Hugo High School, like many public schools in Oklahoma, was a battleground in the fight over Common Core. Elissa Nadworny/NPR hide caption

Water vapor, which looks like smoke, is seen rising from a power plant near Hengshui in China's Hebei province. In November, President Obama announced a landmark carbon-cutting deal with China — the world's leading producer of greenhouse gases. And the Chinese government has announced plans to cap the use of coal within five years. Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Maggie Gyllenhaal says she had some reservations about taking on the role of Nessa Stein in the SundanceTV original series The Honorable Woman. Middle East conflicts are so sensitive, she says, "It's really complicated and it goes back so far." Des Willie/SundanceTV hide caption

Erica Johnson prays before her meal. She volunteers at the food pantry at John Still school where three of her four children are students. She eats alone after she feeds her kids. Andrew Nixon/Capital Public Radio hide caption

Seeing double after toasting? Just wait for the hangover that's coming, thanks in part to those bubbles in sparkling wine. Chris Nickels for NPR hide caption

There were $3 trillion worth of corporate mergers in 2014. Comcast's proposed acquisition of fellow cable company Time Warner was the largest at $45 billion. Gene J. Puskar/AP hide caption