WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of just 1.5 percent from April through June, as Americans cut back sharply on spending. The slowdown in growth adds to worries that the economy could be stalling three years after the recession ended.

Mr Romney, who is in London to meet political leaders and supporters, described problems with security levels and a strike which was called off at the last minute as "disconcerting".

Fox News has been running an online poll for vice president, and so far Marco Rubio has been far and away the most popular choice, currently standing at 49 percent. The next closest competitor in the (of course unscientific) poll is Condoleeza Rice, who's locked in a dead heat with Someone Else at 16 percent. With all due appreciation for the qualifications of Rice and Else, that's a pretty good lead for Rubio.

A top union official for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers said Thursday that President Barack Obama's administration has ordered ICE agents to blindly - and without any evidence - believe illegal immigrants if they claim they qualify for Obama's administrative DREAM Act.

The Chicago Republican Party says it will file a complaint with the Illinois Dept. of Human Rights and Attorney General Lisa Madigan after a local alderman vowed to stop Chick-fil-A from opening a second restaurant in the Windy City.

Faced with a clamor in his party for stricter gun control in the wake of the Colorado movie-theater massacre, President Obama said Wednesday night he would "leave no stone unturned" in seeking new measures to reduce violence nationwide, including more restrictive background checks on gun purchases.

On Wednesday, Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran called on Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to explain why the agency's employee newsletter encouraged them to not eat meat and participate in the "Meatless Monday" initiative for the environment.

The penalty imposed by the Affordable Care Act on citizens who elect not to purchase health insurance will be at least $1,000 for most people, and more than $12,000 for high-income earners, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.

Top foreign policy advisers for the Obama and Romney campaigns faced off at the Brookings Institution Wednesday, underscoring a week in which both candidates delivered addresses about their philosophies in dealing with other nations.