China's National Petroleum Corporation would be the first foreign company to produce oil in Afghanistan. The Afghan government says the 25-year-deal could create jobs and help develop oil reserves in the northeast part of the country.

Nearly three decades ago, Kenny Buchanan decided to drop out of school. Over the last 26 years, he's jumped from job to job and unemployment. He now has a full-time job and for the first time in years, he and his family have health insurance and can enjoy a few luxuries.

As the debt crisis spreads across Europe, the economy in the region is slowing to a crawl. One place that's starting to feel the impact of the slowdown is the massive port of Rotterdam in Holland. It's the biggest port in the world outside Asia. Much of what's bought and sold in Europe goes through Rotterdam.

In Texas, a private intelligence company has apparently been hacked by the loosely organized activist group Anonymous. Some members claim they obtained personal information about Stratfor's clients, as well as thousands of credit cards numbers which were then used to make donations to charities. But other members have disavowed the hacking job. Freelance journalist Quinn Norton, who has profiled Anonymous for Wired Magazine, talks to Linda Wertheimer about the breach.

With government spending on roadways down nearly 6 percent, it was a tough year for many in the road-building business — but not in Vermont. There, pavers, excavators and other companies have had one of their busiest years ever, thanks to a storm named Irene.

The automaker recently closed its Twin Cities Assembly Plant on a scenic river bluff in St. Paul, Minn. In better times, the parcel of land might have made condo developers drool, but in today's real estate market, redevelopment of the old factory could be a long way off.

The millionaire owner of one Kansas company says his business is stifled — but not from taxes or a sluggish economy. He says he can't find workers to fill open jobs. One problem is that prospective employees won't relocate to rural Kansas, he says.

A five-star hotel in Afghanistan may seem a risky business proposition. But not to the Marriott chain, which is going to manage a six-story hotel under construction in Kabul. Part of the U.S. and NATO security bubble, it will likely draw foreign businesspeople hoping to sign reconstruction deals.

More than half of the long-term unemployed and under-employed have had to borrow money from family and friends to pay their bills, according to a recent NPR News-Kaiser Family Foundation poll. And borrowing from friends and family can complicate the relationships.