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Gambling houses have placed odds on who might become the next leader of the Catholic world. At the top of the list of frontrunners are men not from Europe.

Syrian President Bashar Assad's Instagram account includes images of his smiling first lady. It makes no mention of the country's civil war. Instead, it show his wife helping out in a soup kitchen, and congratulating top achieving students.

Look at Patrick Kruger's house and you see the bottom of his tree through a window, and the top pushing through a damaged roof. Kruger was actually having a little fun. He broke his 14-foot tree in two and used building materials to create the illusion.

Oklahoma tops the list of the states most vulnerable to human-caused quakes. Some areas are now as earthquake-prone as California.

In Erie, Pa., firefighters rescued a cat and the woman who tired to get it out of a tree. Stuck in the top branches was Tara Dennis, according to the Erie Times-News.

The cat made its way to the top level of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. As it clung by one paw to the upper deck, fans below grabbed an American flag — which they used to catch the falling feline.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg mounts a campaign against noise pollution, the top complaint on a police "quality of life" hotline. New Yorkers are annoyed by the racket from car horns and personal stereos -- and from loudspeakers coaxing people into bars and restaurants. NPR's Margot Adler reports.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports that Japan's worst economic downturn since World War II has radically changed expectations of young college graduates. In years past, the country's corporate giants would go to the top schools and actively recruit new employees, who generally were given jobs for life. Now it is the students who are chasing employers. And many of them are not finding jobs. Some have given up on full-time employment and simply bounce from one part-time job to another while living with their parents.

Southern California Edison, one of California's cash-strapped electric utilities, defaulted to some of its creditors today. It failed to repay, at least temporarily, a 596-million-dollar wholesale electricity bill. The move brings the company a step closer to bankruptcy. The utility said the action was necessary to allow it to continue operations while state and federal officials seek a regulatory solution to California's power crisis. The state, meanwhile, declared another top level power emergency today, citing a shortage of natural gas needed to generate electricity. Scott Horsley reports.

Noah Adams talks with reporter Tom Gibb about a massive fire which has crippled an enormous 40-story offshore oil rig located 75-miles off Brazil's Atlantic coast. Officials are trying to prevent a spill of the 400,000 gallons of oil on board. The rig may sink within 48 hours. Three explosions on Thursday damaged a pillar supporting the rig; the explosions killed one worker and left nine others missing and presumed dead. The offshore rig was Brazil's top oil producer in the rich Campos Basin.