Troubling news from Asia: North Korea is trumpeting what it calls a “successful” underground nuclear test. The country’s state-run KCNA agency says the underground test, the second since October 2006, was “aimed at strengthening its [North Korea’s] self-defense nuclear deterrent in every way,” and that it was more powerful than the previous test. The UN Security Council has called an emergency meeting in response. The American and South Korean geological agencies both detected a seismic tremor early Monday indicating a nuclear explosion. President Obama has since condemned the test in a statement. "The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants action by the international community," he said. "We have been and will continue working with our allies and partners in the six-party talks as well as other members of the UN Security Council in the days ahead."

He may not have the support of the Senate, but President Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo Bay gained support on Sunday from a current and a former military leader. Bush-era secretary of state Colin Powell spoke out on CBS's Face the Nation: “I felt Guantanamo should be closed for the past six years, and I lobbied and presented reasons to President Bush.” Powell's protestation marks a sharp split from fellow Bushie and former vice president Dick Cheney, who has been blitzing the media in support of Bush’s treatment of detainees. In fact, Powell claimed even President Bush wanted Guantanamo to go away: “President Bush stated repeatedly to international audiences and to the country that he wanted to close Guantanamo. The problem he had was he couldn’t get all the pieces together… it is a complex problem.” Meanwhile, on ABC's This Week, Admiral Michael Mullen, the current head of the joint chiefs, denounced Guantanamo as “a recruiting symbol for those extremists and jihadists who would fight us.”

President Obama added common sense and a practical touch to the list of attributes he's looking for in a new Supreme Court justice. Obama has previously emphasized empathy and intellect, worrying conservatives who say "empathy" is a code word for judicial activist. “I want somebody who has the intellectual firepower but also a little bit of a common touch and has a practical sense of how the world works,” he told Steve Scully in a C-SPAN interview. Obama has been tight-lipped about his short list, but did throw conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia a compliment, saying he's a "terrific writer." The president is expected to make his decision before his June trip overseas.

The highest honor at the Cannes Film Festival was awarded to one Nazi-centric film Sunday—and no, Tarantino fans, it’s not the one you think. Austrian director Michael Haneke won the prestigious Palme d’Or for The White Ribbon, his moody, black-and-white parable exploring the roots of Nazi terror. Controversy didn’t stop Charlotte Gainsbourg from receiving the best actress prize for her work in Lars von Trier’s reviled Antichrist, and Christoph Waltz, star of that other Nazi film—Tarantino’s latest, Inglourious Basterds—took home the best actor prize. The 62nd annual ceremony on the French Riviera came to a close with, naturally, a star-studded fete.

Two victories in a row for ebullient Brazilian racecar driver and former Dancing With the Stars champ Helio Castroneves: Today he won his third Indy 500 race, and yesterday he was acquitted on tax charges. “This is the best month of May ever,” he commented after the race. Castroneves broke away from the pack in the final laps, beating second-place Dan Wheldon and third-place Danica Patrick by nearly two seconds—or, as ESPN translates, the distance of two football fields. Several race stars crashed at today’s race, including a particularly brutal collision between Brazilians Vitor Meira and Raphael Matos in lap 173. Meira’s car crashed head on into the padded outside wall, prompting paramedics to extract Meira from the car and deliver him to a nearby hospital on a stretcher.

Prominent members of the Republican Party are taking the long holiday weekend to squabble over who best represents the GOP. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday and called for a more inclusive party—this after former Vice President Dick Cheney proclaimed earlier on the same program that he thought Powell had already left the GOP. "Rush [Limbaugh] will not get his wish and Mr. Cheney was misinformed. I am still a Republican," Powell said while burnishing his credentials, which include spending 10 years serving in Republican administrations and speaking at two GOP conventions. He countered Limbaugh’s assertion that he endorsed Barack Obama for president on the basis of race, saying, "I don't want to exchange insults with him. But I thought it was unfortunate.”

The world's favorite working class siren continues her march toward stardom. Singing "Memory," from the musical Cats, Susan Boyle once again dominated the competition on Britain's Got Talent, making her the clear favorite for the finale next week. The Associated Press reports that the unlikely star has decided to not change her appearance too much, instead remaining as she is. "I just want people to see me for who I am, and do my best at singing the song, that's what I am focusing on," she said. Boyle became a YouTube sensation as her humble appearance led superficial viewers to assume she could not sing. Much to the contrary, in her first TV appearance Boyle belted out a rousing version of "I Dreamed a Dream," winning over the hearts of all her skeptics. Even if there is an American Idol-esque upset this Saturday, one can safely assume that a record deal is in the works.

Gay U.S. diplomats and their partners and families will soon be given the same benefits as their heterosexual colleagues. According to a memo leaked to the Associated Press, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will soon announce the change, saying "it is the right thing to do." She writes that the old practices are "unfair and must end" and that "domestic partner benefits and allowances are increasingly the norm for world-class employers." The State Department withheld benefits to families of gay diplomats under the Defense of Marriage Act. A former ambassador, Michael Guest, resigned in 2007 to protest the restrictions and became a part of Obama's State Department transition team.

The hysteria over swine flu may have ended, but the symptoms remain. The mutated flu virus has claimed a second New Yorker, a woman in her 50s with an "underlying medical condition," the Daily News reports. Thus far, few details have emerged about the latest victim of the H1N1 virus, though it is known that she hailed from Queens, the epicenter of the outbreak in New York. She is the tenth fatality attributed to the bug in the U.S. Overall, there are 6,552 confirmed cases of swine flu in the nation. In a clear sign that people are much more at ease with virus, a New York health official said, "If you are sick right now with the flu, it's likely you have the H1N1 virus."

What happens when the leaders of three of the world's most volatile countries meet in the same room? Afghan President Hamid Karzai met Sunday with Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran to coordinate their efforts against "terrorism, militancy and narcotics," Al Jazeera reports. The summit is a clear signal that Iran is prepared to assume a more robust diplomatic role in the region as it considers overtures from the U.S. A stronger role for Iran has long been considered fundamental to success in the war in Afghanistan and broader stability in the Middle East. The move also comes as Ahmadinejad begins his re-election campaign.

Israel's prime minister has announced the country will not halt the expansion of existing Jewish communities on the West Bank—although he says they will not build entirely new ones, either. Benjamin Netanyahu will allow construction of new homes for growing families until the country works out its peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority, his spokesman said this weekend. President Obama asked him last week to stop unauthorized West Bank settlements and to halt all settlement construction in preparation for Mideast peace talks. The Israeli defense minister announced Sunday he would shut down unauthorized settlements, threatening to move resisters by force. About 300,000 Israelis live in 121 settlements in the West Bank, where Palestinians want to create their state. “The status of existing settlements is, of course, a final status issue to be negotiated, but, in the interim, normal life must continue in those communities,” said Netanyahu’s spokesman.

Dick Cheney isn't the only former Bushie to jump on a soapbox: Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge called popular radio host Rush Limbaugh "shrill" and offensive in an interview Sunday on CNN. "Let's lead our party based on some principles that have been very much a part of who we are for decades," Ridge said of Limbaugh. "And let's be less shrill in terms of—and particularly, let's not attack other individuals. Let's attack their ideas." His remarks come after a dust-up between Colin Powell and Limbaugh. Powell said Limbaugh was leading the party in the wrong direction and the radio host shot back, telling Powell to become a Democrat. Ridge suggested Limbaugh should direct his 20 million followers to problems in the Democratic Party instead of encouraging Republican infighting.

And you thought flying commercial was bad: The space shuttle Atlantis was thwarted from landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida by rainy weather for the past two days but has made a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base. Since the weather continued to be awful on Sunday, Atlantis was diverted to California after its dangerous, yet highly successful 13-day journey fixing the Hubble Telescope. It will cost about $2 million to ferry the shuttle back to Florida after a California landing, but Atlantis could only have stayed in space safely until Monday, and NASA didn’t want to take any risks. Obama recently tapped former astronaut Charles Bolden to lead NASA, and many are calling for a renewed focus on the space program.

At least half of the House of Commons will vacate their seats this year as voters express their displeasure over the embarrassing expenses scandal, according to polls. About 325 MPs are expected to resign, quit, or be defeated at the ballot box, which will make for the biggest clear-out of Parliament since 1945. Almost 40 Labour MPs have already resigned amid public outrage over the misuse of their allowances, which saw MPs buying personal items with taxpayer money. The Conservative Party is expected to win the election by 80 seats, though Prime Minister Gordon Brown has yet to set a date for the election. One politician said the turnover is due to "despair" in the party.

After South Korea's disgraced former president threw himself off a cliff on Saturday, South Koreans are grappling with the questions left behind. Roh Moo-hyun entered the national stage as a crusader who would put an end to corruption ("Mr. Clean"), but left office disgraced after becoming mixed up in a bribery scandal. "But he left so many questions about the influence of people around him and whether he himself was corrupt," Kim Seung-hwan, a senior research associate in International Studies, tells the Los Angeles Times. "For Koreans, he left behind a lot of frustration." Prosecutors were expected to indict Roh in a couple of days over accepting $6 million in bribes from a shoe tycoon. Roh left a brief note on his computer: "The pain that I caused to so many people is too great. The pain in the coming days is unfathomable. Don't be sorry. Don't blame anyone. It's destiny."

Annie Leibovitz's troubles are mounting: “The highly paid celebrity photographer, who reportedly makes $2 million a year from Vanity Fair and also rakes in handsome fees for her corporate work, has not settled an overdue debt with a lighting company and now is being threatened with involuntary bankruptcy,” reports Page Six. In December B2Pro Lighting sued Leibovitz for $392,036, and the company claims she still owes $189,710. A lawyer for the company tells Page Six Leibovitz is now considering bankruptcy. Another $400,000 lawsuit against Leibovitz is pending, and at the end of last year she signed away the rights to all her photographs to help battle her debt.

It’s a safe bet that Jon Peters will never eat lunch in his town again. Peters, once the head of Sony Pictures, was circling a $700,000 advance from Harper Collins to publish an autobiography detailing the former hairdresser’s life with one-time girlfriend Barbra Streisand. Perhaps a victim of too much hype, the book deal has been canned after controversial excerpts were distributed on Friday. “Unfortunately leaks of the proposal have created a firestorm in the press, from Page Six to CNN and seemingly every other gossip page and entertainment news show in between,” Peters wrote in a letter. “I have been besieged by lawsuits and threatened litigation by some of the most important figures in the world of show business.” Streisand chimed in on her Web site: “The claims and statements attributed to me in Jon Peters' book proposal are either completely distorted or simply untrue.”

For the Republican Party, the road to redemption apparently runs through Gitmo: “Armed with polling data that show a narrow majority of support for keeping the prison open and deep fear about the detainees, Republicans in Congress started laying plans even before the inauguration to make the debate over Guantánamo Bay a question of local community safety instead of one about national character and principles,” reports The New York Times. Striking a similar note, The Wall Street Journal reports: “Some Republicans see in events of the past two weeks—the culmination of a carefully developed GOP strategy and missteps by Democrats—the beginning of a political comeback, and they plan to keep pressing the issue.”

On Monday the Sri Lankan government declared an end to the 25-year-old civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels, but the devastation has just begun, with the country still in severe need of water and supplies for its displaced citizens. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited the region on Saturday and told CNN, “I have traveled around the world and visited similar places, but this is by far the most appalling scenes I have seen. I sympathize fully with all of the displaced persons.” Nearly 250,000 to 300,000 people are refugees in the coastal villages, although the Sri Lankan government does not believe many civilians were injured in the fighting.