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his inaugural address thrilled many activists. Yet almost immediately came the questions and exhortations as to what steps should be taken next.
• "I was very moved," said Jon Davidson, legal director of the gay-rights group Lambda Legal. "But there's a lot more to do in the four years to come. ... It's not like everything is fine."
• Items on the activists' wish list include appointment of America's first openly gay Cabinet member, steps to curtail unequal treatment of same-sex couples in the military and an executive order barring federal contractors from workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
• The paramount priority for many, however, is same-sex marriage. Never before Monday had an inaugural address conveyed support for marriage equality, and activists now hope the Obama administration will take concrete steps to follow up, including escalated engagement in pending Supreme Court cases.
• "Why wouldn't they decide to stand on the right side of history?" Davidson asked.
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• SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea swiftly lashed out against the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of its December launch of a long-range rocket, saying Wednesday that it will strengthen its military defenses -- including its nuclear weaponry -- in response.
• The defiant statement from North Korea's Foreign Ministry was issued hours after the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution condemning Pyongyang's Dec. 12 rocket launch as a violation of a ban against nuclear and missile activity. The resolution, which won approval from Pyongyang's ally and protector China after drawn-out discussions, also expanded sanctions against the North.
• In Pyongyang, the Foreign Ministry maintained that the launch was a peaceful bid to send a satellite into space, not a test of long-range missile technology. But now, North Korea will "counter the U.S. hostile policy with strength, not with words," the ministry said, ominously warning that North Korea will "bolster the military capabilities for self-defense including the nuclear deterrence."
• The wording "considerably and strongly hints at the possibility of a nuclear test," analyst Hong Hyun-ik at the private Sejong Institute think tank near Seoul said Wednesday.
• A nuclear test would fit into a familiar pattern of defiance in Pyongyang. In 2006

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