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The African nation of Mali has long claimed it gave birth to the blues. Renee Montagne reports that the country's musical tradition was threatened this past year when Islamist militants took over the deserts of northern Mali and banned music.

The Internet is causing big changes to the hospitality business. Instead of sleeping in hotels, many travelers now spend the night in private homes, which they find through websites such as Airbnb. But there's a catch.

India has dispatched investigators to Italy to examine allegations of kickbacks involving a $700 million defense deal. The case involves the sale of a dozen helicopters to India from one of Italy's largest industrial groups, Finmeccanica.

The singer-songwriter plays a few warmly charming songs from her latest album, Deer Creek Canyon.

Barely three years after the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United ruling freed corporations and unions to spend wildly in elections, the justices decided to take up another campaign finance case — this one aimed at a limit on "hard money" that goes directly to candidates and party committees.

A group of nurses is competing for $10,000 in a weight-loss contest. A New York man motivated himself by pledging to donate to a cause he hated. Both approaches use money to reach a target weight. But which is better — the carrot or the stick?

Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri returned to his home country late last year, after spending eight years in Canada. The cleric has ignited a disgruntled electorate by taking on Pakistan's government, saying it has failed to curb militancy or fix the economy. His critics call him a demagogue who's more interested in the limelight.

With its mission to tell stories from underrepresented perspectives, Cinereach has supported more than 100 movies, including Beasts of the Southern Wild and The Queen of Versailles.

A massive civil lawsuit over liability for the worst oil disaster in U.S. history goes to trial next week in New Orleans. The U.S. Justice Department and Gulf states say BP was grossly negligent and put profits over safety, leading to the 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon. Eleven rig workers were killed. Settlement talks have continued but states say they are pushing for a trial to make sure BP is held accountable and pays to restore the Gulf Coast environment and economy.

The Pentagon plans to notify members of Congress Wednesday about its plans to furlough some 800,000 civilian employees later this spring. That's just one consequence of the federal government's automatic spending cuts, which are due to take effect next week. President Obama is urging Congress to halt the cuts, at least temporarily, while lawmakers try to craft a more lasting budget agreement.