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.

Backlash grows against Obama's preventive detention proposal  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  The backlash against President Obama's extraordinary proposal for indefinite “preventive detention” — already widespread in the immediate aftermath of his speech — continues to grow.

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.

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 …

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.

An Extra Wreath for Obama on Memorial Day  —  ARLINGTON, Va. — President Obama observed Memorial Day on Monday just as his predecessors have: by placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier here.  But Mr. Obama added a new twist: he sent a second wreath to a memorial honoring African-Americans who fought in the Civil War.

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 …

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 …

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.

Hank Paulson Admits He Doesn't Understand Mortgage Securities  —  This quote, from Newsweek's piece on former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, strikes me as a bombshell: … If Newsweek won't play prosecutor, I will: “Hank Paulson, you were Goldman's chief executive as mortgage securities boomed in 2004-5.

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.