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A slew of new national polls show President Obama leading presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney — except when he isn't. With 200-plus days until the election, here's a guide to navigating the confounding world of poll watching.

Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is believed to be under U.S. protection in Beijing. It's not the first time China and the U.S. have faced this kind of delicate question. Something similar happened in 1989, and it took a year for the two countries to resolve it.

Steve Inskeep talks to Eric Deggans, TV and media critic for the Tampa Bay Times, about how media outlets are emphasizing different aspects of the Trayvon Martin story to grab the attention of particular audiences. Martin is the Florida teen who was shot to death by a neighborhood watch volunteer in February.

Tempers are boiling in Greece and other European nations that traded bailouts for a strict austerity plan. Some say Germany's rigid solution is already failing, and may even fracture the euro zone. If that happens, that'll be very bad news for the U.S., too.

It's rare for incumbents like Rep. Thad McCotter, the Michigan Republican, to fail to collect enough valid signatures and get on a ballot. But this kind of embarrassment has occasionally happened to others. Fortunately for many politicians, most states don't have such ballot-access requirements or ask for a minimal number of signatures.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker faces Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in a recall election Tuesday that has attracted a lot of outside money. The attempt to remove Walker came after he successfully pushed to limit collective bargaining rights for public sector unions.

Republicans need to pick up four seats to win control of the U.S. Senate in November. One race they're eyeing is in North Dakota, where longtime Democratic incumbent Kent Conrad is retiring. Outside spending is already in play, and the Democratic candidate is distancing herself from President Obama.

In The Price of Inequality, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz argues that widely unequal societies don't function effectively or have stable economies. Even the rich will pay a steep price if economic inequalities continue to worsen, he says.

The British voice mail hacking and police bribery scandal has led to calls for government regulation of the press in one of the world's greatest democracies. Perhaps surprisingly, though, the boisterous British press already operates under more constraints than their U.S. counterparts.

On the campaign trail, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum often discusses his opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage. That message served him well in Iowa with its large contingent of evangelical voters. Christian conservatives are also dominant in South Carolina, which votes Saturday. Santorum hopes to repeat his Iowa performance, but he's been struggling to keep pace in polls.