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Illinois' pension gap is estimated at $83 billion — and it costs $12.6 million more every day the state does nothing to address the crisis. The state can't readily come up with the money, and while politicians say they want to help, they're unlikely to act during an election year.

The Midwest is home to the largest collection of grottoes, or man-made caves, in the world. And the mother of them all — encrusted in $6 million worth of semiprecious stones — is in West Bend, Iowa, the life's work of a priest after he survived pneumonia. It turns 100 this weekend.

Sony is expected to cut about 6 percent of its global workforce in an attempt to return to profitability. Daisuke Wakabayashi, of The Wall Street Journal, talks to Renee Montagne about restructuring plans at Sony.

The typical first-time mother takes 6 1/2 hours to give birth these days. Her counterpart 50 years ago labored for barely four hours. That's a finding with big implications for current rates of cesarean sections.

The eurozone crisis has led to sharp spending cuts and, with an economy based on public sector wages, Sicily is being called Italy's Greece. The central government fears Sicily's debt of more than $6 billion could further endanger Italy's financial stability.

German Catholics are facing a stark choice: Pay a church tax or forget about receiving the sacraments, including baptisms, weddings and funerals. Germany taxes registered Catholics, Protestants and Jews. In 2011, the tax raised $6.5 billion for the Catholic Church alone. Many progressives and conservatives are up in arms over the German bishops' decree.

The president has said that his Supreme Court nominees will come from among a list of names that he first released as a candidate and has since updated.

The U.S. stock market ended its worst week since the financial crisis with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 12.4%. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell promises to support the economy as necessary.

Baylor was known for his acrobatic athleticism. NPR's Noel King talks to Bijan Bayne, author of Elgin Baylor: The Man Who Changed Basketball, about Baylor's legacy.

In response to a recent commentary from producer Viet Le about the trials of being extra small, his colleague across the cubicles, Gabe O'Connor, offers some insight on what it's like to be extra big.