Michael Jackson doctor Conrad Murray case goes to jury

Prosecutors ended their case by saying Dr Conrad Murray's care of Jackson had been "bizarre", while the defence said the singer had caused his own death.

The case against the physician charged with the death of the pop star Michael Jackson has gone to the jury, following closing statements.

       Prosecutors concluded their case by saying Dr Conrad Murray's care of Jackson had been "bizarre" and left the pop star's children fatherless.
The defence countered that the singer had caused his own death in June 2009 with an overdose of a sedative.
The seven-man, five-woman jury will begin deliberations on Friday morning.
If convicted, Dr Murray could face up to four years in prison and lose his licence to practise medicine.
During Thursday's closing statements after the nearly six-week trial, the prosecution projected images of Jackson's grief-stricken children on a giant screen.

The pop star's mother and siblings watched from the court gallery as Deputy District Attorney David Walgren told the jury: "For Michael Jackson's children this case goes on forever because they do not have a father.

"They do not have a father because of the actions of Conrad Murray."
He cited Dr Murray's delay in calling 911 and phone records that indicated the physician had been on the phone during Jackson's final hours, when he should have been attending to his patient.
"What was so pressing that he just couldn't care for Michael Jackson?" Mr Walgren asked the court.
He also reminded the jury that Dr Murray had failed to tell the paramedics and emergency room doctors how he had been giving Jackson the powerful sedative propofol as a treatment for insomnia.
"That is consciousness of guilt," Mr Walgren told the court. "That is Conrad Murray knowing full well what caused Michael Jackson's death."
But the accused's legal team said in its closing statement that Jackson's death was not Dr Murray's fault.
They said Jackson had caused his own death by injecting a dose of propofol while his doctor was out of the room.
"If it was anybody else, would this doctor be here today?" defence attorney Ed Chernoff asked the jury.
Mr Chernoff said prosecutors had failed to prove that Dr Murray had committed a crime by giving Jackson doses of propofol as a sleep aid in the singer's bedroom.
"They want you to convict Dr Murray for the actions of Michael Jackson," Mr Chernoff said.
Dr Murray, who denies involuntary manslaughter, chose not to testify in his own defence.

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9/11 anniversary: Time for nation-building at home

It is the first time I have seen the Memorial Fountains at Ground Zero working. They are pretty impressive. The footprints of where the towers once stood have been turned into square pools, dark and huge, a waterfall on each side. All around the edges are engraved the names of those who died in the buildings.

But looking out of the window as I write, part of the area is still a building site, a huge square of churned-up mud. Five giant diggers squat, for the moment idle, the area scattered with concrete cylinders and metal parts.
It has taken a long time to turn a scar into a memorial, and the job is not yet done. America too has not fully absorbed and digested the events of that day, but it is beginning to do so.
President Obama's weekly radio address suggests some of the ways he thinks America should move on. But some of the changes will probably never go away.
When I arrived in New York, I left the train at Penn Station under the watchful eye of a man holding a heavy machine gun. On the concourse, a video was playing on a huge TV screen about a "three foot hero" keeping us all safe - the tale of a sniffer dog. As I made my way downtown, the police were stopping every large van and lorry. This is exceptional, but every time you go into an airport you know life has changed.
During the summer, when I first started asking Americans about how 9/11 had changed their country, I was surprised. I had been expecting something about the wars, or other philosophical reflections. Instead they talked about queues at airports. It has become a new way of a life in the last 10 years.
Security has got tighter in the UK too but, because of the IRA campaign, it had always been there in the background. For us in Britain the change was incremental, for Americans it was the start of something new. The USA's enemies have imposed an irksome but necessary burden on all Americans.
So a sense of vulnerability and the priority of protection will remain.
Decade of war But, although President Obama will stand alongside former president George W Bush on Sunday, I expect he will make clear in his evening speech in Washington that the priorities are rather different to the initial response.
Rather like his speech to congress, his weekly radio address appealed for a common spirit and unity but was quite political.
He pointed out that it was only while he was president that the war against al-Qaeda had scored major triumphs.
"Over the past two and a half years, more senior al-Qaeda leaders have been eliminated than at any time since 9/11. And thanks to the remarkable courage and precision of our forces, we finally delivered justice to Osama bin Laden."
He suggested that at least some of the military action that flowed for 9/11 was falling into al-Qaeda's trap.
"They wanted to draw us into endless wars, sapping our strength and confidence as a nation. But even as we put relentless pressure on al-Qaeda, we're ending the war in Iraq and beginning to bring our troops home from Afghanistan."
Then another critical point.
After a hard decade of war, it is time for nation-building here at home.
On Friday night, on the Ten O'Clock news, I had used the same phrase - saying that is what some Americans were reflecting. I had no idea of course the president was about to use it.
It is a new formulation, but I had most recently heard it from Republican candidate John Huntsman in their recent debate.
It suggests that, on left and right, the biggest change is that an enthusiasm to re-shape the world has faded, even if there is still a determination to make it safer for America and its allies.

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9/11 anniversary: UK services marking terror attacks

Remembrance services for those who died 10 years ago in the 9/11 attacks on the US are taking place across the UK.

     Families of some of the 67 British victims have gathered in central London for a service at Grosvenor Chapel.
A ceremony will also be held at the September 11 Memorial Garden near the US embassy and at St Paul's Cathedral.
Foreign Secretary William Hague paid tribute to the "courage and dignity" of the US and victims of other attacks, including the 2005 London bombings.
The UK commemorations got under way just after 08:00 BST at Grosvenor Chapel in Mayfair, next to the US embassy in central London, a church where US servicemen worshipped during World War II.
The centrepiece of the service was the lighting of a single candle by deputy American ambassador Barbara Stephenson, in memory of those who died on 9/11.
'Reconciliation' call Canon Jim Rosenthal, who led the service, said the attacks knew "no race, creed, gender, age or status".
He told the congregation: "The violence which took place in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington took its toll as nearly 3,000 people were killed in less than one hour.

William Hague UK Foreign Secretary

"Remembering such horrific scenes is not easy. But remembrance is not static - it's a constantly growing and evolving action which gives us the opportunity to take hold of the past and transform it to reach out with grace, understanding and healing."

The families of the British victims will later join representatives from the fire, police and ambulance services at a larger ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral.
The service will honour the courage of those working for the emergency services and remember all 2,977 victims of the attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Wreaths will later be laid at the memorial garden in Grosvenor Square and family members will be invited to read the name of their loved ones and to lay a rose in their memory.
In the evening, there will a service at Westminster Abbey.
'Staggering experience' Members of the UK's Firefighters Memorial Trust will lay a wreath in memory of the 343 members of New York's fire department killed while responding to 9/11.
Sir Ken Knight, from the trust, said: "It's got many strong memories for all of us, whether you're a firefighter or not, but particularly poignant for firefighters.
"The fire service around the world is a very large family and we face the same hazards and the same risks and the same challenges, and we've got the same firefighters that serve their communities in such a hugely heroic way."
Services are also planned for the American Church in central London and Birmingham Cathedral. In the South West of England, there will be events in Plymouth and at Truro Cathedral and Exeter Cathedral.
A minute's silence will also take place at the Rick Rescorla memorial in Hayle, Cornwall. Mr Rescorla, 62, who grew up in the town and was a security manager for a firm in the Twin Towers, died after leading more than 2,000 people to safety.
Faith leaders and politicians will take part in a peace walk in Edinburgh, and there will be services in Glasgow and Aberdeen.
Son's day At Belfast City Hall, there will be a flower-laying ceremony and a minute's silence at 13:46 BST will mark the time American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center.
Kevin Dennis, who was working as a stockbroker for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 101st floor of the North Tower, was one of the Britons killed in the attacks.
His mother, Patricia Bingley, told the BBC that 9/11 was the most horrific day of her life.
She said: "I watched it live on the television. I saw the two towers and one was belching with smoke, and my heart went in my mouth, my stomach seemed to drop, I shook and I just stood there and watched.
"And I saw the plane hit the second tower and I thought 'oh my God, my Kevin, where is he?'. And then when the second tower went down I knew I'd lost him, I just knew.
"I just want to keep his memory alive, and with Grosvenor Square with the anniversary I lay a rose for him and then I call his name and that's his day."
In the US, commemorations will be held at the British embassy in Washington, while in New York the consul general will be among those attending a memorial concert at the British Garden in Hanover Square where the 67 UK victims are commemorated.
'Courage and dignity' Mr Hague said: "Today, we commemorate the citizens of the United States and over 90 countries who perished in the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, including 67 British nationals.
"We remember the courage and dignity of the American people in the face of such appalling loss. And we also recall the victims of other global acts of terrorism since - including the attacks in London in 2005.
"Such attacks have only served to bring the international community closer together, and to bolster those who seek change through peaceful means, not through barbaric violence."
Mr Hague said al-Qaeda was "now weaker than at any time in the decade since 9/11 - and political progress through peaceful protest in the Middle East and North Africa has shown it to be increasingly irrelevant to the future".
He added: "So while we remember the victims of 9/11, stand firm with our allies and remain tirelessly vigilant against future threats, we also face the future with confidence in our values and faith in human nature".
 said 9/11 "was not only an attack on the United States, it was an attack on the world and on the humanity and hopes that we share".
He added: "We remember with gratitude how 10 years ago the world came together as one. Around the UK, entire cities came to a standstill for moments of silence. People offered their prayers in churches, mosques, ­synagogues and other places of worship.
"And we in the United States will never forget how the people of Britain stood with us in ­solidarity in candlelight vigils and among the seas of flowers placed at our embassy in London.
"We are touched that the UK will honour the victims again today - including by breaking with protocol and flying the Union Flag at half-mast at its ­embassy and consulates in the United States."

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9/11 anniversary: Live coverage

Key points

• US embassy in Afghan capital Kabul starts ceremonies
• The US and UK hold remembrance services
• New York's National Memorial to be unveiled

• Live text

  1. 0949:
     In Tokyo, Japan, families gather to honour the 23 Fuji Bank employees who died in the World Trade Center attacks. Flowers are laid in front of an enclosed glass case containing a small section of steel retrieved from the twin towers.
  2.  

     0949: Kathleen Carroll, in New York,
     emails: I believe my view of life changed irrevocably that awful day and week as news of old friends came through, watching each day and night the black smoke coming out of the WTC. The losses are still incalculable and sadly for too many rescue workers ill-health plagues them.
  3. 0942:
     Members of the American Eagles rugby team, who opened their World Cup campaign in New Zealand on Sunday, earlier attended a memorial service in the town of New Plymouth.
     

     
  4. 0941:
     Former US President George W Bush, meanwhile, has already paid his respects to the fallen. Yesterday, as a national memorial was inaugurated in Pennsylvania to the 40 passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, he said: "One of the lessons of 9/11 is that evil is real - and so is courage."
  5. 0936:
     The US president unveils the National September 11 Memorial at the site of the World Trade Center later. But the common term for the site - "Ground Zero" - should be dropped, according to New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. The BBC News website Magazine section
  6.  

     0934: Cathy, Atlanta, USA,
     emails: I was living in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, UK, at the time of the 9/11 attacks. I heard the news from a shopkeeper. I rushed home to watch the news. The next day I went to London. I stood at the American embassy with hundreds of others. I wandered over to Buckingham Palace and watched the crowds. The American flag was flying and the Queen returned while I stood at the fence. I was alone in a foreign country needing other Americans to connect with during those first few days.
  7. 0934:
     Deputy US ambassador Barbara Stephenson lights a candle at Grosvenor Chapel in central London.
     

     
  8. 0933: Aleem Maqbool BBC News, Abbottobad
     reports from the Pakistani garrison town where Osama Bin Laden was killed by US special forces in May. He says Pakistanis fiercely criticised after his death have been quick to point out the sacrifices the country has made since 9/11 as they fought militants and suffered suicide bomb attacks.
     "Rightly or wrongly most Pakistanis blame the US and its policies since 9/11 for the levels of violence and the huge changes in their society. Anti-American feeling now is higher than ever," he says.
  9.  

     0922: Victoria Ro, Sterling, Virginia USA,
     blogs: I decided to write down my memories of the day, ten years on, and my emotions regarding this Sunday. I was working opposite Trinity Church, just south of the twin towers, as an intern during my Gap year on the day of the attacks.
  10. 0921: Ashima Kadyan
      

      sent photos of the Twin Towers tribute in lights that took place last night in downtown Manhattan.
  11. 0919:
      Also in Kabul, General John Allen, the commander of the international force in Afghanistan, adds: "Nearly 3,000 innocent people were dead. The attacks were an act of inhuman brutality and terrorism on a scale not seen before. On that day we lost mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. We lost people of many nations and of many religions. Today we remember and we honour them all."
  12. 0917:
      US ambassador Ryan Crocker tells those gathered at the US Embassy in Kabul that the victims of extremism would never be forgotten. He says: "With our military colleagues we remember our soldiers - American, Afghan and coalition - who along with their police brothers and partners have made the ultimate sacrifice in this fight. They did not die in vain; their sacrifices made America, Afghanistan and the world a safer place."
  13. 0912:
      For a reminder of how events unfolded on the fateful day 10 years ago, we have put together a detailed timeline of events.
  14. 0904:
      More powerful words from Canon Rosenthal: "We must always remember and pray for the dead and remember those who have to watch these scenes day after day and hour after hour on the news. People who have lost relatives friends, family. But we also want to try to help people understand that there must be reconciliation ... any terrorism, any sense of bringing God into killing is an abomination."
  15. 0856:
      About 30 families of British victims attend a remembrance ceremony in the September 11 memorial garden next to the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, London. Leading the service, Canon Jim Rosenthal says: "Remembering such horrific scenes is not easy." But doing so, he adds, "gives us the opportunity to take hold of the past and transform it to reach out with grace, understanding and healing".
  16. 0855: Luis Romero
      sent the BBC some photos of memorial ribbons placed at Ground Zero.
      

      
  17. 0854:
      US officers bow their heads during a moment of silence as they remember the victims of 9/11 at the US Embassy in Kabul.
      

      
  18. 0851:
      Sixty-seven Britons died in the 9/11 attacks. Among them was Kevin Dennis, who was working on the 101st floor of the north tower. His mother, Patricia Bingley, tells BBC News: "When the second tower went down I knew I'd lost him, I just knew. I just want to keep his memory alive, and with Grosvenor Square, with the anniversary, I lay a rose for him and then I call his name and that's his day."
  19. 0847:
      More from Sir Ken Knight, who led a delegation to New York in the immediate aftermath of the attacks 10 years ago: "It was a staggering and very sad loss for the fire sevice in New York but actually worldwide, it's a great family the fire service."
  20. 0843:
      A US flag that was draped over firefighters' remains, and toe rings that miraculously saved a woman's life, are among the 9/11 mementos described by six people in one of our anniversary features. Hear the stories here.
  21.  

      0833: Mandi Roberts, Morgantown, West Virginia, US,
      emails: I was in the eighth grade and school pictures were being taken that morning. I was wearing a shirt with the US flag on it for my photo. When I got back to band class, the TV was on and video feed of the towers going down was shown. I didn't really understand what had happened; I'm not sure I do now, either.
  22. 0833:
      A ceremony later at Bagram airbase will go ahead despite rocket attacks on the base on Saturday night. Two rockets were fired at the base, the largest US military site in Afghanistan, between 1900 and 2100 local time (1530-1730 BST) on Saturday.
  23. 0832:
      New York firefighters who died in the attacks numbered 343. Sir Ken Knight, who is the British government's Chief Fire and Rescue Officer, says today is "particularly poignant for firefighters". "The fire service around the world is a very large family and we face the same hazards and the same risks and the same challenges," he says.
  24. 0830:
      Some 2,000 people are expected to attend a "Remembering With Hope" service at St Paul's Cathedral in London at 1100 BST. It will also mark the 20th anniversary of the Firefighter's Memorial Trust.
  25. 0825: Stars and stripes: Patriotic images from across the US
      From his office in Stamford, Connecticut, Robert Carley saw "billowing smoke" coming across Long Island Sound on 9/11. Shaken by the events, he embarked on a 10 year project to "hunt down" patriotic tributes that use the stars and stripes to celebrate America. Here is some of his along with his story.
      

      
  26.  

      Top tweets
      RIP 9 is currently trending on Twitter. @daviesefc tweets: RIP 9/11 victims, can't believe it's been 10 years since it happened. @play_nate tweets: 10 years already! was too young to understand the severity and the grief of the incident then, but I understand it now. RIP 9/11 victims.
  27. 0815:
      A sculpture recalled New York's twin towers at the ceremony at the US embassy in Kabul. The work had been created out of debris from the World Trade Center.
      

      
  28. 0813:
      A congregation has gathered at the Grosvenor Chapel in London - sometimes known as the American Church - and considered the centre of American worship in London. Families who have lost loved ones will attend a service of remembrance and reconcilitation shortly in which a candle will be symbollically lit in the middle of the church.
  29. 0806: Mike Solomons
      comments on the story: My thoughts today are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives in this and all other terrorist acts wherever they took place and by whom.
  30. 0806:
      US President Barack Obama has written for the UK's Sunday Mirror newspaper, saying 9/11 "was not only an attack on the United States, it was an attack on the world and on the humanity and hopes that we share". But he says that, in the aftermath, "the world came together as one". He continues: "We are touched that the UK will honour the victims again today - including by breaking with protocol and flying the Union Flag at half-mast at its ­embassy and consulates in the United States." Read the article 
  31. 0805:
      The US embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul has started the ceremonies, with the US flag lowered to half-mast.
  32. 0800:
      We'll be covering a day of special services of remembrance to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11 2001.
  33. 0756:
      Hello and welcome to live coverage of the commemorations of the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

   

   

   

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9/11 anniversary: US marks 10 years since attacks

                              New York is on high alert over a security warning

The US has started to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

        Security is tight following warnings of a possible al-Qaeda attack.
The US embassy in Afghanistan has begun the ceremonies, with events due later in the sites where four hijacked planes struck, killing nearly 3,000 people.
An official memorial to those who died is to be unveiled at the site of the World Trade Center, whose twin towers were destroyed in the attacks.
Metal barriers have been erected on roads near the World Trade Center, while police in New York and Washington are stopping and searching large vehicles entering bridges and tunnels.
The CIA received a warning last week that al-Qaeda may have sent attackers, some of them possibly US citizens, to bomb one of the cities.

Explore the 9/11 series

President Barack Obama has said the US remains vigilant against terrorism.As in previous anniversaries, the names of all the victims will be read out at the New York event.

There will be pauses for silence at the exact times when two airliners smashed into the World Trade Center's twin towers, the third was crashed into the Pentagon and the fourth was forced into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, by passengers who fought with the hijackers.

New York's National September 11 Memorial, to be unveiled later on Sunday, features two reflecting pools, each almost an acre in size, in the footprints of twin towers.
The names of those who died on 9/11, as well as the six people killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, are inscribed on the edge of the pools.
In the Afghan capital, Kabul, the US flag was lowered to half-mast to remember those who died 10 years ago, as well as those who have died since.

US forces were sent to Afghanistan to oust the Taleban from power after they had given sanctuary to al-Qaeda.

President Obama is due to travel to all three sites for the commemorations, part of a weekend of events to mark the anniversary.
Speaking on Saturday, he said the US was stronger 10 years on from the attacks. "As a resilient nation, we will carry on," he told Americans in his weekly address.
"Thanks to the tireless efforts of our military personnel and our intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security professionals, there should be no doubt: today, America is stronger and al-Qaeda is on the path to defeat," President Obama said.
"Yes we face a determined foe, and make no mistake - they will keep trying to hit us again. But as we are showing again this weekend, we remain vigilant," he added.
President Obama will be joined in New York by George W Bush, who was president at the time of the attacks.

    International forces in Afghanistan have marked the 9/11 anniversary in Kabul
Speaking in Shanksville on Saturday at the unveiling of a memorial to the 40 victims of flight United 93, Mr Bush said "the United States will never forget".
He lauded the passengers and crew of the flight, saying they launched "the first counter-offensive in the war on terror".
In an interview with National Geographic he said the events of that day had changed his presidency dramatically.
"I went from being a president that was primarily focused on domestic issues, to a wartime president. Something I never anticipated nor something I ever wanted to be."
Also on Saturday, firefighters from around the world attended a memorial service in New York's St Patrick's Cathedral to honour the 343 firefighters who died on 9/11 while rescuing people from the World Trade Center towers.

 

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Is torture ever right?

It is nearly 10 years since the 9/11 attacks, a horrific day that changed the world as well as America.

    In a country with a reverence for its constitution, debates about practical questions often end up as arguments about first principles.
The attacks on America prompted fierce battles about how civilised societies should treat their enemies, and whether torture can ever be right.
I've been asking a top CIA officer how he felt about what was happening at black sites and Guantanamo Bay prison. Phil Mudd was deputy director of the Office of Terrorism Analysis at the CIA in 2001.
"I remember so many times, sitting at the nightly, what we'd call 'the five o'clock', the threat briefing for (CIA) director Tenant," he says.
Defining torture "And you would sit there on a Friday night, it'd be seven o'clock, you're going to miss dinner again, miss going out with your friends, realising: okay, let's say, we've got a new prisoner. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, but we need to know quickly, we need to know."

Phil Mudd Top CIA officer

He adds: "Maybe another child will die, maybe more parents will die. The sense of immediacy was balanced against what we knew were sensitive techniques that would come to light some day. Nobody had any illusions in the system that this would stay secret forever."
It didn't.
What came to light was an from the US justice department arguing that while torture would be illegal under American law, inflicting pain in order to get information wasn't torture.
It says "certain acts may be cruel, inhumane or degrading but still not produce pain of the requisite intensity" to be called torture.
"The pain had to be extreme, equivalent to serious physical injury or organ failure," the memo goes on to say.
Mr Mudd was  but dropped out because of what he knew about interrogation techniques under the previous administration.
He did know what was going on.
Mr Mudd says: "Nothing justifies torture. That's it. Nothing. There are questions about whether it's appropriate for example to push someone against a flexible wall, if that saves a child's life.
"How about this - if you push someone against a wall, and all of a sudden they don't know what's going to happen, they get nervous and they say: 'I'll talk to you about a plot.' Is that fair? Is that legitimate? Is that torture?
"Technically, that would be torture, in some cases, because that's physical aggression against a prisoner," Mr Mudd says.
"In our case, we asked the Department of Justice, and they said that's perfectly legitimate under the constitution. Our goal was, and I'm not an interrogation specialist, I'm an analyst, but our goal was not to bring pain. Our goal was to convince someone that they should speak. But my question is broader - it's about values."
"If you narrow what we did, no information versus pushing someone against a wall, what would you say? Is that okay?" he adds.
But he says the American people have made it clear they don't like what happened.
"I would argue against judging what happened seven or eight years ago. The world was hot and heavy and you can't remember what it was like to live then. But right now the people have spoken," Mr Mudd says.
He adds: "It's not a question of whether it's torture or not, they say this doesn't reflect where we want to be as American people and I'm comfortable with that, as a public servant. So let's not do it."
Blitz v 9/11 But Mr Mudd also argues that the information obtained this way was of critical value: does that mean if there was another horrific attack, the times would again be hot and heavy, and the pendulum would swing back?
"No. What I'm saying is that I'm comfortable where we are today," Mr Mudd says.
"If we had another event, and people started swinging the pendulum back and saying, 'lets return to where we were.'
"If I were in the system, and I'm not anymore... I would say, 'look, we've been there'. I don't think this would ever happen again, by the way, not the event, but the reaction'.
"I would say, 'look, we've been down this road. I think the American people have already spoken. Let's keep our shorts on, heads up, chins forward and move on, but not return to the past.'"
The US is not the first Western country to resort to torture. The British did in Malay, Kenya and arguably Northern Ireland, among other places.
But America is the first place to have an open debate about whether it can ever be right.
Such discussions are the meat and drink of adolescent debating societies, rather than mature democracies - where it is more normal to assume it is very wrong, while very occasionally turning a blind eye if it happens.
It has always intrigued me that when Britain really stood in peril of foreign conquest, when the blitz was killing more people than died on 9/11 night after night, it seems torture was not used.
Perhaps they simply never captured a Nazi senior enough to be worth putting to the question. What is the tipping point ?
But is torture ever right? Your turn.

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Canadian workers ill after cannabis brownie mix-up

Three office employees in the Canadian city of Victoria fell ill after a colleague unwittingly gave them chocolate brownies laced with cannabis.

     Police were investigating a possible case of poisoning at the workplace after the three were taken to hospital feeling dizzy and disorientated.
The woman who brought in the cakes said she simply found them in her freezer.
But her son later admitted to police he had baked the cannabis cakes some time ago and forgotten about them.
Canadian media reports said police decided not to press charges because there had been no criminal intent.
But the son is expected to be ordered to take part in community work,
All three affected colleagues were released from hospital after a few hours.

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Obama scraps tighter smog rules

US President Barack Obama has scrapped proposals to tighten rules on air pollution.

      He ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to shelve plans to reduce concentrations of ozone - one of the main contributors to smog.
Mr Obama said he was pulling the measure as part of a government effort to reduce regulatory burdens and uncertainty as the economy struggles.
Business groups and Republican politicians welcomed the decision.
But environmentalists condemned the move.
The BBC's Marcus George in Washington says that, coming after new figures showing zero employment growth over the last month, the measure underscored just how sensitive the president has become about America's decimated economy.
'Decision on merits' Mr Obama asked EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to withdraw the draft rules, saying in a statement on Friday: "I have continued to underscore the importance of reducing regulatory burdens and regulatory uncertainty, particularly as our economy continues to recover."

The EPA estimated a new smog standard would cost up to $90bn (£55bn) a year - opponents said it would cost more.

The rules could also have saved as much as $100bn in health costs, and helped prevent as many as 12,000 premature deaths from heart and lung complications, according to the EPA.
Ozone is a lung irritant, connected with asthma and other respiratory conditions.
The administration defended its decision to reporters on Friday as a decision on the merits, not the result of industry pressure.
House Speaker John Boehner's office praised Mr Obama's decision as a boost to business growth, but added that the single proposed regulation had been "the tip of the iceberg".
The move angered environmentalists.
"This is a new low for President Obama," said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity.
Gene Karpinski, the president of the League of Conservation Voters, said: "The Obama administration is caving to big polluters at the expense of protecting the air we breathe.
"This is a huge win for corporate polluters and a huge loss for public health."
The White House said a new standard would be issued in 2013, after the science behind the levels has been updated.
But our correspondent says campaigners are already talking of a legal challenge that could force the administration to reconsider.

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California man arrested for biting pet python twice

A man in the Californian city of Sacramento has been accused of biting a pet snake, leaving the python seriously hurt, police say.

           Police were called to the northern part of the city on Thursday evening expecting to respond to an assault.
While officers were speaking to David Senk, 54, found lying at the scene, a witness accused him of taking two bites out of the snake.
The python is recovering after being given emergency surgery.
It was turned over to the city's Animal Care Services after losing a few ribs.
"She's doing well," Gina Knepp, acting animal care services manager, told the Sacramento Bee. "We did surgery on her last night and I think we saved her life."
Mr Senk was arrested on suspicion of unlawfully maiming or mutilating a reptile.
While in jail, Mr Senk told local media that he had no memory of the incident and that he had a drinking problem.
"I did what?" Mr Senk said. "If you find the owner, tell him I'm real sorry. ... I'm willing to help pay for medical expenses."
No owner has come forward to claim the python from Sacramento's Animal Care Services.
Ms Knepp said before the surgery that the bites on the three-foot snake were large enough to expose the animal's liver.

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Art classes and square eyes at Guantanamo Bay

At one tip of Cuba, rough green hills are covered in large cacti and palm trees. Iguanas stand stock still by the roadside. Turkey buzzards wheel overhead.

Then, camps surrounded by high fences, topped with rolls of barbed wire, overlooked by watch towers, incongruously nestled up against the sparkling tropical sea.
Off the coast, boats bristling with machine guns patrol. At one gate the armed guards are backed up by an armoured vehicle, a heavy gun mounted in the back.
This prison has achieved a notoriety to rival the Bastille or Alcatraz, a reputation that has affected America's image around the world.
Nearly 10 years after 9/11 it is still open despite the desire of America's allies and most senior US politicians, including former US President George W Bush, that it should shut.
'Safe, legal, humane' US President Barack Obama signed an order to close Guantanamo Bay as one of his first acts in office. But it hasn't happened, and it is not likely to any time soon.
different now. If I hear the mantra "safe, legal, humane, and transparent" once, I hear it a dozen times.
Inside the barbed wire and series of gates are low prison buildings, shipped in parts from the US and put together like Lego.
Camp Six is dark inside. Through a one-way glass I can see prisoners in a communal area.
It seems to me one man is laying out a mat ready to pray. It turns out, rather mundanely, that he is sorting out his laundry, working out what needs to be washed.
Another man is pacing rapidly up and down reading from the Koran. Another is getting a typing lesson, one leg shackled to the floor.
One of the problems about getting a handle on how much Gitmo has changed is that most of the US military personnel serve only a short time.
I haven't met anyone who'd been here as long as two years.
But the cultural adviser, Zak, has served since September 2005. He started as a consultant and is now a government employee.
A Muslim who left the Middle East when he was 19, Zak says he can straddle two cultures and frequently talks to the prisoners.
He tells me: "This place has changed a lot since I came here. In the past the detainees used to attack the guards a lot, throwing water, faeces, food."
Life-skills programmes Now, inmates who are, in the jargon, "compliant" are allowed access to their communal areas 24 hours a day. They can watch TV, listen to radio, play Nintendo.
Zak says this is easier on the guards too.

Zak Guantanamo cultural adviser

"Some [prisoners] are illiterate - we teach them their own language," he says. "For some of them we introduce life-skills programmes.
"We added art classes which allow detainees to sit down and put their thoughts on a piece of paper.
"It allows them to bring the stress out."
I say that art classes don't fit most people's image of Gitmo.
"Exactly," Zak replies. "Because most people have a certain image and they find it hard to believe anything we say.
"That is why the doors got opened up more to the media. We'd even have people from the government itself who come here and say, 'is this what Guantanamo is?'"
But it was a pretty brutal place, I say.
"I'm not going to comment on that, saying that it's brutal," says Zak.
So I say: "Let me put it as a question: was it brutal?"
"When Camp X-ray was opened up, it was opened in a hurry. Somebody made a call and said, 'we want this opened up'. It was just a cell and people lined up one after another and that lasted less than 90 days.
"Now, answering that word 'brutal'. I wouldn't call it brutal. At that time the blood pressure was high, there was so much anger - 9/11 had just finished - so the mentality was hot.
"It took time for everybody to get used to each other."
Hardliners But some people were interrogated in a way that just about everybody admits was extreme and many would call torture, I say.
"I am not the expert in this line," says Zak. "But my role since I came here was to bridge the gap between cultures. I helped in creating a good solid bridge."
He said about 10% of the prisoners are still hardliners.
They argue against the entertainment, the classes and the TV. But Zak says television has changed others.
"Through the window of television they see their own countries," he tells me.
"They see the way things are going and I can tell you about 10% kinda feel sorry that they did what they did. You can see that change."
He adds that they have been watching what has been happening in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia and some now wish their energy had been directed towards similar ends.
"After the death of UBL [Bin Laden] that day, they were glued to the TV like everyone else in the world," Zak says. "After three days it was like nothing had happened.
"They started thinking we swore allegiance to this man, but for the last five years he was living in a house, not hiding in a cave.
"So that sort of doubted his loyalty and that kind of changed the way they think, and think that what is going on right now in the Middle East could benefit them."
Mysterious Camp Seven It is very difficult to be absolutely certain of what goes on. We are not allowed to talk to any detainees and don't really get much time to see how they live and how they are treated.
There are "non-compliant" prisoners in Camp Five living in solitary confinement and a handful of men, those accused of masterminding 9/11 and the bombing of the USS Cole, in the mysterious Camp Seven.
No-one knows where it is. The president's failure to close the prison has left the administration, and indeed the military, hoping to erase its previous image.
Camp X-ray, where those searing images of prisoners kneeling, chained, in orange jump suits were taken, has closed.
Standing on a hillside overlooking it, I can see trees pushing their way up through the roofs, vines twined around the gates, the watchtowers empty and abandoned.
But with Mr Obama's determination to close it down defeated by a Congress revolted by the idea of trying the detainees on American soil, it may be a long time before nature reclaims Guantanamo as a whole.

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US 'to sue a dozen banks over housing bubble mortgages'

The US is planning to sue more than a dozen major banks for misrepresenting the quality of mortgages they sold during the housing bubble, the New York Times reports.

  The Federal Housing Finance Agency will argue that the banks should have known the securities were not sound.
Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs are to face action,
The suits could be filed as early as Friday, it adds.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency - which oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - blames the banks for failing to perform adequate checks on the quality of mortgage securities they sold on to investors before the financial crisis in 2008.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lost more than $30bn (£18.5bn), partly because of the deals, and had to be bailed out by the government.
The suits follow subpoenas the finance agency issued to banks last year, according to the newspaper.
The BBC's Marcus George in Washington says this is the latest of a number of lawsuits against financial institutions who were involved in the practice of issuing mortgage-backed securities.
However, some executives say the losses were made because of the wider economic downturn.
Others fear further litigation against banks could damage America's fragile recovery, our correspondent adds.

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Space junk at tipping point, says report

Scientists in the US have warned Nasa that the amount of so-called space junk orbiting Earth is at tipping point.

     A repot by the National Research Council says the debris could cause fatal leaks in spaceships or destroy valuable satellites.
It calls for international regulations to limit the junk and more research into the possible use of launching large magnetic nets or giant umbrellas.
The debris includes clouds of minuscule fragments, old boosters and satellites.
Some computer models show the amount of orbital rubbish "has reached a tipping point, with enough currently in orbit to continually collide and create even more debris, raising the risk of spacecraft failures," the research council said in a statement on Thursday.
Situation 'critical' Hopes of limiting the amount of space junk in orbit suffered two major setbacks in recent years.

In 2007, China conducted an anti-satellite weapon test which destroyed a decommissioned weather satellite, smashing the object into 150,000 pieces larger than 1cm.

Two years later, two satellites - one defunct and one active - crashed in orbit, creating even more debris.
"Those two single events doubled the amount of fragments in Earth orbit and completely wiped out what we had done in the last 25 years," said Donald Kessler, who led the research.
There are 22,000 pieces of debris large enough to track from the ground, but smaller objects could still cause serious damage.
The International Space Station must occasionally dodge some of the junk, which flies around the Earth at speeds of up to 17,500 mph (28,164 km/h).
In June, some debris narrowly missed the space station, forcing its six crew to go to their escape capsules and prepare for an emergency evacuation back to Earth.
The situation is critical, said Mr Kessler, a retired Nasa scientist, because colliding debris creates even more of the junk.
"We've lost control of the environment," he said.
The report makes no recommendations about how to clean up the field of debris.
But it refers to an earlier study for the Pentagon's science think-tank, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa).
The Darpa report, dubbed "Catcher's Mitt", suggested a range of technologies, including harpoons, nets and an umbrella-shaped device that would sweep up the debris.
The aim would be to push the debris further towards the earth where it would burn up, or into a higher but safer orbit.

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Has release of Wikileaks documents cost lives?

The latest release of Wikileaks documents - a trove of US diplomatic cables which offer, among other things, unflattering and candid assessments of world leaders - has deeply angered American officials.

   Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wikileaks' actions undermined US foreign policy efforts and amounted to "an attack on the international community, the alliances and partnerships, the conventions and negotiations that safeguard global security and advance economic prosperity".
New York Congressman Pete King has called for the US Attorney General to designate Wikileaks a terrorist organisation and to prosecute founder Julian Assange for espionage.
Much of the criticism of Wikileaks, though, revolves around the notion that releasing such information risks lives.
Identities of informants could be compromised, spies exposed, and the safety of human rights activists, journalists and dissidents jeopardised when information of their activities is made public, the argument goes.
US military officials contend that allowing enemies access to their strategic and operational documents creates a dangerous environment for American troops serving abroad.
On Saturday, US state department legal adviser Harold Koh wrote in a letter to Wikileaks that the most recent document dump "could place at risk the lives of countless innocent individuals" as well as "ongoing military operations".
He accused Wikileaks of endangerment "without regard to the security and the sanctity of the lives your actions endanger".
But is there any real evidence of this peril?
Justification for secrecy The problem for officials like Mr Koh is proving direct links between the information released and any loss of life.

After the release of an enormous haul of US defence department documents in August, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told the Washington Post: "We have yet to see any harm come to anyone in Afghanistan that we can directly tie to exposure in the Wikileaks
 documents."
But, he added: "There is in all likelihood a lag between exposure of these documents and jeopardy in the field."
After this latest release a Pentagon official, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the material involved, told the McClatchy newspaper group that even three months later the US military still had no evidence that people had died or been harmed because of information gleaned from Wikileaks documents.
Daniel Ellsberg, the former military analyst who in 1971 released the Pentagon Papers which detailed government lies and cover-ups in the Vietnam War, is sceptical of whether the government really believes that lives are at stake.
He told the BBC's World Today programme that US officials made that same argument every time there was a potentially embarrassing leak.
"The best justification they can find for secrecy is that lives are at stake. Actually, lives are at stake as a result of the silences and lies which a lot of these leaks reveal," he said.
"The same charges were made against the Pentagon Papers and turned out to be quite invalid."
Unknowable effects Mr Ellsberg noted that with this release, the newspapers involved co-operated with the US government to ensure that the information they published did not imperil lives.

Carne Ross Former UK ambassador to the UN

New York Times executive editor Bill Keller told the BBC that although his newspaper did not always agree with the advice of US authorities, it had carefully redacted the published documents to remove identifying information.

"Our hope is that we've done everything in our power to minimise actual damage," he said.
Carne Ross, a former UK diplomat at the United Nations, told the BBC that the effects of Wikileaks were largely unknowable at this point.
"I don't think it has been proven that this is dangerous to US troops, for instance. I haven't seen that case made very clearly," he said. "What I think this means is that we need to look at our own mechanisms for democratic accountability and foreign policy. We need to be much, much better."
One thing the experts appear to agree on is that the leaks will make it more difficult for US diplomats and human intelligence operatives to do their jobs. Although that does not present an immediate threat to American lives, strained international relations may create a more dangerous world.
"They embarrass governments with which the US co-operates," Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said of the leaks on the BBC's World Today programme.
"At the very least, they will make governments like Pakistan and Yemen and others, which are collaborating with the US in the battle against terrorism, more reluctant to co-operate.
"It's harming some of the vital activities that the US government, the UK government or others engage in, which are protecting us against terrorism."

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Anger as Wikileaks releases all US cables unredacted

Wikileaks' media partners have strongly criticised the whistleblower group's decision to release its entire archive of US cables uncensored.

    Wikleaks says all 251,287 of the leaked diplomatic cables are now online in a searchable format.
It comes amid a row between Wikileaks and the Guardian newspaper over who was behind the earlier release of thousands of unredacted cables.
The papers said they were "united in condemning" the uncensored release.
Wikileaks has already published tens of thousands of the cables and had planned to keep doing so until November this year.
But on Friday "Shining a light on 45 years of US 'diplomacy', it is time to open the archives forever."
It then began publishing its remaining cables, grouped by the country they relate to. They include 34,687 files on Iraq, 8,003 on Kuwait, 9,755 on Australia and 12,606 on Egypt.
 
'Sources at risk'
   The search database soon became overloaded, prompting Wikileaks to appeal for donations to fund additional server space.

The Guardian said the archive contained several thousand files marked "Strictly protect," indicating US officials thought sources could be endangered if identified. Some files also name victims of sex offences, people persecuted by their governments and the locations of sensitive government installations, said the paper.

One cable dated December 2004 contains the telephone numbers of key figures at the Vatican, including the then Pope John Paul II.
In a joint statement, the Guardian, El Pais, New York Times and Der Spiegel said they "deplore the decision of WikiLeaks to publish the unredacted state department cables, which may put sources at risk".
"Our previous dealings with WikiLeaks were on the clear basis that we would only publish cables which had been subjected to a thorough joint editing and clearance process. We will continue to defend our previous collaborative publishing endeavour.
"We cannot defend the needless publication of the complete data - indeed, we are united in condemning it.
The papers said the decision to publish the files was made solely by Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange, who is on bail in the UK awaiting extradition to Sweden to answer allegations of rape and sexual assault.
French newspaper and Wikileaks partner Le Monde told the Associated Press it would also sign the statement.
In response, Wikileaks said on Twitter: "The Guardian continues to issue false statements. The nepotism in the Guardian has clearly compromised its accountability."

Password online

   Wikileaks has been steadily releasing the cables - written by staff at US embassies around to the world to the State Department - since 2010.
The confidential cables - containing officials' candid views on society, politics, state leaders and other individuals - have proved embarrassing to US officials and others worldwide.
Wikileaks initially agreed to pass the data to several newspapers, who searched for noteworthy stories, then removed names and other sensitive data before publishing.
However, it has long been known that Wikileaks lost control of the cables even before they were published and that encrypted files are circulating on the internet.
Earlier this week, Wikileaks announced it had released 133,887 cables in a batch, saying it wanted to "get as much of the material as possible into the hands of journalists and human rights lawyers who need it".
It said publishing en masse was the only "internally rational action", because the Guardian had already made public the password used to access the encrypted data online. Wikileaks has started legal action against the paper.
It emerged that in many cases, no identifying names had been removed.
On Thursday, it ran an online poll asking whether it should release the remaining files and said the response was "over 100 to 1 in favor".
The Guardian has strongly denied responsibility. It said while the password was published in a book seven months ago, it was only ever intended to be a temporary code which would expire within hours. It blamed Wikileaks for a security breach, saying they had had seven months to delete the files if they were concerned.
On Thursday, Reporters Without Borders said it was temporarily suspending its mirror site - which holds a backup of Wikileaks documents in case of a website overload or cyberattack - citing concerns for the safety of those involved.
"While it has not been demonstrated that lives have so far been put in danger by these revelations, the repercussions they could have for informants, such as dismissal, physical attacks and other reprisals, cannot be neglected," said the group.
It said it had "neither the technical, human or financial resources to check each cable" to ensure no-one was identified, so had decided to "play safe".

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Irene floods in North Carolina and New York 'disaster'

Firefighters film the scene in Wallington, New Jersey, in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene

US President Barack Obama has declared a "major disaster" in North Carolina and New York state, where swollen rivers have swamped communities in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene.

        Mr Obama's move allows the two states to tap extra funds for relief efforts.
Raging rivers along the eastern seaboard have given way to extensive flooding and prompted new rounds of evacuations in states like New Jersey.
The storm has been blamed for at least 45 deaths in 13 states.
Irene barrelled along the east coast over the weekend, delivering hurricane force winds in North Carolina and torrential rains in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont, which forced rivers to swell and prompted extensive flooding.
Nuclear reactors affected

The storm drenched the east coast with up to 15in (38cm) of rain at the weekend, setting river level records in 10 states, the US Geological Survey said.
At least 1.7 million homes and businesses in the affected areas are still without power.
Two out of three nuclear reactors in a southern New Jersey county have moved to reduce power because debris from Hurricane Irene was blocking cooling-water intakes.
Mr Obama earlier signed an emergency declaration for Vermont following the storm, which caused damage estimated at more than $10bn (£6.5bn) and forced a shutdown of New York City.
About two million people on the US east coast are still without power after Irene wreaked havoc on both small towns and major cities, some far inland.
Rescue operations continued on Wednesday in the north-east, clearing roads and delivering supplies to stranded towns - where mud-coloured floodwaters had earlier washed homes and businesses away from their foundations.
President Obama will view the damage from Irene on Sunday in Paterson, the third-largest city in the state of New Jersey.
Emergency teams in Paterson have been rescuing residents after the Passaic river reached 13ft (4m) above its banks late on Tuesday - its highest level since 1903.
The Passaic was receding on Wednesday, said James Furtak, acting emergency management director of Bergen County.
In Connecticut, the National Weather Service has warned of moderate to major flooding on the Connecticut River, which peaked in the city of Middletown at 15.4ft on Wednesday morning.
Some areas are still at risk of flooding as a series of rivers are still expected to crest, the National Weather service says.

Help requested
Irene swept up the heavily populated eastern seaboard after making landfall as a category one hurricane in North Carolina.

Chris Christie Governor of New Jersey

By the time it reached New York, it had been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm.

Nonetheless, the New York subway system was closed for the first time in its history, while 370,000 people living in low-lying areas were ordered to leave their homes.
The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut requested disaster declarations on Tuesday.
In a letter to the president, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York said that he had seen "hundreds of private homes destroyed or with major damage and an enormous amount of public infrastructure damage".
These sentiments were echoed in a letter to the president by Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, whose state has not yet been designated a recipient of disaster funds.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano visited that state on Wednesday to survey the damage.
In Vermont on Tuesday night, more than 200 roads were blocked or had been washed away, hampering rescue efforts to as many as 13 towns.
However, roads to all but one of the towns have now re-opened, although most are passable only by emergency vehicles.
National Guard troops have brought in food, water and other emergency supplies to cut-off areas in the rural, mountainous state.

 

The roads cutting off these Vermont towns are now passable by emergency vehicles

 

 

 

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US consumer confidence 'falls sharply in August'

US consumer confidence slumped in August to its lowest level since April 2009, according to the latest monthly Conference Board report.

      Its closely watched consumer index sank to 44.5 this month, from a downwardly revised 59.2 in July.
A reading of 90 or above indicates a healthy economy on the index, which measures consumers' attitudes to jobs and spending in the short term.
Official data on Friday is expected to show US unemployment remains above 9%.
"What we are effectively going through is a crisis of confidence," said Tom Porcelli, an economist at RBC Capital Markets in New York.
The latest Conference Board data will be a disappointment to the White House, especially as it comes just a day after official Department of Commerce figures showed consumer spending increased by 0.8% in July.
Consumer spending is closely watched in the US because it accounts for more than two-thirds of the country's economy.

The most recent figures for the US economy as a whole showed that it expanded at an annualised rate of 1% between April and June.

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The US economy: A lost decade?

First the dot.com bust, then the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and other targets. The United States economy started the decade shaken to the core, but it responded with an astounding economic boom.
Ten years on, however, the US economy is in dire straits again, and most people are poorer than they were before. How did it happen? 

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Obama reschedules Congress speech after Boehner objects

President Barack Obama has agreed to reschedule a Congressional speech on the economy, after objections from House Speaker John Boehner.

     President Obama wanted to outline his much-anticipated jobs creation plan next Wednesday evening, which clashed with a Republican debate.
Mr Boehner requested Mr Obama speak a day later instead, and the White House has agreed to his recommendation.
US unemployment - still over 9% - could dominate 2012's presidential elections.
The White House had earlier insisted the scheduling clash with a televised Republican 2012 debate at the Ronald Reagan Library in California next Wednesday evening was "coincidental".
But several Republican leaders had criticised Mr Obama's initial timing, deeming it a political move.
'Politics all the time' Making the primetime speech on Thursday means it could now go head to head with the season-opening NFL game between the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints.

The Republican-controlled House and the Senate, where Democrats hold sway, need to pass resolutions allowing the joint Congressional session for the president.

"It is my intention to lay out a series of bipartisan proposals that the Congress can take immediately to continue to rebuild the American economy," 
"Washington needs to put aside politics and start making decisions based on what is best for our country and not what is best for each of our parties in order to grow the economy and create jobs."
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said President Obama would be welcome "any day of the week".
But Mr Boehner had replied recommending Mr Obama's speech take place instead a day later.
He did not mention the Republican debate as a reason for his proposed reschedule, citing instead votes scheduled for the House's first day back after recess and the need for a subsequent three-hour security sweep.
Mr Boehner wrote to the president: "It is my recommendation that your address be held on the following evening, when we can ensure there will be no parliamentary or logistical impediments that might detract from your remarks."
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted that the first scheduling of the speech had proved "this WH is all politics all the time".
Mr Boehner's spokesman Brendan Buck accused the White House of ignoring established protocol and said no-one in the speaker's office had signed off on the date.
The reschedule was confirmed in a statement by White House press secretary Jay Carney on Wednesday evening.
"We consulted with the Speaker about that date before the letter was released, but he determined Thursday would work better," said Mr Carney's statement.
"The president is focused on the urgent need to create jobs and grow our economy, so he welcomes the opportunity to address a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday, September 8th."
Mr Obama's speech is expected to contain specific proposals from Mr Obama, including both tax incentives to increase hiring and government spending on public works projects.
The president has already said he would seek extensions on a payroll tax cut for workers, as well as benefits for the unemployed.
Joint sessions are usually reserved for the State of the Union address.

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Irene: @ElBloombito mimics Michael Bloomberg Spanish

A Twitter feed set up by one New Yorker has become a surprise hit by caricaturing New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's efforts to speak Spanish.

  Rachel Figueroa-Levin, a stay-at-home mum, created El Bloombito to entertain friends stuck indoors while Tropical Storm Irene hit New York.
The feed soon went viral and has attracted a large online following.
Mayor Bloomberg frequently answers questions at press briefings in broken Spanish.
'Miguelito' @Elbloombito captured the mood of the moment, with tweets offering public information in a mock-Bloomberg style.
Highlights include: "Los trainos y el bussos son muy operationo. Go to worko. No excuso!" and "No looto el bodega. Esta es Nuevo Yorko!"
New York has a very large Spanish-speaking population and the mayor's earnest effort to learn the language has been seen as an attempt to positively engage with the Latin community.
In the days before Irene hit New York, Mayor Bloomberg issued warnings and press statements, often in basic, un-accented Spanish, to prepare New York City residents for what was expected to be a category one hurricane.
In response, @Elbloombito began tweeting in "Spanglish" on the topic of hurricane preparations and advice for New York city residents from a fictional mayor called Miguel Bloombito.
"I think that if he really wanted to get a message across to the Latino community he should have stepped aside and had someone who speaks Spanish fluently deliver the message," Ms Figueroa-Levin told the New York Observer.
She added, though, that she thought the mayor's administration had handled the approach of the the storm "very well".
Ms Figueroa-Levin said that the inspiration behind the name @Elbloombito was Gerson Borrero, a journalist and prominent Latin political commentator in New York.
He likes to call the New York mayor "Miguelito".

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Irene: Vermont in flood as US counts storm cost

As aerial footage shows the damage caused by tropical storm Irene, the BBC's Steve Kingstone described the challenges faced by the Obama administration

The US has begun clearing up after the impact of Tropical Storm Irene, which has killed as many as 28 people.

   The storm is now soaking Canada's north-east, while the north-eastern US is battling historic floods; five million US homes have lost power.
In New York, which escaped a major disaster, transport resumed on Monday.
The small state of Vermont was reeling from the worst flooding in nearly a century, which washed away bridges and swamped the town of Brattleboro.
"We prepared for the worst and we got the worst in central and southern Vermont," Governor Peter Shumlin said on Monday.
"We have extraordinary infrastructure damage."
Vermont lashed Hundreds of people have been told to leave the state capital, Montpelier, which could face two inundations: firstly from Irene, and again if the local water company decides to release water to save the Marshal Reservoir, a local dam where waters are reaching record levels.
A woman was swept away by an overflowing river in the Vermont town of Wilmington.
Authorities asked people to avoid travelling in the state, and warned of significant flooding, damaged roads and downed power lines.
State office buildings, schools and universities were shut on Monday.
"It's very serious for us at the moment in Vermont. The top two-thirds of the state are inundated with rapidly rising waters, which we anticipate will be an issue for the next 24 hours," said Robert Stirewalt, a spokesman for Vermont Emergency Management Agency.
Authorities said the hurricane was the worst natural disaster since a terrible flood in 1927.
President Barack Obama has warned that the impact of the storm will be felt for some time and that the recovery effort along the east coast will last for weeks.

Flooding and power cuts are still a risk as swollen rivers could burst their banks, he said on Sunday.

The brunt of Irene's impact was felt by towns and suburbs from New Jersey to Vermont. Driving rains and flood tides damaged homes and cut power to more than three million people in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York alone.
On Monday, Governor of Connecticut Daniel Malloy said that in his state more homes were currently without power as a result of the storm than at any other time in the state's history.
In many areas electricity will not be restored for the rest of the week, Mr Malloy said.
As the east coast states began the long clean-up, at least 28 people were reported to be been killed at the weekend during the storm, by falling trees, ocean waves, downed power lines and raging floods.
The BBC's Steve Kingstone in New York said insurance and rebuilding costs would run into billions of dollars.
As it moved north-east, Irene was earlier downgraded to a tropical storm and then a post-tropical cyclone.
In its last major update, at 03:00 GMT (23:00 EDT on Sunday night), Irene was moving north-north-east at a speed of 26mph (43km/h), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
An increase in speed is expected over the next couple of days, with the centre of the storm moving over eastern Canada on Monday. A tropical storm warning for Canada was likely to be lifted on Monday, it added.
Back to work The storm, downgraded from a hurricane, passed New York on Sunday.
More than 300,000 people evacuated from low-lying areas in New York City are now able to return home.
New Yorkers were attempting to return to work on Monday, with the city's subway network resuming at 06:00 (10:00 GMT) and its three main airports all due to reopen by the middle of the day.
More than half the commuter rail lines running into the city were suspended or delayed amid lingering flooding and mudslides.
The New York Stock Exchange opened for business on Monday and officials at the 9/11 memorial at the World Trade Center site said they had not lost a single tree.
The US air transport network began slowly clearing a backlog after cancellations at the weekend. More than 1,400 flights were cancelled on Monday, according to Flightaware.com, down from 7,804 on Sunday.
Airports in New York were the most wracked by cancellations, but Philadelphia and Boston airports were also affected.
In Philadelphia, officials lifted the city's first state of emergency since 1986. Several buildings were destroyed by the storm, but there were no deaths or injuries.
Further south in North Carolina, Governor Beverly Perdue said some areas of the state were still unreachable. TV footage showed fallen trees and power lines.
Officials in Virginia have begun the clear-up, but say the damage was not as bad as feared.
The north-eastern seaboard is the most densely populated corridor in the US. More than 65 million people live in major cities from Washington DC in the south to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston further north.
Irene was classified as a category three hurricane, with winds of more than 120mph (192km/h), when it swept through the Caribbean last week.

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