President Barack Obama has described the fight over raising the limit on government borrowing and avoiding default on US debt as a “partisan three-ring circus” and blamed the crisis on the refusal of many Republican politicians to compromise.

An unarmed helicopter pilot who flew through a hail of bullets to rescue 70 wounded Americans in one of the fiercest battles of the Vietnam War was awarded the Medal of Honour 41 years later.

President George Bush is to sign a law that sets tough standards for interrogation and prosecution of terror suspects, a major White House victory that demonstrates Bush still has the political power to set the rules of war even as Iraq clouds his US presidency.