The man who killed eight people and committed suicide in a shooting rampage at a US department store spent four years in care after threatening to kill his stepmother in 2002.

The Bush administration was guilty of spreading “covert propaganda” through a series of ready-made television “news” packages it sent to broadcasters, a US government watchdog has concluded.

As Americans celebrate their first Independence Day since September 11, jet fighters will patrol the skies over major cities and plainclothes FBI agents will be on hand, and on high alert.