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Britons are accustomed to rain. But the wettest January in British history has led to extensive flooding and forced many to flee their homes for extended periods. And there's no relief in sight.

Stocks turned sharply lower on Friday. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices continued to tumble for the second straight day. The drop is part of a global selloff, as investors focus on the growing financial turmoil in the developing world.

Furloughed workers? Deserted national parks? OK, that's a problem. But here's a little silver lining to the crisis: Displaced tourists are turning to other attractions, restaurants are turning hungry government workers into customers, and ironic T-shirts about the crisis are flying off the racks.

When Congress voted to end the shutdown, the measure also included $2 billion for a troubled lock and dam project on the Ohio River. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, a supporter of the project, has been attacked by hard-line conservatives who call it pork-barrel spending, but he says he didn't put it in the bill.

Earlier this month, NPR reported on a small group of Pentecostal Christians who handle snakes to prove their faith in God. We wondered why the handlers are bitten so rarely, and why so few of those snakebites are lethal. Herpetologists who have studied the snake-handling phenomenon have some theories.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of StoryCorps, we revisit Laura Greenberg, who told her daughter Rebecca about her gregarious parents — and her awkward first kiss with Rebecca's father, Carl. Now, it's his turn to share his side of the family story.

Carl reads three news-related limericks: Mortuary Girls, Unhealthy Request Soup, General Tso-ppacino.

Meteorologist Eric Holthaus has made his career monitoring the Earth's climate, and he's alarmed at what he sees. After reading a new, bleak international report on climate change, Holthaus has decided one important way to reduce his carbon footprint is to give up airplane travel for good.

The first bite of a bitter fruit or nut can be shocking, even revolting. That's led scientists to think that bitter tastes evolved to help us avoid poisonous plants. But a new a genetic study in Africa challenges that notion.

Carl reads three news-related limericks: A Thanksgivukkah Crisis; Hair-raising Havarti; Beware Mr. Compact Class.