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Renee Montagne talks with Ofeibea Quist-Arcton about South Africa's 10-day goodbye to Nelson Mandela. His body will lie in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the scene of his presidential inauguration in 1994.

This week we're looking back at the year in music with a peek at NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums of 2013. It's the annual list assembled by our in-house experts, including NPR music writer and editor Stephen Thompson. He tells Audie Cornish about his picks in the world of indie pop.

Seattle broke the Guinness World Record for largest snowball fight in January with 5,834 participants. St. Paul, Minn., hopes to top that next month during its Beer Dabbler Winter Carnival. For more, Melissa Block speaks with Joe Alton, a project manager for the carnival and its snowball-fight organizer.

Inflation in Venezuela — which has hit 54 percent this year — is among the world's highest. Basic goods like toilet paper and milk are out of reach for the average consumer. Presidential orders for business owners to empty their warehouses and slash prices are delighting shoppers, but dismaying shop owners.

Scientists are developing new gigapixel cameras that take extremely high-resolution images with astonishing detail. Who needs to see the world with this kind of super-eye?

These albums might be strange bedfellows, but that's how we listen. This is the music that shook us up, sucked us in, commanded our respect and kept us dancing this year. Get in there.

An increasing number of people are signing up for health insurance through the government's new exchange, suggesting the Obama administration has made progress in fixing its broken website. But the exchange is just one part of the health care law, which remains politically divisive almost four years after its passage.

It's worth pausing to consider not only the legacy and achievements of former South African president Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, but also the rich musical associations of his life.

For the first time in its history, Pakistan is poised to put a former president and army chief of staff on trial. A special court has been convened to hear allegations against General Pervez Musharraf. He's charged with committing treason after he suspended the nation's constitution in 2007 and declared a state of emergency.

Among other things, the law prohibits treatment limits and copayments or deductibles that are more restrictive than a health insurance plan's medical coverage. Now regulations make the specifics clearer.