Obama turns 48, to spend quality time with Senate Democrats

US president Barack Obama turns 48 today, but instead of taking an off for partying, he will spend much of the day hosting a lunch for the Senate democrats which will review his six months in the White House.

Obama, the first black-American president of the United States, however, had some early celebrations when he went for an weekend outing to Camp David with his wife, daughters and mother-in-law, as well as friends from Chicago and Hawaii.

The president played basketball and bowled, press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Gibbs said Obama invited the Senate democrat Caucus to the White House to discuss "what has been accomplished in the first six-and-a-half months of the administration, and to talk about our priorities," including the slowly recovering economy and proposals to revamp the health care system and encourage the use of renewable energy.

Though it was not known how the President will celebrate, Gibbs joked during the White House press briefing yesterday that "Chuck E Cheese was booked" -- referring to a chain of family entertainment centres.

US newpapers, television channels and websites were focussing on the President's first birthday in the White House, some even offering astrological forecast and speculating on what could be the ideal gifts for him.

Satire sites dealt with the recent controversy about Obama's birth and the conspiracy theories that say he was born in Kenya.