AFP - The US government has secretly monitored banking transactions around the globe since the September 11, 2001 attacks, officials said defending the program as a crucial part of the war on terror.

AP - Al-Qaida has identified a would-be 20th hijacker for the Sept. 11 attacks as a Saudi operative who was killed in a 2004 shootout with his country's security forces.

AP - A somewhat scaled-down design for the Sept. 11 memorial that retains the central elements of the original — including reflecting pools and the inscribed names of the victims — was unveiled Tuesday after the project was sent back to the drawing board because the cost was pushing $1 billion.

Reuters - Cost-cutters slashed the price of New York's September 11 memorial in half to $500 million while preserving crucial design elements like waterfalls and reflecting pools where the Twin Towers once stood, officials said on Tuesday.

AFP - New Yorkers were offered a new design for a permanent memorial to the September 11, 2001 attacks, after officials balked at the initial proposal's one-billion-dollar budget.

AP - A somewhat scaled-down design for the Sept. 11 memorial that retains the central elements of the original — including reflecting pools and the inscribed names of the victims — was unveiled Tuesday after the project was sent back to the drawing board because the cost was pushing $1 billion.

AP - Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that aggressive U.S. action is responsible for preventing new terror attacks since the Sept. 11 strikes.

AFP - A former employee of the FBI who gained national attention for exposing the agency's failures prior to the September 11 attacks was criticized in a US government report declassified today.

AP - Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that aggressive U.S. action is responsible for preventing new terror attacks since the Sept. 11 strikes.

Reuters - Nearly five years after the September 11 attacks, most cities and states in the United States are still unprepared for a major catastrophe, a Department of Homeland Security report showed on Friday.

AP - Enforcement of workplace immigration law, a central principle of immigration reform legislation under debate in Congress, has significantly declined since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to testimony at a Senate hearing Monday.

AP - It is a U.S. service academy situated just outside New York City. Its graduates have fought and died in all corners of the world, and since Sept. 11 have played a key role in bolstering homeland security.

Reuters - When billionaire Michael Bloomberg became New York mayor shortly after the September 11 attacks, some mocked his dullness and lack of political savvy.

Reuters - Nearly five years after the September 11 attacks, most cities and states in the United States are still unprepared for a major catastrophe, a Department of Homeland Security report showed on Friday.

AP - New Orleans is still woefully unprepared for catastrophes 10 months after Hurricane Katrina, and the two cities attacked on 9/11 don't meet all guidelines for responding to major disasters, a federal security analysis concluded Friday.

AP - A disaster relief company that took supplies that were supposed to go to Sept. 11 rescuers at the World Trade Center escaped punishment after the government discovered its own employees had stolen artifacts from ground zero, once-secret federal documents show.