Students at the University of Colorado Denver’s campus in Aurora are describing accused killer James Holmes as “quiet” and “a loner.” Holmes, a Ph.D. student who was studying neuroscience, is suspected of killing 12 and injuring dozens more at a screening of the latest Batman installment, The Dark Knight Rises. His high-school lab partner told reporters he was “a smart kid,” adding, “I never figured he'd do anything like this.” Neighbors in his university-managed building described him as unfriendly and quiet.

The apartment of James Holmes, 24-year-old suspected of killing 12 people in Colorado, is so extensively booby-trapped with explosive devices that police cannot safely defuse them. The solution: A robot. Police plan to send a robot into to detonate the devices sometime on Friday night, Reuters reports. The apartment building--as well as nearby buildings--have already been evacuated to prep for the blast, which is expected to be small in size. Holmes was arrested Friday for allegedly opening fire on an audience attending a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colo., killing 12 and injuring over 50 others.

Batman series director Christopher Nolan issued a statement in response to the shooting that left 12 dead and more than 70 injured during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises. On behalf of the movie’s cast and crew, Nolan expressed their “profound sorrow” for the victims, their families, and the Aurora community. “Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime,” Nolan said. “The movie theatre is my home,” the director continued, “and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me.”

As government forces say they've retaken part of Damascus from rebels, between 8,500 and 30,000 Syrians have fled the violence and into neighboring Lebanon in the last two days. United Nations refugee agency estimates there are already 112,000 Syrian refugees in surrounding countries, three-quarters of which are women and children. On Thursday, rebel fighters seized five border crossings and the day before had bombed security headquarter buildings, killing top security officials. The day's death toll was reported to be 300--possibly the highest since fighting began in March 2011.

The Republican convention in Tampa next month will almost certainly see a vice-presidential nominee, and no Sarah Palin. But there’s going to be one other high-profile absence: President George W. Bush. “President Bush was grateful for the invitation to the Republican National Convention,” Bush spokesman Freddy Ford wrote in an e-mail to Politico. “He supports Governor Romney and wants him to succeed. President Bush is confident that Mitt Romney will be a great President. But he’s still enjoying his time off the political stage and respectfully declined the invitation to go to Tampa.” Although the denial may seem like a snub—much like Bush’s tepid Mitt endorsement from behind closing elevator doors—it does take a load off the nominee, who won’t have to consider whether or not to ask the controversial former president to speak. His father, President George H.W. Bush, will also not attend this year’s convention, citing health reasons.

John Boehner became the latest member of Congress to condemn the calls by Rep. Michele Bachmann and others for an investigation into the supposed infiltration of the U.S. government by the Muslim Brotherhood. “I think accusations like this being thrown around are pretty dangerous,” the Republican House speaker said Thursday. Bachmann and four other representatives have claimed that three immediate family members of longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Sen. John McCain took to the Senate floor earlier this week to defend Abedin’s character, and former Bachmann presidential campaign chief Ed Rollins wrote an op-ed denouncing the claims. State Department spokesman Phillip Reines also addressed the accusations, calling them “nothing but vicious and disgusting lies.” Bachmann, for her part, has said little about the letter other than insisting that what she and her colleagues were requesting has been “distorted.”

The chairman of the Penn State Board of Trustees, Steve Garban, resigned Thursday night—the first of the Board to quit amid the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal. Since the scandal erupted last year, four have left the 32-member Board of Trustees—three when their time expired and one was voted out by alumni. Graban has been criticized after it came to light that former university president Graham Spanier gave Graban a heads up about the Sandusky presentment days before charges were filed. Graban has been on the Board of Trustees since 1998 and also served as the university’s  senior vice-president / treasurer. He graduated from the university in 1959.

In an op-ed published Friday, film critic Roger Ebert laments the cyclical nature of gun violence and the lack of political effort to stop it. Ebert took the opportunity to ask whether movie-theater shooter James Holmes should have been able to purchase firearms in the first place. “The endless gun-control debate will begin again, and the lobbyists of the National Rifle Association will go to work, and the op-ed thinkers will have their usual thoughts, and the right wing will issue alarms, and nothing will change. And there will be another mass murder,” Ebert writes.

Gen. Hisham Ikhtiyar, Syria’s national security chief, became the fourth member of Bashar al-Assad’s regime to die following a suicide bombing that hit an official building in Damascus on Wednesday. Ikhitiyar died Friday of wounds suffered from the attack. Gen. Assef Shawkat, Assad’s deputy defense minister and brother-in-law; Defense Minister Dawoud Rajha; and former defense minister Hassan Turkmani were also killed.

After the Wednesday night arrest of Fred Willard for committing a lewd act in an adult movie theater, the Los Angeles Attorney's Office has said the actor will be eligible to partake in a diversion program. Completion of the program would keep him from criminal prosecution. The 72-year-old actor, famous for roles in Best in Show and Anchorman, was fired from his current job as narrator of PBS show "Market Warriors" after the scandal.

After facing withering reviews and accusations of sexism, HBO’s The Newsroom is going to rearrange some chairs. According to insiders quoted by The Daily, most of the writers on the cable drama have been fired, with the exception of Aaron Sorkin’s ex-girlfriend Corinne Kinsbury. The West Wing and Social Network writer is famous for the large role he takes in solely scripting his shows. It’s unclear how many, if any, of the fired writers will be replaced. An HBO rep told The Daily, “Every year each show reassesses the needs of its writing staffs. This process is nothing out of the ordinary.” The network has renewed The Newsroom for a second season.

Up to one in 13 women are disregarding warnings from health-care professionals and drinking alcohol while pregnant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discovered. According to a report released Thursday, 7.6 percent of pregnant women ages 18 to 44 surveyed said they used alcohol in the past month, and 1.4 percent said they were binge drinkers—regularly consuming four or more drinks at a time. These numbers are actually an improvement from past years, but still, women are ignoring the facts about the problems alcohol can cause for unborn children. “If you’re pregnant or even thinking about getting pregnant, stop drinking alcohol,” the March of Dimes warns. In 2005 the surgeon general first warned women who are pregnant or may become pregnant to stay away from alcohol.

Syrian rebels took control of all four border crossings into Iraq and one into Turkey on Thursday. Rebel forces also claimed to have taken over a pocket of Damascus. Many residents were warned to evacuate a portion of the capital after the armed forces warned of an assault. The developments came a day after rebels assassinated three of President Bashar al-Assad’s top security officials. Assad swore in a new defense minister on Thursday, in his first television appearance since Wednesday’s assassinations. Various reports indicated that the president had fled to the coastal city of Latakia, but one opposition activist said that only the Assad family’s women and children had left the capital.

Ann Romney would like everyone to just back off, please. Her husband is getting hit from both ends of the political spectrum for not releasing more of his tax returns and, frankly, she's sick of it. "There are so many things that will be open again for more attack, and you just give more material for more attack, and that's the answer," she said in an ABC interview airing Thursday. "We've given all you people need to know and understand about our financial situation and about how we live our life." She also said that her husband's finances will not be the deciding factor in the election and insisted, "You should really look at where Mitt has led his life, and where he's been financially. He's a very generous person. We give 10 percent of our income to our church every year. Do you think that is the kind of person who is trying to hide things, or do things? No. He is so good about it."

Ai Weiwei’s appeal of a fine for tax evasion has been rejected—and the activist and artist has been barred from attending court to even hear his verdict announced. The controversial Chinese dissident and his supporters argue that the fine is motivated by politics rather than by law. “We will keep appealing, until the day comes when we have nothing to lose,” he tweeted. And his lawyer, who was allowed to hear the verdict, called it “totally without reason.” After being released from nearly three months of detention without a charge last year, Ai was accused of tax evasion.

At the San Diego gay-pride parade this weekend, gay military personnel will be able to sport their uniforms while flaunting their pride. But the Pentagon’s consent was couched with the clarification that uniforms can be worn at this year’s parade only. Still, it’s a huge improvement from past years, when gay members of the military were forced to keep their sexuality a secret. Following the end of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” military personnel were allowed to attend the yearly pride parade, but not wear their uniforms. “Today is a great day of pride. San Diego is honored to have the privilege of celebrating our country and our service members with dignity and respect,” the San Diego LGBT Pride director said. “The fight for equality is not over, and it is not easy, but this is a giant leap in the right direction.”

A 24-year-old man named James Holmes has been identified as the singular suspect in the Denver-area movie-theater shooting. Local law enforcement believes Holmes to be the gunman responsible for the deaths of 12 people during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises. Police who searched the suspect’s home said it was “booby-trapped” and that they found “buckets of ammunition” and some type of chemical. At a news conference, the Aurora, Colo., police chief said Holmes spoke of “possible explosives in his residence. We are dealing with a potential threat.” During their search police were trying to disarm any potentially flammable or explosive materials. The police also found four other guns at the theater, after it was evacuated, as well as a gas mask.

At least 12 people are dead after a shooting at a movie theater in suburban Denver, police said early Friday morning. (Initial reports said 14 had been killed.) The gunfire reportedly broke out during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises. Moviegoers were in the theater when they say the shooter “released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound, and some gas emerged, and the gunman opened fire,” according to Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates. At least 50 other people have been injured, and one person arrested. Police haven’t found evidence of more than one shooter.

International AIDS specialists signaled hope that a cure for HIV may be within grasp, decades after the search began. Researchers announced Thursday that they’ve laid out a strategy to investigate a number of leads they think might lead to a cure. “Today’s the first step,” said Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, the French Nobel laureate who was codiscoverer of the virus and co-chair of the research initiative. Sunday marks the start of the international AIDS conference, which will draw more than 20,000 scientists, activists, and lawmakers to Washington, D.C., to discuss how to stop the spread of the virus, which affects more than 34 million people worldwide. While making better drugs available to more people will do much for containing HIV, Barré-Sinoussi said that isn’t enough and thinks finding a cure “could be a realistic possibility.”

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said the Colorado shooter suspected of opening fire in a suburban Denver movie theater resembled “The Joker”— the archetypal villain from the comic book series—when he attacked. At a news conference on Friday, Kelly said the “deranged” suspect, James Holmes, “had his hair painted red” at the time of the attack and claimed to be “The Joker,” the terrorist played by Heath Ledger in the last Batman film,The Dark Knight. Holmes opened fire during a midnight showing of Christopher Nolan’s sequel, The Dark Knight Rises, killing 12 and injuring dozens more. Kelly said the NYPD has stepped up security in New York City movie theaters “as a precaution against copycats” and to ease fears in the wake of the awful Colorado shooting.

It's no Lincoln Bedroom, that’s for sure. Remember the tiny Harlem apartment where President Obama used to lounge around in sarongs during his Columbia days, according to author David Maraniss? Well now that apartment, which an ex-girlfriend described as smelling of “running sweat, Brut spray deodorant, smoking, eating raisins, sleeping, breathing,” can be yours for the low, low price of $2,400 a month. Quite a steal when you consider that you’d be living in such an historic setting. Daily Intel spotted an ad for the apartment on New York realty site Citi Habitats and noted that two years ago, when it was last up for grabs, rent was only $1,900.

What were you thinking, George? Prosecutors want to use Florida neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman’s first television interview, in which he told Sean Hannity that shooting Trayvon Martin “was all God’s plan.” Asked whether he’d have done anything differently, he replied, “No, sir.” Later in the interview, Zimmerman made a point of looking directly into the camera and saying he’d misunderstood the earlier question about whether he had regrets. “I do wish there was something, anything I could have done, that would have put me in the position that I wouldn’t have to take his life,” he said. One legal analyst and defense attorney told ABC News that the interview is something Zimmerman should never have done. “He has impeached himself publicly, this is going to be a huge problem for him ... and the prosecutors must be extremely pleased.”

Now that Kim Jong-un and his uncle have gotten rid of North Korea’s top general, they reportedly plan to impose changes on the country’s agricultural and economic systems. According to a source close to Pyongyang and Beijing, Kim’s cabinet has created a new bureau to assume control of the country’s long-suffering economy, which under his father’s rule was put in the hands of powerful military officials. Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho was ousted after opposing changes from within the government that, if they actually take place, would be the first substantial reforms made by the stagnant country in decades.

The University of Colorado has started handing out an undated photograph of James Holmes, the suspect in the shooting attack on a suburban Denver movie theater that left 12 people dead and at least 50 injured. The university’s Denver campus confirmed Friday that Holmes was withdrawing from its neurosciences graduate program at the time of the shooting. Holmes is 24 years old and, according to the FBI, and is not believed to have any ties with terrorist groups. Police found his home to be “booby-trapped” and filled with “possible explosives.” Meanwhile, the AP reports that James Holmes bought a ticket to the movie, and entered the theater as part of the crowd. Later, a federal law enforcement official said, Holmes propped open the exit door, put on bulletproof gear, and open fire.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called on both presidential candidates to take a harsher stance on controlling guns and violence in light of a shooting at a Colorado movie theater. “Soothing words are nice, but maybe it’s time that the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they are going to do about it, because this is obviously a problem across the country,” said Bloomberg, a longtime advocate of gun-control laws, during a radio interview Friday. “I mean, there are so many murders with guns every day, it’s just got to stop ... In the end, it is really the leadership at a national level, which is whoever is going to be president of the United States starting next January 1. What are they going to do about guns?”

Witness accounts are streaming in from Aurora, Colo., where a gunman opened fire at a movie theater this morning, killing 12 and wounding scores more. “I just saw dead bodies everywhere,” Jennifer Seeger, 22, told The Daily Beast. “There was a girl who was lifeless on the stairs. I saw a gentleman who was moaning and groaning.” Other witnesses described scenes of confusion and horror to The Associated Press. Sylvana Guillen, 20, said the alleged shooter, James Holmes, appeared dressed as a SWAT team member and told her friend, “You better get ready to be shot.” And Tanner Coon, while making his escape, tried to rouse a woman covered in blood, but couldn’t—he “presumed she was dead.” People in the adjacent theater also saw bullet holes appear in the wall about 20 minutes into the movie.

On Friday, Ann Curry will return to the Today show to co-anchor coverage of the Aurora tragedy with Savannah Guthrie, her recent replacement. Curry, a 15-year veteran of the program, signed off for what was thought to be the final time on June 28th. But in the wake of the tragedy, she will return to cohost weekend editions of Today on Saturday and Sunday. She will also present a special edition of Dateline on Friday night.