The U.S. Homeland Security Department in 2010 identified a terrorist plan to contaminate salad bars and buffets at restaurants and hotels with lethal materials, CBS News reported.

The US government is creating a vast domestic spying network to collect information about Americans in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks and subsequent terror plots, said a Washington Post report.

An explosive device was found today under a subway-car seat in Rome and bomb-disposal experts were examining whether it was an attempted Christmas season terror attack, said an AP report.

Four Waco, Tex. area women were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit identity theft in a scheme involving stolen Fingerprint Applicant Services of Texas (FAST) applications required by licensing and certification entities such as the Texas Education Agency.

According to the FBI's Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, January-June, 2010, the nation saw a 6.2 percent decrease in the number of reported violent crimes and a 2.8 percent decrease in the number of reported property crimes compared to data for the same time frame during 2009.

The Department of Homeland Security and FBI issued an intelligence bulletin to encourage law enforcement agencies to be watchful over the holidays.

A new government report released today found that individuals with histories of sexual misconduct were hired or retained, in at least once instance, breaking existing state laws that prohibit offenders from being near children or on school grounds.

A Baltimore man has been arrested and charged in an alleged plot to bomb a military recruiting center in suburban Maryland, federal officials said.

Federal marijuana distribution conspiracy charges were filed against seven defendants who were arrested during what law enforcement officials said they believe is the largest seizure ever of marijuana in the Chicago area -- conservatively estimated at approximately 21,800 pounds, or nearly 11 tons, packed into six railroad cars from Mexico that arrived at a warehouse in Chicago Heights, Ill., earlier this month. The marijuana is estimated to have a value of approximately $22 million.