Over the weekend, a terrorism threat prompted the United States to close dozens of American diplomatic posts in the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere. In addition to closing embassies, the Department of State issued a travel alert to U.S. citizens abroad, warning of potential terrorist attacks, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa. "Current information suggests that al-Qa'ida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August," a statement from the State Department says. On Sunday the State Department extended the closure of some diplomatic posts. According to a statement issued yesterday, "Posts in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa, Tripoli, Antananarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum, Kigali, and Port Louis are instructed to close for normal operations Monday, August 5 through Saturday, August 10." Joining us to discuss the closures is Mark Mazzetti, reporter for our partner The New York Times. Stay up to date with The Takeaway–become a Facebook fan & follow us on Twitter!