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Preliminary results form last week's Afghan presidential elections show incumbent Hamid Karzai and his main challenger with roughly 40 percent each of the votes counted so far. There will be a runoff if neither candidate gets 50 percent of the vote.

Leaders in Pakistan are watching the presidential election in Afghanistan on Thursday very closely. The two countries are neighbors, but they've not always been friends. That's largely because of the activities of Taliban insurgents in the mountains that straddle their border.

FBI agents fanned out across northern New Jersey today and made arrests in a corruption investigation that includes two mayors. Officials say politics and religion were used to cloak crimes and enrich the suspects.

Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, a veteran of Iraq, is leading the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade in its fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan. He exhorted his troops in a recent speech to besiege the enemy until the Taliban is dead or surrenders.

Piracy off the coast of Somalia has become an international problem — and an international business. The issues of criminality and the potential for violence aside, a closer look at the "business model" of piracy reveals that the plan makes economic sense.

It's hip to be square this weekend at the annual National School Scrabble Competition in Providence, R.I., where middle schoolers are facing off. The team that makes the highest play using the letter Q wins a signed Shaquille O'Neal basketball jersey.

President Obama travels to Mexico, which is torn by drug violence as warring cartels battle for control. The visit on Thursday is meant as a show of support for President Felipe Calderon, and to underscore the importance his administration places on relations with Mexico.

President Barack Obama traveled to Denver Tuesday to sign the economic stimulus bill. Approved by Congress on a largely party-line vote last week, the bill is designed to inject nearly $800 billion into the economy through tax cuts and new federal spending.

Last year, private-equity firm Lone Star Funds bought up nearly $6.7 billion of Merrill Lynch's credit debt obligations at 22 cents on the dollar. Could that be the private model the Treasury Department wants others to duplicate? Simon Johnson, a professor at MIT and a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, offers his insight.

Barbara and Gary Ratner, who live in Atlanta, aren't eligible for unemployment assistance, so they're seeking creative ways to make ends meet. The couple — in their 60s — have drawn $10,000 out of retirement and are considering dropping their health insurance.