[JURIST] The EU Council of Ministers [official website] agreed Monday to continue funding for embryonic stem cell research [JURIST news archive], but that aid may not be used to procure stem cell embryos. The competitiveness council ministers [official backgrounder] approved an EU research budget [official press release] that includes funding for the research but forbids the money from being used for procurement, which results in the embryos' destruction - a practice some consider tantamount to murder. The procurement language was inserted in a compromise to gain the votes of Germany, Italy and Slovenia. Austria, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Slovakia voted against the compromise plan.

In the US, President Bush last week vetoed a bill to increase federal funding for embryonic stem cell research [JURIST report]. The veto was the first of Bush's presidency. BBC News has more. The Guardian has additional coverage.