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Illinois' pension gap is estimated at $83 billion — and it costs $12.6 million more every day the state does nothing to address the crisis. The state can't readily come up with the money, and while politicians say they want to help, they're unlikely to act during an election year.

The eurozone crisis has led to sharp spending cuts and, with an economy based on public sector wages, Sicily is being called Italy's Greece. The central government fears Sicily's debt of more than $6 billion could further endanger Italy's financial stability.

Halal meat butchers have a reputation for quality in France. And with an estimated 6 million Muslims now living there, halal products are becoming increasingly popular, and sometimes political. Now one French-Algerian restaurant is trying to make French-Halal fusion food official.

The typical first-time mother takes 6 1/2 hours to give birth these days. Her counterpart 50 years ago labored for barely four hours. That's a finding with big implications for current rates of cesarean sections.

In France, residents go to the polls Sunday in the first round of a two-part presidential election. The top two vote-getters from Sunday's balloting go to a runoff on May 6. As NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports, incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy is trailing Socialist candidate Francois Hollande.

NCAA basketball's Final Four teams will play in New Orleans Saturday, to decide who will play in Monday night's title game. The first match-up pits Louisville against No. 1 Kentucky. In the second game, Ohio State will face the University of Kansas.

German Catholics are facing a stark choice: Pay a church tax or forget about receiving the sacraments, including baptisms, weddings and funerals. Germany taxes registered Catholics, Protestants and Jews. In 2011, the tax raised $6.5 billion for the Catholic Church alone. Many progressives and conservatives are up in arms over the German bishops' decree.

As part of the "fiscal cliff" deal moving through Congress, a two-year-old payroll tax holiday comes to an end. Under the tax holiday, the 6.2 percent payroll tax was cut to 4.2 percent for all American workers. NPR's John Ydstie talks about what the change will mean for employees and the economy.

By now you know that California is preparing to vote Nov. 6 on a ballot initiative to require labels on genetically modified food. While polls show people evenly split on the issue, scientists says such labeling is misleading and may scare consumers.

Those opposed to taxes and big government are putting their money where their mouths are in the state. A food drive there was put together by libertarians and anarchists, and they say they privately funded, voluntary charity is superior to the welfare system.