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The pitch to skip a mortgage or home loan payment is centered on the lender simply extending the loan by a month and paying it on the back end. But the offer has a catch. The lender makes money on the later payment because the borrower pays a little more interest.

As foreclosures continue to rise, regulators and others are questioning the role of credit agencies, which gave top ratings to risky mortgage-backed securities. Critics say the system, in which firms are paid by the companies they rate, is inherently flawed.

This week, U.S. intelligence agencies produced a new assessment of the violence in Iraq and the chances for political reconciliation there. The last National Intelligence Estimate in February said the security situation in Iraq was dire and getting worse. The latest report says it could "continue to improve modestly."

After the retirement of Sen. John Warner, and with Sen. Larry Craig's seat in jeopardy, where do Republicans and Democrats in the Senate stand ahead of the 2008 elections?

Two years after Hurricane Katrina emptied New Orleans, more than 90,000 evacuees live in Houston, permanently it seems. Life for all of them has been difficult, and their stories are a mix of sadness, loneliness and triumphant hope.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon used his State of the Union speech to critique the United States. He said he was protesting what he called the "persecution" of undocumented Mexican workers.

The number of Americans without health insurance grew to an all time high of 47 million last year, an increase of more than 2 million from a year before. The number of children without health insurance coverage also rose. The Census Bureau figures are likely to raise the stakes in the political debate about health care.

As temperatures around the globe rise, the world's mountains are changing. In the Alps, retreating glaciers, more landslides and dramatic rockfalls are causing shifts not only in the physical environment, but in jobs, town budgets, and attitudes.

Since returning to power nearly two years ago, the Taliban have resumed pushing women and girls out of public life. The Taliban now say they're shutting down women's beauty salons.

More Americans are marrying later in life, if they marry at all. NPR's Michel Martin talks with sociology professor Susan Brown about shifting attitudes toward marriage in American society.