US President-elect Senator Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, Vice-President-elect Joe Biden and wife Jill wave to supporters after speaking at the election night rally, after Obama was declared the winner of the 2008 US Presidential elections in Chicago on Wednesday. — Reuters/AP/PTI

Obama’s election as first black President heralded a new era for the US and the rest of the world. — Afghan President Hamid Karzai

First Afro-American President of the US would promote peace and stability in the troubled region around Afghanistan. — Pakistan premier Yousuf Raza Gilani

Obama’s victory is an opportunity and test and that the Islamic country has been waiting for a change. The election of Obama is positive. — Iran MP Hamid Reza Haji Babai

Israel-US relations are a special relationship based on values and common interest...We have no doubt that the special ties between the two states will continue under Obama’s presidency. — Outgoing Israeli PM Ehud Olmert

Obama celebrates with his daughter Malia at the election night rally in Chicago. —  Reuters/ AP/PTI

I laud Obama for his inspirational campaign that has energised politics with his progressive values. — British PM Gordon Brown

He has turned Martin Luther King’’s dreams into a reality and the world is looking to US for leadership. — Australian PM Kevin Rudd

We the Kenyan people are immensely proud of your Kenyan roots. Your victory is not only an inspiration to millions of people all over the world, but it has special resonance with us here in Kenya. — Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki

Obama’s election has raised “enormous hope” in France, in Europe and beyond at a time when the world must face huge challenges together. — French President Nicolas Sarkozy

I hope bilateral ties can reach new highs under Obama. — Chinese President Hu Jintao

‘Jurassic Park’ author Crichton dead
Los Angeles, November 5
US best-selling author Michael Crichton, who wrote novels such as “The Andromeda Strain” and “Jurassic Park”, and created the popular TV drama “ER”, has died at 66, his family said on Wednesday.

Tehran, November 5
Iran’s military has warned the US forces in Iraq that US helicopters had been spotted flying close to the Iranian border and that Tehran would respond to any violation of its airspace, state radio reported today.

The statement from Iran’s army headquarters comes just hours after Americans elected their next President, Barack Obama, who has said he would toughen sanctions on Iran but has also held out the possibility of direct talks with Tehran.

The warning also followed a raid by the US forces into Syria last month, a move that was condemned by Damascus and Tehran.

“In the statement, it says recently it has been seen that the American army helicopters were flying a small distance from Iraq’s border with Iran and, because of the closeness to the border, the danger of them violating Iran’s border is possible,” state radio said, quoting the army statement. “Iran’s armed forces will respond to any violation,” it said.

Washington, which has not had diplomatic ties with Tehran since 1980, has accused Iran of funding, equipping and training militants in Iraq. Iran denies this and says instability is the due to the presence of the US troops, who should quit Iraq.

The United States also accuses Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons, prompting its push to isolate the Islamic Republic with more US and UN sanctions.

Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil producer, says it wants atomic technology to make electricity and save its oil and gas for export.

Washington has yet to confirm officially the raid but officials have said on condition of anonymity that the operation is believed to have killed a major Al Qaida militant responsible for smuggling foreign fighters into Iraq.— Reuters

Thimpu (Bhutan), November 5
Heralding a new era in bilateral relationship with Bhutan, President Pratibha Patil today began her maiden four-day visit to the Himalayan nation during which she will attend the coronation of its 5th king Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.

As President Patil’s special aircraft landed at the Paro airport, the fourth King Jigme Singey Wangchuck, the father of the king-in-waiting, in an unusual gesture received her there. Prime Minister Jigme Y. Thinley was also present.

Schoolchildren waving national flags of both countries and chanting “welcome to Bhutan” and “namaste” lined up at several places on both sides of the road leading from Paro airport to capital city of Thimpu.

In Thimphu, the fifth king Kigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck received her at the hotel. — PTI

Tokyo, November 5
Moscow is closely monitoring the development and deployment of missiles in Asia, Russia’s foreign minister said today, adding that such moves create a confrontational atmosphere and should not be pursued.

Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov did not single out any specific country, but his remarks come as Japan is developing its ballistic missile defences in coordination with the US. Russia has strongly criticised similar efforts in Europe. “We in Russia follow closely the development of missiles in the region,” Lavrov told a gathering of businessmen and diplomats in Tokyo. “It is mandatory to do away with confrontational attitudes,” he said. “One cannot ensure one’s own security by threatening the security of others.” — AP

Washington, November 5
From a small-time community worker to the most powerful man in the world, Barack Obama's victory in the US presidential polls marks a huge political transformation in a country with a racist past that will have a black occupy the top post for the first time.

A votary of strong ties with India, the 47-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer and a Democrat reached the White House exactly 45 years after the black civil rights leader Martin Luther King challenged Americans to embrace his "dream" of equality.

Barack Hussein Obama, whose father was a Kenyan and mother a white American, himself has had no misgivings on the Herculean task he faced in getting elected as President because of his race and name. This was reflected by his recent comment that getting elected to the White House would be a "leap".

Undertaking his campaign with a catchy slogan -- The Change We Need -- Obama presented himself to America as a fresh face with the knowledge and mettle needed for the White House.

He emerged victorious after a gruelling and bitter 21-month-long campaign in which he overcame the challenge from high-profile fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton and Vietnam War veteran Republican nominee John McCain.

Born on August 4, 1961, in Hawaii, Obama will be the first black President, a development that demonstrates a major change in America, which has witnessed bitter racism for centuries before the social evil was abolished about 200 years ago.

Obama's first tryst with power came in 1996 when the low-paid community organiser on Chicago's south side was elected to the Senate of Illinois. He made it to the federal Senate in 2004 after a landslide electoral victory. While many have scoffed at Obama's experience as a community organiser, saying community work experience does not count in the making of a US President, analysts feel that it has helped the black American leader to reach out to individual voters during his campaign.

Obama became a media darling and one of the most visible figures in Washington, with two best-selling books to his name: “The Audacity of Hope” and “Dreams From My Father”. For the Democrats, who were out to wrest the presidency from the Republicans after eight years, Obama's nomination was a gamble.

But Obama defeated Arizona Senator McCain handsomely in the election which was dominated by frequent controversies, mostly related to his race and religion. Obama, whose first name Barack in Arabic means “the blessed”, was hard pressed to fend off rumours that he was a Muslim and said he was a practising Christian.

During the campaign, the advocate of strong partnership with India has made a number of comments and gestures, including lending support to the civil nuclear deal though he initially had reservations about it.

He has also made it clear that India posed no threat to Pakistan and that the latter rather faced the danger from militants within. At the same time, he also talked about discouraging outsourcing, a move, if implemented, could have an adverse impact on India.

"....Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America," he said during campaigning.

Obama, who broke all records for fund-raising, had said that his victory would be a "defining moment" for the nation which abolished slavery 200 years ago but was still battling the scourge of racial discrimination.

An early critic of the Iraq war, the Democrat, who spoke out against the prospect of an invasion several months before the March 2003 move by the Bush administration, expressed willingness to talk to Iranian leaders without preconditions, a desire criticised as reckless by his Republican rival McCain.

Obama rallied huge crowds with inspiring words and vowed to bring change to the calcified ways of Washington, even as critics tried to cast him as a celebrity whose oratorical sizzle concealed a thin resume. In a series of debates - including three with McCain - Obama proved adept and skilled at answering questions and offering proposals about health care, financial bailout and Iraq, among other issues.

On countering the threat of terrorism, Obama said he would do this by building new partnerships and would send troops into war zone only with a clear mission.

"As commander-in-chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission," he had said. "I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation, poverty and genocide, climate change and disease," he had promised.

His approach to dealing with the Wall Street meltdown earned endorsement from the former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Colin Powell, who praised Obama's "steadiness ... (and) depth of knowledge." — PTI

Islamabad, November 5
Barack Obama’s victory fostered hopes in Pakistan that the United States would become less overbearing towards its ally in the war on terrorism and nurture the country’s recent return to civilian-led democracy. “I think he will understand that the use of brute force alone creates more enemies and widens the zone of conflict,” Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general-turned-analyst, said.

“I think he will put greater emphasis on developing civilian capacities,” he added, pointing to a bill proposed by Obama’s Vice President-elect Joe Biden to provide Pakistan with a multi-billion dollar “democracy dividend” package.

Under Pakistan’s previous leader, former army chief Pervez Musharraf, most US aid went to Pakistan’s military. Musharraf quit in August, and his successor, President Asif Ali Zardari, has inherited an economy in danger of meltdown.

Relations between the United States and nuclear-armed Pakistan have been strained by a series of cross-border US strikes, most by missile-firing pilotless drone aircraft, on militant targets in Pakistan.

The strikes have hardened anti-American sentiment in Pakistan at a time when the coalition government is trying to build popular support for its own campaign against Islamist militancy.

Samina Ahmed, South Asia project director for International Crisis Group, believed Obama’s victory would lead to a makeover for the United State’s image. “Obama’s victory will restore not just the faith of Americans in their democracy, but the world’s faith in American democracy,” she said.

Virginia, November 5
The South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), an NGO that advocates for civil rights and immigrant rights issues facing the community in the United States, has played a big role in the victory of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama by galvanising the immigrant community in America.

Approximately 2.7 million South Asians live in the United States, which comprises individuals with ancestry from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Maldives The SAALT educated the immigrants about their rights and their participation in the civic and political process in the United States. Both Democrats and Republicans were pulling out all the stops, especially in a few crucial swing states to woo Asian immigrants, which could decide the results.

A survey conducted just before the polls showed that 41 per cent Asian-American voters supported Barack Obama, 24 percent McCain, where as 34 per cent remained un-decided.

South Asian political involvement in the US has been on the rise over the past decade, and the run-up to the November 4 presidential elections showed that South Asians, the third largest Asian American ethnic group, have been actively engaged in the presidential campaigns, voter mobilisation efforts, and bids for state and national office.

Talking exclusively to ANI, SAALT’s executive director and lawyer Deepa Iyer said Asian-American voters’ concentrate mainly on economic policies, public health, immigration and education.

“One of the most important thing that we think for our organisation is to make sure that those who are interested in voting be able to understand what the political process is like and what their rights are when they go to the ballot boxes,” said Priya Murthy, policy director of SAALT.

“We think that’s really important for all immigrants and the south Asians in the United States so that they can participate in the civic and political process. So one of the things that we do is we develop a range of community education materials for individuals in the south Asian community so that they know how does US political system works.”

SAALT is a group of first and second-generation Asian immigrants interested in creating a national organisation that is focused on leadership development. The organisation was run voluntarily and eventually called “South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow”. — ANI