President Obama signs an executive order today allowing federal funding of research on all new embryonic stem cell lines, which had been restricted under President Bush. We speak with Alice Park, science writer for Time Magazine.

The civil war in Sri Lanka between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority rages on. Right now, thousands of civilians and Tamil Tiger fighters are trapped in a narrow war zone in the north of the country. To show support for the Tamil people, a high school student in Massachusetts took part in a recent hunger strike. We speak to Priya Suntharalingam about her effort. We also speak to Zach Abuza, professor of political science at Simmons College. He's an expert on Southeast Asia politics and security issues.

Airlines are offering great deals to escape the winter blues, but are the fares as good as they look? Carol Sottili, a Washington Post travel writer, tells us how to parse out the good deals from the mirages, and how to lock in low fares before they disappear.

For some communities, foreclosures and empty storefronts are a sign of a sour economy. For New Castle, Indiana, it's yellow freight cars — nearly a hundred of them. We speak with Bruce Atkinson, who grew up in New Castle and is trying to figure out how to clear them out of town; we also speak with Spencer Wendelin, an executive with C & NC Railroad. C & NC owns the tracks.

We talk with singer-songwriter Anne Heaton about her new CD "Blazing Red." The New York Times calls "Jump," the lead track on the recording "absolutely gorgeous."