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The high court declined the state's request to review a lower court ruling that struck down its ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. That effectively blocks the law permanently, since the appeals court found it unconstitutional.

At the time of the accident, the CDC didn't have a standard for how much of the coal-cleaning chemical is safe in drinking water. So the agency had to come up with one.

The Senate is still struggling to find a way to pay for an extension of unemployment benefits for those out of work for 26 weeks or more. Majority leader Harry Reid agreed to bring up five Democratic and five Republican amendments in hopes to winning enough Republicans over to get to the 60 votes needed for passage.

After failing to agree upon an extension for federal jobless benefits to the long-term unemployed, Congress is vowing to keep trying. The help can't come soon enough for many of the 1.4 million unemployed who saw their checks suddenly cut off last month.

The president's speech Friday offered a revealing look into the nation's phone data collection program and the direction of the surveillance policy debate. But some of biggest controversies have been put off or pushed to Congress.

The U.S. Senate this week failed to end debate on a measure that would reinstate the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program. Some 1.3 million unemployed Americans lost these benefits at the end of 2013, after Congress failed to extend the program. Now, lawmakers can't agree on how to pay for the program in 2014, which means more waiting for the long-term unemployed struggling to get by.

This past week, Somali-born actor Barkhad Abdi received an Academy Award nomination for his role opposite Tom Hanks in the film Captain Phillips. The part was his first acting role. Abdi plays a Somali pirate who leads the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama. He spoke with NPR's Arun Rath in October about learning to relate to his character. (This story originally aired on All Things Considered on Oct. 20, 2013.)

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Rhinoceros horns now sell for more on the black market than cocaine or heroin. Demand from Southeast Asian consumers is primarily to blame. In order to cash in, thieves have begun targeting a different kind of rhino habitat: museums. NPR's Arun Rath speaks with journalist Adam Higginbotham about the so-called "Rathkeale Rovers," a gang suspected of several thefts.

Nick Kroll's sketch comedy TV series, Kroll Show, kicked off its second season this month. One of his signature characters is a seedy, wannabe ladies man named Bobby Bottleservice. Kroll says playing a variety of characters keeps him from being pigeon-holed by his role as Ruxin on the FX show The League.