In a deafening moment of history, Democrats on Wednesday anointed Barack Obama the first black major-party nominee for president, in a delirious outpouring of unity, hope and tears. Obama took his stunning political rise to new heights as his foe in the primaries, Hillary Clinton dramatically halted a roll-call vote at the party convention , and called for the 47-year-old Illinois senator to be enshrined the nominee.

US federal police on Wednesday arrested a blogger for posting songs from a yet-to-be released Guns N' Roses album titled "Chinese Democracy" online without the rock band's permission. Kevin Cogill, who uses "Skwerl" as an Internet name, is charged with violating copyright laws by putting nine of the band's unreleased songs on his www.antiquiet.com website for visitors to hear.

The Taguig police yesterday identified the armed suspects who robbed an armored van at the Market! Market! Mall in Taguig City more than a week ago. Senior Superintendent Alfred Sotto Corpus, Taguig police chief, said the gunmen are members of the Lahay-Lahay and Colanco Robbery Group that usually target banks and their clients. They are also the suspects in several robbery incidents in other cities in southern Metro Manila.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Sunday faced a countdown to possible impeachment after the coalition government said he had until the end of the weekend to stand down. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Saturday that the key US ally had to make a decision on resigning to avoid being impeached "by today or tomorrow, as there is no room for any delay".

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.