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Achim Aretz holds the Guinness World Record for running the half marathon, backward. But now, the 27-year-old German athlete says he's tired of doing something almost no one else does and wants to head in a new direction. Reporter Caitlan Carroll caught up with him in Hannover, Germany.

NPR Music's Stephen Thompson recently winnowed the thousands of bands playing the South by Southwest music festival down to a 100-song playlist. Here, he singles out four discoveries — bands he'd never heard but now can't wait to see live.

Since 1829, the Philadelphia International Flower Show has used dazzling flower displays to attract gardeners and plant buffs. But is that enough anymore? This year's show has tried to make visitors part of the exhibition.

U.S. officials say an American Army soldier may have shot at least 15 Afghans before dawn on Sunday in southern Afghanistan. NATO has detained the accused service member.

Pastor Fred Luter has led the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, the largest Southern Baptist church in New Orleans, for 25 years. He recently announced that he is seeking to become the first African-American president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Round 8 of Three-Minute Fiction is open. Author Luis Alberto Urrea, the new judge, is on board and ready to read. The challenge this round: The story must begin with the sentence, "She closed the book, placed it on the table, and finally decided to walk through the door." As always, the story must be 600 words or fewer. To submit a story, go to npr.org/threeminutefiction.

Winning the community is becoming increasingly important for political candidates. A recent poll of Latino voters showed President Obama well ahead of his Republican rivals, but the story is not over for the GOP. In 2004, George W. Bush received 44 percent of the Latino vote, and one Republican strategist thinks they can do it again.

In the past couple of months, computer giant Apple has come under criticism for working conditions in Chinese factories that help build iPads. Last week, NPR met with 25 workers injured in an explosion at an Apple supplier in Shanghai. They criticized safety at the plant and say the accident will have a lasting effect on their lives.

A U.S. soldier is in custody after he allegedly killed 16 Afghan villagers Sunday. The incident is one more blow to an already fragile relationship between the United States and Afghanistan. There are also questions of what the incident will do to the U.S.strategy in Afghanistan.

China is buying more abroad than it sells. February marked the largest trade deficit for China in at least a decade. Imports outpaced exports by $31.5 billion.