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Scientists have found a gene that helps to explain why Mexicans are prone to Type 2 diabetes. The disease gene, like many others we humans carry, dates back to the time when humans and Neanderthals had sex thousands of years ago.

After a procedural vote in the Senate on a bill that would temporarily extend emergency insurance for the jobless, President Obama held a White House press conference to pressure Congress to keep the momentum going. But Republican leaders say they need spending cuts or job-creation plans in return.

"I see the government operating the way the founders intended," says FBI Director Jim Comey, who notes that branches of the U.S. government approved the bulk collection of U.S. phone records.

Wearable technology is often said to look dorky. "Stylish" and "fashionable" are not words anyone would associate with devices like Google Glass or smart watches. But companies are now working to embed technology into clothing so that it's unobtrusive or even attractive.

More than 1 million people lost their unemployment benefits as 2014 began. Whether or not those benefits get extended, economists say there are ways to change the program that will make it work better. One suggestion is work sharing, which has helped reduce Germany's unemployment.

Saturday is the day the White House promised the website for the Affordable Care Act will work for the "vast majority of users." NPR's health policy correspondent Julie Rovner explains what that means, and whether the deadline is going to be met.

A computer game wants you to help survey the world's cropland. The hope is that the map will be used by organizations around the globe that are working with farmers to manage their crops better and get more out of each harvest.

For 27 years, Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island for his fight against South Africa's apartheid regime. Saki Macozoma served time on Robben Island alongside Mandela in the 1970s, and he joins Robert Siegel to remember Mandela, who died Thursday at age 95.

The Asia trip is generating the kind of video and headlines that could prove useful if the vice president decides to run for president in 2016.

One reason North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had his uncle executed, some analysts say, is that he felt disrespected. The uncle, Jang Song Thaek, allegedly failed to applaud with enough enthusiasm when Kim was given a key post. It's also thought that Kim wanted to send a message: Don't mess with me.