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Sheilah Kast talks to New Republic magazine's online film critic Christopher Orr about the decline of real romance in movies. Romantic comedies, once a Hollywood staple, are in particular decline.

In 1943, the government promised to build a highway through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park -- in part to provide access to some old cemeteries there. But the highway was never finished, and there's disagreement about whether it should be now.

Ben Bernanke is on Capitol Hill delivering his first economic report to Congress since becoming chairman of the Federal Reserve. Bernanke told lawmakers that "economic expansion remains on track" and left open the possibility that interest rates would go up. Renee Montagne talks to David Wessel, The Wall Street Journal's deputy Washington bureau chief.

President Bush toured the Gulf Coast Thursday, noting improvements since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. In New Orleans, the president did not tour any of the city's still-deserted neighborhoods, and protesters called for a stronger federal commitment to fortify the city's levees.

Robert Siegel talks with Stephen Cohen, national scholar for the Israel Policy Forum, about the Gaza deal.

Sami Abdelshafi, co-founder and senior partner of Emerge Consulting Group, is cautiously optimistic about the new Gaza border-crossing agreement between the Palestinian people and Israel. Abdelshafi's company provides economic analysis to businesses, government groups and non-profits operating in Gaza.

Federal crop insurance was created in the dust bowl days of the 1930s to help farmers survive the ravages of nature. But changes in the program have created a new type of farmer: one who farms only for the insurance money.

Sentencing is expected Tuesday for Chai Soua Vang in the murder of six deer hunters last year. The shooting in northern Wisconsin followed a racially charged trespassing confrontation between Vang, who is Hmong, and the men. The tension lingers as hunters prepare for this year's hunting season. Gil Halsted of Wisconsin Public Radio reports.

France has authorized emergency measures after a dozen nights of rioting. Local officials can now impose curfews if they choose, and police have authority to conduct raids without warning. Severe punishment for rioters was promised, and the first sentences were handed down Monday.

Retail giant Wal-Mart is facing criticism over an internal memo that proposes aggressive moves to trim employee benefit costs, such as discouraging unhealthy people from taking jobs at Wal-Mart. The company, whose stock price has dropped over the last year, is under pressure from investors to cut costs.