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Automatic federal budget cuts that kicked in March 1 have had little initial impact in many parts of the government. In a few programs, however, the effect has been real and painful as the government has begun cutting $85 billion from its spending through the end of September.

In Boston, scientists are predicting that climate change will lead to dramatic sea level rise, and more frequent flooding, around the city. Officials are studying the potential impact on roads and sewers and are asking waterfront developers to plan for increased flooding.

Drones are no longer the sole province of the U.S. military and intelligence agencies. They are starting to appear in U.S. skies. Police are employing them to fight crime. Enthusiasts are making their own at home. Rules governing their use are changing, and civil liberties groups are calling for privacy restrictions.

The stage appears to be set for a renewed debate about gun control. The NRA and other proponents of gun owners' rights have been silent in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings, but many will question the benefits of possible restrictions.

In Silicon Valley and around the world there are thousands of folks toiling away on new technologies, convinced that the thing they are building will transform the way we live. NPR's Steve Henn introduces us to five techies whose research and work he'll be keeping a close eye on in the coming year.

Scores were killed when security forces cleared sites where supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi had been camped. Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has resigned in protest over what he says was unnecessary bloodshed.

When she was just 12, Edith Lee-Payne's face was immortalized in an iconic photo from the March on Washington. Decades would pass before Payne learned that her image has been used as part of documentaries, books, calendars and exhibits about the history of the civil rights movement.

Republican Richard Mourdock, who crushed longtime Sen. Richard Lugar in Indiana's GOP Senate primary, is a Tea Party conservative with a low-key persona. "I never got hit with the charisma stick," he says. Mourdock equates his political style and his marathon-running mantra: "You just keep going."

About 75,000 patients a year die from infections they caught in the hospital. A Kaiser Health News analysis finds that nearly 700 hospitals across the nation have higher than expected infection rates.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency expects 450,000 people to seek help — including over 30,000 needing shelter. But as floodwaters rise, those aren't the only numbers defining the rescue efforts.