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It's been many years since political conventions offered any real drama or suspense. Still, they're a nonpareil opportunity for partisans to unite and try to win over voters who are largely uninterested in the parties.

Once again this week, European officials sat down and tried to figure out what to do about the debt crisis. Investors seem to like the plan they came up with, and stock prices rose. But the program still faces hurdles, including a major court ruling in Germany next week. Host Scott Simon speaks with NPR's Jim Zarroli.

The French port city of Marseilles is in the grip of gang warfare, as young men fight for control of drug trafficking, often using sophisticated weapons left over from the Balkan wars. The gangs are pushing professional criminals and syndicates aside. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley describes the mood with host Scott Simon.

The trial of the former police chief who ignited one of the worst political scandals in China in decades wrapped up Tuesday. Wang Lijun is accused of trying to defect to the United States, and covering up a murder involving the wife of a powerful Communist Party official.

Thor Hanson's new book looks at the evolutionary significance of feathers in birds. Hanson tells Fresh Air that he's amazed by birds' magnitude of feathers, how feathers grow and how they're the "most efficient insulation known."

One question on the minds of voters is what kind of relationship the administration of the next four years will have with Congress after the stalemate of the last two. National Review senior editor and Bloomberg columnist Ramesh Ponnuru talks to Steve Inskeep about what he thinks will happen if President Obama is re-elected or if Mitt Romney wins.

The Reinvent the Toilet Challenge asked engineers to dream up a replacement for the antiquated flush toilet. Michael Hoffmann and his team at Caltech responded with a solar-powered toilet that disinfects waste and reuses wastewater to flush. Better yet, it pumps out hydrogen gas for use in fuel cells.

Many modern day liqueurs, like Campari and Pimm's, started off as 19th century medicinal tonics made to cure an array of ailments, including malaria. So if you're sipping a French aperitif or an absinth cocktail this holiday season, chances are you're also imbibing a bit of malaria history.

British tennis player Andy Murray won Wimbledon in straight sets on Sunday. It's the first time in 77 years that the U.K. has had one of its own players win the grass court grand slam. David Greene talks to journalist Simon Cambers, who covered Wimbledon for The Guardian newspaper.

Wal-Mart says it will not build three of the six stores planned for Washington, D.C., after the city council passed a bill that would require the retailer to pay a wage nearly 50 percent higher than the city's minimum wage. Those three stores would be located in mostly low-income areas, with high unemployment and few places to shop. A similar situation once played out in Chicago.