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Sri Lanka has been struggling to buy essential imports such as fuel and medicine, and feed its population. The new president has numerous challenges ahead of him.

Jackson Reffitt notified the FBI about his concerns and recorded his father making statements about the Capitol siege on Jan. 6, 2021.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Prague on the opening of The World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings. To counter the expected protests, the World Bank is trying emphasize that they are listening to pleas for social justice...and they're doing that with Bono...the lead singer of the Irish rock band, U2.

Meet the Slow Cities League, a band of about 30 Italian towns that are saying "no" to fast food, and other signs of globalization. These cities are hoping to preserve the easy going pace of small town life.

Music reviewer Reuben Jackson talks about pianist, composer, and band leader Myra Melford's latest CD Dance Beyond the Color. Jackson says Melford has infused the jazz landscape with originality and vision since her emergence in 1991 — and this CD continues in that tradition. (4:00) Please note: The CD is produced by Arabesque recordings.

Charles de Ledesma reviews a new compact disk called, "Duality," by Lisa Gerrard (jair-ARD) and Peter Bourke. Gerrard comes from the band Dead Can Dance and Bourke is from Soma. "Duality" combines traditional rhythms with modern electronic sounds. "Duality" is in stores now on the 4AD label.

Music Critic Tom Moon says a new release by the old band Blind Faith is an example of the revival of free-form rock and roll. It's called the Deluxe Edition, and it contains some previously unreleased 1969 jam session recordings. (5:30) The Deluxe Edition 2-CD set by Blind Faith is on the Uni/Polydor labels.

Mejla Hlavsa, founder, composer and bassist for an underground Czech rock band called the Plastic People of the Universe, has died at the age of 49. The Plastic People were at the center of a struggle for human rights under Communism in Czechoslovakia during the 1970's and 80's. Robert remembers Hlavsa's role in that fight.

Like the late Brother Theodore, the Citizen is one of those New York characters. In the 1970s, he did a show for WBAI that featured live comedy and a troupe that included John Goodman. Today the Citizen plays in the Wretched Refuse String Band and co-hosts another radio show, the Secret Museum of the Air. Jon Kalish has the story.

NPR's Jackie Northam reports on members of a wandering band of young Sudanese refugees who are being resettled in the American Midwest. After losing their parents during the country's 40 years of civil war, thousands of orphans streaming into Kenya became known as the 'Lost Boys of Sudan.'