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The government's latest response to the financial crisis involves taking ownership stakes in financial institutions in order to get credit flowing through the economy again. Treasury Secretary Paulson said he didn't like government ownership of banks, but the alternatives, he said, were "totally unacceptable."

French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio has been awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize for literature. Antoine Compagnon, a professor of French Literature at Columbia University, says there are two periods in Le Clezio's work: it was more experimental in the 1960s and '70s, and later it featured traveling and exoticism.

Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain debated Wednesday night at Hofstra University in New York. Renee Montagne talks with NPR reporters Chris Arnold, David Welna, Julie Rovner, David Schaper and Peter Overby to find out whether the candidates had their facts straight in their final debate before the election.

Presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama debated the issues Tuesday night in Nashville, Tenn. Did they stick to the facts? Steve Inskeep finds out from a team of reporters: NPR's Jim Zarroli, David Wessel of The Wall Street Journal and NPR's Julie Rovner, Richard Harris, Michele Kelemen and David Schaper.

The government's $250 billion cash infusion into banks is to get them lending again. The Treasury Department is also taking an ownership stake in nine banks. While many bankers and economists express some concern about the plan, reaction has been mostly favorable.

The Last Lynching, a new film by Ted Koppel, examines lives deeply affected by acts of hatred and racism and investigates the last recorded lynching. Surprisingly, it took place in 1981. How far has the U.S. come since then, and how far do we still have to go?

The Dow Jones industrial average have fallen by more than 700 points. Carey Leahey, senior economist with Decision Economics, blames the "dismal" retail sales report and the lingering effects of stagflation for the numbers. One ray of hope: the London Interbank Offered Rate has come down slightly.

The Bush administration announced new steps Tuesday to shore up the nation's battered financial markets. The government will inject capital into financial institutions to help thaw frozen credit markets, create jobs and fuel economic growth.

The House has passed the Treasury's financial rescue plan and President Bush has signed it. The measure's passage marks a turnaround just four days after the House rejected the measure. Many lawmakers switched their votes from no to yes.

Colin Powell, a Republican and retired general who was President Bush's first secretary of state, broke with the party Sunday and endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president. Powell called Obama a "transformational figure" while criticizing the tone of John McCain's campaign.