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Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has withdrawn from consideration as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. He cited a potentially divisive nomination hearing. Summers was widely thought to be President Obama's top choice to replace Ben Bernanke next year.

Millions of adults struggle every day with basic tasks, like reading a bill or a bus schedule. Those with limited literacy find all kinds of ways to hide their rudimentary schooling. Many are unemployed. And those who have jobs are usually stuck at the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.

In a special election to replace retired GOP Congressman Jo Bonner, one candidate believes in "dying on the hill" to repeal Obamacare. His opponent wants to go to Washington to "get something done."

Agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have spent months testing new plastic weapons, and report that the guns can be lethal and hard to detect. The findings come just as a federal law that requires guns to be composed of at least some metal to help people in schools and airports detect them is set to expire.

PlayStation 4 is out, and next week, the new Xbox is released. These systems do a whole lot more than just play video games. Microsoft in particular is selling non-gamers on its system's television features. For more, Steve Inskeep talks to Christopher Grant, editor-in-chief of the video game website Polygon.

Steinway & Sons has made its cast-iron plates at the O.S. Kelly Foundry in Springfield, Ohio since 1938. Just two men create and pour the molten mixture that cools into the cast-iron heart of a piano.

There's plenty of action to be found on statewide ballots this election season. Colorado voters must decide whether to raise income taxes to provide more funding for public schools, and how much to tax marijuana sales. In Washington state, a fight over labeling genetically modified foods is drenched in cash.

A tightly-fought Australian general election campaign reaches its climax on Saturday — and the major issues will be familiar to an American audience. With little to choose between the economic policies of the two major parties, immigration and same-sex marriage are top of the news agenda.

Melissa Block speaks with Jocelyn Guyer from the health policy consulting firm Manatt Health Solutions about the good and bad of the state health exchanges so far.

Flooding in Colorado has taken a toll on the state's small businesses. In the small town of Lyons, the road to recovery looks especially long. Businesses there not only need to repair damage, but also stay afloat for as long as six months without much of their customer base. That's because damaged water and sewage lines have made many parts of town unlivable.