U.S. steps up arms sales to Persian Gulf allies

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- The Obama administration is quietly working with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf allies to speed up arms sales and rapidly upgrade defenses for oil terminals and other key infrastructure in a bid to thwart future military attacks by Iran, according to former and current U.S. and Middle Eastern government officials.

Why Apple is the leader of the pack

David Flynn is president and chief technology officer of Fusion-io, a leading provider of solid-state technology and high-performance I/O solutions.

Trial of alleged Sept. 11 conspirators probably won't be held in Lower Manhattan

The Obama administration has all but abandoned its plan to put Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, on trial in Lower Manhattan, according to administration officials.

Authorities seek deal with Detroit suspect on cooperation, guilty plea

Authorities are inching toward an agreement that would secure cooperation from the suspect in the failed Detroit airliner attack, according to two sources familiar with the case, even as fresh details emerged about the intense and chaotic response to the Christmas Day incident.

Afghan president plans meeting on reintegrating, reconciling with insurgents

LONDON -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that he will convene a nationwide meeting of tribal, religious and political leaders in the next few weeks to discuss reintegrating and reconciling with insurgents. Afghan government officials said Taliban members would also be welcome to attend.

Ex-prime minister of France acquitted of charges in slander trial

PARIS -- The allegations read like a potboiler: treachery and high jinks in the gilded salons of Paris politics. But in a trial that riveted France, the charges were brought for real in a paneled courtroom beside the Seine by a very serious prosecutor and endorsed by a bitter President Nicolas Sarkozy.

U.S. military teams, intelligence deeply involved in aiding Yemen on strikes

U.S. military teams and intelligence agencies are deeply involved in secret joint operations with Yemeni troops who in the past six weeks have killed scores of people, among them six of 15 top leaders of a regional al-Qaeda affiliate, according to senior administration officials.

U.S. is unprepared for major bioterrorism attack, commission finds

More than eight years after the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, the United States is still unprepared to respond to the threat of large-scale bioterrorism, a congressionally appointed commission said Tuesday in a report that gave the government mixed grades overall for how it has protected Americans from weapons of mass destruction.

Suicide bomber strikes convoy near U.S. military base in Afghanistan

KABUL, Jan. 26 -- A suicide bomber struck a convoy of armored military vehicles at dusk Tuesday outside an American military base on the outskirts of the capital, wounding eight American service members and at least a half-dozen Afghan civilians.

Report says Al-Qaeda still aims to use weapons of mass destruction against U.S.

When al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, called off a planned chemical attack on New York's subway system in 2003, he offered a chilling explanation: The plot to unleash poison gas on New Yorkers was being dropped for "something better," Zawahiri said in a message intercepted by U.S. eavesdroppers.

Details of arrest of bombing suspect disclosed

Badly burned and bleeding, the suspect in the attempted bombing of the Christmas Day flight to Detroit tried one last gambit as he was led away: He said there was another bomb hidden on board, officials said.

On Leadership: A year in, what has been Obama's strength or weakness?

Jeffrey Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.