(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

PORTLAND, Maine—Growing costs and vulnerability to anti-ship missiles sank the Navy's once-heralded "stealth destroyer," a highly advanced warship designed to slip close to the shore unnoticed and pummel targets with big guns.   Full Story

BOSTON—The Massachusetts House of Representatives has given its initial approval to a bill that would require all future legislation be written in language that is gender neutral.   Full Story

NUMBERS: About 7,000 of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles are in use in Iraq and Afghanistan.   Full Story

DONGSHA, Taiwan—Concrete pilings designed to prevent an invasion no longer dot this tiny Taiwanese islet's shoreline.   Full Story

SINGAPORE—North Korea's reclusive communist regime, long seen as a nuclear threat to the region, signed a nonaggression pact Thursday with Southeast Asia, in a largely symbolic move.   Full Story

KABUL, Afghanistan—A former top U.S. counter-narcotics official alleges that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is obstructing the fight against the country's narcotics trade.   Full Story