Today's Top Stories

National:
NYT: U.S. Says Bank of America Needs $33.9 Billion Cushion
NYT: Torture Memos: Inquiry Suggests No Prosecutions
WaPo: Party Switch Costs Specter His Seniority on Senate Committees
WaPo: Bank Tests Yield Early Progress
WSJ: Brokers Abandon Wall Street
WSJ: Texan Is Second to Die of the New Flu Strain in U.S.
LATimes: Face-transplant patient reveals herself
LATimes: Post-Katrina trailer residents fearful as eviction day looms
USA Today: NBA great Dave Bing elected as Detroit mayor
USA Today: Ginsburg: Court needs another woman
LATimes: Sinaloa cartel may resort to deadly force in U.S.
WSJ: At Fallen Mortgage Titan, Tragedy Amid the Turmoil

International:
NYT: Pakistani Army Poised for New Push Into Swat
USA Today: Pakistani police underfunded, overwhelmed
LATimes: Georgia puts down mutiny in tank battalion
BBC News: Nato to begin Georgia exercises
WaPo: A New Approach to Karzai— Administration Is Keeping Ally at Arm's Length
LATimes: Biden urges Israel to work for a Palestinian state
BBC News: Deadly bombing in Baghdad market

National:
NYT: U.S. Says Bank of America Needs $33.9 Billion Cushion
The government has told Bank of America it needs $33.9 billion in capital to withstand any worsening of the economic downturn, according to an executive at the bank.

NYT: Torture Memos: Inquiry Suggests No Prosecutions
An internal Justice Department inquiry has concluded that Bush administration lawyers committed serious lapses of judgment in writing secret memorandums authorizing brutal interrogations but that they should not be prosecuted, according to government officials briefed on its findings.

WaPo: Party Switch Costs Specter His Seniority on Senate Committees
The Senate last night stripped Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) of his seniority on committees, a week after the 29-year veteran of the chamber quit the Republican Party to join the Democrats.

WaPo: Bank Tests Yield Early Progress
The Obama administration's plan to "stress-test" 19 large banks is yielding benefits even before the findings are released tomorrow. The announcement of the tests in February roiled the markets initially. But the 12-week wait for results has since provided a respite, allowing investors to breathe deeply and giving time for a raft of federal rescue programs to start showing results.

WSJ: Brokers Abandon Wall Street
The number of brokers bolting from Wall Street is on the rise amid slumping markets and diminishing fees - a trend that could augur lasting changes in the way individuals invest. In April, more than 2,800 people registered as brokers in the U.S. left the industry, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The total number of departures so far this year stands at 11,600. In 2002, the previous high-water mark for industry exits in the 15 years of data available from Finra, a total of 11,500 brokers left Wall Street.

WSJ: Texan Is Second to Die of the New Flu Strain in U.S.
A woman living near the Mexican border in south Texas became the second person in the U.S. to die of a new strain of flu, as the virus causing it continued to spread around the globe.

LATimes: Face-transplant patient reveals herself
Five years ago, a shotgun blast left a ghastly hole where the middle of her face had been. Five months ago, she received a new face from a dead woman.

LATimes: Post-Katrina trailer residents fearful as eviction day looms
FEMA, having pushed back its deadline several times, says the last 4,600 dwellings must be cleared by May 30. But many occupants are poor, ill or elderly, with no place to go, housing advocates say.

USA Today: NBA great Dave Bing elected as Detroit mayor
Basketball legend Dave Bing was elected Tuesday as Detroit's mayor through the end of the year, sweeping the incumbent from office in the city with myriad problems.

USA Today: Ginsburg: Court needs another woman
Three years after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor left the Supreme Court, the impact of having only one woman on the nation's highest bench has become particularly clear to that woman — Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

LATimes: Sinaloa cartel may resort to deadly force in U.S.
The reputed head of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel is threatening a more aggressive stance against competitors and law enforcement north of the border, instructing associates to use deadly force, if needed, to protect increasingly contested trafficking operations, authorities said.

WSJ: At Fallen Mortgage Titan, Tragedy Amid the Turmoil
Freddie Mac's acting finance chief secured, just prior to his death, a favorable ruling allowing the company to avoid a possible $30 billion charge against earnings.

International:
NYT: Pakistani Army Poised for New Push Into Swat
Residents flooded out of the Swat Valley by the thousands on Tuesday as the government prepared to mount a new military campaign against Taliban militants and as a much-criticized peace accord with the insurgents fell apart.

USA Today: Pakistani police underfunded, overwhelmed
Just how underfunded are Pakistan's police? Police barricades in the city of Lahore carry the logo of the snack-food company, Tasty, that sponsors the local force. The police academy is brought to you in part by the U-Fone telecommunication company.

LATimes: Georgia puts down mutiny in tank battalion
Georgia's president, a post-Soviet darling of the Bush administration, is struggling with a buildup of Russian troops in breakaway territories and an angry opposition movement intent on driving him from power. Suddenly, the integrity of the armed forces is in doubt as well.

BBC News: Nato to begin Georgia exercises
Nato is to start a series of military exercises in Georgia, a day after the government thwarted an attempt by its own soldiers to stage a mutiny. Soldiers from 18 countries are taking part in the drills at a Georgian army base close to the capital, Tbilisi.

WaPo: A New Approach to Karzai— Administration Is Keeping Ally at Arm's Length
Today, as the two leaders meet in the White House, that skepticism drives the administration's evolving policy toward Afghanistan and the battle against Taliban insurgents, a conflict whose outcome will in part define Obama's presidency.

LATimes: Biden urges Israel to work for a Palestinian state
Speaking to the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, Vice President Joe Biden called on Israeli officials Tuesday to work harder for creation of a Palestinian state and to halt growth of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

BBC News: Deadly bombing in Baghdad market
An explosion today at a vegetable market in the Iraqi capital Baghdad has killed at least 10 people, officials say. More then 30 others are reported to have been wounded in the attack in the south of the city.