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NPR's Eric Weiner reports that Japan's worst economic downturn since World War II has radically changed expectations of young college graduates. In years past, the country's corporate giants would go to the top schools and actively recruit new employees, who generally were given jobs for life. Now it is the students who are chasing employers. And many of them are not finding jobs. Some have given up on full-time employment and simply bounce from one part-time job to another while living with their parents.

Southern California Edison, one of California's cash-strapped electric utilities, defaulted to some of its creditors today. It failed to repay, at least temporarily, a 596-million-dollar wholesale electricity bill. The move brings the company a step closer to bankruptcy. The utility said the action was necessary to allow it to continue operations while state and federal officials seek a regulatory solution to California's power crisis. The state, meanwhile, declared another top level power emergency today, citing a shortage of natural gas needed to generate electricity. Scott Horsley reports.

Noah Adams talks with reporter Tom Gibb about a massive fire which has crippled an enormous 40-story offshore oil rig located 75-miles off Brazil's Atlantic coast. Officials are trying to prevent a spill of the 400,000 gallons of oil on board. The rig may sink within 48 hours. Three explosions on Thursday damaged a pillar supporting the rig; the explosions killed one worker and left nine others missing and presumed dead. The offshore rig was Brazil's top oil producer in the rich Campos Basin.

Thomas Ricks, senior Pentagon correspondent for The Washington Post, discusses this week's long-awaited progress report from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the top two American officials in Iraq.

You can buy "full destroyed" high top sneakers. The sneakers come shredded and dirty. For a mere $1,850, you too, can look like you don't care how you look.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair visits Iraq's new prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, in Baghdad. British officials say the leaders spoke about the eventual departure of foreign forces from Iraq. Maliki has said his top priority is halting insurgent attacks and stemming sectarian violence that has wracked the country.

This Sunday, two of the world's top solo explorers will attempt to do what no one has ever done: travel 620 miles on an unsupported mission to the North Pole in the total darkness of Arctic winter.

The new documentary Murderball looks at the rough-and-tumble world of quadriplegic rugby -- otherwise known as "murderball." Fresh Air talks to top-rated player Mark Zupan and Dana Adam Shapiro, the film's co-producer and co-director.

Store shelves these days are packed with products claiming to be "eco-friendly." But it's hard to know exactly what that means. An exhibition in New York tackles that question with the help of 10 top designers. The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum — together with the Nature Conservancy — asked the designers to create surprising products out of renewable materials from 10 different areas in the world.

Workers continue to clear rubble and pull bodies from the wreckage at the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. At least 20 people, including the top U.N. envoy in Iraq, died in the Aug. 19 blast. U.S. civilian administrator Paul Bremer says the United States needs better intelligence and more cooperation from the Iraqi people to stabilize the situation in the country. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.