Colors could disappear from terror alert system

The Obama administration has begun a review that could spell the end of the color-coded terrorism advisories, long derided by late night TV comics and portrayed by some Democrats as a tool for Bush administration political manipulation.

It’s not likely the review will plunge an alert system into the dark all together, but short of that, everything is on the table for consideration, according to one administration official familiar with the plans. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about potential outcomes.

The alert system assigns five different colors to terror risk levels. Green at the bottom signals a low danger of attack and red at the top warns of a severe threat. It was put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and was designed to help emergency responders get prepared. (AP)

Homeland Security Braces for Possible H1N1 Outbreak

“Odds are this may not be the 1918-type of virus which was highly lethal and swept through the United States and swept through the world, but we can’t count that out,” said Janet Napolitano, secretary of Homeland Security. “We need to prepare on all levels, because right now we really don’t know.”

The Department of Health and Human Services, is currently testing for a safe, available H1N1 vaccine, she said. (CNBC)

U.S. Senate approves $42.9 billion homeland security bill

The Senate on Thursday approved a wide-ranging $42.9 billion measure to pay for improving U.S. border security, clamp down on illegal immigration and beef up cyber security in fiscal 2010.

The Senate voted 84-6 for the annual spending bill funding the Department of Homeland Security for the year starting October 1, and now lawmakers must work out differences with a $42.6 billion version of the bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last month. (Reuters)

US State Department under cyberattack for fourth day

The US State Department said Thursday its website came under cyberattack for a fourth day running as it tried to prevent further attacks.

“I’m just going to speak about our website, the state.gov website. There’s not a high volume of attacks. But we’re still concerned about it. They are continuing,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters. (AFP)