NPR News

Today — when you can literally take your music anywhere — it's hard to imagine a time when that wasn't possible. So, if you're old enough, cast your mind back 40 years or so. Remember 8-track tapes? In the 1960s and early '70s, they were the way that millions of Americans took their music with them. Now, a museum devoted to the obsolete format is open in Dallas, Texas.

In Wisconsin on Wednesday, thousands of protesters again descended on the state capitol grounds to oppose a budget proposal by the state's newly elected Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Walker wants to strip government unions of most bargaining rights, a move he argues would help bring public sector benefits in line with the private sector.

The uprisings in North African countries are creating newly freed societies, but it they are also triggering an exodus of people hoping to find greater stability and better employment in Europe.

In just a few days, 5,000 Tunisians have landed on Lampedusa, a small Italian island in the Mediterranean that normally has a population of just 6,000. The onslaught is challenging Italy and the rest of Europe to cope with this new migratory wave.

Lampedusa is a tiny flat island dotted with prickly pear cactus and sandy beaches.

Japanese officials said the country was halting its annual whaling expedition because of safety concerns. Commercial whaling has been banned since 1986, but every year, Japan harpoons whales using a part of the regulation that allows killing whales for scientific research.

The announcement comes after weeks of conflict with an American environmental group called Sea Shepherd. The group has been following Japan's Nisshin Maru and blocking its main ramp, which prevents the Japanese from loading any whales.

Global wheat prices more than doubled in the second half of last year, according to a new report from the World Bank. The price of corn, sugar and cooking oil also soared.

Why are global food prices skyrocketing? Who is going to go hungry as a result? And what does it mean for the U.S.?