While major media covered the decline, most posted the AP story, without additional reporting. The Los Angeles Times posted the AP story, but then localized it to the region, one of the hardest hit in the housing decline.

Home Price Index Down 15.8% in May (The New York Times)

Home Prices Drop by Record 15.8% in May (Washington Post)

S&P: Home prices drop by record 15.8 pct. in May (Newsweek)

Home prices down 15.8%; confidence ticks up (USA Today)

L.A. home prices falling at 24.5% annual rate (Los Angeles Times)

Home-Price Declines Accelerate (The Wall Street Journal)

Home prices drop record 15.8% (CNN)

Home prices fell by steepest rate ever in May (MSNBC)

S&P/Case-Shiller: Home Prices Drop by Record Amount in May (Fox News)

Al major media outlets covered the stop, but some focused on the region, while some looked more at who Obama was going to meet with on his trip.

Obama Arrives in Baghdad on Mideast Tour (The New York Times)

Obama Arrives in Baghdad to Discuss Iraq Strategy (Washington Post)

Obama begins firsthand look at Baghdad (Newsweek)

Obama arrives in Iraq, visits with officials (USA Today)

Obama Begins On-the-Ground Inspection of Iraq (Fox News)

Barack Obama arrives in Baghdad (The Los Angeles Times)

Obama Begins Visit to Iraq (The Wall Street Journal)

Obama in Iraq for talks with Iraqi leaders, military (CNN)

Obama meets Iraq’s prime minister (MSNBC)

The new phone, which is cheaper and faster than the previous model, debuted in 22 countries simultaneously, with The New York Times reporting that anxious Apple fans in Germany, Japan and New Zealand are waiting at the edge of their seat.

Headlines were restrained today, with nary an i-pun headline in sight, as opposed to the release of the first iPhone, which was released with great fanfare and iGotta-have-it headlines.

Crowds Line Up for New iPhone As Apple’s Global Launch Begins (Wall Street Journal)

People line up early for Apple’s new iPhone (The New York Times)

Long Lines and High Hopes Mark New iPhone’s Debut (Washington Post)

The iPhone Haters: Why Apple’s latest isn’t winning everyone over (Newsweek)

Eager buyers line up for iPhone 3G (USA Today)

Apple iPhone goes on sale in Japan with smoke and cheers (Los Angeles Times)

Apple debuts faster, cheaper iPhone (CNN)

The United States criticized the tests, accusing Iran of violating the recent United Nations Security Council resolution, which strengthened restrictions on Iran’s proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities and ballistic missile programs. The dispute comes as negotiations over the country’s nuclear program are intensifying. Seymour Hersh just reported in The New Yorker this week that the White House has stepped up clandestine operations in Iran. Meanwhile, British and U.S. warships are maneuvering in the Persian Gulf, reportedly within range of the missiles.

Iran said the tests were just that, tests, but media around the country pointed out the range of the missiles and seemed skeptical.

Iran Says It Test-Fired Missiles, Drawing Sharp U.S. Response (The New York Times)

Iran Test-Fires Long-Range Missile (The Washington Post)

Iran test-fires missiles in Persian Gulf (Newsweek)

Iran test-fires long- and medium-range missiles (USA Today)

Iran Test-Fires Missiles Capable of Hitting Israeli, U.S. Bases (Fox News)

Iran tests missiles in Persian Gulf, Hormouz (Los Angeles Times)

Iran Says It Test-Fired Missiles (Wall Street Journal)

Iran claims it was threatened, tests missiles (CNN)

While third-party candidates haven’t come close to occupying the Oval Office, they are having some success at the polls, playing "king maker" in 10 gubernatorial races and seven U.S. Senate races between 1998 and 2006. A king maker, according to the study, is a third party candidate who won more votes than the margin of victory — think of Ralph Nader in 2000, then a Green Party candidate, when he chalked up 97,488 votes in the Florida contest that was decided by 537 votes. The king maker party is always ideologically related to the major party that lost, so, Nader can’t say Nader Sen. John McCain. But will Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party nominee, Nader McCain? That’s the question in some tight states in the 2008 presidential election. From the report:

In 7 gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races in 2006, 2 percent or more of voters cast their ballots for the Libertarian Party, which has picked up the banner of small government.  Similar vote totals by a Libertarian presidential candidate could be enough to flip the race to Obama in several states by draining away voters who would otherwise end up casting their ballot for McCain. Some polling already shows Barr drawing support in certain states (like his home state of Georgia) that diminishes McCain’s vote share.

A recent nationwide poll by CNN showed Barr with 3 percent of the popular vote, though CNN polling director Keating Holland said early surveys often overstate actual election day support of third-party candidates. Holland said third party candidates historically only end up with about half the support in November as shown in the summer prior to the election. Still, McCain probably isn’t looking to lose out on 1.5 percent of the vote.

Media reports called the blast Kabul’s "deadliest blast this year," but pointed out that the attack was the second in Afghanistan’s capital this year, including an assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai in April.

Suicide Bomber Kills 40 in Afghan Capital (The New York Times)

Afghan Capital Struck by Suicide Bombing (Washington Post)

Suicide bomb attack in Afghan capital kills 40 (USA Today)

Deadliest Blast in Afghan Capital This Year Kills 40 (Fox News)

Car bomber kills dozens in Afghanistan (The Los Angeles Times)

Kabul car blast kills 41, including Indian envoys (CNN)

Suicide car bomb kills 40 in central Kabul (MSNBC)

Reports of the incident ranged from dramatic to straightforward. Every major outlet covered the incident.

Construction Vehicle Kills 3 in Israel Attack (The New York Times)

Driver Rams Earthmover Into Jerusalem Bus (The Washington Post)

Palestinian goes on rampage in Jerusalem; 3 killed (Newsweek)

Driver rams bulldozer into Jerusalem bus; 3 dead, dozens hurt (USA Today)

Terror in the street (Fox News)

Palestinian ‘terrorist’ in earth-mover rampage (MSNBC)

Jerusalem bulldozer ‘terrorist’ kills 3 in rampage (CNN)

The regional disaster has picked up national attention.

Calif. firefighters battle more than 1,400 blazes (The Washington Post)

Little Relief Against California Fires (The New York Times)

No new California fires, but old ones still rage (CNN)

Northern California scarred by 1,400 blazes (MSNBC)

Bush declares emergency for fires in N. California; weather cooperates( Los Angeles Times)

Little progress in battling California wildfires (The Seattle Times)

The New York Times reports that despite the news, the country isn’t quite revealing everything:

But, significantly, the North’s declaration was not expected to reveal details on three critical points: the nuclear bombs the North has already produced; its alleged attempts to produce nuclear arms by secretly enriching uranium, which triggered the ongoing crisis in 2002; and accusations that the North helped Syria build a nuclear plant.

Major media outlets trumpeted the news, but seemed split on whether to cover the declaration, the lifting of the sanctions or Bush taking North Korea off the terror list.

U.S. to Take North Korea Off Terror List (The New York Times)

North Korea Details Nuclear Program (The Washington Post)

Bush administration to lift North Korea sanctions (USA Today)

Bush Offers Carrots in Exchange for North Korea Nukes Declaration (FOX News)

Bush will take North Korea off terror list (The Los Angeles Times)

Pyongyang Submits Nuclear Declaration (The Wall Street Journal)

Bush welcomes N. Korea move on nuclear program (CNN)

Bush: U.S. to lift key North Korea sanctions (MSNBC)

Some $50 million has been budgeted for [the program] this year, and financially strapped states might be expected to want their share. But many have doubts that the program does much, if any good, and they’re frustrated by chronic uncertainty that it will even be kept in existence. They also have to chip in state money in order to receive the federal grants.

Abstinence-only education has taken plenty of heat. A 2007 report from the Dept. of Health and Human Services-funded, independent Mathematica Policy Research Group found that such programs had "no effect on the sexual abstinence of youth." Nonetheless, the push for such programs lives on.

In April, TWI reporter Matthew Blake covered a hearing where the House oversight committee took a look at the issue. Matt noted at the time:

The hearing showed that social conservatives continue to shape the public debate on [abstinence-only education]. Abstinence-only education, one plank of Newt Gingrich’s 1994 "Contract With America," is now a big part of the Bush administration’s public-health agenda, receiving $1.3 billion since 1997. Despite the current calls to end funding, the conservatives who framed the abstinence-only policy have created a formidable obstacle for opponents to overcome.

The Senate still needs to pass its own version of Medicare’s funding bill before we’ll know if this has a chance of making it another year.