The secretary of Agriculture says if the sequester cuts go into effect, he'll have to furlough food safety inspectors. What would that mean for food companies and consumers?

Van Cliburn, the only solo musician of any genre to receive a ticker-tape parade in New York City and the first classical musician to sell a million albums, died Wednesday. The Texan soared to world fame in 1958 when he won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War.

For years federal regulators cracked down on online gambling, deeming it illegal. But in 2011, the Justice Department changed its mind and now states are beginning to see an opportunity. Renee Montagne talks to David Schwartz of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas about these new laws, and what they mean for the future of gambling.

The powerful head of Mexico's teacher's union is in jail charged with embezzling about $160 million in union funds. Prosecutors claim some of the money went to plastic surgery, real estate in the U.S. and other luxury expenses.

The Italian sausage costume disappeared earlier this month. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that the sausage was seen bar-hopping. It's not clear if anyone will get the reward: a year's supply of mustard and sauerkraut

Automatic spending cuts are scheduled to take effect Friday. Over time, the across-the-board spending cuts could slow economic growth and lead to hundreds of thousands of government employees going out on furlough.

Rudolpho Anaya's 1972 novel Bless Me, Ultima is a classic of Chicano literature. The story begins for Antonio, 6, when Ultima comes to live with his New Mexico family in 1944. Ultima is called a witch, but she considers herself a woman with healing knowledge of medicinal herbs and remedies.

Pope Benedict's resignation becomes final Thursday. After meeting with the cardinals, he departs via helicopter to the papal retreat south of Rome. Meanwhile pressure intensifies on the College of Cardinals whose duty it is to select the next pope. Church liberals, conservatives, women's groups, victims of sexual abuse, new Catholics in the developing world — all will want to be heard.

It's expected that more than one million software and programming jobs will open up in the United States between now and 2020. But the country's educational system is not on track to train enough people to fill those jobs.

Three years after an earthquake destroyed much of Haiti's capital, it's clear that only a fraction of the $9 billion pledged in international relief reached the country. Most of what did arrive went to short-term relief, instead of rebuilding people's homes.

"No pain, no gain" goes all the way back to the 1500s, and we have Shakespeare to thank for the phrase "cold fish." In The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Christine Ammer explores the origins of more than 10,000 nonliteral sayings.

Class-action lawsuits accuse Anheuser-Busch of watering down Budweiser and other beers and then misleading consumers about their alcohol content. The company denies the claims; in tests commissioned by NPR, samples of Budweiser were found to be in line with their advertised alcohol content.

When Sequoia, a bald eagle at the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo, got caught in a strong wind while spreading her wings at a local park, she took off. The San Jose Mercury News reports it took three days for the bald eagle's handlers to track her down.

The competition coordinator of Britain's Diagram Prize says, "You can't judge a book by its cover, but I think people do." The winner will be announced March 22.

Two days of talks on Iran's nuclear program ended in Kazakhstan Tuesday. Although there were no dramatic breakthroughs, officials reported there was enough movement to return to the table in April to try to resolve concerns and questions about the program.

Reaction is coming in after the Obama administration's unusual move releasing immigration detainees due to budget cuts. An Arizona sheriff is blasting the sequestration gridlock for undermining the safety of local communities. Immigrant rights groups, however, say it shouldn't take a budget crisis to do what they think is right.

Usually when we come up to the edge of one of these deadlines there are 11th-hour negotiations, and the two parties manage to swerve away from the precipice at the last minute. What about this time?

Renee Montagne and Linda Wertheimer have the Last Word in business.

Vince Sicari presides over traffic ticket cases, among other things, in South Hackensack, N.J. It's only a part-time position. By night, the judge moonlights as a standup comic which violates state ethics rules. Sicari has appealed to the state's highest court, arguing the public can tell the difference between his two personas.

Former Illinois legislator Robin Kelly has captured the Democratic nomination in the race to replace disgraced former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. She is all but assured a win in April's general election because the Chicago-area district is overwhelmingly Democratic.