WASHINGTON – The color-coded terror alert (search) system that signals national threat levels would become optional under proposed legislation that sets the Homeland Security Department’s priorities for next year. The bill, which will be considered Wednesday by the House Homeland Security Committee, says the color-coded system is too vague and …

WASHINGTON – President Bush signed the biggest rewrite of U.S. bankruptcy law in a quarter century on Wednesday, making it harder for debt-ridden Americans to wipe out their obligations. “Bankruptcy should always be a last resort in our legal system,” Bush said. “If someone does not pay his or her …

UNITED NATIONS – Paul Volcker (search) told FOX News his committee isn’t going soft on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in the Oil-for-Food investigation and denies that there was any conflict of interest over his link to a U.N. official being questioned in the probe. Volcker, who heads up the Independent …

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – A Marine (search) accused of murdering two Iraqi detainees intended to make an example of them by shooting them 60 times and hanging a sign over their bodies, prosecutors said Saturday during closing arguments in a pretrial hearing. “There’s no other reason why this stellar lieutenant …

Maybe the jailers should have seen it coming. The BBC reported Thursday that seven prisoners had escaped from a high-security prison in Pakistan by using their turbans as ropes. The seven men, some of whom were convicted for murder, busted through a bathroom window in the hospital wing of the …

LOS ANGELES – “American Idol” (search) contestants gave their regards to Broadway (search) with an evening of show tunes that allowed some to shine brighter than ever but left judge Simon Cowell (search) in an especially foul mood. “I know what it is … he doesn’t like these kinds of …

See you in the No Spin Zone at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET! Tonight … “The O’Reilly Factor” is on… The controversy continues over the Minuteman Project (search) and its volunteers who are helping patrol the U.S. border with Mexico. Now, three volunteers who were patrolling the border for …

MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Vicente Fox refused to sign a drug decriminalization bill Wednesday, hours after U.S. officials warned the plan could encourage “drug tourism.” Fox sent the measure back to Congress for changes, but his office did not mention the U.S. criticism. Fox will ask “Congress to make …

MINNEAPOLIS – Those closest to Baseball Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett are involved in a dispute over who should keep his cremated remains. Puckett, 45, died March 6 at a hospital in Arizona after suffering a stroke a day earlier at his home in Scottsdale. His body was later cremated …

This is a partial transcript of “The Big Story With John Gibson,” May 4, 2006, that has been edited for clarity. JOHN GIBSON, HOST: The hundreds of thousands of illegals who walked off their jobs in protest this week are feeling the backlash days later. The latest FOX News/Opinion Dynamics …