AP - Hurricane Ike's winds and massive storm surge ripped apart houses and toppled trees Monday as the deadly storm roared across Cuba toward Havana and its historic but decaying old buildings.

AP - Several explosions, reportedly caused by missile strikes from unmanned U.S. drone aircraft, hit a house and seminary linked to a key Taliban commander in northwestern Pakistan, officials said.

Reuters - China and Japan, the biggest buyers of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bonds, praised Washington for its rescue of the ailing mortgage giants, but investors harbored no illusions the bailout would end the global credit market misery.

Reuters - Cigarette maker Altria Group Inc has agreed to buy Skoal and Copenhagen smokeless tobacco maker UST Inc for about $10.3 billion in cash, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.