Democrats won control of the US House of Representatives early today after a dozen years of Republican rule in a resounding repudiation of a war, a president and a scandal-scarred Congress.

As the first polls closed in the US elections, Republican Harold Rogers and Democrat Ben Chandler easily won re-election in Kentucky to the House of Represntatives.

Republican Congressman Bob Ney abruptly abandoned his bid for re-election yesterday, becoming the latest Capitol Hill figure to fall victim to the congressional corruption scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

TOM DeLAY, once one of the most powerful and feared conservatives in the US Congress, yesterday said he was resigning from the House of Representatives in the wake of two criminal investigations that have dimmed his re-election prospects.

Tom DeLay, once one of the most powerful and feared conservatives in the US Congress, said today he is resigning from the House of Representatives in the wake of two criminal investigations that dimmed his prospects for re-election.

JACK ABRAMOFF, the disgraced lobbyist at the heart of a Washington influence-peddling scandal that has rattled top Republicans, was sentenced to nearly six years in prison yesterday for fraud in the purchase of a Florida casino cruise line.

US HOUSE Republicans elected Republican John Boehner of Ohio as their new majority leader yesterday, choosing a self-proclaimed reform candidate to replace indicted Tom DeLay as the party struggles with an ethics scandal.

Embattled Congressman Tom DeLay decided today to give up his post as House majority leader – the leader of Republicans in the House of Representatives - clearing the way for new leadership elections among House Republicans eager to shed the taint of scandal, two officials said.

The trial of five antiwar protesters accused of criminal damage of a United States Navy plane at Shannon Airport has collapsed following a suggestion by the defence that the trial judge had attended the inauguration of George W Bush as US president.

Lawyers for Republican Congressman Tom DeLay are pushing for a change of venue after successfully arguing to have a judge removed from the case against him.

President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney should apologise for the possible involvement of their aides in the alleged illegal disclosure of a CIA undercover agent’s identity, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said today.

The 2,000th US military death in Iraq could not have come at a worse time for President George Bush.

Dance star Moby has blasted US President George W Bush as a "nut job" and is delighted a string of scandals are hitting the leader's Republican party.

A TEXAS grand jury looking into campaign contributions indicted former US House majority leader Tom DeLay for the second time in less than a week yesterday.

In defiance of a presidential veto threat, US senators who support embryonic stem cell research are pushing for a quick vote on a bill passed by the House that would lift restrictions on such studies.

IGNORING a veto threat, the US House of Representatives moved yesterday toward approving a bill loosening President George W Bush’s restrictions on stem cell research.

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.

While Terri Schiavo lay dying in her hospice bed early today, the US Congress gave a boost to the hopes of the brain-damaged woman’s parents that her feeding tube would be reinserted.

THE US Congress yesterday put off action on a bill aimed at prolonging the life of a brain-damaged woman who had her feeding tube removed by court order.

REPUBLICANS expanded their hold on US Congress in Tuesday's elections and Democrat Tom Daschle became the first senate leader in half a century to be voted out of office.

LATE as always, but still greeted by cheers and screams of “Bill, we love you,” former US President Clinton opened the year’s hottest book tour with a marathon signing at a midtown Manhattan Barnes & Noble.