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Barack Obama asked Americans to mark the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks by reflecting on how far the nation has come since that day.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, President Barack Obama is asking people to remember the 9/11 victims and their families.
He asks that they honor in their thoughts the first responders who risked their lives to help the many wounded in the chaotic aftermath of the attacks.
Remember also, he asks, the men and women in uniform serving both at home and abroad and making sacrifices to keep the country safe.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, President Barack Obama is asking people to remember the 9-11 victims and their families
Barack Obama says America has come back stronger following the horrific events of September 11 2001 in which almost 3,000 people were killed.
He insists that al-Qaeda is on the path to defeat, the U.S. having ensured that Osama bin Laden will never attack America again, and strengthened alliances with powers across the world.
“As Americans we refuse to live in fear,” Barack Obama says, congratulating those who worked to bring down Osama bin Laden and improve security across the nation.
President Barack Obama has signed a proclamation making Friday, September 7 through Sunday, September 9, 2012 National Days of Prayer and Remembrance.
In the Republican address, Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming criticized Barack Obama’s presidency.
John Barrasso said the nation isn’t better off than it was four years ago under President George W. Bush.
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Madonna unveiled a huge Obama temporary tattoo on her back during last night concert in New York.
Madonna, 54, made the unmissable statement during her MDNA Tour at New York’s Yankee Stadium.
Clad only in a back-baring bra and trousers she turned her muscly back on the audience, all the better to show off the writing.
Despite turning 54 last month there was no rest for Madonna during her high-kicking concert.
At one point the singer was joined on the stage by her bare-chested younger boyfriend Brahim Zaibat. She and the 24-year-old have been dating for two years.
Madonna unveiled a huge Obama temporary tattoo on her back during last night concert in New York
Madonna has made her left-wing leanings increasingly clear in recent months, with her endorsement of President Barack Obama the latest in a long line of political statements.
The mother-of-four was branded a “moralizing slut” by Russia’s deputy prime minister after scrawling Pussy Riot on her back at her concert last month.
Madonna was making a statement about the jailing of the Russian punk band for an anti-Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.
She then angered the Russians further by making a stand for gay rights at her St Petersburg concert
On that occasion she stomped on an Orthodox cross and asked fans to raise their hands to show pink armbands which had been distributed in support of gays and lesbians.
And in July the pop star was forced to make a public apology to France’s far-right nationalist leader Marine Le Pen after depicting the politician with a swastika across her forehead.
The leader of the National Front had said she would sue the pop queen for associating her with Adolf Hitler’s Nazis.
In an eccentric performance in front of 2,500 fans in Paris, Madonna said: “I know that I have made a certain Marine Le Pen very angry with me. It’s not my intention to make enemies.”
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The US economy created 96,000 jobs in August, according to official figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is less than was expected.
However, the figure was lower than expected and revisions to June and July data mean that 41,000 fewer jobs were created than previously reported.
Analysts had expected non-farm payrolls to grow by 125,000 last month.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.1%, compared with 8.3% in July, but only because more people gave up looking for work.
The US economy created 96,000 jobs in August, according to official figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employment increased in food services and drinking places, professional and technical services and healthcare during August, the Bureau said.
Employment growth has averaged 139,000 a month in 2012, the Bureau said, compared with an average monthly gain of 153,000 in 2011.
The percentage of Americans who either have a job or who are looking for one fell to 63.5%, the lowest participation rate since 1981.
The weak figures could put pressure on President Barack Obama in his re-election campaign, given than rival Mitt Romney has put jobs at the centre of the national debate.
Mitt Romney described the figures as “more of the same for middle-class families who are suffering through the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression”.
He claims his economic plan will create 12 million new jobs by the end of his first term.
The figures are also seen as making it more likely that the US Federal Reserve will provide further economic stimulus measures in the form of quantitative easing, as hinted at by chairman Ben Bernanke in a speech on 31 August.
A survey released on Tuesday indicated that growth in the US manufacturing sector remained weak.
The Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index came in at 51.5 in August compared with 51.4 in July. A reading above 50 indicates growth.
Figures released last week showed that the US economy grew at an annualized pace of 1.7% in the second quarter of the year.
Barack Obama has accepted the nomination of the Democratic party, telling voters they face a generational choice in November’s election.
The US president highlighted the differences between his aims and Republican policies, and reprised his 2008 theme of “hope”.
“I never said this journey would be easy, and I won’t promise that now,” Barack Obama told the Democratic convention.
Republican Mitt Romney is challenging Barack Obama for the White House, with polls showing a tight race.
Barack Obama told delegates in the hall and voters watching at home that the nation’s problems had built up over decades and could not be fixed in a flash.
“But when you pick up that ballot to vote – you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation.
“Over the next few years, big decisions will be made in Washington: on jobs and the economy; taxes and deficits; energy and education; war and peace – decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and our children’s lives for decades to come,” he said.
Barack Obama has accepted the nomination of the Democratic party for a second term
Barack Obama took the stage not in a huge stadium in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, as organizers had hoped, but inside the convention centre after Thursday’s speech was moved because of weather concerns.
He followed a rousing speech by Vice-President Joe Biden, who praised Barack Obama for his bravery in bailing our the auto industry and ordering the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
The president offered a string of critiques of Republican policies, describing his opponents as “happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America” without offering suggestions on how to make things right.
“That’s because all they have to offer is the same prescription they’ve had for the last 30 years,” he said.
“Have a surplus? Try a tax cut. Deficit too high? Try another. Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning!”
But there was no mention of his own healthcare law, a signature achievement that remains unpopular with many Americans, and little explicit talk of the stimulus enacted in his first months in office.
The speech prompted a response from Mitt Romney’s camp: “Tonight President Obama laid out the choice in this election, making the case for more of the same policies that haven’t worked for the past four years,” his campaign said in a statement after the speech.
“He offered more promises, but he hasn’t kept the promises he made four years ago.”
Barack Obama also spoke about his energy strategy, saying the US had opened “millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration… and we’ll open more”.
“But unlike my opponent, I will not let oil companies write this country’s energy plan, or endanger our coastlines, or collect another $4 billion in corporate welfare from our taxpayers.”
On international issues, the president described Mitt Romney and running-mate Paul Ryan as “new to foreign policy”.
“But from all that we’ve seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly,” he said, highlighting his success with Bin Laden and his withdrawal of troops from Iraq and planned drawdown from Afghanistan.
As Barack Obama finished the speech, he roused the crowd by telling them their votes had helped make the changes of his presidency.
“Only you have the power to move us forward,” he said.
“I recognize that times have changed since I first spoke to this convention. The times have changed – and so have I. I’m no longer just a candidate. I’m the president.”
Earlier, Vice-President Joe Biden accepted his own re-nomination in an emotional speech that focused on family and national security.
“Folks, I’ve watched him,” he said of the president.
“He never wavers. He steps up.”
“He asks the same thing over and over again: How is this going to work for ordinary families? Will it help them?”
Joe Biden also criticized Mitt Romney for not backing the US auto industry bailout, referring to the former Massachusetts governor’s time leading private equity firm Bain Capital.
“I just don’t think he understood what saving the automobile industry meant, to all of America. I think he saw it the Bain way, in terms of balance sheets and write-offs,” he said.
“The Bain way may bring your firm the highest profit. But it’s not the way to lead your country from its highest office.”
The third and final night of speeches in Charlotte also saw former Florida governor Charlie Crist – who was previously a Republican – and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry address the convention.
John Kerry criticized Mitt Romney for surrounding himself with “neo-conservative advisers who know all the wrong things about foreign policy”.
“This is not the time to outsource the job of commander in chief,” the Massachusetts senator said.
Former Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords, still recovering from a near-fatal shooting on a meeting with her constituents in 2011, appeared on stage to lead the convention in the pledge of allegiance.
Walking slowly and steadying herself to recite the pledge, Gabrielle Giffords left many in the crowd dewy-eyed as she smiled through her recital.
Thursday’s speeches brought an end to the Democratic convention, which also headlined speeches from Michelle Obama and former President Bill Clinton.
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney now face two months of relentless campaigning before voters across the 50 states go to the polls on 6 November.
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Bill Clinton has delivered a prime-time defence of Barack Obama, nominating the president for a second term in the White House.
Former US president’s 50-minute speech at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, was strongly critical of Republican economic plans.
Bill Clinton launched a full-throated defence of Barack Obama’s policies, saying his economic policies were working.
Barack Obama will take on Republican Mitt Romney in November’s election.
Bill Clinton’s speech is being seen as the high point of a revitalized relationship between the two presidents and as an attempt to boost Barack Obama’s appeal with white working-class voters.
Polls show these traditional Democratic voters are wary of Barack Obama, but Bill Clinton has a strong record in winning their support.
Bill Clinton has delivered a prime-time defence of Barack Obama, nominating the president for a second term in the White House
Bill Clinton told the crowd that they would “decide what kind of country you want to live in”.
“If you want a <<you’re on your own, winner take all society>> you should support the Republican ticket,” he said.
“If you want a country of shared opportunities and shared responsibilities – a <<we’re all in it together>> society – you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”
Bill Clinton attacked Republicans for blocking further progress on the economic recovery and getting deep into the detail of policy debates.
“In order to look like an acceptable, moderate alternative to President Obama, they couldn’t say much about the ideas they have offered over the last two years,” he said, referring to the Republican convention in Florida a week ago.
Reminding the crowd that Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had revealed that their number one priority was to get Barack Obama out of office, he declared: “We’re going to keep President Obama on the job.”
Bill Clinton argued that Barack Obama’s economic policies on taking office had prevented further collapse and begun the recovery, but said he knew that many Americans were still struggling.
He compared Barack Obama’s experience to his own first term in office, when “our policies were working and the economy was growing but most people didn’t feel it yet”.
“No president – not me or any of my predecessors – could have repaired all the [2008] damage in just four years,” he said.
“But conditions are improving and if you’ll renew the president’s contract you will feel it.”
Bill Clinton criticized Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan, who he said misrepresented Barack Obama’s Medicare policy at last week’s Republican convention.
He argued that Paul Ryan had made the same amount in cuts as part of his plan for the government-sponsored healthcare plan for the elderly.
“It takes some brass to attack a guy for doing what you did,” said Bill Clinton.
He also countered a Republican ad that Barack Obama had weakened the work requirement for welfare, which Bill Clinton signed into law.
“When some Republican governors asked to try new ways to put people on welfare back to work, the Obama administration said they would only do it if they had a credible plan to increase employment by 20%,” Bill Clinton said, adding that the Republican charge was “just not true”.
After the former president finished a lengthy and partially ad-libbed speech, Barack Obama joined him on stage.
They have previously sparred, most notably during the 2008 primaries when Bill Clinton supported his wife Hillary’s bid for the nomination, and they are known not have a close personal bond.
Earlier, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi was just one of a string of speakers who highlighted social causes including women’s issues, and economic concerns such as the future of the auto industry.
Nancy Pelosi warned that “democracy was on the ballot” in November.
“Republicans support opening the floodgates to special interest money and suppressing the right to vote,” she said.
“It’s just plain wrong.”
Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren railed against inequality, saying Mitt Romney’s policy would amount to “I’ve got mine, the rest of you are on your own”.
And Sandra Fluke, a student branded a “slut” by conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh during a row over contraception, made a prime-time appearance calling for action on women’s issues.
In a procedural surprise as Wednesday’s events got under way, the convention reinstated language from the 2008 platform describing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
In confusing scenes a voice vote on the language was called three times. Despite loud boos in the audience, convention chair Antonio Villaraigosa said he had determined that two-thirds of the convention had voted in favor.
Reports emerged shortly afterwards that Barack Obama had personally intervened to change the platform’s language.
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First Lady Michelle Obama has made an impassioned speech backing her husband, President Barack Obama, for another four-year White House term.
Closing the first night of the Democratic convention in North Carolina, Michelle Obama spoke of the couple’s shared background in struggling families.
She said it was “extraordinary privilege” to serve as first lady.
President Barack Obama will formally accept the nomination on Thursday, and face Republican Mitt Romney in November.
A recent opinion poll shows Michelle Obama maintains a thin lead over Mitt Romney.
But an ABC News/Washington Post poll released as the convention got under way in Charlotte, North Carolina, showed Barack Obama with the lowest pre-convention favorability for an incumbent president since the 1980s.
The president is aiming to recapture the political spotlight over the next few days, after last week’s Republican convention.
Michelle Obama said that four years ago she “believed deeply” in her husband’s “vision for this country” but worried about how a run for president would change their life and the life of their daughters.
First Lady Michelle Obama has made an impassioned speech backing her husband, President Barack Obama, for another four-year White House term
In a speech roundly welcomed by a hyped-up crowd, she shared memories from their 23-year relationship, and noted that she had found a “kindred spirit” in a man whose values were similar to hers.
“Barack and I were both raised by families who didn’t have much in the way of money or material possessions but who had given us something far more valuable – their unconditional love, their unflinching sacrifice, and the chance to go places they had never imagined for themselves.”
The first lady’s speech connected their shared background to the values she said guided Barack Obama as president.
“As president, you can get all kinds of advice from all kinds of people,” she said.
“But at the end of the day, when it comes time to make that decision, as president, all you have to guide you are your values and your vision and the life experiences that make you who you are.”
She said Barack Obama was inspired by his own background when advocating for laws involving fair pay for women, healthcare and student debt.
He had not been changed by the White House, she said, and was “still the same man I fell in love with all those years ago”.
“He’s the same man who started his career by turning down high-paying jobs and instead working in struggling neighborhoods where a steel plant had shut down, fighting to rebuild those communities.”
In the toughest moments, Michelle Obama added, “he just keeps getting up and moving forward… with patience and wisdom, and courage and grace.”
Earlier, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, brought the gala into session with a strike of the gavel at 17:00 EDT.
Shortly after the convention opened, delegates cheered their backing for the party’s new platform in a open voice vote.
Among the changes found in the text of the party’s 2012 platform was the removal of language from the Middle East section referring to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
That message was replaced with a passage referring to the party’s “unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security” and Barack Obama’s “steadfast opposition to any attempt to delegitimize Israel”.
The change prompted criticism from Republicans and Mitt Romney, who accuse Barack Obama of “selling out” a key US ally.
Tuesday’s first session saw a series of Democratic governors, members of Congress, mayors and electoral candidates speak in support of Barack Obama and his policies, most notably his much-criticized healthcare reform law.
A video tribute to the late Senator Edward Kennedy included clips from his 1994 Senate debate with Mitt Romney, and independent Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee argued that his former party – the Republicans – had lost their way and had forfeited the label of conservative.
Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said the next president would set the tone for the next 40 years.
“It will be the president’s leadership that determines how we as a nation meet the challenges that face the middle class. It is the president’s values that shape a future in which the middle class has hope,” he said.
Julian Castro, the Latino Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, gave the keynote address immediately before Michelle Obama.
The Democratic gathering will see Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden formally re-nominated as the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates on Wednesday.
Later that evening, there will be speeches from Elizabeth Warren, who is fighting Republican incumbent Scott Brown in a high-profile race for a Massachusetts Senate seat, and former President Bill Clinton.
The convention culminates on Thursday with speeches from Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Republican nominee Mitt Romney is expected to spend the week preparing for a series of debates with Barack Obama.
The gala also offers the Democrats the chance to make a high-profile pitch to voters in North Carolina, a state that narrowly voted for Barack Obama in 2008, but is now firmly up for grabs.
As they did four years ago, the Democrats will take the event outside the convention centre for the president’s prime-time speech, taking over a 74,000-seater stadium in Charlotte for the final night of speeches – despite a poor weather forecast.
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Former US President Bill Clinton made an insensitive racial remark about Barack Obama while his wife battled him for the Democratic nomination vote, it was claimed today.
Bill Clinton, whose wife Hillary battled Barack Obama in the 2008 primary campaign, is said to have remarked of the current president: “A few years ago, this guy would have been carrying our bags.”
He allegedly made the insensitive remark to Senator Ted Kennedy in 2008, while trying to convince him to endorse Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, according to the New Yorker.
Writer Ryan Lizza said he heard about the comment from NBC newsman Tim Russert, who died in 2008.
Four years ago Bill Clinton and Barack Obama had clashed following Hillary’s failed bid for Presidency, which she lost to Obama.
Although Bill Clinton is said to have since given his backing to the current U.S. President, his remark is the latest in a series of apparent outbursts against Barack Obama.
Bill Clinton made an insensitive racial remark about Barack Obama while his wife battled him for the Democratic nomination vote
The ill-advised comment follows claims of another remark attributed to Bill Clinton in 2010, where he is said to have commented: “A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee.”
The ex-President is quoted as having made the other remark in the book Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.
The latest revelation comes just days before Bill Clinton is due to give a speech to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC on Wednesday night.
Further book claims last year said that Bill Clinton had previously branded Barack Obama “incompetent” and an “amateur”.
Bill Clinton is said to have torn into Barack Obama and branded him “incompetent” and that he “did not know how to be President”.
Bill Clinton added that Barack Obama “does not know how the world works”, according to an article in the Sunday Post by Edward Klein, author of The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House.
He even urged Hillary Clinton to quit her job as U.S. Secretary of State and challenge him for the Democratic ticket as she knew how to do a better job of it. Bill Clinton’s team denied the remarks, branding Edward Klein as a well known liar.
Bill Clinton is yet to issue comment in response to the latest reported remarks.
The rocky relationship between the 42nd President and the current President has been closely scrutinized since the aggressive primaries in 2008, where Hillary Clinton was running for President.
During that contest, Bill Clinton made headlines for calling the premise of Barack Obama’s campaign, his opposition to the Iraq War, “the biggest fair tail I’ve ever seen”.
But despite their often tense relationship, the President buried the hatchet with charismatic Bill Clinton earlier this year by asking him to be a leading star of his re-election campaign.
Barack Obama’s team will likely be keeping a close eye on Bill Clinton as he takes to the North Carolina stage this week, praying that he causes no further cracks in the party for the Republicans to seize on.
Bill Clinton, 66, said in July that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s business career was “sterling” and criticized the Obama campaign’s attacks on Romney’s background at the private equity firm Bain Capital.
He caused headaches for the Obama administration again when he said he favored the extension of all of George W. Bush’s tax cuts. Barack Obama has campaigned on repealing the cuts for the richest Americans.
The White House has decided to release details of one of its most closely guarded secrets – the recipe for President Barack Obama’s home-brewed honey ale.
The beer is believed to be the first-ever made at the White House.
The recipe was kept under wraps until 13,000 people signed an online petition demanding to know it, and someone even filed a freedom of information request.
Barack Obama has been taking the beer with him on the campaign trail, and is said to be known to offer it to voters.
For weeks, the White House had refused to comment on the recipe, but the secret was finally aired in a blog post entitled “Ale to the Chief”.
The White House has decided to release details of one of its most closely guarded secrets, the recipe for Barack Obama's home-brewed honey ale
The long-awaited special ingredients include: light malt extract, amber crystal malt, honey, gypsum, yeast and corn sugar.
“With public excitement about White House beer fermenting such a buzz, we decided we better hop right to it,” says the White House’s assistant chef Sam Kass, who brews the ale.
Although Sam Kass is the brewer, the White House stressed that it was Barack Obama who bought the equipment and pays for the ingredients out of his own pocket.
There is also a video on how the beer is brewed.
“God, that is one incredible beer, if I do say so myself. America I wish everyone could taste this but we don’t quite brew enough,” Sam Kass comments at one point.
Cynics may say there is more than a bit of politics in the mix.
One of the oldest political clichés states that people vote for the person they would most like to have a beer with – and Barack Obama’s rival in the November election, Mitt Romney, a Mormon, does not drink.
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Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has visited an emergency centre in hurricane-damaged Louisiana, a day after accepting the Republican nomination for US president.
Mitt Romney attended a Friday rally with running mate Paul Ryan in Florida before cancelling a campaign stop in Virginia and diverting to the South.
Hurricane Isaac caused heavy flooding in areas around New Orleans and damage across the Gulf Coast.
Mitt Romney will challenge President Barack Obama in November’s election.
The Democratic president is due to tour storm-affected areas of Louisiana Monday, a US national holiday.
Mitt Romney has visited an emergency centre in hurricane-damaged Louisiana
At least six deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi have been attributed to Isaac, which brought up to 16 in (41 cm) of rain in some areas.
Mitt Romney travelled on his new campaign plane to Louisiana, at the invitation of the state’s Republican Governor Bobby Jindal.
The two spent almost an hour meeting local officials and first responders on Friday.
“I’m here to learn and obviously to draw some attention to what’s going on here,” Mitt Romney told the governor, “so that people around the country know that people down here need help.”
The presidential candidate shook hands with National Guardsman and met residents who had lost their homes in the storm.
“He just told me to, um, there’s assistance out there,” resident Jodie Chiarello said.
“He’s good. He’ll do the best for us, you know. He speaks to our best interests at heart.”
Former Republican President George W Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina, in which 1,800 people died seven years ago, was widely perceived as a failure.
This year, Hurricane Isaac wrought less destruction and New Orleans benefited from a revamped set of flood defences erected after Katrina.
Correspondents say both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were eager to display crisis leadership in the wake of Isaac.
“The decision to travel on Monday was made before Governor Romney announced his decision to travel to Louisiana on Friday,” an Obama aide told reporters from the presidential plane Air Force One.
Meanwhile, the Romney campaign insisted it had not hurried to appear first amid the storm wreckage.
Barack Obama made federal emergency aid available earlier in the week. But he pledged further assistance for individuals in a Friday call with parish presidents and local leaders in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Senate Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid said Mitt Romney’s visit was the “height of hypocrisy”, adding that Republicans planned to gut disaster aid.
Plaquemines Parish, just outside New Orleans, was among the areas hardest hit by flooding after an 8-ft (2.5-m) levee was overtopped, leaving many homes under about 12ft of water.
The Plaquemines levee was not part of a multi-billion dollar upgrade to the federal levees protecting the city.
Among those killed in the US by the storm were a man and a woman in the town of Braithwaite who apparently drowned in their kitchen as flood waters surged in.
In Mississippi, officials have been pumping water from a reservoir on the Louisiana border to ease the pressure behind a storm-battered dam.
About 600,000 people across Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas are without power as of Friday, Reuters reports.
Mitt Romney capped off the Republican convention on Thursday evening with a speech accusing President Barack Obama of failure.
The Obama campaign said the Republican had “gauzy platitudes, but no tangible ideas to move the country forward”.
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The Pentagon announces it may sue former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonette, who has written a first-hand account of the May 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
The Department of Defense’s top lawyer has informed Matt Bissonette that he has violated agreements not to divulge military secrets.
He signed two non-disclosure forms with the Navy in 2007, the Pentagon said.
The book, No Easy Day, which was written under the pseudonym Mark Owen, is due to be released on September 11.
Matt Bissonette book, No Easy Day, which was written under the pseudonym Mark Owen, is due to be released on September 11
It was not reviewed ahead of publication by the Pentagon, CIA or the White House – and officials had warned that criminal charges could result from the improper disclosure of secret information.
The Pentagon’s general counsel, Jeh Johnson, wrote to the author on Thursday that his non-disclosure forms had obliged him to “never divulge” classified information.
The letter said: “In the judgment of the Department of Defense, you are in material breach and violation of the non-disclosure agreements you signed.”
The Pentagon is considering “all remedies legally available to us”, the letter added.
It was reported this week that No Easy Day contradicts the official story of the raid.
The book says Osama bin Laden was shot dead as soon as he looked out of his bedroom as SEAL’s rushed up the stairs, according to the Associated Press news agency, which has seen an advance copy.
But US officials have stated he was shot only after he had ducked back into the bedroom, prompting fears he might be grabbing a weapon.
The book also reveals that the commandos were not big fans of President Barack Obama, even though they applauded his decision to launch the operation.
Mitt Romney has accepted the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s convention in Florida where he has pledged to “restore the promise” of America.
Mitt Romney, 65, accused President Barack Obama of failing to deliver on his promises and presented his plan involving energy independence, cutting the budget deficit and creating jobs.
He also spoke of his Mormon faith.
The Obama campaign said Mitt Romney had been “no tangible ideas” and he “would take our country backwards”.
Mitt Romney will challenge the Democratic president in November’s election.
His speech was the climax of the three-day Republican convention, which correspondents saw as an attempt to show the human side of a candidate who is sometimes accused of being opaque and distant.
Mitt Romney began the most important speech of his political career by accepting the nomination that he was overwhelmingly awarded on Tuesday by thousands of delegates at the gala in Tampa.
It secured him the position that eluded him in his first presidential bid in 2008, when Arizona Senator John McCain became the Republican nominee.
“I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed,” Mitt Romney said, in a speech that was watched by millions across the US.
He recounted details of his Mormon upbringing, with anecdotes about his family life and his parents’ loving marriage.
Mitt Romney talked about his own experiences as a father, apparently becoming emotional as he talked about the times when he and his wife Ann would wake up to find “a pile of kids asleep in our room”.
Mitt Romney has accepted the Republican presidential nomination at the party's convention in Florida
He also levelled a barrage of attacks at President Barack Obama: “The time has come to turn the page. Today the time has come for us to put the disappointments of the last four years behind us. To put aside the divisiveness and the recriminations.”
“Now is the time to restore the promise of America,” he added.
Mitt Romney vowed to create 12 million American jobs over the next four years and turn around an economy saddled with an 8.3% unemployment rate.
The presidential nominee also pledged to make the US energy independent by 2020, cut the national deficit and negotiate new trade agreements.
“I will begin my presidency with a jobs tour. President Obama began his presidency with an apology tour,” he said.
Mitt Romney accused the president of having “thrown allies like Israel under the bus”, while being too lenient with Iran.
“Under my administration, our friends will see more loyalty and Mr. Putin will see a little less flexibility and more backbone,” he said.
He brought the crowd to its feet when he pledged to repeal Barack Obama’s signature healthcare bill.
The event ended with the entire Romney family – his wife, five sons and their wives and most of his 18 grandchildren – on stage with him as thousands of balloons were released over the convention floor.
Republicans at the convention said they were confident of victory after the speech.
“It’s been great. It’s fired us up. We’re going forward. We’re going to make it happen,” one delegate said.
“This is just the cherry on the whipped cream, on the ice cream, and we’re going to win in November, and there’s no stopping it now. This is the wind that’s going to blow us into office,” said another.
But Barack Obama’s campaign manager Jim Messina said the address contained little substance.
“Much like the entire Republican Convention, Mitt Romney’s speech tonight offered many personal attacks and gauzy platitudes, but no tangible ideas to move the country forward,” he said.
“What he didn’t share were his actual proposals, which would take our country backwards.”
Appearing on stage earlier to pledge his support for Mitt Romney, Hollywood star Clint Eastwood raised eyebrows with an off-the-cuff monologue to an imaginary Barack Obama in an empty chair.
Referring to the president, Clint Eastwood told a rapturous audience: “When somebody does not do the job, you’ve got to let ’em go.”
Democrats have sought to depict Mitt Romney as a wealthy, elitist, tax-dodging, corporate raider and policy chameleon. Low favorability ratings have dogged him throughout his campaign and he trails Barack Obama in likeability.
To counter that image, the convention heard emotional testimonials about Mitt Romney’s work as a Mormon leader that left some attendees in tears.
One couple talked of how Mitt Romney had befriended and comforted their dying teenage son.
A woman recalled how the Republican’s “eyes filled with tears” when her premature baby daughter was close to death in hospital.
On Wednesday, Mitt Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, pledged a “turnaround” for America, while attacking Barack Obama.
But fact-checkers said there were a number of inaccuracies in the Wisconsin congressman’s address.
The job of softening Mitt Romney’s edges also fell to his wife, who brought down the house on Tuesday with a speech about their high-school romance.
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Ann Romney, wife of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, has painted a loving portrait of her husband at the Republican convention, on the day he became the party’s White House nominee.
In her prime-time speech, Ann Romney spoke of her “real marriage” to a steadfast partner and father.
Correspondents say the address aimed to show the human side of the Republican, who lags behind President Barack Obama in likeability ratings.
Mitt Romney will challenge the Democratic president in November’s elections.
Opinion polls show Barack Obama neck and neck with Mitt Romney, who will deliver his big speech to the convention on Thursday.
Highlighting Mitt Romney’s image problem, a new opinion poll suggests the former Massachusetts governor’s favorability rating is the lowest of any major party nominee since Ronald Reagan’s presidency.
Ann Romney, 63, told the audience she wanted to “talk to you from my heart about our hearts”, saying of her husband, “you really should get to know him”.
She talked about the way her husband helped her deal with multiple sclerosis and breast cancer.
“I read somewhere that Mitt and I have a <<storybook marriage>>,” she said.
“Well, in the storybooks I read, there were never long, long rainy winter afternoons in a house with five boys screaming at once. And those storybooks never seemed to have chapters on MS [multiple sclerosis] or breast cancer.
“A storybook marriage? No, not at all. What Mitt Romney and I have is a real marriage.”
Ann Romney has painted a loving portrait of her husband Mitt Romney at the Republican convention
She addressed criticism from Democrats over her husband’s successful private equity career.
“Mitt will be the first to tell you that he is the most fortunate man in the world.
“But as his partner on this amazing journey, I can tell you Mitt Romney was not handed success. He built it.”
Ann Romney ended by pledging: “This man will not fail. This man will not let us down.
“He will take us to a better place, just as he took me home safely from that dance.”
Mitt Romney, 65, appeared on stage and kissed his wife as she concluded her remarks, to a standing ovation from the audience.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie delivered the keynote address after Ann Romney.
“Mitt Romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to put us back on the path to growth and create good paying private sector jobs again in America,” he said.
The speeches followed a roll-call of party delegates and a lively voice poll in which state delegates called out their team’s allocation of votes.
Altogether, Mitt Romney secured 2,061 votes, bringing him comfortably over the crucial 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.
Vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan was also given the Republican party’s official stamp of approval on Tuesday.
Speakers attacked Barack Obama, with House Speaker John Boehner saying “his record is as shallow as his rhetoric”.
Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus said the president has “never run a company. He hasn’t even run a garage sale or seen the inside of a lemonade stand.”
The convention also approved its party platform – a policy agenda that calls for tax cuts to revive the economy, repealing and replacing a healthcare law passed by Barack Obama, and an end to abortion.
Recent opinion polls have indicated that voters view the economy and unemployment, which is stuck at 8.3%, as top priorities.
The platform also calls for the overturning of measures passed to regulate Wall Street in the wake of the 2008 economic collapse.
This is Mitt Romney’s second run for the White House, after an unsuccessful bid in 2008.
President Obama’s re-nomination will be confirmed next week at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
This year’s convention got off to a late start when Monday’s programme was postponed amid concerns that Hurricane Isaac might disrupt the proceedings in Tampa.
But the category one hurricane missed Tampa, instead making landfall in southern Louisiana on Tuesday evening.
It comes almost seven years to the day since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
Key convention speeches
Tuesday: Ann Romney, House Speaker John Boehner, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former US senator Rick Santorum, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Wednesday: New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, Arizona Senator John McCain, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan
Thursday: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, presidential candidate Mitt Romney
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President Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency in Louisiana, as Tropical Storm Isaac threatens to hit the US as a category two hurricane.
Tropical Storm Isaac is heading for New Orleans, possibly as early as Tuesday night, nearly seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.
The Republican Party delayed by a day the start of its national convention in Tampa, Florida.
Isaac killed at least 24 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The storm wrought significant flooding and damage in the Caribbean.
Late on Monday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned Isaac could reach category two strength, with top winds of 100 mph (160 km/h). The forecast was revised up from category one.
Barack Obama approved Louisiana’s request for a federal disaster declaration, making available federal funds for recovery activities such as clearing debris.
President Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency in Louisiana, as Tropical Storm Isaac threatens to hit the US as a category two hurricane
Earlier, the governors of Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama declared emergencies in their states.
The Republican governors of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have cancelled their trips to their party’s convention to focus on disaster prevention efforts.
Isaac is already a large storm and could bring significant damage to areas within hundreds of miles of its centre, officials warn.
The NHC said that at 23:00 EDT on Monday (03:00 GMT on Tuesday), Isaac was centred about 189 miles (305 km) south-east of the mouth of the Mississippi river, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 70 mph (110 km/h).
The storm is moving forward at about 10mph and storm winds extend out about 205 miles (335 km) from the centre.
The NHC warned that wind speeds could reach between 96-110 mph before the storm makes landfall.
Evacuations have already been ordered for some low-lying Louisiana parishes and parts of coastal Alabama.
Wednesday is the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which strengthened in the Gulf to a category five storm, before weakening to category three by the time it reached New Orleans.
Federal officials said the levees around New Orleans are now equipped to handle storms stronger than Isaac. Levee failures led to the catastrophic flooding in the area after Katrina.
“It’s a much more robust system than what it was when Katrina came ashore,” Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate said in a conference call with reporters.
Craig Fugate also said that Isaac was not just a New Orleans storm.
“This is a Gulf Coast storm. Some of the heaviest impact may be in Alabama and Mississippi,” he said.
A stream of vehicles left New Orleans on the highway heading west for Baton Rouge on Monday, as people made their way to higher ground.
Linda Grandison, who fled her home in 2005 and waited on a bridge for three days before she was rescued by a helicopter, has also decided to leave early, the Associated Press reported.
“You can’t predict God’s work,” she said.
“This is nerve-wracking. I hate leaving my house, worrying if it’s going to flood or get looted. But I’m not going to stay in the city again.”
Evacuations have already been put in place for Louisiana’s St Charles Parish, near New Orleans, and some areas of coastal Alabama.
A hurricane warning is already in effect for some 300 miles of the Gulf Coast in four states from Louisiana to Florida, with lower-level warnings issued for many areas along Florida’s west coast.
Florida Governor Rick Scott told reporters on Monday that 60,000 people were already without power as a result of the storm.
Storm surges of 6-12ft (1.83-3.66m) were possible along the Gulf coast, with the biggest danger in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
As much as 1ft of rain could fall.
US offshore oil production is expected to be badly hit, as are refineries in lowland Louisiana.
As much as 78% of the Gulf’s crude oil production and 48% of its natural gas production had been closed ahead of the storm, government figures showed.
BP and Chevron have shut down oil production in the Gulf, and BP is evacuating its platform there.
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Mitt Romney has accused his rival President Barack Obama of running a campaign built on “anger and divisiveness”.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said the Democratic campaign had hit a “new low” by trying to link him to controversial views on rape recently voiced by another Republican, Todd Akin.
The Obama camp has accused Mitt Romney of extreme positions on social issues.
The Republicans are due this week to nominate Mitt Romney as their candidate in November’s presidential elections.
Mitt Romney has accused his rival President Barack Obama of running a campaign built on "anger and divisiveness"
The party has been forced to delay by a day – until Tuesday – the start of its national convention in the Florida city of Tampa because of the approaching Tropical Storm Isaac.
“I would suggest that that’s a campaign of anger and divisiveness,” Mitt Romney said, referring to Barack Obama’s campaign in Sunday’s interview with US TV channel Fox News.
“That’s the kind of divisiveness that I think Americans recognize and I think it’s one of the reasons why his campaign, despite spending massively more than our campaign, that his campaign hasn’t gained the traction that he would have expected.”
Mitt Romney said the Democrats were now seeking to tie him to the remarks by embattled congressman Todd Akin, who sparked uproar by claiming women’s bodies could prevent pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape”.
He described the remarks as “offensive and wrong”, urging the Missouri congressman to withdraw his candidacy for the Senate.
However, he admitted in Sunday’s interview that the controversy over the remarks “hurts our party and I think is damaging to women”.
Many voters do not yet feel they know Mitt Romney, and he will seek to boost his image at the Republican national convention in Tampa.
A model which has foretold the correct results of the Electoral College selections in U.S. Presidential elections since 1980, has predicted a loss for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party.
The forecast was made by two professors at the University of Colorado who used economic data and unemployment figures from each state to predict a Republican win come November.
Political science professors Kenneth Bickers and Michael Berry’s study predicts 218 electoral votes for Barack Obama and 320 for Mitt Romney with the Republican candidate winning every seat currently considered to be on the fence.
The prediction model uses economic data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, including income per capita and both state and national unemployment figures.
The research concluded that U.S. voters blame Democrats for high unemployment rates but hold Republicans more responsible for low per capita income.
It also showed that the advantage of holding the White House disappears for Democratic candidates when the national unemployment rate hits 5.6%.
“Based on our forecasting model, it becomes clear that the president is in electoral trouble,” Prof. Kenneth Bickers said.
The professors’ analysis concluded that Mitt Romney would take home all swing states including Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Colorado.
Political science professors Kenneth Bickers and Michael Berry’s study predicts 218 electoral votes for Barack Obama and 320 for Mitt Romney with the Republican candidate winning every seat currently considered to be on the fence
Colorado voted for Barack Obama in 2008 but the current president is predicted a marginal loss at 48.1% against Mitt Romney’s 51.9%, although with the caveat that only the two major parties were considered.
Although the economy has improved under Barack Obama, Prof. Michael Berry said in a statement that it remains to be seen whether voters will consider the economy in relative or absolute terms.
“If it’s the former, the president may receive credit for the economy’s trajectory and win a second term. In the latter case, Romney should pick up a number of states Obama won in 2008,” Prof. Michael Berry said.
Although the model devised by Prof. Michael Berry and Prof. Kenneth Bickers has predicted the correct results of eight consecutive presidential elections, the data used for analysis was collected in June.
An update with figures from September is due next month which the team said could have a completely different outcome.
The results of the model’s calculations are in stark contrast to current polling data. The New York Times’ latest figures for the Electoral College selections forecasts a blue win with 282.6 electoral votes for Barack Obama and 255.4 for Mitt Romney.
Although the figure is well above the 270 electoral votes President Barack Obama needs to hold on to his presidency, it is a decrease by 12.8 seats since the last figures on August 15.
While the race remains a dead heat, a new AP/GfK poll out today says that most Americans expect Barack Obama to retain the presidency.
Overall, registered voters are about evenly split, with 47% saying they plan to back Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and 46% favoring Mitt Romney and Republican Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
About one in four voters say they are undecided or could change their minds between now and November 6.
The contours of the race are little changed from June, when an AP-GfK survey showed 47% of voters backing Barack Obama and 44% siding with Mitt Romney, suggesting Romney’s decision earlier in August to tap Paul Ryan as his running mate was not the game-changing event he may have desired.
Both campaigns have been competing fiercely for a small sweet spot in the middle of the electorate: Independent voters who say they don’t lean toward either party.
Mitt Romney holds a narrow lead among that group with 41%, compared to 30% for Barack Obama.
But few think the Romney-Ryan ticket will win in the end.
Asked to predict the race’s outcome, 58% of adults say they expect Barack Obama to be re-elected, whereas just 32% say he will be voted out of office.
Even among those who say they have a great deal of interest in following the campaigns’ bitter back and forth, a majority expect Barack Obama to win.
Partisans generally expect their own candidate to win, though Republicans are less sure about Mitt Romney than Democrats are about Barack Obama – 83% of Democrats say Barack Obama will be re-elected while 57% of Republicans think he’ll be voted out of office.
Among those Republicans who think Barack Obama may pull out a victory is Catherine Shappard, a 78-year-old from Dallas.
Catherine Shappard said all of her friends agree that Mitt Romney would be a better president, yet she’s alarmed to hear even conservative commenters say Barack Obama has a good shot at re-election.
“I think it’s close,” Catherine Shappard said.
“A lot closer than I’d like it to be.”
The perception that Barack Obama has the advantage could cut both ways.
On the one hand, people like to vote for a winner, so if voters think Barack Obama will win, they may be more inclined to cast their lot with him.
On the other hand, it could backfire for Barack Obama and help Mitt Romney if it drives down turnout among Democrats.
If Barack Obama’s supporters think the race is in the bag and their vote isn’t necessary, they may stay home.
But if, like Catherine Shappard, voters suspect the race is close, they’ll be more likely to cast a ballot, said Patrick Murray, a political analyst at Monmouth University.
“It’s less important who people think will win than if they think it’s a close race,” said Patrick Murray.
After just over one week on the campaign trail, Mitt Romney’s running mate remains unknown to about a quarter of voters.
Paul Ryan is viewed favorably by 40% of registered voters, while 34% see him unfavorably.
Barack Obama’s running mate and current Vice President Joe Biden, has come under scrutiny in recent weeks for a string of gaffes he made during campaign stops.
On August 14, Joe Biden told a Danville, Virginia, audience that included hundreds of black people: “[Romney] said in the first 100 days he’s going to let the big banks write their own rules, unchain Wall Street. They’re going to put y’all back in chains.”
Less than 24 hours later, Joe Biden appeared to be off by 100 years when he asked another Virginia crowd: “Folks, where’s it written we cannot lead the world in the 20th century in making automobiles?”
While Mitt Romney’s campaign strategy has been to hammer at Barack Obama on job creation and his fiscal policy, Obama has been going demographic by demographic in an effort to woo voters.
The president has alternately tailored his campaign speeches and his ad campaigns to women, older voters and, most recently, new young voters who may not have been old enough to cast a ballot four years ago.
In each case, Barack Obama has used Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan as foils, arguing that their policies would limit women’s health care choices, force seniors to pay more for Medicare and cut back on student loans.
Barack Obama’s appeal to female voters got an unexpected boost by the eruption of dismay over Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin’s remarks about rape and abortion, prompting an unexpected debate on that social issue.
The president’s campaign also enlisted the help of former President Bill Clinton with a TV ad blitz on the economy.
In the ad, Bill Clinton speaks directly to the camera and says voters face a “clear choice” over which candidate will return the nation to full employment.
“We need to keep going with his plan,” Bill Clinton says of Barack Obama in the ad, which will run in eight battleground states.
The UK has decided to join the US in warning Syria that the use or threat of chemical weapons would force them “to revisit their approach”.
The warning came after a telephone call between Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama.
David Cameron also spoke to French President Francois Hollande. The three discussed building support for the opposition.
Earlier, Chinese state media accused Barack Obama of using the chemical arms issue as an excuse for military intervention.
Also on Wednesday, fierce fighting raged in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo and in Damascus, which residents said had witnessed the heaviest attack by government forces since the army re-asserted its control of the capital last month.
A Downing Street spokesman said the “appalling situation that continues in Syria” was the main focus of David Cameron’s conversations with Francois Hollande and Barack Obama.
The UK has decided to join the US in warning Syria that the use or threat of chemical weapons would force them "to revisit their approach"
David Cameron and Barack Obama both agreed “that the use – or threat – of chemical weapons was completely unacceptable and would force them to revisit their approach so far”, said the spokesman.
The comments echoed those by Barack Obama earlier in the week, when he said he would change his thinking on intervention if Syria used chemical weapons.
The two leaders, along with Francois Hollande, discussed “how to build on the support already given to the opposition” and “help a potential transitional Syrian government after the inevitable fall of [President Bashar al-] Assad”.
Barack Obama and David Cameron called for a “credible opposition” that would “show real unity of purpose and coherence in working towards transition”.
The three leaders also discussed the plight of Syrian refugees.
The spokesman said: “The prime minister emphasized the need to work with the UN and… that more should be done by the international community to channel humanitarian aid through the UN appeal.”
Earlier, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua accused Western powers of “digging deep for excuses to intervene militarily”.
In its commentary, Xinhua criticized Barack Obama’s earlier remarks as “dangerously irresponsible” and said they would aggravate the conflict, reducing the chances of a political settlement.
China insists a ceasefire and UN-led mediation remain the best ways to end Syria’s woes.
China and Russia have both blocked attempts to impose UN sanctions on Syria.
A Russian foreign ministry source told the Kommersant newspaper on Wednesday that Moscow believed Syria had no intention of using its chemical weapons and was able to safeguard them.
Fierce fighting continued across Syria on Wednesday.
An aerial bombardment preceded an assault by tanks on several areas of Damascus.
Activists said at least 37 people had been killed in the capital, in the areas of Kafar Soussa and Nahr Eishah.
A journalist working for the state-run Tishreen newspaper, Mosaab al-Odallah, was killed by the military during house-to-house searches in Nahr Eishah, activists and friends said.
Mosaab al-Odallah was said to be sympathetic to the opposition.
Reuters reporters said they had heard shells and gunfire every minute in the northern city of Aleppo.
Elsewhere, rebels and troops fought for control of a military base and airfield near the eastern town of Albu Kamal.
Activists said at least three people were killed in a helicopter bombardment of Qastoun, in Hama province.
Shelling was also reported in Deraa, and heavy fighting was reported in Deir Ezzor in the east.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 115 people, including 71 civilians, were killed across the country on Wednesday.
The figures cannot be independently verified.
Opposition activists say more than 20,000 people – mostly civilians – have died since the uprising against Bashar al-Assad began last year.
Russia has warned against unilateral action in Syria after President Barack Obama said the US might intervene militarily if Damascus used chemical weapons on the rebels.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there should be no outside interference and countries should “strictly adhere to the norms of international law”.
On Monday, President Barack Obama said the deployment of chemical weapons represented a “red line” for the US.
Meanwhile, troops are reported to have stormed a western suburb of Damascus.
On Tuesday, Russia’s foreign minister held talks in Moscow with China’s top diplomat, State Councilor Dai Bingguo, and a Syrian government delegation to discuss the conflict, which the UN says has left 18,000 people dead.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there should be no outside interference and countries should "strictly adhere to the norms of international law"
After meeting Dai Bingguo, Sergei Lavrov said Moscow and Beijing based their diplomatic co-operation on “the need to strictly adhere to the norms of international law and the principles contained in the UN Charter, and not to allow their violation”.
“I think this is the only correct path in today’s conditions,” Sergei Lavrov added.
He said only the UN Security Council could authorize the use of force against Syria, and warned against imposing “democracy by bombs”.
He also told Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil that he wanted to hear his plans for “further actions to shift the situation into the channel of political dialogue in order for Syrians themselves to decide their fate without external interference”.
Qadri Jamil said external interference was “hindering efforts for Syrians themselves to resolve this problem”.
Russia and China have opposed intervention in Syria since anti-government protests erupted in March 2011. They have vetoed three Security Council resolutions seeking to press President Bashar al-Assad to end the violence.
On Monday, Barack Obama warned Syria’s government at a news conference that “there would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front or the use of chemical weapons”.
Barack Obama said that he had not ordered military engagement “at this point”, but added that the US was monitoring the situation carefully and had made contingency plans.
In July, the Syrian government admitted that it had chemical and biological weapons and might use them in case of any “external aggression”. But it insisted they would “never be used in the Syrian crisis, no matter what the internal developments”.
Correspondents say there is also growing unease in Washington that Syria’s chemical weapons may fall into what Barack Obama termed “the hands of the wrong people”.
On Tuesday, soldiers were said to have stormed the western Damascus suburb of Muadhamiya.
At least 23 people were killed and shops and houses were set on fire after government forces entered Muadhamiya at dawn, looking for rebel fighters, opposition activists said.
The bodies of several men who had been shot at close range were found inside buildings after the troops withdrew from the town, they added.
There was reportedly also heavy shelling and fierce fighting in the southern town of Herak and in the northern city of Aleppo, where the Japanese journalist, Mika Yamamoto, was killed on Monday.
A commander in the Free Syrian Army, Col Abdul Jabbar al-Ukaidi, told the AFP news agency that its fighters now controlled “more than 60%” of Aleppo, although a security source in Damascus dismissed the claims.
President Barack Obama has said the use of chemical weapons by Syria would be a “red line” that would change his thinking on intervention in the crisis.
Barack Obama said he had “at this point not ordered military engagement”.
But he added: “There would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front or the use of chemical weapons.”
Earlier the new UN special envoy to Syria faced criticism for refusing to say whether President Bashar al-Assad must quit.
Barack Obama, speaking to reporters at a White House briefing, said the deployment or use of biological weapons would widen the conflict in the region.
He said: “It doesn’t just include Syria. It would concern allies in the region, including Israel, and it would concern us.”
He warned President Bashar al-Assad and “other players on the ground” about the use or movement of such weapons.
He said: “A red line for us is [if] we see a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around, or being utilized. That would change my calculus.”
President Barack Obama has said the use of chemical weapons by Syria would be a "red line" that would change his thinking on intervention in the crisis
Syria holds the world’s fourth-largest stockpile of chemical weapons. Last month a Syrian foreign ministry spokesman said the weapons would never be deployed inside Syria.
However, the US has seen unconfirmed reports recently that the Syrian authorities have been moving the country’s chemical arms stockpile.
Fighting continued in several Syrian cities on Monday, including Damascus, Deraa and Aleppo.
A Japanese journalist, Mika Yamamoto, was killed by gunfire in Aleppo, the country’s foreign ministry has confirmed.
Mika Yamamoto, 45, was a veteran war reporter, working for Japan Press.
The UN says more than 18,000 people have been killed in the conflict, 170,000 have fled Syria and 2.5 million need aid within the country.
Earlier on Monday, the UN’s new envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi said he was “not in a position to say yet” whether President Assad should go, but was “committed to finding a solution”.
Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister, last week succeeded Kofi Annan who resigned after both sides largely ignored his peace plan.
On Sunday, UN observers ended their mission to verify its implementation.
Their departure came after the UN Security Council agreed to allow their mandate to expire at midnight, and instead set up a new civilian office in Damascus to pursue political contacts that might lead to peace.
Since being confirmed as the new UN and Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi has acknowledged that he has no concrete ideas of how to end the conflict, which he believes has been a civil war for some time.
On Monday, he said he was not ready to say whether President Assad should step down despite widespread international condemnation of his government’s crackdown on dissent since protests erupted in March 2011.
“I am not in a position to say yet, because I was appointed a couple of days ago. I am going to New York for the first time to see the people who I am going to work for, and I am going to Cairo see the Arab League,” he explained.
After announcing his resignation, Lakhdar Brahimi’s predecessor, Kofi Annan, said: “It is clear that President Bashar al-Assad must leave office.”
The main opposition coalition, the Syrian National Council (SNC), said Lakhdar Brahimi’s stance showed “disregard for the blood of the Syrian people and their right of self-determination” and demanded he apologize.
Lakhdar Brahimi stressed that he was “committed to finding a solution full stop”.
“I am a mediator. I haven’t joined any Syrian party. I am a mediator and a mediator has to speak to anybody and everybody without influence or interest,” he added.
“Then I’ll make up my mind about what to say and what to do.”
Barack Obama campaign has said if Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney releases five years of tax returns, they will drop the issue.
Mitt Romney, who has made public his 2010 taxes and plans to do the same with his 2011 returns, rejected the offer.
The former private equity chief said on Thursday he had never paid under 13% in taxes over the past 10 years, a much smaller rate than most US wage-earners.
Mitt Romney will challenge President Barack Obama in November’s election.
Obama campaign manager Jim Messina made the tax-returns offer to his counterpart, Matt Rhoades, in a letter on Friday.
Barack Obama campaign has said if Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney releases five years of tax returns, they will drop the issue
“Governor Romney apparently fears that the more he offers, the more our campaign will demand that he provide,” Jim Messina wrote.
“So I am prepared to provide assurances on just that point. If the Governor will release five years of returns, I commit in turn that we will not criticize him for not releasing more – neither in ads nor in other public communications or commentary for the rest of the campaign.”
Releasing several years of tax returns has become a standard move in recent presidential elections.
And Jim Messina noted that the Republican candidate’s father, former Michigan Governor George Romney, had released 12 years of his tax returns during his own unsuccessful run for the presidency in 1968.
Matt Rhoades rejected the offer in an email that began: “Hey Jim, thanks for the note.
“It is clear that President Obama wants nothing more than to talk about Governor Romney’s tax returns instead of the issues that matter to voters, like putting Americans back to work, fixing the economy and reining in spending.
“If Governor Romney’s tax returns are the core message of your campaign, there will be ample time for President Obama to discuss them over the next 81 days.”
The candidate’s wife, Ann Romney, reiterated that they were “hiding nothing” in an interview with NBC News on Thursday.
“We have been very transparent to what’s legally required of us,” Ann Romney said.
“There’s going to be no more tax releases given.”
She added that releasing more information would only give their Democratic opponents more “ammunition”.
Mitt Romney has said he is following the example of Republican Senator John McCain, who released two years of returns in 2008 when running against Barack Obama.
He has said his critics would only distort his tax information if he divulged more.
Democrats have repeatedly questioned whether the former Massachusetts governor has something to hide about his estimated net worth of about $250 million.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has accused Mitt Romney of not paying taxes in some years – a claim denied by the Republican.
The top tax rate for wages in America is 35%, but taxes on capital gains are lower.
Some 44% of Americans believe that raising taxes on the wealthiest would help the economy, according to a Pew Research Center Poll last month. Just 22% said they believed the opposite.
The same poll suggested that Americans believed two to one that Barack Obama’s tax proposals would make the tax system more fair.
Undocumented immigrants are applying for the temporary right to live and work openly in the US, as a sweeping immigration policy reform takes effect.
Up to 1.7 million people could be eligible for the programme, unveiled in June by President Barack Obama amid pressure from Hispanic voters.
Republicans say Barack Obama has passed over Congress – and unemployed US citizens – with the programme.
The Latino vote could be important in November’s presidential election.
Most of the estimated 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the US are from Latin America.
Illegal immigrants are getting their records in order as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) starts accepting applications.
Undocumented immigrants are applying for the temporary right to live and work openly in the US, as a sweeping immigration policy reform takes effect
In an internal document, DHS officials estimated 1.04 million people would apply in the first year.
The Migration Policy Institute and the Pew Hispanic Center have estimated as many as 1.7 million people could be eligible under the programme.
The administration’s plan is to stop deporting many illegal immigrants who were brought to the US as children.
To be eligible, immigrants must prove they arrived in the US before they turned 16, are 30 or younger, have been living here at least five years and are in school or graduated or served in the military.
They also cannot have been convicted of certain crimes.
The measure has echoes of the so-called Dream Act, which offered permanent residency to young undocumented immigrants, but failed to pass after years of congressional stalemate.
“Childhood arrivals who meet the guidelines and whose cases are deferred will now be able to live without fear of removal, and be able to more fully contribute their talents to our great nation,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
But conservatives accused Barack Obama of political pandering as he and Republican White House rival Mitt Romney compete for the Hispanic voting bloc ahead of November’s elections.
Republican House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith said on Tuesday: “While potentially millions of illegal immigrants will be permitted to compete with American workers for scarce jobs, there seems to be little if any mechanism in place for vetting fraudulent applications and documentation submitted by illegal immigrants.”
The Obama administration detailed on Tuesday what documents illegal immigrants need to qualify for the programme.
The paperwork for the programme can be downloaded from the immigration services website.
Applicants must pay a $465 fee and provide proof of identity and eligibility.
This could include a passport or birth certificate, school transcripts, medical and financial records, military service records and, in some cases, multiple sworn affidavits.
A decision on each application could take several months, and immigrants have been warned not to leave the country while their paperwork is being processed.
Advocacy groups are planning to run events this week to help migrants get their paperwork in order.
President Barack Obama celebrated his 51st birthday today with a round of golf and plans for a weekend away at Camp David, taking a break from campaigning three months before Election Day.
Barack Obama played golf with a group of friends and aides at Andrews Air Force Base before heading to the presidential getaway in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains.
But, before Barack Obama escaped to begin any celebrations, Republicans acknowledged his birthday by delivering him a tongue-in-cheek cake.
The Republican National Committee delivered a cake to their counterparts at the Democratic National Committee on Friday featuring a picture of a smiling Barack Obama next to the words: “You didn’t bake this.”
The inscription was a reference to a line from an Obama speech last month in which he said: “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.”
Barack Obama escaped to begin any celebrations, Republicans acknowledged his birthday by delivering him a tongue-in-cheek cake
His opponents leaped on the gaffe with Mitt Romney seizing the quote to question Barack Obama’s commitment to small business while the President and Democrats have said the quote was taken out of context.
DNC officials promptly sent the cake back to RNC headquarters, along with a copy of a recent report by the Tax Policy Center that found that Mitt Romney’s tax proposal would give millionaires a broad tax cut at the expense of tax breaks enjoyed by many middle-class families.
However, Mitt Romney’s team has disputed the study, saying his tax plan would benefit all Americans.
Barack Obama returns to campaign mode next week, with fundraisers in Connecticut on Monday and campaign rallies in Colorado on Wednesday and Thursday.
Next weekend, Barack Obama will hold several birthday-themed fundraisers in Chicago, including one at his family’s South Side home.
Barack Obama’s campaign used the event to drum up small-dollar donations before the end of the July fundraising deadline, offering two lucky winners the chance to attend the fundraiser at Obama’s red brick home.
In an email to supporters, Barack Obama warned that his birthday “could be the last one I celebrate as president of the United States, but that’s not up to me – it’s up to you”.
Barack Obama’s team has warned that he could be outspent by Republicans and GOP candidate Mitt Romney.
Barack Obama got some early birthday wishes on Thursday during a rally in Florida, when supporters serenaded him with “Happy Birthday”.
The president joked that his birthday wishes “probably would have to do with electoral votes. Winning Florida wouldn’t be a bad birthday present”.
Clint Eastwood has endorsed Republican Mitt Romney in the race for the White House.
Oscar-winning actor and director Clint Eastwood attended a Mitt Romney fundraiser in Sun Valley, Idaho, said to have raised over $2 million.
Clint Eastwood said he was endorsing the Republican because “the country needs a boost somewhere”.
In February Clint Eastwood starred in a Chrysler Superbowl advert, Halftime in America, sparking debate over whether he backed President Barack Obama.
Clint Eastwood has endorsed Republican Mitt Romney in the race for the White House
At the time, Clint Eastwood had said he was not endorsing either candidate and, speaking to Fox News, said he was “certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama”.
“It was meant to be a message about just about job growth and the spirit of America,” Clint Eastwood said in February of the Super Bowl advert.
“I think all politicians will agree with it. I thought the spirit was OK. I am not supporting any candidate at this time.”
On Friday Mitt Romney said of Clint Eastwood’s endorsement: “He just made my day. What a guy.”
After an introduction from Mitt Romney, Clint Eastwood spoke to about 325 guests gathered for the Idaho fundraiser.
Clint Eastwood said he first saw Mitt Romney when he was running for governor of Massachusetts, and Eastwood was directing the film Mystic River in Boston.
The actor said he thought: “God, this guy, he’s too handsome to be governor. But it does look like he could be president.”
Backing Mitt Romney, Clint Eastwood added that Romney would “restore a decent tax system… so there’s a fairness and people are not pitted against each other,” according to reports from Idaho.
Mitt Romney is challenging Barack Obama for the White House in November’s presidential elections.
Also on Friday figures showed that the US added 163,000 jobs in the month of July, but national unemployment rose to 8.3% from 8.2%.
Correspondents say the health of the US economy is likely to become a decisive factor in the outcome of the election.
According to new figures released by the Center for Responsive Politics, the estimated price tag for the US elections in November is almost $6 billion.
Why so much?
“The sky is the limit here,” says Michael Toner, former chair of the US Federal Election Commission.
“I don’t think you can spend too much.”
In a time of general belt-tightening, it may sound like a surprising argument, but Michael Toner believes there should be more – not less – spending on US elections.
Anything that engages voters, and makes them more likely to turn out is, Michael Toner says, a good thing.
“It’s very healthy in terms of American politics… it’s a symptom of a very vigorous election season, there’s a lot at stake here.”
On 6 November, Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, is set to challenge Barack Obama for the presidency, and polls suggest the margin between them could be wafer thin.
New figures just released by the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent research group which tracks money in politics, estimate the total cost of November’s elections (for the presidency, House of Representatives and Senate) will come in at $5.8 billion – more than the entire annual GDP of Malawi, and up 7% on 2008.
“You could say we’ve gotten into a crazy world, where the cost of elections has sky-rocketed, and that we are in a wacko world of crazy spending,” says Michael Franz, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political ads.
But, he says, “it all depends what apples and oranges you want to compare”.
Michael Franz argues that US elections are “relatively cheap” when compared with spending on, for example, the US military operation in Afghanistan.
Michael Toner has his own favorite analogy: “Americans last year spent over $7 billion on potato chips – isn’t the leader of the free world worth at least that?”
Center for Responsive Politics says the estimated price tag for the US elections in 2012 is almost $6 billion
Online campaigning is the biggest area of growth, but it still accounts for a relatively modest amount of money spent.
TV campaign ads reign supreme in the battle for votes (at least in terms of costs), eating up, it is estimated, over half of all campaign spending.
For some in the battleground states, where ads are most densely targeted, it can get a bit much.
“It’s extremely annoying,” says Katie Loiselle, a 26-year-old teacher living in Virginia, which used to be a safe win for the Republicans, but is now a crucial swing state.
Katie Loiselle is one of the much-coveted undecided voters. She voted for Barack Obama in 2008, but this time she is not sure.
In theory, she should be a plum candidate for persuasion. In practice, she does all she can to avoid what, over three months before election day, is already starting to feel like an onslaught.
“I’ll change my channel when they come on… I might start flipping through a magazine or talking to someone.
“It’s not like what they are going to say is going to rouse my intelligence. It just seems they are spending a whole lot of money bashing each other.
“I’m kind of dreading these upcoming months.”
It is the presidential debates in October, not the campaign ads, that will help inform her choice, she says.
But for voters like Katie Loiselle, it could be a case of nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Some experts believe that this year the amount of airspace in key target areas, could – quite literally – run out.
And it is not just the number of ads that is up, the tone has been raised too.
It is nothing new for a US election to be “the most expensive ever” – there has been a clear and sharp upwards trend for decades.
This time the increase is driven by the Congressional elections. The presidential race itself will cost an estimated $2.5 billion, which is actually slightly down on the 2008 figure of $2.9 billion – but this time only one party has held primaries to choose their candidate.
And one key factor likely to push spending up is the rise of the relatively new – but already infamous – Super Pacs, which are making their presidential election debut, and can spend as much as they like on political advertising, as long as they do not co-ordinate directly with the campaigns.
SuperPac is a category of independent political action group established by the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that is allowed to accept and spend unlimited amounts of corporate, individual or union cash on behalf of a candidate, often without disclosing its sources. SuperPacs are barred from co-ordinating their spending – usually on advertising – with the candidates they support, but some say they in essence operate as shadow campaign committees.
They are the “wild cards” in this election (in the words of the Center for Responsive Politics) and predicting how much they will end up spending is next to impossible.
Super Pacs are unpopular with voters, but there seems little chance of getting the rules changed – political spending by corporations and unions was classed as a form of free speech by the Supreme Court in 2010, and is therefore protected under the US Constitution.
Any effort to restrict such spending would, says Michael Toner, probably need a constitutional amendment, and – he says – this would be both “very difficult” and “highly ill-advised”.
The US does have a government-run public finance system designed to keep a lid on campaign spending. But both candidates have opted out of it this year, giving them free rein to spend as much as they like.
Barack Obama was the first-ever presidential contender to opt out in 2008, and many experts say the extra money he spent in the final weeks was a significant factor in his victory over John McCain.
But they have to raise it to spend it, and in practice, this means an unrelenting schedule of fundraiser after fundraiser for both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
Critics say this takes away from the time that candidates spend with the average (not so wealthy) voter, and in the case of a president, risks detracting attention from his day job of running the country.
The media tends to focus on fundraising figures, seeing this as one sign of the overall health of a campaign.
But there is a school of thought which says that both money and campaigning matter less than we imagine.
It is the big picture that counts, not the nitty-gritty day-to-day stuff, argues James Campbell, chair of the political science department at the University at Buffalo.
“Every wheeze, misstep or gaffe, every little twist and turn, is heightened for the next day’s headlines,” he says.
He jokes: “It’s like reading a cardiogram and the lines spike up and down, and it’s like ‘Oh my God, is the patient still alive?’… We are trying to get a bit more perspective.”
James Campbell, like a number of other political scientists, specializes in predicting election results, and says voters make their choice not so much on campaign ads or electioneering, but based on a few key “fundamentals” – the economy being the most important one.
It is very rare, he says, for a person to change their party affiliation, so the pool of persuadable voters is small, perhaps as little as around 2% or 3% he argues, once you exclude people who will not vote.
But in a close race, tiny margins can be the difference between winning and losing.
“The ads aren’t just trying to change the undecided,” says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and author Packaging the Presidency.
“Most of the time, they’re trying to mobilize their base.”
“Money matters,” she says starkly.
“You would be giving up the election if you decided to stop advertising.”
Projected spending estimates for 2012 US elections:
• Total cost – $5.8 billion
• Presidential election – $2.5 billion
• Super Pacs and other outside groups – at least $750 million
Source: Center for Responsive Politics
Per person spending
• US – $18 per person on federal elections in 2012 (projected)
• UK – 80 cents per person in 2010 general election
• Canada – $8 per person in 2011 general election
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said would respect an Israeli decision to use military force to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, according to one of his aides.
Mitt Romney, who is in Jerusalem, is expected to pledge closer ties between the US and Israel if he is elected.
President Barack Obama has focused on using sanctions to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The first leg of Mitt Romney’s trip, in London, was marred by controversy.
After talking of “disconcerting” signs in London’s preparations for the Olympic Games, Mitt Romney backtracked and predicted a “very successful” Olympics.
On Sunday morning Mitt Romney held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.
Mitt Romney held talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres
He told Shimon Peres he shared Israel’s concern about the development of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, saying: “The threat it would pose to Israel, the region and the world is incomparable and unacceptable.”
Mitt Romney will give a speech later on Sunday near Jerusalem’s Old City in which he is expected to say it is “unacceptable” for Iran to have the “capacity” to develop nuclear weapons.
“If Israel has to take action on its own, in order to stop Iran from developing the capability, the governor [Mitt Romney] would respect that decision,” his foreign policy adviser Dan Senor told reporters ahead of the speech.
After his meetings with Israeli officials, he went to Jerusalem’s Western Wall, one of Judaism’s holy sites.
Mitt Romney will be hoping that burnishing his pro-Israel credentials will help him among key constituencies in a tight race with Barack Obama, analysts say.
Mitt Romney says Barack Obama has undermined Israel and supported its enemies.
The Republican presidential hopeful is also scheduled to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, though not Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
While not explicitly ruling out military intervention, President Barack Obama’s policy has emphasized non-military means of putting pressure on Iran.
Mitt Romney is highly critical of the international talks taking place which might lead to Iran being allowed to enrich some uranium. Mitt Romney wants zero enrichment.
In his speech on foreign policy, Mitt Romney will say he hopes the military option on Iran can be avoided but that it should not be taken off the table.
Mitt Romney says this is the best chance of focusing the minds of Iranian leaders on finding a peaceful solution.
A source in Mitt Romney’s campaign said he also agreed with those who worried the Arab spring could turn into an “Islamist winter”.
James Holmes, the man accused of killing 12 people in a shooting at a Batman film screening in Aurora, Colorado, has appeared in court for the first time.
James Holmes, 24, sat in court in a red jail suit with dyed orange hair, and appeared sleepy during the proceedings.
Nine of 58 people wounded by the gunman remain in critical condition.
On Sunday, President Barack Obama met survivors and families of the dead as hundreds of people took part in a service of remembrance.
James Holmes is to be held without bail at a jail in Centennial, Colorado, the judge said.
He is accused of throwing two canisters of gas into a busy midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises before firing at random at the crowd. Witnesses say he was wearing full body armour during the attack.
It is reported that a semi-automatic rifle jammed during the attack and the gunman switched to a weapon with less firepower, possibly saving some lives.
James Holmes, the man accused of killing 12 people in a shooting at Batman film screening in Aurora, has appeared in court for the first time
James Holmes was being held in solitary confinement. Police say he is not co-operating with them.
The dead include a six-year-old girl and two US military servicemen.
James Holmes appeared in court at 09:30 local time for the first stage in a process likely to see him face at least 12 counts of first-degree murder. He could face further charges of aggravated assault and weapons violations.
Prosecutors are to formally file charges on 30 July.
One prosecutor has warned it could take at least a year before James Holmes stands trial, the AP reported.
The office of prosecutor Carol Chambers is considering whether to press for the death penalty for James Holmes, a decision that will be made in consultation with the victims’ families, she said.
On Monday morning uniformed police were stationed outside the court house, and deputies were patrolling the roofs of court buildings.
President Barack Obama said that when he visited Aurora on Sunday he had shared hugs and tears, but also laughter as the families recounted the lives of their loved ones.
He added that he visited as much as a father and husband as a president, and that Aurora was in the nation’s thoughts.
Barack Obama said: “I confessed to them words were inadequate but my main task was to serve as a representative of the entire country and say we are thinking about them at this moment each and every day.”
Both President Barack Obama and his Republican Party challenger, Mitt Romney, curtailed their election campaigns in the wake of the Aurora attack, dropping advertising in Colorado state out of respect for victims and their families.
Meanwhile, residents have been laying flowers at a memorial site near the Century cinema and thousands of people have been participating in vigils outside City Hall.
Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan told the crowd on Sunday: “While our hearts are broken, our community is not.”
On Saturday police managed to gain access to James Holmes’ flat, which had been laid with booby traps connected to explosives that could have killed someone entering through the door.
The FBI is now collecting evidence, and investigators say a computer found inside his home could provide crucial details.
Several US media outlets have reported that a Batman mask and poster were in the flat, but police have not confirmed this.
Police said the suspect had acted with “calculation and deliberation”, adding that he had been stockpiling ammunition for months.
Over the course of eight weeks he bought 6,300 rounds of ammunition: 3,000 for a .233 semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, 3,000 for two .40 Glock 22 pistols and 300 cartridges for a pump-action shotgun.
James Holmes bought the four weapons legally.
Authorities say the suspect is not linked to terror groups and have not established a motive for the attack. James Holmes had no criminal record other than a speeding fine.
James Holmes grew up in San Diego and was pursuing a PhD in neuroscience at the University of Colorado in Denver. School officials have said that he recently left the programme.
Names of the dead in Aurora cinema shooting:
• Jessica Ghawi, 24
• Veronica Moser, 6
• John Larimer, 27
• Alexander Boik, 18
• Jesse Childress, 29
• Jonathan Blunk, 26
• Rebecca Ann Wingo, 32
• Alex Sullivan, 27
• Gordon Cowden, 51
• Micayla Medek, 23
• Alexander Teves, 24
• Matthew McQuinn, 27 (presumptively identified, awaiting confirmation)
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