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Lady Rhea is not the kind of witch you'll find in a pointy hat this Halloween. She is a real workaday Wiccan, grinding out a living selling magic products in the Bronx.

In the last of a three-part series, All Things Considered talks with several North Carolinians who are living in poverty, but aspire to the middle class. Hard work is key to a better life, they say — but it's not easy to keep moving up the ladder.

Switzerland, which is almost synonymous with secretive banking, is looking for more staff to handle a flood of new requests from other countries that are looking for tax cheats. Last year the number of inquiries from overseas tax authorities almost doubled, to more than 700.

Much of New York City and the surrounding area remain in a state of emergency. More than two days after a powerful storm, entire neighborhoods remain dark, without electricity and in need of basic supplies. Just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, the mayor of Hoboken is trying to get help for thousands of people in the city.

Sandy's economic cost won't be known for weeks or even months, but there are clear financial losers and some beneficiaries from the devastating storm. While airlines, many hotels and small businesses are clear losers, home improvement chains and construction crews will come out ahead. But overall, natural disasters are not good for the economy, despite the activity that rebuilding generates.

A coffee chain in Britain surveyed its customers and found 70 percent suffered "coffee confusion." So the chain is now offering a new trial menu in plain English. A latte is now "really really milky coffee." A cappuccino — "frothy coffee." And a mocha — "chocolate-flavored coffee."

Something dark lies nestled inside a bucolic Shanghai park: a quaint cottage that is actually a secret detention center, known as a "black jail." Researchers say thousands of Chinese are detained each year in this draconian system of jails the state says doesn't exist.

The war in Afghanistan has gone largely unmentioned by both presidential campaigns. With a withdrawal scheduled for 2014, public opinion has turned ever more negative on America's longest war. Amid continued insider attacks, many ask why we continue to risk American lives.

The singer establishes himself as a rough-around-the-edges soul man on his debut, Time's All Gone.

New Yorkers were ready to get back to work on Thursday, but the region's transportation system wasn't ready to handle all of them. At bus and subway stops there were long lines and frustration, while drivers had their own long waits for the city's bridges and tunnels.