NPR News

They've been called the first "Social Games" — and the London Summer Olympics have delivered on that promise, making social stars out of athletes like gymnast Gabby Douglas, who saw her Facebook fanbase grow by nearly 4,000 percent during the games.

Gymnasts Marcel Nguyen and Jordyn Wieber were also among the big winners on Facebook, according to a research firm that tracked athletes' fan numbers during the games.

Two days after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney introduced him as his running mate, Paul Ryan made his first solo appearance at the Iowa State Fair, today.

It's a grand tradition in Des Moines where candidates stand on a "soapbox" and get a microphone and 20 minutes to say whatever they like.

Dr. Jamie Lynn Garcia was a tireless champion for the poor, devoting her life to healthcare for all.

In 2002, she founded the two-room Pomona Free Clinic. Her community needed more. She spent the next 10 years building and staffing an expanded clinic.

In 2010 she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She continued to work through her chemotherapy.

Lately, parents, teachers and policymakers have been experimenting with all kinds of different ways to keep unhealthy food out of schools. Some schools are limiting bake sales, as we reported earlier this year, while others are preparing lunches from scratch.

At least three people are dead after a shooting incident near the Texas A&M campus in College Station, Texas.

During a televised press conference, Assistant Chief Scott McCollum said a police officer and a civilian were killed during the shooting. McCollum said the alleged gunman was also shot, but he is now in custody.

The (Bryan-College Station) Eagle reports that at least five people were taken to the hospital, "but it wasn't known if all were gunshot victims."

The longtime and legendary editor of Cosmopolitan Magazine Helen Gurley Brown died today. The Hearst Corporation, which published Cosmopolitan, announced her death in a press release, according to the Albany Times-Union.

She was 90.

NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin filed this remembrance for our Newscast unit:

"Brown made her name by writing frankly about women and sex when that was truly a rare thing.

The London 2012 Olympics were billed as the Social Games, with Twitter, Facebook and other services making it an immersive experience. But it might be remembered as "The Crying Games," for the swelling of emotions many Britons experienced. We run down some of the Olympics' winners and losers:

The Losers

The Stiff Upper Lip