North Korea is claiming it test fired a trio of nuclear missiles yesterday. Such claims haven't always turned out to be true, but there are indeed reports of seismic activity in the area. The official North Korea news agency said these explosions were more powerful than the previous tests in October 2006. The claimed tests are raising tensions in the region and Japan has already called for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation. For more we turn to the BBC's Jonathan Marcus.

It's Monday, which means it is time to pull out our road map for the week. Our guide this week is our own Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich. On the agenda? A California court is expected to rule on the controversial ballot initiative Proposition 8 that barred gay marriage. The court will decide whether the initiative is legal and the fate of those couples already married in California. And President Obama is expected to announce his pick for the U.S. Supreme Court this week. Also this week Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbass and the U.K.'s Prince Harry will be in the U.S. Abbass will talk about Mideast peace, while Harry is likely to play polo.

New scientific research suggests that the mind of a baby is a humming, buzzing, supercharged learning machine, capable of taking in and processing enormous amounts of information. Now that we know this, how should we interact with babies and support their developing minds? We talk to our science contributor Jonah Lehrer. He is the author of Proust was a Neuroscientist. He latest book is How We Decide.

The former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was arrested in July 2008, after 11 years on the run. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia accuses him of genocide for his involvement in the decimation of Bosnia's Croat and Muslim population. But his lawyers say they have evidence that he was told by Richard Holbrooke, now the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, that he would not stand trial for war crimes. They are outlining their evidence today in The Hague. For more on this story, The Takeaway is joined by Charles Ingrao, professor of history at Purdue University.

In honor of those who serve, The Takeaway talks to current and former servicemen and women to ask what Memorial Day means to them. They remember fallen comrades, pay tribute to the living and talk about the need to look forward.

For more, read Kristen Rouse's blog post, I Will Always Remember You

It's the start of summer and the kickoff of grilling season. To give us some cooking tips on we turn to Craig Samuels, Brooklyn's barbecue afficionado and owner of Peaches, a Southern restaurant, and The Smoke Joint, a barbecue spot.

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North Korea says it carried out an underground nuclear test, prompting widespread international concern. Pyongyang says the device that it detonated was more powerful than a previous one tested in 2006. Meanwhile, a news agency in South Korea says the country also test-fired a total of three short-range missiles. The Takeaway is joined by Dr. Jim Walsh, a specialist in international security and a research associate at the M.I.T's Securities Studies Program.

One of the most famously congested and crowded spots in the world is Times Square in New York City. Starting today, segments of its main thoroughfare, Broadway, will be closed to cars. In their place will be more room for pedestrians, and even cafe tables and chairs. The city says the plan will actually relieve traffic congestion. Transportation writer Matt Dellinger joins The Takeaway with a look at why New York is taking this step, and what it might mean for cities around the U.S.

New York Times writer Kim Severson is reporting on a new trend among college students, no it's not the latest technological gadget or So You Think You Can Dance drinking game, it's...threshing. And spreading manure, milking cows, gathering eggs, and harvesting crops. Yes, the newest trend among college students is interning on the farm. To get to the root of this back-to-the-land movement, Kim Severson joins The Takeaway.

For more, read Kim Severson's article, Many Summer Internships Are Going Organic in the New York Times.

The fate of 248 detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center in Cuba has been in the spotlight. We’ve heard much less about the 600 detainees currently being held at Bagram Air Force base in Afghanistan. New reporting from our partners at The New York Times shows that the detainees at Bagram present the U.S. with yet another massive challenge. A federal judge ruled on April 2 that some foreign prisoners have the right to use U.S. courts to challenge their detention. For more, The Takeaway talks to Richard Oppel Jr. the New York Times reporter who has been following this story.

For more, read Richard Oppel Jr.'s article, U.S. Captain Hears Pleas for Afghan Detainee, in today's New York Times.

At Riverside National Cemetery in California, volunteers have spent eight days reading the names of all 148,000 servicemen and women interred there. It was the first unbroken roll call at any U.S. veterans’ cemetery. The Takeaway talks to Gwendolyn Goodlett. She volunteered to read names in honor of her deceased husband, Elijah Goodlett, a Vietnam vet.

Memorial Day is typically considered the unofficial beginning of summer. And we inaugurate the season with barbecues, beach parties, blockbuster films, and bargain hunting. But that's not how Memorial Day was envisioned by the Southern women who honored the fallen soldiers of the Civil War. Joining The Takeaway to talk about the origins of Memorial Day and how the meaning has morphed over the decades is Caroline Janney. She is an assistant professor of history at Purdue University and the author of Burying the Dead but Not the Past: Ladies' Memorial Associations and the Lost Cause (Civil War America).