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Bill Kurtis reads three news-related limericks: A building with an inseam; A black belt in Shhh; Results of the 2012 Yacht Poll.

As North Korea prepares for an unusual parliamentary meeting Tuesday, farmers have told the Western media that new agricultural rules will give them more control over their crops — which would mark a significant change for the state-run economy. It raises hopes that the country is on the verge of a major shift.

Tokyo's flamboyant and ultraconservative governor, Shintaro Ishihara, said last spring that his city would buy some islands in the East China Sea. Today, China and Japan are caught in a war of words over who controls those islands. Some observers call Ishihara's move a power play that has sparked a crisis.

Women with HIV have a high risk of getting cervical cancer, but the traditional screening method for the disease — a pap smear — isn't available in many poor countries. Now doctors have developed a cheap, simple alternative way to detect cervical cancer, and it's saving lives in Africa and Asia.

Despite complaints from NFL coaches and players, the league and its locked-out officials are no closer to reaching a deal than they were last week, according to reports. News of the lack of progress comes a day after NFL representatives insisted that coaches and players respect the referees.

In South Africa, thousands of mineworkers have embarked on industrial action that began with a deadly pay strike by platinum workers. They've agreed a wage deal with their management, this week, but the labor unrest is spreading to other platinum and gold mines in an industry that's the engine of South Africa's economy. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton discusses the repercussions with host Scott Simon.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is the primary enforcer of the nation's gun laws, but advocates and former ATF officials say agents face legal restrictions that limit their effectiveness. In addition, the agency has been without a permanent director for years.

The new policies are being hailed as unprecedented in American professional sports. Starting next year, the league will be fighting the use of human growth hormone and testosterone, two allegedly popular banned substances.

Vice President Joe Biden says his task force on reducing gun violence is facing an unexpected obstacle: slim or outdated research on weapons. Public health research dried up more than a decade ago after Congress restricted the use of some federal money to pay for those studies.

With all that's going on in the Middle East now, it's easy to forget that the Arab Spring began just two years ago in Tunisia. A video of one of Mathlouthi's songs went viral and became an anthem for protesters in her homeland during the December 2010 uprising. Her debut album is out now.