Amid the ongoing protests in Egypt, there are calls for parliamentary elections to be postponed. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi has announced the country's first free elections in decades will go on as planned next week. Some protesters say the elections should be delayed until the military cedes power to a civilian authority.

Across Latin America, movies and soap operas have glamorized the lives of drug lords and their gangs. A new Mexican movie, Miss Bala, takes a realistic look at the fear that grips many Mexicans today.

The uprisings in the Arab world have altered the political landscape in North Africa and the Middle East. Islamist parties, often suppressed under autocratic leaders, have gained ground in Tunisia and are poised to do well in Egypt and Libya as well. This trend has forced the U.S. to rethink its dealings with political Islam. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the U.S. will see what those parties do and engage those who play by democratic rules.

The head of Egypt's ruling military council announced measures aimed at appeasing protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square. But the general's speech appears to have backfired, with tens of thousands of protesters demanding he leave office immediately. NPR's Soraya Nelson talks to Robert Siegel.

The three American students who were arrested during protests near Cairo's Tahrir Square last week, have been released.

A drought in East Africa pushed millions toward starvation this year. The U.N. says relief efforts are paying off, with some areas of Somalia no longer seeing famine. But relief may be undermined by political instability and threats from the militant group al-Shabab. Guest host Tony Cox checks in with Jeffrey Gettleman of The New York Times.