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On Monday, President Obama summoned top financial regulators to the White House to get an update on the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act. The legislation was passed in the wake of the financial crisis and is a sweeping overhaul of the nation's financial regulations. But three years after being signed into law, much of Dodd-Frank still isn't in place. Such is the difficulty of re-writing financial rules.

A new study released by the World Economic Forum ranks northern European nations at the top when it comes to the size of their gender gap. But one area where the gap is huge is in the percentage of women on company boards; it's less than 15 percent EU-wide. Controversy over what should be done about that — and by whom — is more divisive than ever.

When Kendra Morris was a little girl growing up in St. Petersburg, Fla., she would hide in her closet and sing along with her karaoke machine. Later, when she moved to New York to chase her music dreams, it was back into the closet with an eight-track recorder she'd bought.

Wall Street Journal economics writer David Wessel's new book, Red Ink, lays out in unsparing terms the way the U.S. government spends money, who pays what in taxes, and why politicians can't seem to agree on ways to reduce the potentially catastrophic deficit.

It's too early to know what kind of a difference Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan will make to the GOP ticket. Still, there have been choices who have proved crucial. Here, the top five from the last half-century or so.

The aircraft carrier was the largest ship in the world, and the first nuclear-powered aircraft when it was commissioned. It's played a featured role in world conflicts — and Hollywood movies — for more than a half-century. Now it's being retired.

There's a new twist to the Gen. David Petraeus scandal. The Pentagon announced the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, is under investigation for alleged "inappropriate communications" with a woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell. That's the woman with whom Petraeus had an extramarital affair.

Melissa Block talks with Carol Leonig of the Washington Post about Jill Kelley, the Tampa Bay socialite whose report of threatening emails to the FBI led to the resignation of CIA director David Petraeus. Since the scandal broke, much has been made of Kelley's background: how she came to be close personal friends with Petraeus, Gen. John Allen and other top military officials, the lavish parties she and her husband hosted, and their mounting debt and pending foreclosures on properties they own.

By some measures, General Motors is doing fine post-bailout and post-bankruptcy. The company is profitable and makes better cars than it did a generation ago. But its stock price is down sharply, and it still doesn't have a blockbuster car like its competitors Toyota, Honda and Ford.

In a much needed sign of hope for the U.S. economy, the Labor Department reported Friday that the country gained 163,000 jobs in July, which was better than expected. Still, unemployment rose a bit to 8.3 percent. NPR's Chris Arnold reports from an annual economics retreat in Maine with reaction from some of the country's top economists and analysts there.