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Neil Burger, writer and director of the movie The Illusionist, says he tried not to use film effects to create the magic captured on screen. He also talks about how he became interested in magic. Based on a short story, the film stars Paul Giamatti, Edward Norton and Jessica Biel.

Two of last week's biggest stories -- the arrest of seven Florida men on a conspiracy bombing plot and the government's probe into the records of a banking group called SWIFT -- were covered by the media in very different ways.

An unexpectedly steep rise in tax revenues has driven down the projected federal budget deficit this year. The White House says that the deficit will be about $296 billion, much less than the $423 billion predicted six months ago. Steve Inskeep talks with David Wessel of the The Wall Street Journal.

President Bush speaks at the NAACP's 97th annual convention in Washington, D.C. It's his first visit to the gathering since becoming president. Democratic Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ted Kennedy and Barack Obama have already addressed the gathering of about 4,000 people.

There's an unusual bi-partisan effort to get the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to release information about certain Superfund cleanup sites, pieces of land that have been deemed too toxic for development. The EPA says sharing some information about the sites could discourage companies from cleaning up their environmental messes.

British writer Mark Haddon's first novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, brought him critical and popular acclaim. He follows up with A Spot of Bother.

Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe heads to China for the first formal summit between the two countries in five years. The trip comes at a time of high regional tension, with North Korea threatening to carry out a nuclear test.

Thailand's army has taken control of Bangkok in an apparent bloodless coup timed to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's visit to the United States. Military leaders revoked the constitution, but they have also promised a return to democracy.

Authorities in Riverside County, Calif., charge a 36-year-old man with five counts of murder and arson in connection with last week's deadly Esperanza wildfire outside Palm Springs. Raymond Lee Oyler, arrested earlier for an unrelated arson case last June, is now charged with the deaths of five U.S. Forest Service firefighters.

An emblematic story of the conquest of the West is told in Hampton Sides' new history Blood and Thunder. He focuses on the 20-year battle for control of Navajo country, a tale of bloodshed and deceit.