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For the first time in two years, delegations from North and South Korea sat down for talks aimed at ratcheting down escalating tensions on the peninsula.

The meeting took place at the symbolically significant border village of Panmunjom, where nearly 60 years ago the two sides signed an armistice ending the Korean War.

As NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports, the discussions were focused on procedural issues in advance of a planned ministerial-level meeting as well as discussions on reviving a joint industrial zone and facilitating reunions of families separated by the Korean War, both of which have been suspended amid growing unease between Seoul and Pyongyang.

A South Korean spokesman told reporters Saturday that the talks had gone smoothly, "without any agreement" and the South Korean news Yonhap news agency reported that the two sides would meet again in Seoul on Wednesday.

As the BBC reports:

"Ties between the two Koreas deteriorated earlier this year in the wake of the North's nuclear test on 12 February.

Pyongyang withdrew its workers from the Kaesong joint commercial zone in April, apparently angered by tightened UN sanctions in the wake of the nuclear test and annual South Korea-US military drills.

The zone, seen as a symbol of North-South co-operation, had run successfully just inside North Korea for more than eight years.

Around 53,000 North Korean workers are employed at the Kaesong factory complex by more than 120 South Korean factories.

The zone is a key source of revenue for the North and the biggest contributor to inter-Korean trade."

In Palestinian territory, Mohammad Assaf's face is easy to find. Big posters of the dark-haired, 23-year-old dreamboat smile at you along boulevards in Ramallah. And in Gaza, a giant banner of Assaf billows outside his family home.

Assaf's dad, Jabar Assaf, is bursting with pride.

"I'm very, very, very proud of my son. Besides singing so well, he is very polite, and he is studying at the university," Jabar Assaf says. "He's no street kid. I'm very proud."

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A "walk-through" enclosure at the London Zoo apparently allows visitors to get a little too close to resident squirrel monkeys and several people have the bite marks to prove it, according to details of a report published in a U.K. newspaper.

The Camden New Journal says 15 people suffered bites from the black-and-tan monkeys over a 12-month period last year.

The Journal quotes from the report, saying that although it's been eight years since the "revolutionary" up close and personal squirrel monkey exhibit was launched, the nervous primates are still working out some "behavioural issues."

"These involve mainly grabbing of food from members of the public. There have been 15 bites over the past year, none serious, all reported to first aid."

...

"There is now a no pushchair [baby stroller] policy in the enclosure as they were a major target for the monkeys looking for food. Negative re-enforcement is implemented mainly by painting a bitter apple substance on objects of desire such as mobile phones used by volunteers."

Newark Mayor Cory Booker announced Saturday he would run to finish the late Frank Lautenberg's term in the U.S. Senate.

Booker, a 44-year-old Democrat who has served as mayor since 2006 and is Newark's third black mayor. He is hoping to claim Lautenberg's seat, which has been filled by Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa until a special election in October.

He made the announcement at a Saturday event in which he was endorsed by former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley.

Booker is considered an early front-runner in the August primary. He is expected to face fellow Democrats Rep. Frank Pallone and Rush Holt.

Politico calls Booker "a strong fundraiser and ... odds-on favorite.":

"But the special election this year allows Pallone to keep his congressional seat if he loses, making this something of a free shot for him.

...

Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) is also likely to run — for the same reason as Pallone — according multiple sources."