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NPR's Rob Gifford reports that Secretary of State Madeline Albright made a historic trip to the capital of North Korea today. She met for three hours with the country's leader, Kim Jong-Il. Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang have been decreasing steadily, especially since North and South Korean leaders met in June for their first summit. U.S. officials say if the talks today and tomorrow produce progress on issues such as North Korea's missile program, President Clinton could visit North Korea before he leaves office.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen have been battling on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Israel says it will seal off the village of Beit Jala from where Palestinians have repeatedly opened fire on a nearby Jewish neighborhood.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan said today that surging oil prices bear close attention because they have the potential to disrupt the nation's longest ever economic expansion. As NPR's John Ydstie reports, Greenspan said higher oil prices have not sparked a new round of inflation, but that possibility still exists, especially given low inventories and tensions in the Middle East. He noted that federal budget surpluses have aided the expansion, but added that government's propensity to spend may mean smaller surpluses in years to come.

Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush is in New York tonight for a political dinner where the guests will also include his rival, Democrat Al Gore. He will also tape an appearance with late night comedian David Letterman. But this morning Bush began his day in Michigan, a key swing state where he talked to workers at an engineering plant. He told them Gore represented old style thinking about economics and government. NPR's Steve Inskeep reports.

All Things Considered host Linda Wertheimer traveled to Michigan to attend a campaign rally for George W. Bush. She talked to the people in the crowd about what they were expecting when they came, and what they're taking away from the event.

Commentator Jeffrey Tayler visited a friend in Russia, and agreed to get a lock on her door fixed while she was away. He took the lock to a local shop, but was laughed out of the store. Men in small Russian towns fix their own locks. They don't have a repairman do it for them.

In the beachside condominiums of Florida's politically fertile 22nd district, state Representative Elaine Bloom is giving longtime House GOP incumbent E. Clay Shaw a run for his money. They've both raised more than $2 million and the race has taken on a decidedly negative tone.

With less than three weeks to go until Election Day, the economy is emerging as the centerpiece of Democrat Al Gore's campaign. He laid out his agenda to continue the nation's current prosperity in a formal address today at Columbia University, and again in a series of interviews with Regis Philbin and Rosie O'Donnell to be broadcast tomorrow. NPR's Anthony Brooks is with the Gore campaign in New York City.

With the early resignation last week of Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovic, former-Yugoslavia has now seen the departure of the three major nationalist figures of the nineteen nineties. NPR's Tom Gjelten looks at prospects for the Balkans without Izetbegovic, the late Croatian president Franjo Tudjman and Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic -- the men who led their nations in the wars that accompanied the break-up of the Yugoslav Federation.

Playwright Arthur Miller talks about his book Echoes Down the Corridor, a collection of his essays ranging from autobiography to commentary. The book spans nearly six decades of writing.