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As Assistant U.S. Secretary of State James Kelly heads to Beijing for talks on North Korea, China offers to host discussions between the United States and North Korea in an effort to resolve the their standoff. Anthony Kuhn reports.

Last week we asked listeners to phone in their questions concerning the standoff between the U-S and North Korea. Today we answer some of those question with the help of Ambassador Wendy Sherman who is the former special advisor on North Korea during the Clinton administration. She's now a partner at the international consulting firm -- the Albright Group. Also joining the conversation: Donald Oberdorfer, a professor at Johns Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. He's also the author of "Two Koreas: A Contemporary History." (12:30) Oberdorfer's book is published by Basic Books, 1999.

South Korea is joined by China, Russia, Japan and Australia in supporting U.S. diplomatic efforts to get North Korea to suspend nuclear weapons development. NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports.

The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on the powers states have to regulate the managed health-care industry. A Kentucky law, seeking to give consumers wider choices in selecting doctors, is being challenged by the health-care industry. Hear NPR's Julie Rovner.

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Tom Juravich, professor of labor studies and director of the Labor Center, at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst about rising insurance costs nationwide, and employees shouldering more of the costs.

A San Diego school district experiments with fast-food vending machines, replacing candy, sodas and chips with healthier foods and snacks like yogurt, vegetable- and fruit-plates. A nutritionist says it proves kids will chose healthier foods when given the chance. Kenny Goldberg of member station KPBS reports.

Brazil's new president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is leading a South American initiative to help resolve the crisis in neighboring Venezuela, where a general strike has crippled the nation's oil industry. Venezuela's opposition questions the leftist Lula's impartiality and is eager for U.S. involvement. The United States has endorsed an electoral solution to the crisis. NPR's Martin Kaste has the story from Rio de Janeiro.

Kathleen Edwards is a Canadian singer-songwriter who pairs stark lyrics with instrumentals that are sometimes surprisingly upbeat. Meredith Ochs reviews her debut album Failer.

A federal judge, has ruled that ABC television's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here is not a copy of the CBS reality show Survivor. Commentator James Poniewozik remarks on the judge's ruling.

Drugmakers spend billions of dollars each year trying to persuade doctors to prescribe their medicines. One company currently is in federal court, charged with illegally marketing its drug Neurontin for uses not approved by the FDA. And a family in Minnesota is asking why doctors prescribed the epilepsy drug to treat their son Dustin for manic-depression. NPR's Snigdha Prakash reports.