North Korean Nuclear Claim Draws Global Criticism  —  SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea announced on Monday that it had successfully conducted its second nuclear test, in defiance of international warnings.  —  The dimensions of the test were not immediately verifiable.

State of Paralysis  —  California, it has long been claimed, is where the future happens first.  But is that still true?  If it is, God help America.  —  The recession has hit the Golden State hard.  The housing bubble was bigger there than almost anywhere else, and the bust has been bigger too.

Dear Donna: A Pinup So Swell She Kept G.I. Mail  —  “It has been a long time since any of us boys have seen a woman, so we are writing to you in hopes that you'll help us out of our situation,” Cpl. Frank J. Gizych lamented in a letter posted from the fog-shrouded Aleutian Islands.

New Justice Could Hold the Key to Presidential Power  —  WASHINGTON — As President Obama prepares to replace Justice David H. Souter on the Supreme Court, conventional wisdom says his nominee will have little chance to change the court because all the contenders appear to share Justice Souter's approach …

Split threatens to rupture Republican ranks  —  Conservative vs. moderate divide plays out across the airwaves on Sunday  —  WASHINGTON - The conservative vs. moderate split threatening to rupture the Republican Party played out across the airwaves Sunday, with Colin Powell …

Explosion outside UES Starbucks  —  NEW YORK (WABC) — An explosive device blew out the windows of a Starbucks coffee shop in a blast that rocked an Upper East Side neighborhood.  —  The loud blast was heard at the intersection of Third Avenue and East 92nd Street just before 4 a.m.

Obama's Center-Left Two-Step  —  How much longer can the president keep sending different messages to different audiences?  —  WASHINGTON—Bill Clinton tried to create a Third Way.  President Obama is doing it.  This is exciting, but also disconcerting.  —  Over the last week …

SINKING ANCHORS ANDERSON COOPER AND ROLAND MARTIN HOBBLE CNN  —  SINCE President Obama took office in January, CNN has seen its ratings drop.  And one reason has to do with Campbell Brown.  The host of “No Bias, No Bull” has been on maternity leave for the past month, and in her absence …

Job Losses Push Safer Mortgages to Foreclosure  —  As job losses rise, growing numbers of American homeowners with once solid credit are falling behind on their mortgages, amplifying a wave of foreclosures.  —  In the latest phase of the nation's real estate disaster, the locus of trouble …

Court Officials Turn to Guards, Identity Shields, Weapons to Handle New Threats  —  Worried Court Personnel Resort To Guards, Identity Shields, Weapons  —  Threats against the nation's judges and prosecutors have sharply increased, prompting hundreds to get 24-hour protection from armed U.S. marshals.

Justice Department Investigates Mountaintop Technologies Over Murtha Earmarks  —  In tiny, cash-strapped Monongahela, Pa., the city clerk was stunned when federal investigators arrived this fall with a subpoena seeking information on a crime-fighting grant she'd never heard of.

Map the Fallen launched!  —  For the past two years I've been working on the Google Earth Outreach team, aimed at helping non-profits and public benefit groups use Google Earth and Google Maps to further their cause.  In that time I've worked on so many cool projects, from training indigenous communities …