There’s a new twist in the developing story of a thwarted terrorist plot orchestrated by Al Qaeda in Yemen. The would-be suicide bomber tasked with blowing up a United States-bound airliner was actually a double agent. Scott Shane, national security correspondent for The New York Times, explains.

Stuxnet, the mysterious computer virus which only targets Siemens industrial software and equipment, devastated Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and nuclear reactor at Bushehr. These setbacks didn't incur any loss of life; however, they weren't the only actions taken against Iran's nuclear program. Many experts believe that a covert campaign of assassinations, bombings, and sabotage has been anonymously carried out over the past three years by Israel and the Bush and Obama administrations.

Confidential documents found in Libyan government offices show a group of Americans tried to assist Col. Moammar Gadhafi and his family flee the country for at least $10 million. The group, which called themselves the "American Action Group," also offered Gadhafi lobbying services to sway the U.S. government to support his regime after NATO became its bombing campaign. Made up of a former CIA officer, a Kansas City lawyer, a GOP operative, and a terrorism expert, the group claims their goal was to avoid a Libyan civil war, not to help Gadhafi. Scott Shane broke the news for The New York Times. He discusses the details of the story.

The United States military is increasingly relying upon remotely piloted drones to carry out tactical missions in the war in Afghanistan. Other countries, such as Pakistan and Yemen, are also using drones in battle more often. A drone killed the American-born, Yemen-based al-Qaida leader Anwar al-Awlaki last month, and before that the United States used them to gather intelligence on Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad compound. With the increasing prevelance of drones, and the fact that they have killed both militants and civilians, some people are worried that a dangerous global drone arms race may be beginning.

Last night, as President Obama was giving his jobs speech, federal authorities were confirming reports that there is a specific, credible terrorist threat for the New York City and District of Columbia areas this coming weekend. Counterterrorism officials are investigating a possible truck bomb, and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a press conference last night that he would increase security in the city, and that residents should keep their "eyes wide open."

Since FBI translator Shamai Leibowitz was sentenced to 20 months in prison after pleading guilty to leaking information to a blogger, the case has been shrouded in mystery. Even the judge trial didn't know what information Leibowitz had divulged. Over a year later, it is now known that Leibowitz acquired secret transcript of wiretapped conversation from the Israeli Embassy and passed them on to a blogger named Richard Silverstein. The case is the Obama administration's first successful prosecution over the leaking of classified information to the media.

With the death of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida is now calling on all its followers to prepare do-it-yourself plans of attack against America. And it’s a sharp contrast to the strategy taken on by bin Laden, which focused on long-term planning for one big attack on U.S. soil. This message from the terror network’s online presence is just among the first signs that a change in leadership will also mean a change in strategy. And it seems that without a prominent candidate, the future of the organization is in limbo. We talk with Scott Shane, national security reporter for The New York Times who broke this story for the paper.

After poring over documents and hard drives taken out of the compound in Abbottabad where bin Laden was killed, intelligence analysts have surmised that the al-Qaida leader was consistently in touch with the terrorist network he helped create, and still intimately involved in plotting more attacks. A story in The New York Times details the data found and C.I.A. surveillance conducted before the mission to take out bin Laden was completed. We're joined by Scott Shane, a New York Times reporter who worked on the story. 

There is growing debate among Democrats and Republicans over which president's tactic helped find and kill Osama bin Laden. Was it the harsh interrogation techniques under the Bush administration, that included waterboarding and sleep deprivation of detained al-Qaida members? Or was it old fashioned surveillance and intelligence gathering methods that got bin Laden? Scott Shane, national security reporter for The New York Times says that until all the documents are declassified, it may be difficult to know.

The New York Times obtained a trove of more than 700 classified documents holding new information about the prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay. The documents show that most of the 172 prisoners who remain locked up at Guantanamo are “high risk” and pose a threat to our national security if released without proper rehabilitation. But more alarmingly, the documents reveal that nearly 200 of the 600 detainees already released were also rated high risk. Also, surprisingly, one of the prisoners who was released is now fighting with the rebels in Libya. Scott Shane, reporter for The New York Times helps analyze the documents.

Egypt's autocratic leader, Hosni Mubarak announced his plans to remain president of Egypt, yet, more and more voices begin to consolidate power both inside the government, and outside its walls. Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei tweeted out, "Egypt will explode. Army must save country now," in response to Mubarak. Furthermore, some reports suggest Egypt's Army is deeply divided over how to deal with Mubarak. The question now is, how much longer can Mubarak count on the military’s support? 

WikiLeaks struck again this weekend, this time releasing a trove of over 250,000 documents containing cable messages between international diplomats. The New York Times and four other major international newspapers received the documents from WikiLeaks early, and agreed to publish their reports today. The confidential messages are plentiful and far-reaching, and reveal the tangled workings of diplomats behind the scenes as they relay messages about a potentially-nuclear Iran, contingency plans for North Korea and various coordinated efforts in the Middle East.

The U.S. State Department issued an alert for Americans heading to Europe yesterday, as intelligence services indicate an increased risk of an attack by al Qaida in western Europe. The threats have been linked to a small cell of terrorists in Pakistan, and are reportedly in response to U.S. drone attacks.

Can the U.S. government or its agents kill an American citizen even if he is a non-combatant? Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim Cleric born in America and hiding in Yemen, has called for a Jihad against America and is clearly inciting violence against his native land. But as his own father will argue in front of a federal judge today, that may not mean he should be marked for death or capture by the C.I.A.. The law suit, filed in Washington by two human rights organizations on behalf of al-Awlaki's father, argues that the U.S. government shouldn't be allowed to kill an American citizen who isn't on the battlefield without a judicial review.

The FBI announced yesterday the arrests of 11 people associated with an alleged Russian spy ring. The arrests were made on Sunday in Massachusetts, Virginia, New Jersey and New York. Details coming out of the FBI reports read like a Russian spy novel — if not stranger.  Authorities worked for at least seven years to gather information about the suspects, who were all charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and failing to register as guests of a foreign government. The maximum sentences for these crimes are five to 20 years.

The Pentagon is searching for Julian Assange, founder of the website Wikileaks, amidst concerns that the site could publish thousands of international cables from the State Department. The cables are allegedly part of a larger package of material given to Wikileaks by 22-year-old Army Specialist Bradley Manning. In late May police arrested Manning, an intelligence analyst in Iraq, accusing him of downloading confidential material from computers on his base and posting it to WikiLeaks.

We speak with Scott Shane, the National Security reporter for The New York Times. He says that while President Obama's administration was elected on a campaign of government transparency, it is actually following a doctrine of extreme media secrecy. Shane says Obama has, in two years, prosecuted more information-leakers than any other president in history.

Scott Shane of our partner, The New York Times, says that there is a shift in the way the Obama administration is pursuing leaks to the press after reports that the website WikiLeaks has obtained 250,000 diplomatic cables; this morning's headlines.

The question everybody is asking this week has been, who is 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad, the man held and accused of placing a car bomb in New York's Times Square over the weekend? After two days of intense interrogation efforts, news continues to trickle in about the motives and connections behind the attempted attack.

Details are still trickling out on how the alleged Christmas Day 'bomber' managed to board a Detroit-bound plane despite several intelligence agencies having some information on him.  To look at what happened and what procedures may change in the future, we talk with Scott Shane, New York Times national security reporter.

Over the weekend, federal authorities charged a 23-year-old Nigerian man with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day. That man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, claims that he received the explosive chemicals from a bomb expert with ties to al-Qaida. For an update on the case, we speak with reporter Scott Shane, who is covering the case for our partner, The New York Times, along with BBC reporter Ahmed Idris, who joins us from Nigeria.