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Clifford Odets, remembered as the defining American playwright of the 1930s, would have turned 100 this year. His works -- including Waiting for Lefty, Awake and Sing and Golden Boy brought social realism to the stage. Many companies around the country are staging his plays.

The smaller-than-normal crowds at Mardi Gras this week symbolize the lingering impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans' economy. The city's hotels are struggling to recover, but a shortage of workers is hampering their comeback.

Many American soldiers spending the holiday on duty in Mosul are watching with detachment as the war in Iraq is debated back home. But some say they are a bit frustrated by calls for a swift pullout of troops.

A gunman murders a pro-rebel member of the Sri Lankan parliament in a church during midnight Mass. The attack is the latest in a string of incidents that has heightened tensions between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels, and threatens to revive a civil war.

Reclusive director Terrence Malick's new movie, The New World, tells the story of Captain John Smith and the beginnings of the English presence in the Americas. Critic Bob Mondello says The New World is in some ways a reflection of Malick's career -- languid in pacing, with beauty in every frame.

Blue Highway's CD Marbletown is topping the bluegrass charts and has been nominated for a Grammy. Founder Tim Stafford and dobro player Rob Ickes tell Debbie Elliott what's behind the group's music.

In his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, President Bush highlighted a strong domestic economy, cited progress in democratizing Iraq and claimed success in fighting terrorism. John Ydstie examines some of the assertions put forth in the speech.

Katherine Bright, manager of Amazon World Zoo Park on the Isle of Wight, discusses the case of Toga, the zoo's baby South African Jackass Penguin. Toga was taken from the zoo Sunday morning and is still unaccounted for. The zoo has offered a 1,000-pound reward for the bird.

On Christmas Eve, 1945, the Sodder family of Fayetteville, W.V., lost five children in a fire. Strange events that night and afterward fueled speculation, which continues to this day, that the children may have been kidnapped or murdered.

Halloween, Alaska is a pop group from Minnesota, with an evocative sound that fits the bittersweet change of the seasons. Too Tall to Hide is their latest CD. The band's singer-guitarist James Diers and keyboardist Ev — just Ev — visit with Brian Naylor.