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NPR's Rob Gifford reports from Pyongyang that Secretary of State Albright's trip to North Korea this week afforded a rare glimpse of the isolated country and its grinding poverty. Women in a rural area were seen sweeping up precious grains of rice from the roadway, evidence of the country's on-going food shortage. And in the capital, medical personnel in the freezing cold main hospital were forced to use beer bottles to construct intravenous systems. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il in recent months has been reaching out to western countries, possibly because of the country's need for economic assistance.

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome on a new study by a panel of six historians on the role played by the Catholic Church during the Nazi Holocaust. The historians examined eleven volumes of documents and concluded that by the middle of 1942, the Vatican was well aware of "the accelerating mass murder of Jews." In their report, the historians asked for more information about the Church response to these crimes.

Commentator Phillip Hoose, a cousin of New York Yankee Don Larsen, remembers a pivitol time in his life when the pitcher's career achievement (throwing a perfect game in the 1956 World Series) helped his status at school.

Noah talks to Masha Lipman, Deputy Editor of Itoga Magazine who talks about the reaction of the families of the Russian sailors who died on the submarine Kursk after they learned of a note found on the body of one sailor. The note revealed that at least some of the sailors survived the explosion the explosion. It was found in the pocket of Lt. Dmitry Kolesnikov, commander of the Kursk's turbine section. The note describes how 23 members of the crew moved from one section to the other after the explosion, and suggested that two or three people might try to escape through the emergency escape hatch.

Anthony Brooks traces the career path that brought Al Gore Jr., the son of a U.S. Senator from Tenessee, to his presidential canidacy. After college and a tour in Vietnam in the Army, he didn't want to enter his father's field of politics. But after a stint as a journalist, he changed his mind.

NPR's Phillip Davis reports that two Salvadoran generals face wrongful death charges in the case of four American churchwomen who were raped and murdered by National Guardsmen in El Salvador in 1980. The families of the victims are seeking damages -- and closure on the case.

A draft report by the United Nations sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that there is strong evidence that humans have contributed to global warming. The panel also predicted that the earth is likely to get hotter than previously predicted. NPR's David Kestenbaum reports.

NPR's Kenneth Walker in Abidjan reports the day after Ivory Coast's military ruler was ousted in a popular rising there was further violence involving supporters of rival political groups. There were religious overtones to the latest unrest, with several mosques and churches destroyed by rampaging mobs.

NPR's Howard Berkes reports that investigators at the Grand Canyon are no longer so quick to accept falling deaths at the national park as accidents. They are also reviewing past cases to see if there is any evidence of foul play. The change of policy is due, in part, to the case of Donna Spangler, who fell to her death in 1993. Although originally ruled an accident by authorities, Spangler's husband Bob has now admitted it was murder.

Commentator Baxter Black tells a real life Holloween story about a veterinarian who gets his kicks from treating horses.