AP - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday he saw and heard evidence that the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy is taking hold in critical Kandahar province.

AP - Stark differences exist between the oil platform fire in the Gulf of Mexico and the blast that led to the massive BP spill. Most notably, no one was killed and no crude was gushing into the water, but the distinctions don't end there.

AP - Hurricane Earl churned past the North Carolina Outer Banks and its powerful gusts and driving rains were starting to be felt in southeastern Virginia early Friday, the beginning of at least 24 hours of stormy, windy weather along the East Coast.