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An Afghan money changer holds a stack of Iranian currency at Khorasan market in Herat, Afghanistan, The value of Afghanistan's currency is tumbling, exacerbating an already severe economic crisis. Mstyslav Chernov/AP hide caption

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Mstyslav Chernov/AP

Afghan currency slides and prices surge as already battered economy worsens

The value of Afghanistan's currency is tumbling, exacerbating a severe economic crisis and deepening poverty in a country where more than half the population already doesn't have enough to eat.

Doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine is packaged in a box at the McKesson facility on March 1, 2021 in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. Pool/Getty Images hide caption

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Pool/Getty Images

The CDC narrows the use of the J&J; vaccine due to concerns about rare blood clots

The agency implemented experts' advice because of a rare and sometimes fatal blood-clotting problem known as TTS. More than 16 million people in the U.S. have received a shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Children line up to enter a tent at the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children in Homestead, Fla., in Feb. 2019 The American Civil Liberties Union and other attorneys filed a lawsuit on behalf of thousands of immigrant families who were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 3, 2019. Wilfredo Lee/AP hide caption

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Wilfredo Lee/AP

Justice Department Breaks Off Talks On Compensation For Separated Families

The U.S. has left negotiations about paying monetary damages to families who were forcibly separated while seeking to enter at the southern border during the Trump administration.

A federal judge on Thursday, rejected OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy settlement of thousands of lawsuits over the opioid epidemic because of a provision that would protect members of the Sackler family from lawsuits. Douglas Healey/AP hide caption

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Douglas Healey/AP

A judge rejects Purdue Pharma's opioid settlement that would protect the Sackler family

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon ruled that federal bankruptcy law does not authorize the court to release people who are not declaring bankruptcy themselves from separate lawsuits.

After an unprecedented year in natural disasters, cities like Hoboken and New York City, pictured here after Hurricane Ida, say better weather forecast can save lives. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images hide caption

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David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

After a year of deadly weather, cities look to private forecasters to save lives

New York City and Hoboken are the latest localities finalizing a deal with a private weather service, stepping away from something that has largely been the job of the federal government.

After a year of deadly weather, cities look to private forecasters to save lives

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY., had promised the Senate would vote on President Biden's spending bill before Christmas, that plan has stalled. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption

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J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Democrats are forced to regroup as Biden's signature spending bill stalls

For weeks, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had promised a vote on Biden's social and climate agenda before Christmas. But all 50 senators in the caucus have not been able to unify behind the plan.

Meta banned seven surveillance firms from Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp on Thursday, accusing the firms of using the platforms to spy on about 50,000 unsuspecting people. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images

Facebook bans 7 'surveillance-for-hire' companies that spied on 50,000 users

The parent company of Facebook and Instagram says the firms used its platforms to spy on human rights activists, government critics, celebrities and journalists in more than 100 countries.

Karen Pittman and Cynthia Nixon star in HBO's new series And Just Like That, a follow up to the hit series Sex and the City that ran from 1998 to 2004. Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max hide caption

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Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max

'And Just Like That' stars talk race, fashion and whether *that* college scene worked

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks to actors Cynthia Nixon and Karen Pittman about their roles in HBO's Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That.

'And Just Like That' stars talk race, fashion and whether *that* college scene worked

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Claudette Colvin arrives outside juvenile court to file paperwork to have her juvenile record expunged, Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, in Montgomery, Ala. A judge on Thursday, Dec. 16, has approved a request to wipe clean the court record of Colvin, who was arrested for refusing to move to the back of a segregated Alabama bus in 1955. Vasha Hunt/AP hide caption

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Vasha Hunt/AP

She refused to move bus seats months before Rosa Parks. At 82, her arrest is expunged

Claudette Colvin was 15 when she was arrested for refusing to move to the back of a segregated Alabama bus in 1955. After 66 years, a judge has approved her request to clear her record.

Residents clear fallen trees Thursday, after a strong storm swept through Hartland, Minn. A powerful storm system swept across the Great Plains and Midwest, bringing hurricane-force wind gusts and spawning reported tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota. Christian Monterrosa/AP hide caption

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Christian Monterrosa/AP

The U.S. set a new record for powerful wind gusts, with 55 in one day

Winds peaked at 100 mph in Russell, Kansas, one of many places where existing wind records for December were obliterated, the National Weather Service said.

A preschooler reaches into her cubby at a preschool center in Mountlake Terrace, Wash. Journalist Claire Suddath says the U.S. child care industry is in need of an overhaul. Elaine Thompson/AP hide caption

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Elaine Thompson/AP

As child care costs soar, providers are barely getting by. Is there any fix?

Fresh Air

Bloomberg Businessweek journalist Claire Suddath explains why child care is so unaffordable in the U.S. and why attempts to provide federal funding for care keep failing in Congress

President Joe Biden presents the Medal of Honor to Army Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee for his actions in Afghanistan on Aug. 28, 2013, during an event in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption

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Evan Vucci/AP

Biden awards Medals of Honor to 3 soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan

The medals were given for acts of "gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty." Two were awarded posthumously, including one to the first Black recipient since the Vietnam War.

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