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Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya was killed in a car crash last month. Witnesses say it was an accident. But the government is using the case for propaganda purposes, Paya's family suspects a government conspiracy, and a Spanish activist has been jailed.

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney says it is possible to cut tax rates without driving the government deeper into the red, and that he can make up for the lost revenue by closing tax loopholes. But analysts have had a hard time testing Romney's claim because he hasn't offered many specifics.

For the past two decades, the Colombian pop idol has been one of the biggest names in Spanish-language music. For his newest release, he took a break from his career's frenetic pace — by going all acoustic and reaching out to his heroes for help.

The Reinvent the Toilet Challenge asked engineers to dream up a replacement for the antiquated flush toilet. Michael Hoffmann and his team at Caltech responded with a solar-powered toilet that disinfects waste and reuses wastewater to flush. Better yet, it pumps out hydrogen gas for use in fuel cells.

A few years ago, it was rare to hear of assaults by men in Afghan security uniforms against NATO troops. But this year, such shootings account for more than 10 percent of the deaths among coalition troops in Afghanistan. Some are carried out by Taliban infiltrators; but others appear to stem from personal disputes.

President Obama celebrated Labor Day in Ohio with unionized auto workers — many of whom say they owe their jobs to the federal government's rescue of Chrysler and General Motors. The president also took some time out from politicking to visit a flood-damaged area in Louisiana that was hard hit by Hurricane Isaac.

Neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney seems to be winning the hearts of blue-collar voters in this part of the state. Economically, says one analyst, many residents here should be voting Democratic; but their social conservatism clouds the picture.

Ansar al-Sharia, the ultraconservative armed Islamist group, is accused of taking part in the attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans. The group denies it participated, but its leadership has stopped short of condemning the attack.

In South Africa, thousands of mineworkers have embarked on industrial action that began with a deadly pay strike by platinum workers. They've agreed a wage deal with their management, this week, but the labor unrest is spreading to other platinum and gold mines in an industry that's the engine of South Africa's economy. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton discusses the repercussions with host Scott Simon.

Dranes was a blind black pianist who shook the foundations of gospel in the 1920s by introducing secular styles like barrelhouse and ragtime into spiritual music.