Terror Threat Level Lowered to Yellow Outside New York

The Bush administration lowered the nation’s color-coded threat level one notch today but urged Americans to remain vigilant. The change, from orange for high risk to yellow for elevated risk, followed 10 days at the orange level in the aftermath of deadly bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco that were linked to Al Qaeda terrorists. American intelligence picked up increased traffic after those bombings, hinting that another attack might be in the works, officials said at the time. But the Memorial Day weekend passed with no terrorist incidents. “This decision is based upon a number of factors including a review of the intelligence and assessment of threats,” Tom Ridge, the secretary of homeland security, said this afternoon. “The United States intelligence community has also concluded that the number of indicators and warnings that led to raising the level have decreased and the heightened vulnerability associated with the Memorial Day holiday has passed.” New York City, where nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, remains on an orange level. Full Story