WASHINGTON – The following is the text of a statement by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff issued early Thursday announcing an elevation in the U.S. threat level for commercial aviation: The Department of Homeland Security is taking immediate steps to increase security measures in the aviation sector in coordination with …

“Down here in the nine, we don’t mind dyin’!!” was how Mayor Ray Nagin concluded his dedication speech to wild applause in the heart of New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward yesterday. Mayor Nagin spoke of the challenges ahead and offered a message of hope – and humor – even suggesting …

LONDON – Five suspects in the alleged airline terror plot in Britain had their custody extended by one more week, police said Wednesday. The decision means that investigators can continue to question the five men until Sept. 6, when they will either have to be charged or released. British law …

MIAMI – A jetliner’s landing gear caught fire on the runway at Miami International Airport after two tires blew out during landing, officials said. No one was injured, and the fire was quickly extinguished. The US Airways Flight 431 was arriving from Charlotte, North Carolina, with 113 passengers and five …

WASHINGTON – Senate Democratic leaders on Friday accused Vice President Dick Cheney of playing politics with terrorism and contended that voters won’t buy Republican arguments that the GOP is stronger on national security. “They’ve run this play one too many times. The American people simply do not recognize any validity …

RALEIGH, N.C. – A former CIA contract worker charged with beating an Afghani detainee who later died admitted he assaulted the prisoner during an interrogation, a fellow agency employee testifying in disguise said Tuesday. David Passaro is charged with beating Abdul Wali over two days in June 2003 while questioning …

ATLANTA – The Stars and Stripes were everywhere at the annual Fourth of July Peachtree Road Race, from tiny flags taped over sports bras to flags sticking out of baseball caps to giant flags in the hands of runners. Greg Lohman, 51, and his 20-year-old son, Austin, just back from …

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Ethiopian troops in armored vehicles rolled into Somalia Thursday and set up a camp near the home of the interim president, residents said, less than a day after Islamic militants reached the outskirts of the base of a U.N.-backed, but largely powerless government. A spokesman for the …

The following is a partial transcript of the July 23, 2006, edition of “FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace”: “FOX NEWS SUNDAY” GUEST HOST BRIT HUME: For more now on efforts to resolve this conflict, we’re joined from our New York studios by the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., John …

CANBERRA, Australia – The first double amputee to summit Mount Everest is backing off a claim that earned him international condemnation: That his team radioed down to his expedition leader about a dying climber and was told to continue on to the summit. New Zealander Mark Inglis had said that …