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Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday that he is switching parties and is now a Democrat. The switch means that if Democrat Al Franken is declared the winner in the contested Minnesota Senate race, Democrats will have the 60 votes needed to block GOP filibusters.

The nation's 19 largest banks have gotten the final results from the government's stress tests. Some banks were told they need to raise more capital in order to be considered healthy. The results are scheduled to be released to the public Thursday.

President Obama unveiled a plan to overhaul regulation of the nation's financial institutions Wednesday. He blamed the current economic crisis on a culture of irresponsibility by Wall Street, Main Street and Washington. Obama also said the government had to do more to protect consumers. The effort requires congressional action and would represent the most substantial revamping of the regulatory structure since the Great Depression.

Saying he looks at his brief tenure as "what might have been," New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned Wednesday. The former state attorney general, who fought Wall Street and organized crime, was named as a client of a prostitution ring.

Intelligence officials told the Senate Homeland Security committee Monday that the U.S. is still at high risk of terrorist attacks. Some aspects of security have been improved, they say, but not enough to justify complacency.

The New York Philharmonic Orchestra will travel to North Korea on Monday after performing on Sunday in Beijing. Observers are watching and hoping — cautiously — that this is a sign that North Korea is more willing to open up to the outside world.

Writers can be inspired by their surroundings — but Indonesian volcanoes? Researchers say Mary Shelley's Frankenstein may have been inspired by an icy, dark summer caused by Mount Tambora's eruption.

NPR's A Martinez talks to Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin ahead of a congressional hearing on the planned merger between golf's major organizations, PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

Meta's new app Threads aims to be a friendlier alternative to Twitter by deemphasizing news and politics. But for many people, partisan brawls are a big part of Twitter's appeal.

In a startling upset, Hillary Clinton resurrects her bid for the White House with a win in New Hampshire's Democratic presidential primary. The victory caps a comeback from last week's third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses.