A Superpower's View of the World  —  251,000 State Department documents, many of them secret embassy reports from around the world, show how the US seeks to safeguard its influence around the world.  It is nothing short of a political meltdown for US foreign policy.

US cables leak sparks global diplomatic crisis  —  • More than 250,000 dispatches reveal US foreign strategies  —  • Diplomats ordered to spy on allies as well as enemies  —  • Saudi king urged Washington to bomb Iran  —  Read the full coverage of the US embassy cables

A Note to Readers: The Decision to Publish Diplomatic Documents  —  The articles published today and in coming days are based on thousands of United States embassy cables, the daily reports from the field intended for the eyes of senior policy makers in Washington.

Saudi Arabia urges US attack on Iran to stop nuclear programme  —  • Embassy cables show Arab allies want strike against Tehran  —  • Israel prepared to attack alone to avoid its own 9/11  —  • Iranian bomb risks ‘Middle East proliferation, war or both’

Iran Fortifies Its Arsenal With the Aid of North Korea  —  Secret American intelligence assessments have concluded that Iran has obtained a cache of advanced missiles, based on a Russian design, that are much more powerful than anything Washington has publicly conceded that Tehran has in its arsenal, diplomatic cables show.

Around the World, Distress Over Iran  —  In late May 2009, Israel's defense minister, Ehud Barak, used a visit from a Congressional delegation to send a pointed message to the new American president.  —  In a secret cable sent back to Washington, the American ambassador to Israel …

Leslie Nielsen, Actor, Dies at 84  —  FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Leslie Nielsen, who went from drama to inspired bumbling as a hapless doctor in “Airplane!” and the accident-prone detective Frank Drebin in “The Naked Gun” comedies, has died.  He was 84.  —  His agent John S. Kelly …