Barack Obama is new US President

Democratic Senator Barack Obama has been elected the first black President to lead the United States of America.

Mr Obama was elected President on projected electoral college votes and winning key battleground states, according to BBC News.

The Democrats have secured a total of 47 seats in the Senate with Republican sealing 33 and the Independents taking two seats.

The Democrats again led in the House of Representatives with 42 seats, Republicans securing 21.

The final result is yet to be announced as counting for few states continues.

New US president must learn all lessons of Bush’s stupid adventures

Respectful US diplomat Charles Freeman described the period of George W. Bush’s presidency as the stage of stupid adventures that weakened the United States. The official believes that the new US president must change the home and foreign policies of the nation, Saudi newspaper Al-Watan wrote Sunday.

Former Ambassador Charles Freeman, who chaired the US mission in Saudi Arabia from 1989 to 1992 (during Operation Desert Storm to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqi occupation) said in an interview with the newspaper that the current US administration exhausted its friends, weakened its allies and eventually exhausted and weakened the United States itself.

The diplomat, which replaced Senator George McGovern at the chairman of the US Council for Middle East Policy in 1997, set out a hope that the period of stupid adventures was over. The official added that the new US president must learn the lessons of Bush’s presidency well.

In the meantime, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says that former secretary of state Colin Powell is welcome to campaign for him and might have a place in his administration.

Powell crossed party lines Sunday and endorsed the Democratic presidential candidate on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Obama told NBC's "Today" show Monday that Powell "will have a role as one of my advisers." Whether Powell wants to take a formal role, Obama said, would be "something we'd have to discuss."

Obama said Powell, a retired four-star general, did not tell him ahead of time that he'd be making the endorsement. At the time, Powell said he didn't plan to campaign for Obama before the Nov. 4 election, the AP reports.

Obama said he would love to have Powell on the campaign trail.

Asif Ali Zardari elected new President of Pakistan

Pakistan People’s Party Co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari was elected as the next President of Pakistan after securing majority of votes in the presidential elections held here on Saturday.

Asif Ali Zardari is Pakistan's 11th President since 1956, when the country became a republic, excluding acting presidents.

According to the unofficial result out of 702 Asif Ali Zardari secured 479 votes, of which he got 281 from Parliament, 22 from Punjab, 6 from Sindh, 59 from Balochistan and 56 from NWFP.

Justice retired Saeeduzaman Siddique got 153 and Mushahid Hussain got 43 votes.

In the Parliament Zardari secured 281 votes, 111 by Justice (Retd) Saeeduzaman Siddique and 34 by Mushahid Hussain Sayed, out of 436 total votes, of which ten were declared invalid.

Asif Ali Zardari secured 123 in Punjab Assembly, 162 in Sindh Assembly, 107 in NWFP, and 59 in Balochistan Assembly.

His rival Justice (Retd) Saeeduzaman Siddique got 201 votes in Punjab Assembly, none from Sindh, 10 from NWFP and 2 from Balochistan Assembly.

Mushahid Hussain got 36 from Punjab Assembly, none from Sindh, 3 from NWFP and 2 from Balochistan Assembly.

The PML-N candidate Justice (Retd.) Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui outshone in Punjab assembly with 201 votes, followed by Asif Ali Zardari securing 123 votes while Mushahid Hussain Syed could muster support of only 36 members.

Zardari bagged 100 percent votes from his native Province’s Sindh Assembly; he bagged 162 votes out of 163 cast in the house of 166 with one vote declared invalid. The result was announced by Presiding Officer, Chief Justice Sindh High Court, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali immediately after the counting was over. In the house of 166, not a single vote was cast in favor of any of the other two presidential candidates Mushahid Hussain Sayed and Justice (Retd.) Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui.

Asif Zardari emerged victorious in the Balochistan Assembly by securing 59 out of the 63 votes polled for the presidential election. The other candidates for the post, Justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui of PML-N and Mushahid Hussain Sayed of PML-Q got 2 votes each.

The result was announced by the Presiding Officer, Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court Justice Amanullah Yasinzai after counting of votes. Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind and Tariq Hussain Masoori abstained.

In the NWFP Assembly, Asif Zardari secured record 107 votes out of a total of 124 votes polled. Justice ® Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui of PML-N grabbed 10 votes while Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed of PML-Q obtained only three votes. While four votes were declared invalid as it were wrongly marked. Presiding Officer Tariq Pervez, Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court declared the unofficial results after counting of the votes.

Earlier, The voting process was held through a secret ballot by the two chambers of the national parliament, the National Assembly and Senate and the four provincial assemblies.

Chief Election Commissioner, Justice (Retd.) Qazi Muhammad Farooq conducted the proceedings as Returning Officer for election to the Office of the President. At the Parliament House, members from both the Houses, Senate and National Assembly, cast their votes to elect the President, being the Electoral College for Presidential election.

Security has been beefed up across Pakistan and additional contingents of security forces were deployed in major cities.

Pervez Musharraf resigns as Pakistani President

Pervez Musharraf announced today that he was resigning as a President of Pakistan to avoid an impeachment battle that would harm the nation’s interests.

Mr Musharraf made the announcement during a lengthy and at times emotional televised address in which he said that he was leaving office knowing that whatever he has done "was for the people and for the country".

"After consultations with legal advisers and close political supporters and on their advice, I’m taking the decision of resigning,"

the former general said.

"My resignation will go to the speaker of the National Assembly today."

Until he confirmed his resignation towards the end, however, much of his defiant speech was spent denying that any of the impeachment charges against him could stand and angrily defending his time in power.

"Not a single charge in the impeachment can stand against me,"

he said.

"No charge can be proved against me because I never did anything for myself, it was all for Pakistan."

Mr Musharraf dominated Pakistan for years after seizing power in a 1999 military coup, making the country a key strategic ally of the United States by supporting the war on terror.

But his popularity at home sank over the years. Many Pakistanis blame rising violence in their country on his alliance with the United States, and his reputation suffered further last year 2007 when he ousted dozens of judges and imposed emergency rule.

He has been increasingly isolated since a parliamentary election last February elected a coalition government opposed to him.

The government, led by the party of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, said earlier this month that it planned to impeach Mr Musharraf for violating the constitution and other alleged crimes, in what was seen as a clear attempt to force him from office.

Officials from Saudi Arabia, as well as the United States and Britain, have been involved in negotiations aimed at ending the damaging confrontation between President and Goverment.

Hard-liners 'dominate Iran poll'

Hard-line allies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are ahead in Iran's parliamentary election, partial results suggest.

But conservative critics of Mr Ahmadinejad also appear to be making a strong showing that could undermine his domination of the parliament.

Reformists are said to be struggling after large numbers of their candidates were barred from the race.

The United States says this means the results were "cooked".

The Associated Press (AP) news agency reports that 144 out of 290 parliamentary seats have been decided so far.

Quoting state television, official news agency IRNA and reports from local officials, AP says pro-Ahmadinejad politicians have won 53 seats, reformists 18, and conservative critics of Mr Ahmadinejad 38.

Independents whose political leanings were not immediately known claimed the remaining 35, the agency says.

An Iranian official claimed that Friday's turnout was as high as 65%, the BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran reports.

But our correspondent says that polling stations in the capital were not busy, and many people said they felt there was nothing or no-one to vote for.

The Iranian authorities had called for a big turnout to defy the US and other countries they say are Iran's enemies.

The election will shape the political map ahead of 2009's presidential poll.

President Ahmadinejad flew in from an Islamic summit in Senegal to cast his vote.

He said the world had chosen Iran as its "role model and saviour".

Real winners

The reformists seem to have given up the fight after many of their candidates were disqualified on the grounds of alleged lack of loyalty to Islamic values, says our correspondent.

They made up the bulk of about 1,700 candidates barred from running by Iran's Guardian Council - an unelected body of clerics and jurists that vets election candidates.

The Guardian Council has denied bias.

Analysts expect the poll's real winners to be former members of the hardline Revolutionary Guards, who could replace the Muslim clergy as the biggest force in the assembly.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could also gain strength if, as forecast, a new younger generation of hard-line loyalists gains positions of power.

Going nuclear

The likely effect of a further increase in conservative self-confidence, our correspondent says, will be even less chance of compromise over Iran's nuclear programme, and a yet more assertive foreign policy.

It is thought the reformists may struggle to hang on to the 40 or so seats they hold in the assembly.

They say the election is unfair but still urged Iran's 44 million eligible voters to turn out for the country's eighth parliamentary elections since its 1979 Islamic revolution.

President Ahmadinejad's political opponents blame him for the three rounds of sanctions imposed on Iran by the United Nations over its nuclear programme.

The US, Israel and key Western powers accuse Iran of attempting to build a nuclear bomb, but Tehran insists it is only enriching uranium for a civilian energy programme.

Mid-East talks on 'core issues'

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have begun talks in Jerusalem on what are seen as the most intractable issues in the peace process

These include the status of Jerusalem, the borders of a Palestinian state, Jewish settlements in the West Bank, refugees, security and water resources.

The talks are being led by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.

Three Palestinian militants died in an Israeli strike in Gaza on Sunday.

The vehicle in which the men were travelling through the Shati refugee camp near Gaza City was struck by an Israeli Air Force missile.

If we reach an agreement on all these issues, then we can say that we have reached a final agreement Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian Authority President

The raid had targeted militants involved in attacks on Israel, the Israeli military said.

One of the men has been named as Nidal Amudi, who was a senior member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group linked to the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Another was identified as Mahir Mabhuh, who belonged to another group, while the identity of the third militant was unknown.

'Final agreement'

During a speech in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, Mr Abbas said the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams would begin discussion of the core "final stage issues" in the peace process at their meeting on Monday.

"If we reach an agreement on all these issues, then we can say that we have reached a final agreement," he said, adding that any peace treaty would have to resolve the disputes over all issues.

The talks come in the wake of an Israeli air strike in Gaza

Mr Abbas added that both sides would at the same time have to implement the first phase of the "road map" formulated by the Middle East Quartet in 2003, which suggests how a final settlement might be approached, and resolve economic and security issues in the West Bank.

The first phase of the road map requires:

• Both sides to issue statements supporting the two-state solution
• The Palestinians to end violence, act against "all those engaged in terror", draw up a constitution and hold elections
• The Israelis to stop settlement building activities and act with military restraint

A spokesman for the Israeli government, Mark Regev, also confirmed the negotiating teams would meet on Monday, and that they had received a mandate to discuss the core issues.

Hamas offer

Prospects for a comprehensive settlement were given fresh impetus by the US peace conference at Annapolis, Maryland, in November, after which Mr Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to restart talks after seven years.

OBSTACLES TO PEACE

US President George W Bush, who visited Israel and the West Bank last week, has said Israel and the Palestinians could sign a peace treaty within a year.

"I believe it's going to happen, that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office," he told reporters in Ramallah on Thursday.

In his speech, Mr Abbas said he had warned the president that the Palestinians could not move ahead in the negotiations while Jewish settlements continued to be built in the West Bank.

"We can't have negotiations while they are building houses all over," he added.

The Palestinian leader also said he was willing to restart talks with the Islamist movement, Hamas, if it relinquished control of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas ousted Mr Abbas's Fatah movement from the coastal territory in June following a week of violent clashes.

"I am ready to negotiate with Hamas even if the United States does not accept it," he said. "Such a dialogue is very important."

A Hamas statement denounced Mr Abbas's speech as "full of lies and fabrications".