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Calling someone a "rat" is no compliment, but a new study shows that rats actually are empathetic and will altruistically lend a helping paw to a cage mate who is stuck in a trap.

Susan Stamberg gathers recommendations for the season's best books from independent booksellers Lucia Silva, Rona Brinlee and Daniel Goldin. This winter, their top picks range in subject from toasters to typeface, odd bookmarks to old Volkswagens, department stores to pasta design.

Sunday marks the fifth anniversary of Mexican President Felipe Calderon's declaration of all-out war against drug traffickers in his country. In 2006, he vowed to use all the powers of the state to take down the drug lords. The narco-war has left a stunning toll — more than 40,000 people dead.

European Union leaders wrapped up a 10-hour-long meeting in Brussels agreeing on a fiscal pact that will require stricter budget discipline. But Britain is among countries not signing on to the deal. The head of the European Central Bank is calling the pact positive. It's not clear, though, whether the move is enough to relieve Europe's debt crisis in the near future. NPR's Philip Reeves wraps up the meeting.

After meeting Friday in Brussels until the early morning hours, most European leaders agreed to a plan to move ahead with more budget discipline. Are world financial markets likely to see the talks as a failure or as progress?

Spirit Airlines has launched a new promotion mocking former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was sentenced to 14 years this week for crimes including trying to sell a vacant U.S. Senate Seat. Spirit's "Slammer Sale" features $14 fares in and out of Chicago. The airline is calling this a "seat-selling" sale.

Authorities have started to arrest some of the hospital's owners and staff. Families of the victims allege patients were abandoned and left to die in the fire.

Set in the Cold War era, the espionage thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy spotlights a retired security agent's mission to uncover a Russian spy within Britain's MI6. David Edelstein says the movie is thrilling, creepy and full of "faces you'll love to study."

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said the temperatures at the plant have fallen below boiling point.

A ferocious fire at the largest hospital in Hartford, Conn., killed 16 people 50 years ago. The results of an investigation into the blaze led stricter fire codes and construction standards for hospitals across the country.