USA

The Homeland Security Department is prepared to announce new airport security procedures that will partially lift the ban on carry-on liquids and gels, the Associated Press said Monday. To ease restrictions put in place after a terrorist plot to use liquid explosives on transatlantic flights was foiled in August, travelers will be able to purchase liquids and gel products at secure areas inside airport checkpoints.

The FBI is confident that the five-year-old case of anthrax attacks that killed five people will be solved despite a growing pool of suspects, The Washington Post reported. Investigators who once focused on government scientists with access to biodefense labs have determined that the lethal powder sent in the mail was ordinary enough not to require special processing.

A federal judge in New York Monday granted class-action status to tens of millions of smokers who purchased "light" cigarettes that were promoted as lower-risk. If deception is proved in the 2004 lawsuit, tobacco companies could pay as much as $200 billion in damages.

Former President Clinton "worked hard" to have Osama bin Laden killed and "got closer" than anybody's gotten since, he said during an interview on "Fox News Sunday." In defending his administration's efforts to pursue terrorists, Clinton accused Fox host Chris Wallace of a "conservative hit job" against him.

During the past two weeks, the average price of self-serve regular gasoline dropped 24 cents to $2.42, according to the latest Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations. Prices peaked at $3.02 on Aug. 11.