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(CNSNews.com) – The Department of State (DOS) may be hindering the placement of Visa Security Programs at U.S. consulates the government deems to be at high risk for providing U.S. visas to terrorists, according to government reports. The Visa Security Program (VSP), established by the Homeland Security Act of 2002, puts Department of Homeland Security officials in the field at U.S. consulates to vet the backgrounds of people applying for U.S. visas. This is important at high-risk consulates because the DHS uses a broader range of databases than the State Department to review the backgrounds of visa applicants, and many...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2009 – U.S. forces conducted an air assault to disrupt insurgent communication and an Afghan civilian thwarted a bomb attack in operations in Afghanistan yesterday, military officials reported. Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division’s 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, rush down the side of a mountain to board a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter after conducting an operation to disrupt insurgent communication in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, Aug. 23, 2009. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. U.S. soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division’s 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, conducted an air assault to disrupt insurgent communication...

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WASHINGTON – House lawmakers on Wednesday accused the Securities and Exchange Commission of impeding their probe into the agency's failure to uncover the alleged $50 billion Bernard Madoff fraud. The clash between lawmakers and high-ranking SEC officials at a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing came after the man who waged a decade-long campaign to alert the regulators to problems in Madoff's operations denounced the agency for its inaction. ... In loud, angry exchanges, lawmakers threatened to issue subpoenas to SEC officials to compel their testimony in the case.

SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan (AP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell blamed Yasser Arafat on Sunday for blocking U.S. efforts to make Palestinian security forces strong enough to end terror attacks on Israel. Winding up his latest effort to push peacemaking forward, without any apparent concrete results, Powell also criticized Arafat for a statement the Palestinian leader made Saturday to his people urging them to "find whatever strength you have to terrorize your enemy." "Mr. Arafat continues to take actions and make statements to make it exceptionally difficult to move forward" on peacemaking, Powell said at a news conference before returning...

SAN FRANCISCO – Two dozen bills designed to bolster California's Megan's Law are struggling in the Legislature as politicians haggle over details and accuse each other of going soft on sex offenders. "Who loses are the parents and kids. Megan's Law has gotten caught between Republicans and Democrats. It's really a game of who can outdo the other, who's got the toughest law or whose does the most," said Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter. Florez thinks the most important piece of legislation is his proposal requiring law enforcement to check in with sex offenders instead of the other way around. He...