AP - Somali pirates and their hostage American sea captain were adrift in a lifeboat Thursday off the Horn of Africa, shadowed by a U.S. destroyer with more warships on the way in a U.S. show of force.

AP - The CIA has stopped using contractors to interrogate prisoners and fired private security guards at the CIA's now-shuttered secret overseas prisons, agency Director Leon Panetta said Thursday.

AP - U.S. officials have found no direct ties between East African pirates and terrorist groups but continue to search for signs of links between the two factions in the wake of the Indian Ocean hostage incident. It was not clear whether officials were specifically scrutinizing the Somali pirates who boarded the Maersk Alabama on Tuesday and fled in a lifeboat after taking hostage the cargo ship's captain.