REPUBLICAN CONVENTION OPENS AMID TENSE AFTERMATH OF ATTACK ON TRUMP

WASHINGTON, July 15 (Bernama-dpa) -- The US Republican Party begins its national convention on Monday, setting the stage for Donald Trump to be officially confirmed as the party's candidate for the November presidential election, just days after an attempt on his life, reported German news agency (dpa). 

Trump, widely expected to be nominated by party delegates, is also set to name his running mate for vice president at the event in the city of Milwaukee in the US state of Wisconsin.

The four-day convention, or RNC, comes just two days after a shooting at a Trump campaign rally sent shockwaves through the United States, just months ahead of Trump's rematch with Democratic incumbent Joe Biden on Nov 5.

At the campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, a shooter was able to climb to an elevated position with an assault rifle and fire a number of shots at Trump, causing panic to break out in the audience. 

Trump was hit in the ear by a bullet and later seen bleeding, while a firefighter watching the rally was killed and two others seriously injured.

FBI officials later said the perpetrator, killed by Secret Service agents, was 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. His motive for the shooting is not yet clear, with the FBI's investigation ongoing.

In the wake of the assassination attempt, Biden instructed the Secret Service to review security measures for the RNC. 

Controversial topics that could alienate some Republican voters, such as the party's stance on abortion or the storming of the Capitol by Trump's supporters in January 2021, are set to be avoided, according to US media reports.

-- BERNAMA-dpa