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Lawmakers question the Bush administration's $87 billion request for Iraq and Afghanistan, but GOP leaders say they expect congressional approval. U.S. officials say the funds will boost the estimated federal deficit to more than $525 billion. And Secretary of State Powell prepares for a Saturday meeting with the permanent U.N. Security Council members. Hear NPR's David Welna, NPR's John Ydstie and NPR's Vicky O'Hara.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Meyers face tough questioning from the Senate Armed Services Committee about the progress of the U.S. mission in Iraq. Senators question the doubling of the mission's cost and the extension of tours of duty for U.S. reservists to one year. Hear NPR's David Welna.

Twenty-five years ago today, the leaders of Egypt and Israel signed a framework for peace in the Middle East. President Jimmy Carter, who mediated the Camp David Accords, tells NPR's Bob Edwards the historic agreement holds lessons for the region today.

In Fallujah, Iraq, crowds angry over a U.S. "friendly fire" incident that killed at least nine people stage angry protests. Meanwhile, in Najaf, the U.S. military seeks to rein in militia force loyal to the slain Shiite cleric Ayatollah Hakim. NPR's Emily Harris reports.

He won an Oscar this year for his role in Roman Polanski's The Pianist. Brody played Wladyslaw Szpilman, the Polish pianist and Holocaust survivor. Brody's other films include Summer of Sam, The Thin Red Line, Restaurant, and The Affair of the Necklace. He's now starring in Dummy.

New York City will commemorate Central Park's 150th anniversary Monday night with a 1,000-foot-high, 850-foot-diameter halo of light. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Phil Grucci, the engineer behind the planned pyrotechnic display. See an artist's rendering of what the fireworks spectacle will look like.

The children's books by the author and artist who goes by just one name -- Demi -- are works of art. With brilliant jewel-toned colors, intricate patterns and gold leaf on every page, the books look like they belong on a museum wall instead of in a children's playroom. NPR's Michele Norris talks with Demi about her work.

NPR's Senior Foreign Correspondent Anne Garrels was one of the few journalists still in Baghdad during the invasion of Iraq. Often she reported from her room at the Palestine Hotel as bombs flew overhead. In her new book, Naked in Baghdad, she writes about the war and its aftermath. The book also contains the e-mails that her husband Vint Lawrence sent to friends keeping them informed of her daily life in Baghdad. Garrels has also reported from the former Soviet republics, China, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Israel, and is the recipient of the Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University award and the Overseas press Club award.

Today we conclude the three-part series, "Art Out of Cataclysm." NPR's Renee Montagne talks to writer Kurt Vonnegut about the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, by British bombers towards the end of World War II. Vonnegut's novel, Slaughterhouse Five, is based on his own experience as an eyewitness to the aftermath.

At 74, he's a reigning ambassador of Latin jazz, and percussionist Ray Barretto is still going strong. NPR's Felix Contreras profiles the artist. Hear clips of the song that inspired Barretto to take up jazz and a track from his latest album, Homage to Art Blakey.