Clash looms on US stem cell bill

The US Congress is to vote on Tuesday on a controversial bill which would ease restrictions on funding for embryonic stem cell research.

The bill's supporters say they expect to get enough votes to pass it in the House of Representatives.

President George W Bush opposes the legislation and says he will veto it.

While he is in favour of stem cell research, he is against publicly funding "science which destroys life in order to save life", he says.

Correspondents say that by threatening to use the veto for the first time in his presidency, Mr Bush has made it clear he will make a stand.

The vote comes less than a week after South Korean scientists announced they had made stem cells tailored to the individual for the first time, meaning a possibility of treatments for diseases like diabetes without problems of rejection.

'Against the tide'

The bill, sponsored by Republican Congressman Mike Castle and Democrat Diane De Gette, is expected to get the 218 votes needed to pass, but not as many as the 290 needed to overcome a presidential veto.