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A referendum next month in Sudan will decide whether the country will be divided between the Arab, mostly Muslim north and the ethnic African south. Whether things turn bloody may hinge on what happens in Abyei, a disputed region along the border of north and south.

NPR INVESTIGATION: In states like Illinois, parents can provide at-home care for children with severe illnesses and Medicaid foots the bill. But the funding disappears the minute they turn 21, forcing families to make a painful choice: Find the money to pay for sometimes exorbitant health care costs or send their children to a nursing home.

Darryl Pendergrass, his wife and their two boys live on his $43,000-a-year salary, right about the median income for the state. But because of state budget shortfalls, he hasn't had a raise in five years. His wife says that has meant giving up some of the niceties they once enjoyed.

Egyptians say that two colonial-era agreements forever guarantee them most of the Nile's flow. But other countries in the Nile River basin want more access to the water.

Astrakhan, on the Volga River, once was known as Russia's caviar capital — but no more. As the fish neared extinction, Russia banned all commercial sturgeon fishing in the area and the export of all black caviar. Now, both the sturgeon and the local people struggle to survive.

Most Americans are more likely to use credit cards, online banking or even mobile phones to pay the bills, but one check company is hoping to breathe a little life into the ledger.

Highway safety officials are considering whether to recommend banning all cell phone use by drivers. Such a ban would include hand-held and hands-free devices. Eight states and the District of Columbia now ban hand-held cell phone use; 30 states ban texting while driving.

A Colorado gas station and car wash owner is already feeling the impact of sharply rising crude prices. Some analysts say continued increases could slow down the economy as it struggles to recover.

More than 3 million Americans have taken advantage of a the generous tax break. But some experts say all it really did was shift the timing of some sales -- and might have set in motion events that just added to the glut of unsold homes.

The U.S. unemployment rate surged far higher and has remained higher than in other major industrial countries. It's now at 9.6 percent. The big shift came when American companies cut workers more aggressively than foreign firms in the face of the financial crisis.