France is officially the 14th country to legalize gay marriage. Saturday, President Francois Hollande signed a bill that Parliament had passed in April, which gives same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt.

Of all the controversies swirling around the Obama White House, the Internal Revenue Service scandal seems likeliest to have the longest shelf life.

While the Benghazi affair has long been in the news, it's never really taken off as an issue beyond the Republican base.

Two Metro-North Railroad trains have collided on a stretch of track near Fairfield, Conn., causing a "major derailment" and "preliminary reports of injuries," according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

[Update at 8:55 p.m. ET: The Associated Press quotes Connecticut officials as saying about 50 people have been hurt, four of them seriously.]

According to The Hartford Courant:

The British Foreign Office is happy to assist its citizens, but officials want to make clear that there are some requests they won't fulfill.

Such as supplying Olympic tickets or doing a background check on that Swedish woman you met online.

Those are just a few of the "often good natured" but distracting requests that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) says it received over the past year, according to a press release issued Thursday.

Boston's Jesse Dee has a powerful voice you won't soon forget.  He brings his neo-soul sound to Studio B before playing Charlotte Wednesday, then Brevard and Charlotte again this weekend.  “His music feels like spring. It's soul music, but it's really happy soul music. It's in the tradition of Sam Cooke and Chuck Jackson. And there's a little spirit of Joe Tex in there."  -- Bruce Iglauer, president of Alligator Records.

Asheville's trio The Swayback Sisters returns to Studio B Thursday morning.  Laura Blackley, Mary Ellen Davis, and Cary Fridley unite their solo talents to create a blend of country soul, Appalachian folk, and acoustic blues.  They share the stage with our fellow friends The Lazybirds in Asheville on Thursday the 30th, followed by a string of shows in Black Mountain, Boone, Hendersonville, and other locales.

Hailing from Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, The Steel Wheels return to our area yet again, with their four-part harmonies (inspired by their shared Mennonite heritage), reverence for Appalachian roots, and wonderful community spirit.  They'll play live versions of songs from their latest release "No More Rain" before heading to Union Grove and Charlotte for shows there.

When the American Psychiatric Association releases its new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -- DSM-5 -- this weekend, lots of journalists and commentators will refer to it as "psychiatry's bible."

That's a term that makes the manual's authors and other mental experts cringe.

"Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass"!  It just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?  And it flowed effortlessly when the jamband Leftover Salmon brought their self-described style to packed venues, most notably in their home state of Colorado, and in our Southeastern Appalachian corner of the country.  This album from 1992 was their recording debut for their fans, having first formed in 1989 when Vince Herman's band the Salmon Heads asked some members of the Left Hand String Band (mandolinist Drew Emmitt and the late banjo pioneer Mark Vann) to sit in.  Join us for this 21-year-old flashback, as we ge