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NPR's Steve Inskeep visits Shenzhen, a city in southern China, where skyscrapers and urban villages teem with life.

The Bush administration joins the British government in condemning an Irish Republican Army offer to shoot some of its own members as punishment for killing a man in Belfast in January. The family of the dead man rejected the offer and said fear of retribution is preventing witnesses to the killing from coming forward.

This summer, Kenyan artists came to Washington, D.C., for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Some of them make their living by turning trash into sculptures, jewelry and igloos.

Netflix turned heads in Hollywood by giving Greta Gerwig's Narnia an exclusive theatrical release, a move that could signal a shift in the streamer's relationship with movie theaters.

A high level of investment in agriculture is driving up land prices, making it harder for new farmers to afford their own. And banks simply aren't lending to higher-risk first-time farmers. Unless young people are left farmland by their family, they're out of luck, one banker explains.

A high level of investment in agriculture is driving up land prices, making it harder for new farmers to afford their own. And banks simply aren't lending to higher-risk first-time farmers. Unless young people are left farmland by their family, they're out of luck, one banker explains.

Politics has been a profession ruled by gut instinct, gurus and polls. But over the past 15 years, the primary method of scientific advance — the randomized controlled study — has been wheedling its way into politics. Bit by bit, it's challenging a lot of the conventional wisdom that dominates current political campaigns.

What would incomes look like for U.S. families today if the income distribution were the same as it was in 1979?

NPR's Aaron Schachter reports on a little known option for minor criminals in Southern California. If a judge approves, a prisoner may be allowed to leave the crowded and dangerous county jail for "nicer" accommodations in a small city lock up. The pay-to-stay program costs detainees anywhere from 40 to 145 dollars a night. Some lawyers who know about the program say it's a legitimate way to keep clients safe. Civil libertarians say it's inherently unfair, since it gives an advantage to those with money.

Tim Crowley of North Carolina Public Radio reports North Carolina like several other states is rethinking the effectiveness of private prisons. The state department of corrections recently cancelled a contract with the private Corrections Corporation of America allowing the company to run two medium security prisons. State officials say they were concerned with the quality of staff CCA provided. The company blames its staffing problems on the rural setting of the prisons and says it didn't mismanage the state's prisons.

Maryanne Zeleznik of member station WNKU reports that jailers in Kentucky can now charge inmates up to $50 per night plus administrative fees for their stay in the county jail. Supporters say the income will take some of tax burden off law-abiding citizens and hope that the additional penalty will act as a deterrent to potential law-breakers. Opponents believe that the additional financial burden could lead former inmates back to a life of crime to pay for their jail time.

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill that bars professional teams there from treating their cheerleaders as independent contractors. The bill came after lawsuits alleged the cheerleaders were underpaid.