Out of the shadows in death: the CIA honors its fallen
By Suzanne Kelly
When you're a spy, you have to accept the fact that everything you do will go unnoticed by most people during your life. Sometimes that secrecy even follows you in death, with a simple star carved into a marble wall at Langley being the only memorial to your service.
Sometimes though, in death, the names come out, along with just enough information to piece together a glimpse of what life - and death - have been like for CIA spies over the past three decades.
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12,000 troops train in massive war game in Jordan
In the Middle East thousands of U.S. and allied forces are training for a nightmare scenario– the region exploding in a full-fledged war. CNN’s Barbara Starr got exclusive access to their mission in Jordan.
Editor's note: CNN's Barbara Starr is covering the Eager Lion military exercise in Jordan. Read all her reporting here.
Probe finds 'flood' of fake military parts from China in U.S. equipment
By Larry Shaughnessy
The results of a more-than-year-long Senate investigation into counterfeit parts being used in U.S. military equipment were released Monday and - as they had from the start - investigators are putting most of the blame on China.
"Our report outlines how this flood of counterfeit parts, overwhelmingly from China, threatens national security, the safety of our troops and American jobs," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which launched the investigation.
The probe began in March of 2011. But it was not easy for the committee staffers to conduct because the Chinese government refused to grant visas to committee staff to travel to mainland China as part of the investigation.
Ambassador Crocker to step down from Afghan post
By the CNN Wire Staff
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, will step down this summer after a year on the job due to health reasons, according to State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
A statement by Nuland said Crocker confirmed his plan to the Afghan government and the U.S.-led NATO military mission in the country.
Crocker was named as the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan on July 25, 2011.
This is not Crocker's first stint in Kabul. After the Taliban were forced out of power, Crocker was given the task in 2002 of reopening the U.S. Embassy in the city, according to his State Department biography.
Signs of new activity at North Korea's nuclear test site
By Jennifer Rizzo
Activity is ramping up at North Korea's nuclear test site, a sign that the country is preparing for a test, according to analysis of new satellite images by the defense publication IHS Janes.
Mining carts and excavation equipment at Punggye-ri's tunneling area can be seen in satellite images taken by Digital Globe and GeoEye in the past month.
Earth and debris are being removed from the tunnel in the largest quantities seen so far, according to the Janes assesment.
An image from mid-April shows a full mining train, including an engine and several carts, outside of the tunnel. 
And a more recent shot on May 9 reveals new road networks at the site along with carts and a vehicle at the facility.
Why Assad shouldn't worry about NATO
By Elise Labott
As NATO leaders discuss the winding down of its 10-year war in Afghanistan and pat themselves on the back for helping in the bloody ouster of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya, there is one increasingly deadly conflict that is taboo for the alliance to even think about wading into: Syria.
Practically every NATO leader has publicly condemned the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and called for him to step down and make way for a democratic transition in Syria. Yet U.S. ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder said Sunday that not one leader even raised the issue of Syria during the opening day of the summit.
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