Under public pressure ratcheted up by Obama, the House ended up approving a Democratic proposal that raised taxes on the nation's top income earners, a key campaign theme in the November election opposed by the GOP.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Our house was three up on the top storey.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Kieron Smith, boy'

An administration official said the president and Vice President Joe Biden convened a meeting in the White House Situation Room with his top national-security officials, to follow up on briefings he had received through the night.

WSJ: Boston Bombing Suspect Killed in Shootout

Barry Sindall, chief executive of the Grammar School Heads Association, quoted from a 2008 Sutton Trust study which suggested that the social make-up of grammar schools was often more diverse than that of the top 100 comprehensives where entrance is decided on proximity to the school, pushing up house prices and excluding poorer families.

BBC: Education & Family