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Until this week, Benjamin Lawsky was a little-known banking regulator in New York. His aggressive pursuit of a $340 million settlement over a British bank's financial ties to Iran has put him in the spotlight, stunning the financial world but also rubbing federal regulators the wrong way.

NPR's Scott Simon says voters and candidates might benefit if more politicians took real vacations — if they went somewhere, for at least a short time, where no one knows them. Where they don't have to ask for votes, money or spout talking points.

When Francois Hollande won the May presidential elections, many in France were pleased to have a down-to-earth guy, after the hyperactive, sometimes chaotic presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy. But Hollande's personal life has proven to be almost as complicated as Sarkozy's, and many are beginning to think his governing style is a bit too relaxed.

The 8,000 graves of Happy Valley cemetery in Hong Kong tell the island's untold early history through the lives of pirates and prostitutes, missionaries and merchants. NPR correspondent Louisa Lim's mother devoted a decade to chronicling the last resting place of Hong Kong's earliest settlers.

Cuba is one of the world's last remaining communist states. Cuba's allies in China and Vietnam also maintain firm one-party rule, but have prospered by introducing market principles to their economic models.

In Latin America, high courts are expanding the rights of gay people, including the right to marry. Now many courts are also ruling in favor of gay adoption. One case that could set an important precedent involves a lesbian couple in Colombia.

The scorching Midwest drought has caused crop prices to soar. But the dry weather is benefiting airlines, whose on-time performance has improved this summer, leading to fewer customer complaints and healthier profits.

The views of vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan are strikingly different, but both espouse the same Catholic faith and are reaching out to Christian voters. Their views, which represent opposite wings of their religion, are a reflection of the growing divide among Catholics.

A wave of kidnappings and an alleged bombing plot — both linked to the uprising in neighboring Syria — are shaking Lebanon's precarious sectarian balance. But the foreign patrons of Lebanon's political factions are preoccupied with Syria and appear unwilling to bankroll a proxy war in Lebanon, at least for now.

After his comments about rape caused an uproar, Republican Rep. Todd Akin says he's staying in the Missouri Senate race. NPR's Neal Conan and Politico's Charlie Mahtesian discuss the fallout. Politix editor David Mark also joins in for an examination of negative campaign tactics.