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In Joyce Maynard's Labor Day, a mysterious stranger enters the life of a single mother and her son for a holiday weekend. Apart from being a successful thriller, the book is a fascinating portrait of what causes a family to founder, and how much it can cost to put it back on the right path.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner went to Capitol Hill on Thursday with expansive plans to reduce "systemic risk" in the financial system. He called for new rules and better referees. And he was met with skepticism, particularly from Republicans.

Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison is back on the literary scene with a new book, A Mercy. Set in 17th century America, the story follows a teenaged girl enslaved during a time when many people, not just blacks, were in bondage. Morrison talks about her book, its characters and whether we're living in a post-racial age.

An unusual advertising campaign in Spanish-language newspapers and radio stations calls for undocumented immigrants to turn themselves in. The ads are part of a new self-deportation program sponsored by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). James T. Hayes, who heads the program, explains the ad campaign and whether it's working.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the right to seek their release in federal court. The 5-4 decision was a stinging rebuke to President Bush's anti-terrorism policies, and reaction from law experts and Bush allies was swift.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the most common method of execution is constitutional. Prisoners from Kentucky had argued that the three-drug combination could potentially cause excruciating pain. Many states have been delaying executions waiting for the ruling.

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that states may execute condemned prisoners with a sequence of three drugs that had been challenged as "cruel and unusual punishment" in a Kentucky case. In a separate case, justices are weighing whether it's constitutional to sentence someone to death for raping a child.

The Supreme Court has upheld Kentucky's method of execution by lethal injection. The justices said the state's use of a three-drug combination does not violate the Constitution's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. NPR's Ari Shapiro reviews the high court's opinions with Steve Inskeep.

Stock prices Tuesday had their biggest one-day gain in five years. Prices jumped after the Federal Reserve decided to cut a key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point. Fed policymakers said they remain concerned about the slowing U.S. economy and suggested that they may cut rates again.

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra pleads not guilty to corruption charges after returning from exile. He remains very popular, particularly among Thailand's rural people and urban poor for his financial and social welfare policies.