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European nations have pledged to cut off oil imports from Iran beginning Sunday, tightening the sanctions that target Iran's nuclear program. Iran is expected to feel the squeeze — but the move could also push up world oil prices.

It's become a pattern: On the first Friday of the month, the Labor Department issues a disappointing economic report. Republicans cite it as proof of President Obama's failed policies. The White House urges everyone to focus on the glass half full. And both sides miss the broader picture.

Host Scott Simon catches up on the week in sports with Howard Bryant of ESPN. They cover the findings of the independent investigation on the cover-up of child sexual abuse at Penn State.

The London 2012 Olympics are officially over, but people are still buzzing about Sunday's closing ceremony. It included many of the highlights of British culture and history that weren't in London's opening ceremony. And in America, some viewers are angry about what was left out of the U.S. feed.

It's been more than a week since the Mars rover Curiosity made its successful landing on the Red Planet. Curiosity is by far the most technologically advanced rover to reach the planet's surface. David Greene talks to astrophysicist Neal DeGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, about Curiosity's two-year visit to Mars.

Thor Hanson's new book looks at the evolutionary significance of feathers in birds. Hanson tells Fresh Air that he's amazed by birds' magnitude of feathers, how feathers grow and how they're the "most efficient insulation known."

One question on the minds of voters is what kind of relationship the administration of the next four years will have with Congress after the stalemate of the last two. National Review senior editor and Bloomberg columnist Ramesh Ponnuru talks to Steve Inskeep about what he thinks will happen if President Obama is re-elected or if Mitt Romney wins.

The French port city of Marseilles is in the grip of gang warfare, as young men fight for control of drug trafficking, often using sophisticated weapons left over from the Balkan wars. The gangs are pushing professional criminals and syndicates aside. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley describes the mood with host Scott Simon.

Could a little red circle help you skip the comfort food this winter and maybe drop a few pounds? Doctors from Massachusetts General Hospital think so. They put traffic-light labels on their cafeteria's menu to signal the healthfulness of dishes. The colorful cues helped improve eating habits even two years later.

A Pew Study finds that the milliennial generation has a low level of social trust. There are several possible causes for this distrust, including a skewed social media culture and a faltering economy.