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Next week marks the anniversary of a landmark Supreme Court decision that says defendants facing substantial jail time deserve legal representation in state courts, even if they can't afford it. Now, many lawyers say the system for providing defense attorneys for the poor is in crisis.

The tropical island set in turquoise water just off the Great Barrier Reef is the site of an experiment to see what will happen to coral reefs as the ocean absorbs ever more of the carbon dioxide and heat we've added to our planet's thin skin. The results weren't so pretty.

A host of Division 1 games gets underway in men's college basketball Thursday. That play begins a massive national overdose of basketball that will continue for several weeks.The competition will be held at four sites.

Opponents of gay marriage have long argued that children's best interests require both a mom and a dad. Recently, however, the children of same-sex couples have started speaking for themselves, advocating for gay marriage.

A decade ago, as the U.S. led an intervention to Iraq, France stood on the sidelines and members of Congress were so furious that they renamed French fries in the cafeteria as freedom fries. Ten years later, some lawmakers are urging the U.S. to follow the French lead in Syria. France, along with Britain, says it's time to arm the Syrian rebels and tip the military balance to force President Bashar al-Assad out of power. France has also taken a leading role in recent years in Libya, Mali and even on Iran.

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeast Washington state is set to lose $182 million due to federal budget cuts known as the sequester. The cuts come just after news that six tanks full of radioactive waste are leaking. Those tanks are filled with millions of gallons of the most toxic nuclear waste on Earth and are not far from the Northwest's iconic Columbia River.

The daily call-in show will be replaced by Here and Now, which is produced by Boston's WBUR. Talk of the Nation host Neal Conan is leaving NPR after more than three decades with the network. Science Friday will continue.

Palestinians object to all Israeli settlements in the West Bank. But one in particular, the E-1, is a major source of friction. Israelis say it's merely the expansion of an existing settlement. But critics say the Israelis are building a ring around Palestinian neighborhoods of east Jerusalem, cutting them off from the West Bank.

Melissa Block talks to University of South Carolina political scientist Mark Tompkins about Republican Mark Sanford and Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, who are running for Congress in the state. Sanford is a former governor who said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2009 when he was actually having an extramarital affair in Argentina. Colbert Busch is the sister of late-night comedian, Stephen Colbert.

For the first time, new nationwide science standards due out soon will recommend teaching K-12 students about climate change. Educators say many teachers have shied away from the polarizing topic, and an organized campaign to promote it as "controversial" leaves many students confused.