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The movie version of the controversial book The Yacoubian Building premiered this week in Cairo. The all-star production, the most expensive film ever in Egypt, touches on topics that are often taboo, such as Islamic extremism and homosexuality. It's opening at a time when the Egyptian government is taking a hard line on most expressions of dissent.

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has opted out of public financing. He has used social networking sites on the Internet, among other strategies, to raise record amounts of contributions. Obama's fundraising success could mean another failure for the public financing system. Anthony Corrado, a political scientist at Colby College, talks with Renee Montagne about the future of public financing.

With the economy continuing to sputter, president-elect Barack Obama has held a news conference to announce his economic team. He said they would get to work immediately to craft an economic stimulus package big enough to jump-start the economy.

The House has passed an $825 billion economic stimulus bill. However, no Republicans voted for the bill. They say it has too much spending and not enough tax cuts. It was a loss for bipartisanship but an early win for President Obama — just eight days into his presidency. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Prosecutors in Georgia recently charged four members of a group called the Final Exit Network with assisting in suicides. Investigators say they could be involved in as many as 300 deaths. The group's president, Jerry Dincin, who was not charged, says the group isn't doing anything wrong.

A special U.S. Navy operation freed Richard Phillips — the captain who was held captive by Somali pirates for five days off the east coast of Africa. U.S. Navy snipers shot to death three of the pirates on Sunday.

President Obama made an unannounced stop in Baghdad on Tuesday as he returned from his European trip. It's Obama's first war-zone visit as president.

The attorneys general of Utah and Arizona say they won't do what Texas did. They won't raid polygamist groups in their states, even though the polygamists targeted in Texas last month are based on the Utah-Arizona border. The officials spoke at a town meeting on polygamy Thursday night in Utah.

California has until July 1 to come up with solutions to fix its $24 billion budget deficit. Joe Mathews, a former reporter for the Los Angeles Times and now a senior fellow with the New America Foundation, offers his insight. Joe Mathews, senior fellow with the New America Foundation, offers his insight.

Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday that he is switching parties and is now a Democrat. The switch means that if Democrat Al Franken is declared the winner in the contested Minnesota Senate race, Democrats will have the 60 votes needed to block GOP filibusters.