A congressman seeking to become Alabama’s first black governor today lost to a white Democratic primary opponent who had garnered support from the state’s four major black political groups.

Barack Obama's firebrand minister said the US leader was "like any other president", in an appraisal of his former parishioner's short time in the White House.

Ignoring a veto threat, the US House of Representatives moved today towards approving a Bill loosening President George Bush’s restrictions on stem cell research, with supporters claiming prospects were enhanced by promises that such research would offer new treatments for a host of debilitating ailments.