Obama twice approved force to rescue hostage  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama twice authorized the military to rescue a U.S. captain who was being held by Somali pirates and whose life appeared to be at risk, administration officials said after Sunday's rescue.

U.S. Captain Held by Pirates Is Freed  —  Richard Phillips, the captain of an American cargo ship held hostage by armed Somali pirates for more than four days, was freed on Sunday after three of his captors were killed, government and shipping officials said.

How the rescue happened  —  I just finished listening to the press conference w/ ADM Gortney about the rescue of Captain Phillips.  At the time it happened the USS Bainbridge was towing the lifeboat to calmer waters as the sea state was deteriorating.  One of the pirates was on board …

Ship Captain Rescued From Somali Pirates  —  American sea Captain Richard Phillips was safely rescued Sunday from four Somali pirates, who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, a U.S. intelligence official said.  —  Three of the pirates were killed …

Official: US sea captain freed in swift firefight … MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) - An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday in a U.S. Navy operation that killed three of the four Somali pirates who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, a senior U.S. intelligence official said.

U.S. Ship Captain Rescued From Pirates by Navy Seals  —  Mombasa, Kenya, April 12 — An American captain being held by Somali pirates was freed unharmed Sunday in an operation carried out by U.S. Navy Seals, U.S. military officials said.  Three of the pirates were killed and the fourth was captured.

Amazon de-ranks so-called adult books, including National Book Award winner  —  One of these books has been removed from Amazon's sales rankings because of “adult” content; the other has not.  —  “American Psycho” is Bret Easton Ellis' story of a sadistic murderer.