The Obama administration is trying to protect top Bush administration military officials from lawsuits brought by British prisoners who say they were tortured while being held at Guantanamo Bay.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice hailed the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president as a key moment in history.

Attorneys for convicted former vice presidential aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby began working on a request for a new trial today as the Bush White House tried to knock down speculation about a possible pardon in the CIA leak case.