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Anytime a candidate calls an unexpected press conference in the evening, you know it's not good news. We look at the latest news and political fall out from the release of Mitt Romney's remarks at a private fundraiser. The comments were made in May and the recording was released by Mother Jones magazine.

Hours after President Obama delivered his speech at the Democratic convention, the latest unemployment report provided a reminder of what's at stake. The unemployment rate dropped, but the number of jobs created was below expectations for August. For more on the latest economic data and a close read of Obama's speech, Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne talk with NPR's Ari Shapiro, Julie Rovner and Yuki Noguchi.

From the West Nile virus outbreak in Texas, to hantavirus in Yosemite, to the newly-discovered tickborne 'Heartland' virus in Missouri, viruses that cross from animals to people are in the news. Maria Diuk-Wasser, who studies the ecology and epidemiology of zoonotic diseases, helps explain the science behind the headlines.

Leslye Headland makes her directorial debut with this adaptation of her own play about three bridesmaids whose bad habits and emotional issues threaten to undermine their friend's impending wedding. It's tonally uneven but engrossing, says critic David Edelstein.

What do you do when, after 30 years, your husband tells you he is leaving you for someone else? If you're poet Sharon Olds, you grab your spiral-bound notebook and write about it.

In his book Golden Holocaust: Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe and the Case for Abolition, historian Robert Proctor reveals little-known secrets of the cigarette, starting with the ingredient list: antifreeze, cocoa shells, liquorice and over 100 other additives.

At the Keansburg Amusement Park in Keansburg, N.J., the "Bumper Car Psychos" have been crashing their way to fame since 1996. Every Friday night, Tom Mgerack and Keith Van Brunt cruise the track in their favorite cars, grinning from ear to ear as they slam their targets into the wall.

Navy Lt. Brad Snyder lost his sight to an explosion in Afghanistan exactly one year ago. On the anniversary Friday, he won the 400-meter freestyle at the Paralympics in London, capturing his second gold medal.

The shape of the glass can fool a drinker into drinking more alcohol, but not so with soft drinks. New research shows that people were better able to calculate the halfway point of their beers in a straight glass.

Nearly a third of spending on health care in the U.S. is wasted. There's lots of inefficiency, excess overhead and some outright fraud, too. But the biggest slice of the waste pie is unnecessary care.