News Analysis: Kagan Nomination Leaves Longing on the Left  —  WASHINGTON — The selection of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to be the nation's 112th justice extends a quarter-century pattern in which Republican presidents generally install strong conservatives on the Supreme Court …

What It Takes  —  About a decade ago, one began to notice a profusion of Organization Kids at elite college campuses.  These were bright students who had been formed by the meritocratic system placed in front of them.  They had great grades, perfect teacher recommendations …

EXCLUSIVE: Mullah Omar Captured!  —  Through key intelligence sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan, I have just learned that reclusive Taliban leader and top Osama bin Laden ally, Mullah Omar has been taken into custody.  —  According to the State Department's Rewards for Justice Program …

Tax bills in 2009 at lowest level since 1950  —  Amid complaints about high taxes and calls for a smaller government, Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman's presidency, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data found.  —  Some conservative political movements such as the …

Gordon Brown quits as PM as Lib-Dem deal falls apart  —  Gordon Brown is set to resign tonight and allow David Cameron to be Britain's new Prime Minister.  —  The Labour leader's final desperate attempt to cling on to power with a Lib-Lab deal crumbled amid a rebellion on his own side …

VP Biden's son Beau hospitalized  —  Vice President Joe Biden's son, Beau, has been hospitalized for reasons that have yet not been made public.  —  A terse statement released Tuesday morning by the vice-president's office said Beau Biden, Delaware's attorney general “is at Christiana Medical Center undergoing treatment at present.

DeMint: A conservative kingmaker upends GOP order  —  WASHINGTON — Jim DeMint is becoming something of a tea party hero, even a potential conservative kingmaker, a status that is not making the freshman senator many friends among fellow Republicans in Congress.

Obama Said to Be Open to New Miranda Look  —  WASHINGTON — David Axelrod, the top White House political adviser, said Monday that President Obama was amenable to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.'s call for a new law allowing interrogators to question terrorism suspects for lengthy periods without informing them of their rights.

‘Secret prison’ at US air base  —  The US airbase at Bagram in Afghanistan contains a facility for detainees that is distinct from its main prison, the Red Cross has confirmed to the BBC.  —  Nine former prisoners have told the BBC that they were held in a separate building, and subjected to abuse.

Obama drug plan ‘firmly opposes’ legalization as California vote looms  —  The Obama administration said Tuesday that it “firmly opposes” the legalization of any illicit drugs as California voters head to the polls to consider legalizing marijuana this fall.

Pope pins scandal on Church ‘sin’  —  Pope Benedict XVI has warned that the greatest threat to the Catholic Church comes from “sin within”, rather than persecution from outside.  —  He made his comments in response to a question on the clerical child abuse scandal, while en route to Portugal.

California Carly — By: NRO Staff  —  I am endorsing a fellow conservative who is running for the U.S. Senate in the hotly contested Republican primary race in California.  —  Carly Fiorina is a solid conservative who has solid pro-life values.  She will support and defend Americans' Second Amendment rights …

Did Big Bet Trigger Stock Swoon?  —  Shortly after 2:15 p.m. Eastern time last Thursday, hedge fund Universa Investments LP placed a big bet in the Chicago options trading pits that stocks would continue their sharp declines.  —  On any other day, this $7.5 million trade for 50,000 options contracts might …

Euro, Stocks, Commodities Retreat as Bailout Optimism Ebbs  —  The euro halted a two-day gain and stocks fell, with Chinese equities entering a bear market, amid concern Europe's indebted nations will struggle to cut deficits even after an almost $1 trillion emergency loan package.

White House Task Force Seeks Fight on Childhood Obesity  —  A White House report warns, “The childhood obesity epidemic in America is a national health crisis.”  —  The review by the Task Force on Childhood Obesity says one out of every three children is overweight or obese.

'Tea party'-backed platform sails through Maine GOP convention  —  Maine is known for GOP moderates, but over the weekend, conservative activists succeeded in passing a platform that's backed by tea party groups.  —  Conservative activists backed by “tea party” groups have rejected …

Drone Strikes Pound West Pakistan  —  KARACHI, Pakistan — In an unusually ferocious American attack on militants in Pakistan, about 18 missiles fired from pilotless aircraft killed at least 14 fighters and wounded four others on Tuesday in the tribal area of North Waziristan, a security official and a resident of the area said.

Experts Split on State Lawsuits Over Health Care Law  —  As they constructed the requirement that Americans have health insurance, Democrats in Congress took pains to make their bill as constitutionally impregnable as possible.  —  But despite the health care law's elaborate scaffolding …