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As tensions build between Israel and Hamas increase, leaders on both sides have expressed their willingness to reach a diplomatic solution. New leadership in Egypt and more powerful weapons have changed the nature of the conflict.

For those who want to buy bling with bling, a bank in Kazakhastan plans to offer a Visa card made of gold plus a couple of dozen diamonds and mother of pearl. It will require $100,000 upfront, and an annual fee of $2,000 — but there are no late frees and you get a free iPhone.

It's an anniversary that most Americans can celebrate — the birthday of the Big Box. Discount shopping as we know it, began 50 years ago. In 1962 enterprising retailers invented Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart.

These stores changed the way we shop and the way we think about price. Historian Marc Levinson, author of The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America, talked to NPR's Linda Wertheimer about what happened all those years ago, and how the stores will continue to evolve in the Internet age.

Enlarge Target

This is among the first Target stores. The company now operates 1,782 stores across the United States.

President Obama was in Thailand Sunday at the start of a brief tour of Southeast Asia. The trip is supposed to show Obama's commitment to shifting U.S. focus onto Asia and the Pacific, but events in the Middle East and Washington threaten to overshadow the tour. Guy Raz Scott Horsley