The U.S. Department of State has upped its alert for travel to Mexico’s border towns in the wake of violent attacks on three people associated with the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, but no alert has been issued to resort areas after a series of gruesome murders in Acapulco.

The deadly attacks prompted the U.S. Embassy to urge American citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to parts of Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua, three north-central Mexican states struggling with drug-related violence.

President Obama has announced his intent to nominate retired Major General Robert A. Harding to head up the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a post that has been empty for more than a year.

Harding, whose military career spanned more than 30 years, is the former head of operations at the Defense Intelligence Agency where he oversaw security for embassies and government offices overseas.

A capricious cat briefly wreaked havoc on security at Newark Liberty International airport when it bolted beneath a bomb-detection machine and refused to come out.

The brown-and-black cat made its daring escape when a woman and her young daughter removed it from a pet carrier so the cage could pass through an X-ray machine.

What can you do to prevent your pet from becoming a menace to security? Keep reading for more details.

Earlier this week we reported that a man was thrown off a plane for allegedly taking a swing at Mitt Romney.

Well, it turns out that the man in question was Sky Blu of the Grammy-nominated rap group LMFAO, and now he’s giving his side of the story.

Blu claims that it was actually Romney who struck first. Keep reading to hear more of Blu’s colorful account.

Another day, another passenger thrown off a plane. The man in question wasn’t overweight, requesting orange juice, or harboring a screaming child.

This time, a frenetic flier was kicked off for taking a swing at Mitt Romney.

The 2008 presidential hopeful and his wife were on an Air Canada flight bound for Los Angeles, returning from the Olympic Games in Vancouver, where they were guests of honor.

So what provoked this man to attack Romney?

How safe are America’s skies? Thursday night, February 11, on the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric, catch an investigative look at the current state of aviation safety in America.

CBS Travel Editor Peter Greenberg presents an inside and sobering look at aviation safety and what’s not being done.

Tune in or set your DVRs for 6:30 p.m. Eastern & Pacific, on CBS.

Another security breach forced officers to shut down and evacuate the McNamara Terminal at the Detroit Metro Airport this morning.

According to the Transportation Security Administration, a man passed through a security checkpoint shortly before 8 a.m. local time and refused to stop and answer questions from security officers.

So why did the man refuse to stop? Keep reading for more details.

In a bizarre story, a Southern California man has been arrested for allegedly posing as a U.S. Marshal to slip past airport security and “deport” a distant relative’s pregnant wife to the Philippines.

Believe it or not, it gets even weirder.

Keep reading to find out all the details, including how this man managed to get past three Transportation Security Administration checkpoints.