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Turkey's leaders have called Israel the "West's spoiled child," and the "bully" of the eastern Mediterranean. Yet in September it also quietly signed off on hosting a U.S. radar installation that will share data with Israel.

A joint CIA and U.S. military operation targeted and killed the cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in an air strike this week. Awlaki had been linked to terrorist attacks against the United States and was a key target for several years. NPR's Rachel Martin shares the latest with host Scott Simon.

Many political watchers say the 2012 presidential campaign is shaping up to be the most expensive election cycle in American history. One reason: the growing influence of political action committees, independent groups that raise money largely from corporations, trade unions and the wealthy. Host Scott Simon talks with Bill Burton, co-founder of the Democratic Super PAC Priorities USA Action, about his group's fundraising efforts for the 2012 presidential election.

It's been more than a hundred days since Matt Rutherford has walked on dry land. With any luck, it'll be another 200 before he does. The 30-year-old Marylander is sailing around North and South America. Alexandra Gutierrez of member station KUCB in Unalaska reports that if he makes it, he'll be the first person to do the 23,000-mile trip alone and without stopping.

Homeland premieres Sunday on Showtime. The 13-week drama is a psychological thriller that centers on a CIA officer, played by Claire Danes, who is convinced there is an al-Qaida conspiracy to use a former American POW in a plot against the United States. NPR's counter-terrorism correspondent Dina Temple-Raston has screened the first three episodes of the show and speaks to host Scott Simon about its depiction of terrorism today.

Times are tough in Europe these days. If you crave comfort food in Denmark to lift your mood, it'll cost you. Starting Saturday, shoppers in Denmark will pay extra kroner according to the saturated fat levels of certain foods. It's being called The Fat Tax. Host Scott Simon reflects on Denmark's attempt to fight obesity.

A generation ago, only a handful of African nations regularly held elections. Today, most do. Contests this year have shown that power can change hands peacefully, but that lasting change requires time.

Each Sept. 30, the nation wraps up its old budget, and on Oct. 1, it starts a fresh spending cycle. But once again, the country has no formal budget in place. Uncertainty over the budget not only stresses federal workers but it also hurts the already weak economy, analysts say.

Voters will choose the state's next governor in a special election Tuesday. On the ballot are the man who has been acting governor, Democratic state Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, and GOP businessman Bill Maloney. But Republicans are trying to make the race a referendum on someone else: President Obama.

Several unions are expected to march from City Hall to the protest site in lower Manhattan next week. Occupy Wall Street organizers have plans to build up their makeshift camp in the park, but the real question is how long the city will let the protesters stay.