civil war, with much of the country too poor even to have electric power or clean running water. Scott Simon talks with Tim Butcher, former Africa correspondent for The Daily Telegraph, about the challenges facing the country.