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Already on alert across the Middle East and North Africa because of intelligence about possible terrorist attacks, the U.S. has now issued a very specific warning about travel in Yemen.

After weeks of talk about whether National Security Agency surveillance programs should be curbed, voices are now praising the programs' effectiveness. Meanwhile, many embassies across North Africa and the Middle East remain closed.

Russia has become a relations nightmare for the United States, and its offer of temporary asylum to the NSA leaker and fugitive is only the tip of the iceberg.

More than 20 diplomatic posts, including consulates, have been temporarily shut down throughout the Middle East and the Arabian peninsula and the State Department has issued a global travel warning for Americans.

The man who in 1971 went public with the comprehensive study of two decades of U.S. policy in Vietnam spoke with NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday.

The State Department said it was concerned about possible attacks against U.S. citizens and interests by al-Qaida.

NSA leaker Edward Snowden, who spent more than a month at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport before being granted a one-year asylum Thursday, has picked out a place to live, his Russian attorney says.

Few details have emerged about the U.S. plan to shut down embassies that would normally be open this Sunday. A senior State Department official says that the U.S. facilities may close for more days, as well. The closures are described as "precautionary steps" taken "out of an abundance of caution."

If the former NSA contractor wants to further his cause, is Edward Snowden better off in Russia? We asked three distinct voices for their opinion.

The State Department said it made the decision "'out of an abundance of caution." It said that there is the potential that the closures could extend.