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Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart all celebrate their 50th year of business this year. They were born after prohibitions against volume discounts and set prices broke down. Now the giant chains face one of their biggest challenges — evolving in the Internet age.

Researchers and companies are bringing movement back into the office with treadmill desks, walking meetings and games. Employees say it has helped them lose weight and be more productive.

Sales of existing homes rose again in October. Meanwhile, home builders are the most confident they've been in more than six years. Taken together, the reports are the latest signs that the housing sector is on the mend.

Federal lawmakers and the White House are looking for solutions to the problem of the looming fiscal cliff. Meanwhile, many federal workers are worried about their future. Guest host Celeste Headlee talks with Joe Davidson, the Federal Diary columnist for The Washington Post, about potential consequences for the federal workforce.

Actor Irrfan Khan talks about his role in the new movie Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee and based on the best-selling novel of the same name. Khan also starred in Slumdog Millionaire, The Namesake and A Mighty Heart.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the city of Goma in eastern Congo, after an attack by militants who the Democratic Republic of Congo says are supported by Rwanda. The renewed fighting is the worst in recent years for the troubled area.

Critic Alan Cheuse says Canadian short story writer Alice Munro's new collection, Dear Life: Stories, is both arresting and worth reading.

Israeli war planes bombed the center of Gaza City again on Monday, as the Palestinian death toll neared the 100 mark. At least one Palestinian journalist was killed in an air strike on a building that housed media organizations, including those affiliated with Hamas and other militant groups. Israeli officials, meanwhile, say they are still hoping for a ceasefire agreement that would make a ground offensive into Gaza unnecessary. Audie Cornish talks to Sheera Frenkel.

Conductor John Eliot Gardiner and author Matthew Guerrieri explain the incredible resonances, past and present, behind one of the most famous phrases in music: the start to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

The Justice Department has a big decision to make. Parts of new laws in Colorado and Washington that legalize recreational marijuana take effect next month. The Obama administration must decide whether it will sue to stop that or let the states go their own way, despite federal law.