The guilty verdict against former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who was convicted of aiding and abetting war crimes in Sierra Leone this week, is sinking in across West Africa. The historic judgment of the first African president to be prosecuted in an international court leaves Taylor facing a lengthy sentence in a British prison.

The general election campaign for president is springing to life, now that Mitt Romney is all but certain to be President Obama's Republican opponent next fall. On Capitol Hill, though, the battle over who will sign or veto Congress' bills next year is already blazing.

In two key votes this past week, many Republicans fell in step with candidate Romney and his quest for more support from younger voters and women.

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PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Now, panel, what is next for Newt Gingrich? Paula Poundstone?

PAULA POUNDSTONE: Newt Gingrich will, in fact, colonize the moon, from where he will teach a remarkable online bluster course.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Amy Dickinson?

AMY DICKINSON: Oh, he's going to power down Callista, pack her in Styrofoam peanuts and take her back home to Georgia.

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: And Tom Bodett?

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CARL KASELL: From NPR and WBEZ-Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!, the NPR News quiz. I'm Carl Kasell. We're playing this week with Amy Dickinson, Paula Poundstone and Tom Bodett. And here again is your host, at the Chase Bank Auditorium in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Carl.

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Thanks everybody. Right now, it's time for the WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME! Bluff the Listener game. Call 1-888-Wait-Wait to play our game on the air. Hi, you're on WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!.

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PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Now, onto our final game, Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players will have sixty seconds in which to answer as many fill in the blank questions as he or she can. Each correct answer now worth two points. Carl, can you give us the scores?

CARL KASELL: Tom Bodett has the lead, Peter. He has four points. Amy Dickinson and Paula Poundstone are tied for second. They both have two points each.

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CARL KASELL: From NPR and WBEZ-Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!, the NPR News quiz. I'm Carl Kasell. We're playing this week with Amy Dickinson, Tom Bodett and Paula Poundstone. And here again is your host, at the Chase Bank Auditorium in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Carl.

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Thank you, Carl. In just a minute, Carl selects Nantucket in the first round of the National Limerick League Draft.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

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PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Coming up, it's Lightning Fill in the Blank. But first, it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you'd like to play on air, call or leave a message at 1-888--Wait-Wait, that's 1-888-924-8924.

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PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Right now, panel, as traditional, time for you to answer some questions about the week's news. Tom, this week a cow escaped a Colorado farm and fled right to where?

TOM BODETT: This wasn't the mad cow.

SAGAL: No.

BODETT: OK.

PAULA POUNDSTONE: It was annoyed.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: I would say it became a horrified cow.

BODETT: Oh, to the slaughterhouse.

SAGAL: No.

BODETT: Oh. Worse?

SAGAL: Further down the chain.