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African agriculture is in crisis, and Africa's farmland is losing its fertility at an alarming rate. Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa don't produce enough food to feed their own people, while population growth is outpacing agricultural production.

A few years ago, Pete Seeger offered this advice to Josh Ritter, a young singer-songwriter: "Choose a place and dig in." With songs like "Idaho," Ritter puts the listener in a place that's very much like the singer's own.

In the past month, authorities have uncovered at least four apparent plots to stage Columbine-style rampages in schools. Police arrested students in Kansas, Alaska, and Washington state after the students sent messages to friends about their intentions.

In a stunning reversal of fortune, it now seems likely that Pluto will lose its title of planet. Scientists meeting in Prague were presented with a new definition of the word "planet" last week, which would have included Pluto as a planet. But the proposal met with fierce protests. Opponents say there are hundreds of objects like Pluto.

Proust sure had it right, writes Gail Chalew. Tasting a familiar food can trigger instant memories of simpler, happier times. For this returned New Orleans evacuee, green tomatoes, that piquant and uniquely Southern delicacy, are the food inextricably linked to the Big Easy.

A divided U.S. Supreme Court rules on cases involving campaign-finance reform and the death penalty. Justices rejected a Vermont law that limited how much money a candidate can raise or spend. They upheld a Kansas law mandating a death sentence if evidence for and against the punishment appear equal. Madeleine Brand speaks with Slate legal analyst Dahlia Lithwick about the latest rulings.

Canada is calling for the arrest of a senior Iranian official in connection with the death of a female photojournalist. The woman was arrested while taking photographs of a prison. Hard-line Iranian authorities said she died of a stroke. Iranian reformists have said she was tortured to death.

A growing number of Israeli reserve soldiers, frustrated at the way the war with Hezbollah was managed, are calling for senior political and military officials to resign. Some soldiers have launched a petition drive; others are protesting outside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office. Many soldiers say they lacked vital equipment and were misled by dithering leaders.

Before most Americans had heard of the Taliban, Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid wrote a book about them. After the Sept. 11 attacks, it became a best-seller. Rashid's recent reporting for English-language newspapers involves Islamist militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying to push through legislation to force state businesses to cap their greenhouse gas emissions. If it passes, it would be the first law of its kind in the nation.