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The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is attacking Nintendo's new video game Super Mario 3-D Land. In the game, Super Mario sometimes wears the skin of a tanooki, which is a raccoon dog. Since tanooki are, in real life, killed for their fur, the group says the game "sends the message that it's OK to wear fur."

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Let's remember a bit of very recent history. Back in August, Congress came close to defaulting on U.S. government debts. Republicans wanted big cuts in spending. They finally got some, but a deal with President Obama pushed more deficit reductions off to the future, to a bipartisan committee which has been meeting this fall, and now has one week left until its deadline to reach a deal.

At an Iowa town hall meeting Tuesday, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry laid out a plan to, as he put it, uproot and overhaul the federal government. Among other things, Perry would end life-time tenure for federal judges including those on the Supreme Court, and make members of Congress take a 50 percent pay cut.

Australia is the latest stop on President Obama's tour of the Pacific Rim countries that the president thinks should be the new focus of U.S. foreign policy. It is already the focus of a competition for influence with China.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

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And here's a follow-up to the dramatic scandal at Olympus, which we've been following on this program. It's one of Japan's most respected corporations - or it was. Now executives Olympus are facing criminal charges and prison sentences. The company may be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and may also go bankrupt. All this after revelations of dubious acquisitions and allegations of massive accounting fraud. From Tokyo, Lucy Craft has more.

The House Financial Services Committee voted on Wednesday to suspend nearly $13 million in bonuses paid to executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The measure would also prohibit future bonuses. The Senate is expected to take up similar legislation.

Most mornings George Uraguchi grabs his paddle board and heads down this steep secluded canyon in Palos Verdes, one of Los Angeles County's wealthier coastal communities. On one recent morning though his predawn excursion was interrupted by what he saw in the still water.

"It was more than just debris," Uraguchi says. "I saw some life jackets and when I looked a little bit closer and sure enough there was an overturned boat out there."

Uraguchi called 911, then hopped into the water and paddled out through the floating life jackets and bobbing fuel cans.

The 2012 presidential campaign is already being shaped by new rules for political money. The Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling allows corporations to jump into the presidential contest, as lower-court rulings and the Federal Election Commission provide new avenues through which corporate money can flow.