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Drug- and gang-related shootouts have killed 20 people so far this year in France's second largest city. The crime wave has prompted one Marseille politician to call for the army to be sent in. The city's isolated housing projects breed despair and are home to a parallel economy based on drugs.

Europe has offered Spain up to $125 billion to recapitalize its banks. Shoring up its banks is one step Spain is taking to prevent economic collapse. The other step is to slash more than $50 billion from its budget to get spending down within legal limits set by the E.U.

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.

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.

The presidential candidates meet for the first of three debates on Wednesday. This week, we'll take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate as well as the stakes. We start with a report on Mitt Romney, who got plenty of debate practice during the primary season.

Responding to calls that the Republican presidential ticket provide more detail about some of its policy proposals, vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan says TV isn't always the right medium for such specifics. And a spokesman for Mitt Romney says tonight's debate also has its limits.

Dining was a very, very, big deal in Edwardian England. And the food was pretty sophisticated. So why was British food derided as boring, tasteless fare for much of the 20th century? Here's the story.

There area a lot of bad movies out there. Some movies are so bad that they're good. For some reason people love them. Is there an art to making films that are deliberately bad? Can a company be successful by producing bad movies?

Members of the Saddlebrooke Republican Club outside Tucson gathered at NPR's request to watch the candidates, as they did for an earlier debate. Half the group had already voted by mail for next week's GOP primary, and they're split on who's the best candidate. But they all said they'll back whomever the party nominates.

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kwgs/local-kwgs-868213.mp3Tulsa, OK – As previously announced, and as has been seen throughout the…