In a deafening moment of history, Democrats anointed Barack Obama the first black major-party nominee for president, in a cathartic release of unity, hope and tears. The newly-minted nominee then sent the Democratic National Convention into raptures by crashing his own party a day early, after a stemwinding speech from running-mate Joseph Biden and a belated but glowing endorsement from Bill Clinton.

The first retrospective of work by Tracey Emin, the enfant terrible British artist who has made a career out of intimate personal details including her own unmade bed, has opened to mixed reviews. As well as "My Bed", a mess of vodka bottles, cigarette butts and dirty underwear, "Tracey Emin: 20 Years" also features "Conversations With My Mum", a video of her talking to her mother, and "It's Not The Way I Want To Die", a model of the rollercoaster in her home town of Margate, southern England.

Serbian stars Novak Djokovic and Jelena Jankovic hobbled to victory on centre court while the Russian assault continued on day four of the 20.6 million dollar US Open. An ailing Djokovic overcame in injury to his left foot to defeat Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in his opening match, while Jankovic struggled with fatigue but held on to beat Sofia Arvidsson 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5 in the second round on Wednesday.

Thousands of Thai protesters trying to bring down the prime minister again defied orders Thursday to end their siege of government offices, forming human shields to protect their leaders from arrest. The courts have ordered them to clear out of Government House immediately and issued arrest warrants for nine of the protest leaders , but the alliance against Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej remained defiant.

NASA confirmed on Wednesday that a computer virus sneaked aboard the International Space Station only to be tossed into quarantine on July 25 by security software. A "worm type" virus was found on laptop computers that astronauts use to send and receive email from the station by relaying messages through a mission control center in Texas, according to NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries.